The vegan menu is excellent - it is its own separate menu, breakfast and lunch, with lots of yummy looking options. I deliberated for a while, drawn by the idea of the Spanish eggs (without the eggs), but in the end went for the French toast, with ice cream and a vegan honey and the most giant strawberry perched on top. I supplemented this with a serve of hash browns, because I can never go past potatoes.
The French toast was massive. Ordering the side of ice cream (Tofutti) was the right choice, as I smothered it in the vegan honey and then added the ice cream - the toast was crispy and had a subtle flavour (could maybe have done with a little bit more cinnamon), but the combination of toppings and french toast was oh yeah. Deliciousness. Not as O M G as the french toast at Monk Bodhi Dharma, but deliciousness and no where near as far to travel.
The hash browns were great too, freshly deep fried and crispy and oily.
J went for the 'ham,' 'cheese' and tomato toasted sandwich. I sampled this, and it was really good. Melty cheese, and (we think) the Redwood ham, and it was good.
Prices are a little up there - $10 for the toastie, and $19 for my toast + icecream + hash browns, but worth it for a breakfast treat. Would nom again. And they gave us our coffees on the house! Which was nice (Empire uses Bonsoy).
Empire keeps all its vegan cooking separate from its meaty cooking; and they're stocking Mr Nice Guy cupcakes (I bought key lime and jaffa, but have yet to eat them so a review later).
Previous visits: here.
Empire Cafe
295 Sydney Road
Brunswick
Open from 10am weekdays, and from 8.30 on weekends
Closed Tuesdays
10 comments:
Yum yum yum! I am itching to try this.
That's pretty impressive on Empire's part - I don't think I've come across any establishment that really goes out of their way to cater specifically to vegans unless it is specifically a vegan or vegetarian establishment.
A question: how does make French toast without eggs?
@Eurasian Sensation: you're not looking.
At the very least within Brunswick there's also Green Tambourine, a minor place, Sugardough and the East Brunswick Club.
I like that my blog post = 'all over the internet'. He he.
Glad that more varieties of cupcakes, I've only tried the chocolate one there and am keen for more vegan cupcakes before I quite gluten again.
I really want a toasty too!
@K:
Cupcake Central made a vegan/gf cupcake today!
@Cindy - which bit? (all of it)
@ES yeah, there's a few places now that have a separate vegan menu - even places in town like the Nudel Bar have a separate hidden vegan menu. French toast without eggs depends on your recipe: google says soymilk + flour, i've seen a recipe for chickpea flour, and others emphasise things like soy creamer and lots of nutmeg. the best I've had was Monk Bodhi Dharma in Balaclava.
@k I had a toasty for lunch! Not from Empire :o)
Yes, all of it! But I think I need the French toast first. :-)
That toast looks tasty :D We also had a gigantic strawberry last week. Mum and I split it and it was delicious.
As long as the Bonsoy is okay. They're being sued at the moment for overly large iodine levels in their products last year.
But it is now apparently safe.
@Cindy you need ALL OF IT first!
@Julie yeah, Bonsoy was off the shelves for a bit but it's totally cool now. And it is my favourite (aside from Yeo's, obvs).
Oh my goodness, that frenh toast looks amazing but I think I'd have to go for the vegan ham & cheese sandwich - yum!
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