[Maylands] Little Shop of Plenty

This is my first ever entry in Maylands! That's because there's never been really great vego options in the area, though, so I'm super excited that I can make this post!

This afternoon I met my cousin near his house and we ventured in the rain to the Little Shop of Plenty, this lovely-sized cafe on Railway Parade directly opposite from Maylands station.

The Little Shop of Plenty is vegetarian, gluten-free and dairy-free. The menu is very paleo and raw heavy, which is fine but it was raining and the weather made me want something more hearty and warm. So I was excited to discover Huevos Mk II ($18.50) on the menu. This defaults to egg, but the staff told me that the specials are almost always veganisable. So my huevos rancheros featured tempeh (to replace the eggs), spiced corn meal hash, black beans, corn, tomato salsa, avocado cashew cream sauce, fresh chilli, fresh coriander, and it was so delicious I ate all the coriander despite hating coriander. It was so good. SO GOOD. I only wish there was more avocado cream, but I suppose I can't have everything I ever want.

I also drank a beautiful almond matcha latte ($6.50, I'm in Perth, that's totally reasonable). I don't think they were using a whisk, but it still had a beautiful smooth flavour.

The staff was really lovely and friendly and delightful; the cafe sells metal and glass straws about which I am chuffed; and I will definitely meander back through on my visits to Perth.

The Little Shop of Plenty
217 Railway Parade, Maylands

Get there on the Midland Line to Maylands Station
Ramp is default entry
Eftpos available
Didn't check the toilets
Well lit (day visit only)

[wa] community gardening and vegie good times

On a really quick visit to Perth last week, and the highlight was probably visiting the community garden at my childhood church.

This used to be a whole lot of junky, empty land out behind the church. Pat, a member of the congregation, went to a Living Smart course - a course I used to facilitate (!!!), Living Smart is a series of workshops about living sustainably in your community in WA, and was designed by Earth Carers and is totally excellent. ANYWAY, during the course of the course, they all agreed that 'community gardens' was an essential component of supporting and growing one's community. And Pat was all 'we have this empty land, it could totally hold a garden', and this community garden was born.

I love this garden so much! It's maintained in conjunction with the Swan View Community Association, and uses this unused space, and builds community. The produce goes to another local church, who have a soup kitchen twice a week (though of course people working in the garden take some bits and pieces home). It has pushed this aging church community out into the wider community, and also brought some of the wider community into the church community. There's also some involvement with the local high school (Swan View Senior High). And it's so adorable, to see these people (and this building) that I've known since I was a wee penguin in a different light.

This photo to the right is my mum harvesting kale, a vegetable she's never before cooked. On the day I visited, they were having a sustainability fair as a part of Sustainable Open House Day. I'm actually having a word with them, because their sausage sizzle was Classic Bunnings (white bread, cheap meat sausages), and their crochet was Classic Church Fete (crocheted coat hangers and crocheted tissue boxes) and their apple pies were only $3, and I may not believe in their God but they are adorable and I definitely want them to make crochets that the hipsters would want to buy. ANYWAY, way adorable.

If you're a Perthie in the Greenmount/Swanview/Midland area, you can visit the garden on Tuesday mornings (and the church, Uniting, on Sundays at 9:30, if that's your jam).

**

The rest of my trip to Perth was mostly food. Visited Mt Lawley staple Veggie Mama for a delicious plate of curries and salads, and took myself out to breakfast at Swan Valley Cafe. Both are exclusively vegetarian. Swan Valley Cafe has always specialised in teas but has recently branched out to include matcha lattes, and it was a lovely one. My breakfast there was beans on toast - their bread is all gluten free, and really lovely, and the beans were EXCELLENT. There was zucchini and capsicum in them, and they were served on one trillion cherry tomatoes and spinach leaves, with lots of avocado. My only complaint was how quickly it went cold.



At Veggie Mama I always get the 'Mama's Curry' as one of my curries, with a beautiful creamy potato and fried tofu mix of amazingness, as well as whatever other curries catch my eye. Veggie Mama specialises in fresh juices and fantastic salads, and always has something interesting going on in the sweets department.

Good Perth times, except for the rain, what is UP with that. (Ans: climate change)

Veggie Mama
Cnr Beaufort + Vincent
Mount Lawley
Get there on any bus going along Beaufort Street to the city
There's a seated area that's accessible, but ordering takes place at a counter that's up a half-flight of stairs. Takes CC. Never been there at night but during the day it's so well lit.

Swan Valley Vegetarian Cafe
990 Great Northern Highway
Millendon
Get there in your automobile, and drink at some wineries on your way out again. Lots of ramp access, both into the restaurant and around to the garden in the back. CC available. Well lit and very quiet. Includes an attached tea shop and nursery.

[wa] veggie mama, mt lawley

On a cycle up to my beloved Mt Lawley for a compulsory visit to Planet Books and Fresh Provs, I spotted a new face on the Beaufort Street landscape: Veggie Mama, next to the adult shop on Vincent Street (where no veggie restaurant had been before).

I returned the next day for lunch with my friend V, ready to be delighted. And delighted I was! Clearly labeled (egg free, dairy free, gluten free), there was an array of baked sweets, baked savouries, fresh salads and made to order juices, and I was overwhelmed for choice.


For about $20 I got this filling plate of filo and salads, and a fresh juice of apple, orange and ginger. The quinoa salad in particular was lovely, and the filo, filled with potato, spinach and pine nuts, was delicious and filling. Despite it being a warm and busy Autumn (Easter) public holiday, service was fast, friendly and helpful. And afterwards, I was too full for a muffin, which disappointed me mightily.

Well located and with early opening hours, Veggie Mama is almost certainly a place I will return to on a future visit home.


Veggie Mama 
Cnr Beaufort and Vincent Streets
Mt Lawley

Get there on any bus that goes up Beaufort Street
Entry to the shop is a wide door, but ordering happens at the counter, which is accessible only by a two-step flight of stairs. Credit card available.

shenton park cat haven (and the dog refuge, too)

Shenton Park Cat Haven is looking for forever homes for some adorable but homeless cats! They are seriously oversubscribed and though since that news article went up they've had a whole heap of cats adopted, the oversubscription continues.

If you can't give the gift of a home but are looking for a present for someone, you could also consider making a donation to the Cat Haven or to the Dog's Refuge (also in Shenton Park).

If you want to make a Victorian-based donation, there's The Lost Dogs' Home in North Melbourne or Edgar's Mission.

There is a possibility I have left my donation-presents until the last minute.

[wa] swan valley cafe ii, millendon

Flying visit to Perth this week for the Farewell to Perth Tour before jetting off on the Great China Adventure (more on that closer to). After arriving quite late (and too tired to make it to my friend Tina's birthday party!) I got up early the next morning to join my parents and my sister for breakfast at the Swan Valley Cafe.



The Swan Valley Cafe is this cute little vegetarian restaurant and nursery in the Swan Valley. They also sell their own brand of teas (and different types of salt, such as the chilli salt my sister likes to put on her hot chips). It's a really lovely location, just away from the river so you can't see it but you get the cool morning air and that feeling on your skin. You can wander through the plants for sale, and I always wish I could buy some (usually I buy some for other people).

This Sunday, I decided we were going to sit outside.


(not at this table, at the one next to it just out of frame. it is just to give you an idea of the outdoor ambience)

Look at that lovely morning sunlight!

The breakfast menu is not extensive but it's got a nice little bit of variety. There are vegan pancakes, and a scrambled tofu, some granola and some home made baked beans, as well as a big veg breakfast. I was torn between the Mexican scrambled tofu and the pancakes, both of which sounded delicious. Stricken with indecision, although my sister wanted eggs, I managed to convince her to order vegan pancakes, so I could try them.



I watched the tofu go past to other tables, and I started considering how small it looked, a concern which only strengthened when my tofu was presented to me. At the same time my sister received a plate of berry pancakes, and she too was concerned: she had ordered banana pancakes, not berry! Generously, then, and with no small sacrifice on my part, I volunteered to eat both her berry pancakes and my scrambled tofu, whilst she reordered her banana pancakes.

Her banana pancakes appeared about ten minutes later, with extra pancakes to make up for the mistake, so no complaints there despite the mix up.



The buckwheat pancakes were amazing. They were served with a coconut cream and some maple syrup, covered in fresh berries, and they were delicious. They were cheap too, for Perth prices ($11), and totally worth it!

The spicy Mexican scrambled tofu is on the menu as eggs but with the vegan tofu option. They come with several pieces of sour dough toast and this delicious avocado, tomato and onion salsa, which was a perfect counterpoint to the spice of the tofu. Regretfully the tofu was a little too much spice and not enough flavour: they were a good consistency and a great spice level, but could have done with some nutritional yeast flakes or some cumin.

Add a soy flat white, and this was an excellent breakfast; and, little piggy that I am with the two breakfasts, I couldn't finish the toast that came with the tofu, and I didn't need to eat lunch despite eating this at 10am.


Swan Valley Cafe also does take away, a service of which I availed myself on Wednesday on my way to the airport. I picked up a hummous, grilled vegetables and salad wrap to take with me on the plane, and it was still super tasty two hours later when I wanted it (though the oil had soaked through the bag). I also grabbed a bag of hand-made, vegan, raw chocolate truffles, for sustenance on the long trip home.



previous visit

Swan Valley Cafe
990 Great Northern Highway
Millendon, 6056

Some GF available
Open every day but at different times

there's a shallow ramp into the building (to skip over the steps), lovely wide doors, lots of excellent lighting and it's quiet. there is an outdoor area around the back but you have to go through the flower shed to access it if steps are an obstacle. ordering is done at the table.

[wa] heavenly plate, applecross

Heavenly Plate is a new(ish) vegetarian restaurant in Applecross. I've heard a lot about it primarily from one friend, and nothing else from any other source, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect when I manufactured an opportunity to eat there on the weekend.

In fact, what happened was that I was so excited I started tweeting about the menu immediately (using the hashtag #heavenlyplate). Heavenly Plate is vegetarian, and mostly vegan (or vegan options); there is an entire hot chocolate menu featuring items such as 'orange and cinnamon' and 'strawberry' and entrees such as mango bruschetta and all sorts of really exciting and interesting things.

We decided to maximise our tasting opportunities by sharing three entrees (between four people), then ordering our own mains with lots of sampling.



Our entrees were the japanese wedges and wasabi mayo; the avocado rolls; and the murtabak. I wish the murtabak photo had turned out - aside from being incredibly delicious, it was beautifully and artistically laid out. The avocado rolls were encased in spring roll wrappers and fried, then served with a light mint (?) mayonnaise which was so delicious Danni scraped the remnants up with her knife in order to eat it all up. The murtabak was filled with a 'chicken tofu' and it was light and delicious with a lovely sauce and looked delightful, too. The wedges were herbed and sprinkled with nori, and the wasabi mayo had a spicy bite to it which became less potent (but no less delicious) as you continued.



Alas, my bad luck with my photos continued in to our mains, so you only get to see two. Above on the left: my Thai green curry spaghetti. This looked rich, and being Thai green curry, it certainly was; but I didn't find it overwhelming, and I loved the combination. The carrot could have done with being a little softer, but aside from that it was delicious and I thought it was great. Dr G ordered the noodles with cheese wontons (sadly the wontons are not pictured). The noodles were exactly what one expects from a chasiu wonton noodle dish (which I love); the wontons were served in a slightly salty soup. The soup was perhaps slightly too salty, and the cheese wontons were interesting. I'm not sure what was in them, but definitely a cheesy flavour, and definitely worth a try.

Gilly ordered the the Tripple C, where the mock chicken was battered in flour and Diet Coke, and deep fried, served with some lovely crisp chips and a perfectly serviceable salad. Gilly reports that she could taste a slight Coke-y flavour to the batter, but the rest of us were unsure. Danni went for the chilli chicken in red jam, a beautifully presented dish featuring rice and vegetables and mock chicken and cashews. The flavour of this dish was excellent, and not spicy (more flavoursome), with a slight sweetness which I assume was the red jam.



Intrigued by the desserts and chocolates menu, we decided to split two desserts and each order a hot chocolate. Due to the unavailability of the peach pie, we ordered the apple torte and the chocolate sundae. Chocolates ordered to the table were the strawberry hot chocolate and the orange + cinnamon hot chocolate.

The chocolate sundae was So Good icecream with a whole lot of chocolate syrup and sprinkles. This was very fun to eat, but nothing exciting (aside from the experience of the chocolate sundae). The apple torte had a lovely flavour but I found it a little dry; I took this opportunity to combine the two, and this was excellent.



The strawberry hot chocolate had been particularly recommended to me; alas, I found it way too sweet for me, and had to keep cleansing my palate with chocolate sundae. When one needs to palate cleanse with icecream, it is perhaps too sweet! I found the orange + cinnamon hot chocolate much more to my taste, with a light tang and a lovely sweetness. Alas then that I was not the person to order that chocolate!

Total bill for all that food came to just over $130. It was slightly too much food for all of us; each of my dining companions complained of being uncomfortably full, and I was leaning towards that myself. But certainly not disappointed. In fact, I am searching for excuses to dine there again before I depart Perth.



Heavenly Plate
899 Canning Highway
Applecross (WA)

open every day

didn't ask about gluten free options

little ramp up, easily navigable with wide apart tables inside. large, unisex toilets available. get there via the train (about a 5-10 minute walk from canning bridge station on the mandurah line) or a canning highway bus. some parking available.

miscellaneous perth foods

Sometimes I go to Perth and eat things:



Tell me where you go for your favourite dosais! My favourite is at Mela Indian Sweets, in Northbridge. I always get the masala dosai, the potato in the masala starts to mush together and it's filled with fresh chillis, and caramalised onion, and cashews. Cashews! They are a delicious addition. The dosai at Mela is always served with a rasam and tiny little side dishes of coconut and tomato. $15 well spent every time!



My favourite flavour combination at the Junction Icecreamery is always ALWAYS passionfruit and chocolate. There are a few other soya flavours but they are the best!



Ended up at the Swan Valley Cafe again with my parents and my sister, this time for lunch. The lunch menu is not as exciting as the dinner menu (though there are some pizzas on the take away menu which I might try for next time), and I opted for the burger with a tomato chutney. This is a perfectly serviceably burger, but it does noticeably require the chutney, as it is not exploding with flavour. My sister had a tart (not vegan) with salad, and the quinoa salad was terrible, it clearly hadn't been washed enough times. Still happy to go back, especially as it's the closest vegetarian restaurant to my parents' house, but it was a little disappointing.

I still didn't make it to the new Indian vego restaurant in Midland! (I tried, but it was closed)

Mela Indian Sweets and Eats
428 William St
Northbridge

The Junction Ice Creamery
Corner of Great Eastern Highway and Morrison Road
Midland

Swan Valley Cafe
990 Great Northern Highway
Millendon

previous visit

[wa] swan valley cafe, millendon

I went to Perth recently, and stayed with my parents and my sister out in the Swan Valley. The day I arrived, really casually, as if it might not be that interesting to me, my mother mentioned that there was a vegetarian restaurant just down the highway from their house. I love the Swan Valley, especially how I get to stuff my face with grapes and watermelon picked that day, and its proximity to the Junction Icecreamery, and the six (six!) op shops in Midland, but when it comes to vegetarian food it is not that great, so I was very interested in a vegetarian restaurant close by.

They only do dinner once a week at the moment, though they do lunch and breakfast a few other days, so my mum made a booking for Friday dinner and off we went.

As I was perusing the menu, there were many things that I wasn't sure would be vegan, things that sounded cheesey, like the lasagna and the pot pie. But every time I asked, the answer was that it was vegan tonight. Upon closer questioning, it was revealed that, because when my mum had booked, she'd said 'and my daughter is vegan,' all the stuff they'd usually make with dairy cheese they'd made with a combination of vegan cheese and nutritional yeast, so just about everything on the menu was vegan especially for me. Which was a little bit exciting.



We leaped straight into the dips. The dips were amazing! The dips are made on the premises; there was a spinach dip, a capsicum dip, and a hummous, as well as some dukkah (which, side note, I think I had more dukkah in this quick Perth trip than I have in the whole twelve months previous). If you look closely at the platter, you'll see a few different types of crackers on there, some of which aren't vegan. I was really happy with the service and attentiveness that we received at Swan Valley Cafe, but for vegans I do think a bit of self-aware caution might stand. They're new to dealing with vegans, so there are a few 'wait, how is this not vegan?' issues that need to be ironed out. But when I pointed it out they were really good about it.



I went for the lasagna. Of course I did. This was delicious, filled with sun-dried tomatoes and roasted capsicum and an assortment of other vegetables, covered in a nutritional yeast and vegan cheeze sauce (I think this was creamy sheese). It was served with a garden salad with the dressing on the side (yessss) and a little salad with sesame oil dressing, featuring cabbage and carrots.

Other mains eaten (the photos were a bit blurry town) included the pot pie which smelled amazing, and which my sister was super delighted to have ordered; a Mediterranean vegetables and cous cous dish, which my mum ate all up; and a light but tasty yellow curry for my father.



For dessert, Julie went for the summer apple pie served with cashew cream. In truth this was less pie and more raw cake, but it was delicious, with lots of nuts and dried fruits and a really great fresh apple flavour. I went for the chocolate mousse, which was massive and had a hint of strawberry floating through it. It was delicious, but I wasn't able to finish it.

The grounds of Swan Valley Cafe are really delightful, and I bet it makes a lovely brunch venue. Out the back is a little plant nursery, selling a combination of natives and exotics, and offering a great view across to the river. The service was good, but as we were the only people there the fact that the sound system was insufficient was quite noticeable, I felt awkward making noise. I'd like the chef to be a little more cautious checking the non-veganness of store-bought products, but I have no complaints with food that they made on the premises, and I will almost certainly visit next time I'm in the area, if they're still around. It is in the Swan Valley, after all, and although there are many well-known restaurants out there, I wonder how much through traffic they'll get. I love Perth, but my recent trip has just reminded me how much people expect meat when they sit down at their meal.

Swan Valley Cafe
990 Great Northern Highway
Millendon, 6056

Some GF available
Open Thursday through Monday

adventures in utopia, northbridge

I was only in Perth for five days, so it was hard to see everyone that I wanted to see. With that in mind, I organised a drop-in dinner at Utopia in Northbridge. I've posted about Utopia previously, and have mentioned before that people either love Utopia, or they hate it. It is all fake meats and deep-fried mushrooms, and karaoke, if you're in to that sort of thing. It's a very Taiwanese place, and everyone loves their bubble tea, though you should be wary of the milk in some of their tea products. And the whey in some of the beef products - to be on the safe side, I never order mock-beef at Utopia.

ANYWAY, Utopia. I used to go at least every second Monday with my friends Alex and Liz, and we'd order approximately the same things every time, and then Alex would proceed to eat everything in large quantities. As a result, I started ordering on reflex when I got to Utopia, even though Alex and Liz couldn't join us!

We all shared, of course, because that's the way you do Chinese food.

I started by ordering us a whole lot of salty fried 'chicken' and crispy fried mushrooms, because that's always my primary reason for eating at Utopia. The salty fried chicken is, well, salty and fried and crispy mock chicken pieces. They are sort of like the LotF nuggets, but a lot crispier and thinner. The crispy fried mushrooms are so soft and squishy when you bite in to them, coated in a crispy batter. It is my favourite, and Liz and I are both on a mission, from opposite sides of the country/planet from Utopia, to try and work out how they do it. Because it is the best.



Also the best: the spicy houtou mushrooms. The I love how spicy these mushrooms are, and I always fight over the cashews at the end because they're so delicious.



Other things we shared included more mushrooms, some bok choy, some curry, an assam 'fish,' and a laksa and a char kuay teow. The ckt is ok, but the laksa is pretty good, and it was fun to share. The laksa is a see-through-time sort, so be warned if you can't take it!



Oh Utopia, how I have missed your mushrooms and your crispy 'chicken.' You continue to be delicious. If slightly expensive. I worried for half a second that you had changed your menu, but my fear was for naught: I don't think you ever will.


utopia/formosa
utopia square
shop 14 (upstairs)
109 james street
northbridge

chatters cafe, midland

I've been to Chatters once before, in Morley. It was a perfectly serviceable visit, though nothing special: Australianised vegetables, a reasonable char kuay teow, terrible spring rolls.

So as it turns out, on weekends you can get a moderately sized yumcha menu at Chatters.



Having just had a fabulous and gigantic brunch, I was not especially hungry, so as I joined my mum and my sister for a late lunch I slowly perused the menu. And broke a glass.

I managed to get four dishes, three on the menu and one off, and this was more than enough food for me, even with my mum sampling everything. In fact, I had to take some home, for breakfast the next morning! It's okay, this was no great hardship.



From the menu, I ordered the vegetable bao and the mushroom dumpling. My mum decided to order the lotus paste bao, because she loves lotus paste. These required no mods, being already vegan.

My sister was eyeing off a meaty chee cheong fun, so I convinced the staff to do one for me, animal free. The staff were very helpful, but they did advise they'd never done one animal free before, so it was going to be very experimental.

The best of these four dishes was the vegetable bao. The bao itself was light and fluffy, and the filling was warm, fresh and tasty. I accidentally ate the paper on one of them (yucckkk). A rookie mistake. The mushrooms were also pretty good, and crunchy with water chestnuts. The lotus paste was ok.

The chee cheong fun was heavy. My mum did a comparison taste test, and the noodles of the meaty cheong fun were definitely lighter, which was odd. The vegetables were cut too thick, so didn't cook all the way, and you don't want crispiness in the middle of the chee cheong fun! Still, points for effort. Maybe they could work on it, or something.

Anyway, not the greatest yum cha ever, but nice to have something to eat.


Chatters Cafe and Restaurant
ShpT58
Midland Gate (cnr The Crescent and Cale Street)
Midland

brunch at source foods, highgate

My favourite place to have brunch in Perth is Source Foods. They know what vegan means (they call it 'NAP' - No Animal Products), which is rare enough in Perth; and they serve tempeh, which is also pretty unusual.

Anyway, it's my favourite, so Alexa and I went there on Saturday morning.

We took advantage of the lovely Perth weather to sit outside. Usually in winter I find it too cold to sit outside in Perth, but one winter in Melbourne and suddenly it is glorious! I didn't even have to wear a scarf! Or a coat! It was amazing!



I ordered, as I have many times before, the vegan heaven: tomato, two (two!) types of mushrooms, wilted spinach and baked beans, served on crisp bread with hommus. I also ordered it with a side of soy-marinated tempeh. It was so amazing. SO AMAZING. I ate it all up.

Alexa ordered the mushroom crostini, mushrooms with wilted spinach on hommus and crisp breadishness. She was indulging in mushrooms in her mushroom-hating housemate's absence.

Not pictured: our juices. Alexa ordered orange + ginger, and I ordered the 'zinger,' which contains orange and ginger and asomething else that I can never remember, maybe apple.

After brunch we went adventuring: to North Perth, where we visited Little Design Horse; and then in to Mount Lawley, where we visited Planet, primarily so we could visit the greatest bookstore in the world. I know some people prefer Oxford St Books in Leederville, but I can never go past Planet.




Previous visit: here.


Source Foods
289 Beaufort St
Highgate

gf available (this post is tagged gf because the menu can be very gf)

nyonya noms lotus sri melaka vegetarian restaurant, northbridge

I got off the plane, collected my luggage and my mother, and the first thing we did after leaving Perth Domestic Airport was head in to Northbridge and be Very Chinese.

We went to visit the aunties* at the Chinese grocers along William Street, where I had to say hello and 你好吗** and yes Melbourne is good and 四日***. I eyed off the Mister Potato Crisps and the mooncakes, but decided I could wait until I got back to Melbourne. I also wandered up and down the aisles whilst my mother did some shopping, lamenting the loss (to me) of my favourite Chinese-Malaysian grocer. As I have well documented, I have yet to find every Malaysian thing that I require from Melbourne.

We then moved on to be more Chinese-Malaysian, with lunch at Lotus.

Oh Lotus. I have loved you frequently and loved you long, as the only provider of vegan Nyonya noms in Perth (aside from my mum). I remain so sad that there is no equivalent to you in Melbourne. I used to visit you several times a month, to eat the comfort food I love; your 'beef' rendang and your laksa and your kapitan and your char kuay teow and your deliciousness. Oh yeah.

Danni's mum joined us, and we had a bit of a noodle extravaganza.

My mother went for the Penang Laksa (please forgive the overexposed shot).



This was very rich, as always, and filled with lots of beans, tofu, and mock char siu, and my mum had it with beehoon (rice) noodles. It was good, but not super spicy, and she didn't finish it all.



Danni's mum went for the Hokkien Mee. Hokkien mee is one of my favourite things to cook, it is quick and easy and delicious, and so must this one have been because she ate it all up (and did a stellar job with her chopsticks). This was filled with lots of vegies, which is just the way it is best.

What is with all this single dishes? perhaps you are asking. Well, it is my fault, because I knew exactly what I wanted, and what I wanted was the wonton mee. Whilst I had a perfectly reasonable wonton noodles at Tinh Tam Chay in St Albans, it was not perfect, and what I really wanted, above all else, was the wonton mee soup at Lotus. It's not on the menu, but you can ask for it and oh yeah. Oh yeah.



LOOK AT THAT OIL. I drank that all up. Delicious. I picked this over all my other favourite dishes at Lotus, and it was totally worth it.

Finally, we ordered a kapitan + three roti to share.



The kapitan ('chicken' curry) was super spicy. My nose started running and my tongue was burning, but OH WOW. DELCIOUSNESS. Totally perfect, oh how I have missed it.

Oh Lotus. If only you were open on Mondays, I would have had lunch at you again yesterday. And I would have eaten the satay. And the fried wontons. And the Assam fish. And the char kuay teow. And and and.





Lotus Sri Melaka Vegetarian Restaurant
Unit 1, 220 James St
Northbridge

not open Mondays
GF dubiously available (need advance notice and have to order off menu)


*'auntie' here means, 'older Chinese lady who scolds but is not related to me.'
** sup?
*** 4 days

perth world vegan day

It's ages away! I know! But the super awesome Sarah is looking for volunteers to help make it big and cool in Perth this year. Check out the link for more details! AND GO DO IT. Also Sarah is very cool, so you should feel free to ask her questions if you need!

Perth Events

That's right, awesome things in Perth when I'm not around to enjoy them. WHATEVER, PERTH. (call me)

There's a new shop opening in Freo, Cruelty Free WA Shop. Cruelty Free WA provides cruelty free, environmentally friendly products made with no animal products and no animal testing. Their grand opening is tomorrow, Saturday 24th October, and if you go along there are free taste testings and 10% off all items in store. PROBABLY AWESOME? They're at 28A Queen St in Freo (across from the Juicy Beetroot).

World Vegan Day is Sunday 1st November. I'm super excited about being in Melboure and getting to go to Abbotsford for the event, but there is also a World Vegan Day Picnic being held in Perth! It's 12-4, at Sir James Mitchell Park (which is in South Perth).

Also on the 1st of November, is a Vegan Food Basics Workshop, being held at Earthwise in Subiaco. You can click the link for more details.

the moon, northbridge

I have been suffering some serious moon-burger longing this last week, so we went to Moon for lunch yesterday. It's been ages since I was at the Moon during the day, it's a lot easier to see and to get a seat, and it's certainly a lot less loud...



I went for the moon veggie burger (with no pesto). It was deliciousness, and the chips were great. The mushroom inside was especially tasty.



D ordered a weekend special, a grilled eggplant wrap (without the feta and pesto). D declared it delicious, though without the pesto it was a tiny bit dry.

We both ordered a mango fruit smoothie with soy milk and (sadly) ice instead of sorbet, and it was pretty good!

Oh the Moon, I love you and your late night pretension.

The Moon Cafe
2/323 William St
cnr Newcastle St
Northbridge

brunch at the witch's cauldron

Went out for brunch this morning with Sheebaface and Dr A, and because I have never been there and has long been considered quite fancy and expensive, I wanted to try out The Witch's Cauldron in Subiaco.

There was a table available, and we started with complimentary mint lemonade, which was interesting (S loved it, she stole D's).

Both D and I ordered the veggie big breakfast. Non-vegans ordered amazing pieces of art, french toast that was five centimetres thick and pancakes that looked like scones, so I was looking forward to what we'd ordered. The veggie big breakfast was good, I quite liked the asparagus (and I don't usually like asparagus), and the potato cake was really tasty. However, when I ordered the veggie breakfast with no eggs and dairy, I expected to be losing the eggs, I didn't expect to lose the mushrooms with no warning. Being told the mushrooms are soaked in butter seems like usual service (though being offered something else - like at Blue Waters Cafe is super awesome), but not being told at all is not cool.

So in conclusion, the food was delicious, but the experience was nothing awesome.

Hanging out with Sheeba + Dr A was pretty awesome though!



The Witch's Cauldron
89 Rokeby Rd,
Subiaco

broken hill hotel, vic park

Last week I went ducky racing with some friends, to celebrate Jorge's birthday.



After the duck races, we went for a meander through King's Park, traipsing across the sky bridge and pausing for a cupcake break (provided by Dr G and Gilli).



Later, after criticising/rewatching the first Harry Potter movie, a large group of us meandered down to the Broken Hill Hotel, in Vic Park.

There was nothing on the menu suitable for vegans, but Kandy had asked when booking, and they had said they would be happy to cater for me. And they were! When I asked, there were three options available for me, about which I was quite chuffed.



I went for the ratatouille and coconut rice, it was nothing super exciting but it was a perfectly serviceable pub meal, and they were very helpful (and the chips were delicious).


Broken Hill Hotel
314 Albany Highway
Victoria Park

samudra, dunsborough

In a sudden wave of research on Thursday before we'd left for Eagle Bay, I'd discovered the existence of Samudra, a yoga and surf retreat in Dunsborough. Samudra has a real food philosophy, so I was very excited to give it a go, since we were going to be so close.



After perusing the menu, our friends wandered off to tackle the Dunsborough Bakehouse for meat-filled pies, and we settled in for some delicious somewhat-raw food. D ordered the Daily Sunwrap, the highlight of which was the delicious harissa. I ordered the lentil burger, featuring a delicious lentil and rice patty and some really great bread and avocado. Both of these were fantastic, though D complained that the sunwrap sat a little heavy for the rest of the afternoon.



We also ordered some fresh juices. D's kiwi fruit and rockmelon juice was amazing, which D loved despite a dislike of rockmelon (it was supposed to be watermelon juice). I ordered the orange and ginger, but sadly whoever made it didn't understand the power of ginger, and it was the most gingery drink ever, and I was unable to finish it. Fortunately everyone tried it (when they returned from the bakehouse), and Greg was able to drink about half of it before the ginger overwhelmed. A shame, as it was a very expensive juice (at $8.00).

Overall, a good meal, if a little on the expensive side.

Samudra
226 Naturaliste Tce
Dunsborough

a wedding dinner at the Hilton

Our friends K and R got married on the Ides of March, which was a super hot Perth day, and we were all standing in the sun in Queens Gardens and I forgot my parasol, which was a bit boo.

The reception was at the Hilton in one of the rooms there. There were h’or dourves to start with, one of which we could even eat (tiny fruit kabobs), and some which we couldn’t (FAIRY BREAD). This was followed by a sit down buffet, however us vegans were instead served a three course menu of deliciousness, so delicious that I didn’t feel a need to go peruse the buffet for baked potato products (with which I am frequently obsessed).



We started with a potato and leek soup. This was creamy and flavoursome, and topped with puffed tofu. I was really impressed with this soup, and this was actually what triggered my current soup obsession.



This was followed by a filo parcel filled with sweet potato and sundried tomato. This was fantastic! I really want to replicate it. The flavours of the potato and the tomato worked well together, and I love filo pastry. The filo parcel was accompanied by a terrible side salad, but by this point we had already started dancing (the idea was that dancing continued throughout the meal, as everyone was eating staggered due to the buffet), so we’d swung to In the Mood between the soup and the main, and as a result weren’t hugely hungry.

Dessert was a giant fruit salad and lemon sorbet.



Mad props to the chef, our meal was fantastic. The food up at the buffet sounded delightful (in a non-vegan way), and the three vegetarians at our table were delighted with the spread, but the vegan options we received were awesome, would nom again.

Also our bonbonniere was vegan chocolate! The Sweet William purple bar.

I am always so pleased when our friends are so awesome at remembering us and providing for us.

diva cafe, mt lawley

Met up with Christine for a mid-morning breakfast yesterday, at Diva Cafe. We all had the vegetarian breakfast, no eggs, no ricotta, and D and I ordered some tomatoes to go with the marinated capsicum, spinach, mushrooms, avocado and toast. I love fresh avocado on toast for breakfast, so fantastic. The meal was tasty, the capsicum quite good and the mushies also. They do fresh orange juice, which I always appreciate. Service was okay, our meals and drinks were quite prompt, but our empty plates sat in front of us for about an hour before someone came to take them away, and though we sat there for three hours, chatting in the morning sun, nobody offered us anything extra to drink, which I thought was a bit odd, given they didn't seem super busy.

I would eat there for breakfast again, but probably not before I try some of the other places along that end of Beaufort Street.

Diva Cafe
49 Beaufort St
Mount Lawley