Thursday 3 January 2013

curious goose [brunswick] (or: spoilers, secret dairy)

My friend Liz and I occasionally meet up on Wednesdays for brunch at random places. Yesterday we were hoping to go to A Minor Place, but alas it was not to be, for they were closed for the new year, as were Wide Open Road and Tom Phat. So we decided to give newish cafe Curious Goose a go.

Let me start with: the service was really great. Our waitperson was really helpful, friendly and lovely, very attentive, and didn't mind all the questions I asked about the menu and making it vegan. Which was handy, as it turned out basically nothing was vegan. The mushrooms were soaked in butter, the potatoes had cheese, the avocado had aioli (apparently usually there were fresh avocados too, but their delivery was unripe and they didn't want to serve it to me, for which I thank them. This aside is getting very long but I recall the time Miss T was served unripe avocado, and am glad that wasn't me).

misc vegan brekkie

In the end I got a whole bunch of things (and somehow some mushrooms, though I had been denied them earlier with suggestions of butter), and they tasted good. Though beetroot is never my thing, this one, hidden behind the beans, was so delicious I ate it all up, and was served with a chilli dukkah that was pretty great. The beans were delicious and the bread (baked on premises) was lovely.

But my friends, not only am I vegan, but I am lactose intolerant, as is (non-vegan) brunch-buddy Liz, and after our meals, after a short period of wandering up Sydney Road doing errands, we ended our brunch date in order to go and commune with the porcelain gods, which can only mean one thing: stealth dairy.

There are so many amazing places willing to provide a brunch-oriented vegan with food in Brunswick, that despite the nice flavours and the excellent service and the really fun (but not vegan) menu, the Curious Goose is unlikely to be a repeat for me.

Curious Goose
307 Sydney Road
Brunswick
7 days a week, breakfast and lunch

I was distracted and didn't check steps and things: tables are spread apart and service is seated at them. Lighting is low during the day but not too low. Get there on the 19 tram.

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