I stumbled upon this vegetarian cafe whilst looking for somewhere to have breakfast in Belgrave…read more Being vegan I wasn't expecting to find much so The Laughing Owl was a very happy surprise. The menu is varied and includes crumpets, burgers, and a vegetarian and vegan big breakfast. They also have a selection of baked goods (vegan date scones even), raw cakes and other takeaway goodies. A prominent sign also advertised their ability to cater for those requiring fodmap friendly meals. Staff were very friendly and helpful. Chai and juices were delicious and the vegan big breakfast was actually big! An all round wonderful cafe in the heart of Belgrave.

What a wonderful place - a cafe with a conscience - that's how they describe themselves. I knew I…read morehad come to a great place when I saw the list of lattes available - beetroot, dandelion, mushroom, matcha or blue pea. I enjoyed their stunning Nourish Bowl - fabulous mix of falafel, mini chick pea patty, hummus, pepitas, beetroot, carrot on red cabbage and spinach. Fantastic. I loved it. Water comes in a jar but be careful not to knock your teeth on the steel straw. Service is quick. Coffee is great. Thank you.

This place never disappoints!…read more The owners sponsor/support several orphans in Vietnam and tips go towards this great cause.Front of house staff leave a little to be desired (reminders for cutlery, if you are outside you may nee to wave them down to order, delivery of food isn't always great etc), however they are friendly and seem happy to be there. However what may be lacking up front is certainly made up for in the kitchen. The food always is fresh and tasty and covers off on all of the favorites, plus they keep it interesting with changing specials. Outdoor seating is great during periods of warmer weather with enough action happening in the local area to keep you entertained (if your dinner guests aren't up to the challenge), however not too much so as to be distracted if deep in dinner conversation.

This place has been in the ponds for ages, for some reason my work mates and I never considered…read morelunching here despite the fact we love Vietnamese food and eat at the other 2 Vietnamese restaurants on puckle street often. I guess we just forgot this existed? Anyway we corrected that right away when we realized the fact and had Friday lunch here. Prices are a bit steep compared to the other places. Just a tad though. But couldn't help but let this become a factor as the portion size of food we ordered was on the smaller side. It was incredibly tasty though! I ordered the pork skewer vermicelli salad and the others the same but with grilled chicken instead. I was surprised they dunk the dipping sauce in your bowl already - efficiency I guess? Not something I'm used to seeing but I didn't really mind it, but what happens if you diner couldn't tolerate chili or something like that? Vietnamese iced coffee (cafe sua da) was good. They do it legit - and I say this because I know some places where they just use like instant Nescafé blend 46 coffee or something!) A huge plus with this place is because it's right next to the wine bar you get to order booze from them and have it sent over to you. That or you can go to the wine bar and then order from here and they deliver to you - love the partnership here. All in all. Of the 3 Vietnamese restaurants in moonee ponds, this is my second best pick. I wouldn't avoid it but I'll def come here if I'm after a change.

The Vegan Collective is a new food stall that's part of the Queen Victoria Winter Night Markets…read moreevery Wednesday night. It's great to have a 100% vegan option at the Queen Vic night markets, which for years have been very heavy on the meat. Not to mention, the food here is YUM. Right now they have 5 things on the menu, all vegan: - Middle Eastern Open Wrap - Japanese Udon Noodles - Yellow Lentil and Coconut Curry - Laksa Noodle Soup - Sesame Crusted Tofu I've had the Middle Eastern Open Wrap and the Laksa Noodle Soup. My friend had the Yellow Lentil and Coconut Curry. All very tasty. The Middle Eastern Open Wrap was my favourite -- it's probably one of the best falafel wraps I've had in a long time, and it seemed like a real step up from the junky kind you get at kebab shops. This one actually tasted somewhat "gourmet," if you know what I mean. Real thought was put into the flavours and the sauce, which was delicious. The laksa was OK -- a bit messy to eat if you can't find a seat and you have to stand around awkwardly holding the bowl in one hand and trying to navigate with your chopsticks/spoon in the other. (I'm bad with chopsticks anyway and nearly stabbed myself in the eye at one point.) This food stall is located next to the Sri Lankan food stall, away from the main row of food stalls, so you kinda have to hunt for it. It's further south than the main row of food stalls, if that makes sense -- kind of in the middle of the building, with more of the non-food stuff. On the plus side, that means the queue is much shorter than at other food stalls! Prices are right in line with every other food stall at the Queen Vic Night Market -- i.e., a couple of dollars overpriced, but you're paying for the atmosphere of the place. Really great food stall. I'll be back.

Their service and staff are perfect and very hospitable and friendly. Their menu has only few item…read morebut they are all vegetarian and all are very tasty and yummy.

As a first-timer in Australia, I have been constantly amazed by the level of quality cuisine…read moreoffered in every neighborhood pub I've visited - but, Green Man's Arms stands within a class of its own. My partner and I stopped in for a quick pint and a snack, and little did I know that an Heirloom Tomato salad would change my life forever. Sure, you may be laughing by this point - but, this pub deserves a Michelin star or two, and a 3rd for offering an entirely vegetarian/vegan menu. The bartenders are welcoming and attentive, and the ambiance is equally welcoming and laidback. As soon as I return to Melbourne, this pub will be one of my first stops!

This place has certainly changed quite a bit over the years. In fact I still remember when it was…read morebasically an old man pub, but that is no longer the case. Then again a lot of the old man pubs have silently gone the way of the Dodo over the years. These days it is much more like a restaurant, though you can still come here and simply have a beer. As for beers, well, they do have a pretty decent selection available as well, and the place is also quite relaxing. I didn't mind it at all.

Hidden behind Leo's supermarket from the main road, the cafe has floor to ceiling glass windows at…read morethe front, overlooking the supermarket carpark. Parking is for 2 hours with additional 2 hour parking space available just across from the supermarket parking on Brougham Street. V Series was previously known to locals as 'A Caterpillar's Dream' and under new management, the same management/family as Tao's Restaurant in Bulleen, it has now become V Series with the same head chef. The cafe like the previous cafe still serves contemporary vegetarian food with vegan and gluten free options. When we arrived at 11:30am on a Saturday, the supermarket parking was very full so we drove through to the car park on Brougham Street. The cafe itself was reasonably calm and having tried the food, I am a little surprised that was the case. The menu itself, I must admit was a little overwhelming with a mish mash of cuisines and types of food available; meaning there's basically something for everyone on the menu (a great place to cater for a group with different preferences). Instead of the usual vegetarian breakfast items or pasta and burger (next time perhaps!), we opted to try a few dishes from their noodle, bento and small items menu which clearly had an Asian influence to them. Dishes that make up this review: Stewed tomato noodles (vegan); V Series's signature Taiwanese tomato broth noodle ($16). Extremely appetising with the sweet and a little sour broth. Bento box (vegan); teriyaki mock chicken served with multigrain rice, spring roll, enoki tempura and pumpkin salad ($18). I wasn't a huge fan of the multigrain rice (perhaps a little too healthy for me hehe...) but the variety and the rest of the bento was delicious. Not normally being a fan of mock meat, I actually did enjoy this and found it to be as close to the real thing as it can be in flavour but not in texture. Green tea soba noodle (vegan); organic Japanese green tea buck wheat noodles tossed with avocado, spinach, kale, goji berries, cashew and sesame seeds ($16). A cold dish with a nice sesame dressing and fresh salad. I didn't personally love the goji berries in the mix (they kind of stick to your teeth) but that aside, I enjoyed the dish and probably will request no goji berries next time. Crispy peking bean curd bun (vegan); Asian style steamed bun stuffed with daikon pickles, cucumber, coriander and peanuts ($10 for 2). The bun was nice and soft even once cooled down (after all the photo taking), the bean curd was crispy and the Peking sauce was delicious. A great combination that surprisingly works. Vegan cupcakes; salted caramel and cheesecake ($5.50 for regular sized and $2.80 for mini). The cheesecake cupcake was definitely a first for me and probably my favourite of the two (I could not tell the difference between the real thing versus vegan). The salted caramel cupcake on the other hand while still tasty and moist, I could tell the texture of the chocolate cupcake was not exactly the same as its non-vegan counterpart. Fo0die dined as a guest of V Series. Therefore this review has not covered the customer service aspect of the cafe. Follow me on Instagram for more photos: @fo0die

Really impressed by the quality of food on offer at this vege/vegan cafe. Went for breakfast and…read morehad the matcha pancakes (please put them back on the menu!) - range of freshly-made juices were also fantastic!

This is only losing a star because they forgot to give me cutlery and a lack of credit card…read morefacilities! This is a vegetarian restaurant and has amazing choices! I was over the moon. I couldn't decide between entrees so for such a cheap price I got two. I had fried wontons and fried tofu entrees and for my main was polenta haven. The wontons were delicious with a lovely sweet sauce drizzled over them. The fried tofu came with a gorgeous sauce for dipping but the masterpiece of this place was the polenta haven! Omg dreamy - a large chunk of polenta within a bean and tomato stew base. Heaven! Highly recommend

Drive past here all the time - stopped in for dinner and it was great…read more Great value and friendly service, main meals are actually really large sizes as well.

Great veggie/vegan spot! Lots of different food options. The space is massive. Very vibrant…read moreatmosphere. Probably one of my favorite vegan pizzas I've had. The truffle mushroom. It didnt have layer of awful vegan cheese. Just a sprinkle of vegan parm. Delicious. Tried the "chicken" bao and the cookie sundae. Also amazing. If I had more time in Melbourne, I'd go back

Vegetarian cuisine of the Moosewood globalized variety…read more You can find something like this place in any US College Town. BUT Execution is much much much much better than at the standard collegiate vegetarian place. This is vegan eating done right! My lovely wife ate at this place several times, ate all over the menu and was generally ecstatic. I had just one meal one time.' I had Peking Duck Wrap with vegan duck and plain old onion rings. The onion rings were absolutely first rate. They were far far better than the onion rings I get in the bars, grills and burger joints I frequent at home. The duck wrap was positively huge and was wonderul eating. Chinese vegan duck is wonderful stuff anyway. The garnishings and sauces, along with the huge size off the whole production, made this a treat. Are the desserts wonderful? I wish I could tell you. After all those rings, and all that vegan duck with vegetables, I had turned into my suitcase. When I leave Melbourne tomorrow, My suitcases will be crammed as full as it is physically possible to cram a suitcase. And that super-stuffed condition is me right now after having come home from the Vegie Bar.

Lovely little vegetarian café that's recently become my local. Very high quality food, coffee is…read morealways delicious, and I can eat everything there! Staff are lovely, to boot.

This cafe has only been open a few weeks and its great to see it is all vegetarian. We popped in…read moretoday for breakfast/brunch as we'd seen a great photo of the food/menu. We ordered the vegetarian big breakfast, but got it made vegan. It was amazing. On the plate was toast, guacomole, salsa, mushrooms, spinach, scrambled tofu, potato, beans, and tomatoes. It was all well cooked and tasted amazing. Suffice to say i was pretty full when we left. The place itself is pretty open and filled with light. The staff were really friendly and service really quick. The coffee was really good as well. Will definitely be back. Great new addition to Brunswick!

I came here with some friends on night. One of them has been here before and she really liked it,…read moreso I was excited to try out this mock meat restaurant. For 8 people, we ordered 6 banquets and one additional main dish and wow, there was a lot of food! Some of the "meat" dishes was more convincing than others. (I really liked the duck. The beef was a good attempt.) But more importantly, the sauces and spices were balanced very well with the mock meat, so each dish was great. None of them made you feel "here is a failed attempt at mock meat that tastes terrible" because even the not-as-convincing dishes tasted great. The menu can be quite entertaining, because most of the plate names don't have the word "mock" in them. So as I read something like "sizzling beef," I thought "I'm vegetarian, so I can't order this," and then I realized "oh, this is actually sizzling mock beef!" I wonder if it would be possible to bring a friend into the restaurant and trick him/her into thinking it was all real meat!

Every so often you come across a restaurant that will keep on dragging you back, it's cheap, it's…read moreeasy, the food is fantastic... Enlightened Cuisine is one of those restaurants. Sort of. Though maybe not for the right reasons. As a vegetarian living in Southbank I have eaten here a number of times and have always found the food to be rather hit and miss. Sometimes everything will be fantastic and other times you will leave the restaurant with the sneaking suspicion that you've just wasted your money. While not overly expensive, Enlightened still isn't exactly cheap for the quality of the food that you're getting - you're going to struggle to find a main on the menu for under $20 and some meals really feel like they should be priced in the 12-15 dollar range. Don't get me wrong - I have eaten here may times and enjoyed myself - the beef with black bean sauce is excellent and the chicken with satay is definitely a worth a try, but the good meals can be let down by others which don't quite match up. The vegetable and oyster sauce for instance comes accross as rather bland and oily and there are a number of dishes where the msg tickles at the back of your throat just a little too much. My advice is to turn up with a few people and order a number of different dishes and share them so that you can find out what you do like and what you don't - the menu is rather expansive so it may take you a number of visits to find something that you really like - once you do however you will probably end up coming back. After all there aren't that many mock meat places in the area to choose from, decent or other wise.

A local institution, I found this place nice in atmosphere, appealing in its food offerings, and…read moreyet a bit too costly. I didn't mind it as a vacation splurge, but if I lived here I'd have to limit my visits. That being said, that was a fantastic laksa; sweet and lemongrass flavored with a wonderful array of toppings and inclusions, notably tempeh and some very thin sliced mushrooms. A rounded, satisfying meal to be sure. It came mild, but they offered me some sort of chilli sauce; it was delicious with or without. I would have been happy to explore the rest of their offerings.

I've been to Shakahari (and Shakahari Too in South Melbourne) maybe 5-6 times over the past few…read moreyears and was always a little bit disappointed. The taste and quality of the food just never really seemed to jibe with the price, which is on the slightly higher end for the portion sizes. I always walked out of there thinking I had spent too much money on a pleasant but overpriced meal. But eating here tonight, I was not at all disappointed and in fact would now be perfectly happy recommending Shakahari to vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. I've tried lots of different things on their menu over years, but nothing really wowed me. Tonight though I had the Malaysian curry, and it was super-yum. It's definitely a step up from your standard cheap-o Asian coconut milk curry, with way more "sophisticated" flavours than what I've had at hawker markets in Asia, so I didn't mind paying the $22.50 for it. It had a slightly gourmand feel to it, with intriguing flavour combinations like the "mustard pear chutney" which was really pretty tasty. My boyfriend had the stew with quinoa and really enjoyed it. We sampled from each other's plates and while I liked his meal too, the Malaysian curry was better. His stew overall tasted healthy and fresh, whereas the Malaysian curry tasted more hearty and warming (and probably less healthy, ha.) But we would happily order both again. Ambience-wise, this place is REALLY loud and echo-y at dinner time when it fills up with diners. It's probably way more pleasant at off-peak hours. We could barely hear each other speak, it was so loud. The place itself is cute -- an old house with creaky old floorboards and bright paint and high ceilings -- but no real decor to speak of and doesn't really make you feel cosy and comfortable (but it could with a bit of work. The character's there, the charm's not.) Service was nice. Servers were pretty busy but didn't seem to let that affect them. They were polite and pleasant. Clientele was mostly hipster. Out back there's a really cute garden, but I never see anyone out there using it. Maybe it's not really set up for dining? Honestly their outdoor space is a lot cuter than their indoor space and I could really see them making something out of it in the future. Definitely worth a visit for tasty and inventive vegetarian food, with vegan and gluten-free options clearly marked on the menu. Also a couple of options clearly marked as "no garlic and onion" for those of you who are vegetarian Buddhists too.