West 48: 48 Essex Street West Footscray

This is my favourite café in Melbourne and the place that convinced me that living in West Footscray would be more than just okay.

The reason? They have vegan food options on the menu, which automatically means a dish that fits my needs – vegetables, no egg and no dairy. Plus, they know how to cook bacon. This my friend is how you cook bacon – crispy but still flexible.

My favourite dish at the moment is the egg dukka roll with no egg. Homemade hummus, plenty of dukka, greens and the aforementioned crispy bacon, none of that half raw rubbish that has me thinking about tape worms, eew.

The staff are also really nice. They have fresh juice and they don’t bat an eyelid when I change the menu. All round food goodness with many options for me to try in the future. Three ticks – I’m coming back again and again. Since the menu always changes and they have a daily special, I'm sure I won't get bored

Disclaimer – I ate half my meal before I took this picture and then I had to try reassemble it. I can never finish this and they have so many yummy yummy seeds and nuts in their dukka, which this picture does not clearly show. Tummy bliss.

Smith & Daughters: 175 Brunswick Street Fitzroy Melbourne

Vegan food to drool over. I wanted to eat everything on the menu and had such a hard time deciding.
I settled on the jalapeno and corn fritters with vegan sour cream, smokey coconut bacon and maple syrup. So tasty, so rich, so filling. I sadly didn't have room for dessert and ended up with a sugar headache from all the maple syrup (the chilli and orange sparkling mineral water didn't help the matter) but it was very much worth it. 

My friend ordered the hash with vegan cheese sauce, guacamole, and spicy tomato sauce. I can vouch for its Mexican inspired goodness and tell you that I'm inspired to try making a vegan cheese sauce for tonight's dinner.  

This is vegan food that makes you feel like you're not missing out by forgoing animal products. With its rockabilly vibe and cosy atmosphere it's a total winner. 

Three ticks.

Sushi Masa: 10 Bourke Street Melbourne

Final blog post for year, I'm going to finish it off telling you about a great little Japanese place in the city. 

At Sushi Masa a Japanese man prepares made to order sushi or sashimi for the lunch crowd. The restaurant smells like the ocean and the food is fresh, plentiful and delightful.

My go to favourite is the vegetable bento box with vegetable tempura, agedashi tofu (crispy and well balanced), nasu dengaku (grilled eggplant with miso sauce), miso soup, rice and salad (the potato salad is not fussy eater friendly). Very filling, I haven't managed to eat it all yet but it is worth a try, particularly for $16.50. 

Senor Gringo gets the sushi and sashmini combo and I'm game for a little teeny bit of the raw tuna dabbed with wasabi. Their teriyaki beef is also a winner and the lunch menu is about half the price of the dinner menu.

Three ticks. It deserves recognition.  

Advieh: 71b Gamon Street, Seddon

If you don't live locally, it's okay, Advieh is worth the drive. 

Advieh serves yummy Turkish and Moroccan food, including platters, mix and match entree sized portions and a wide variety of salads and wraps, many of which are vegan. Celiacs will also be happy here, as will everybody else with taste buds. Plus, they have genuinely friendly staff and a variety of desserts, some of which are egg and dairy free (though not vegan), yay!

I tend to match the Turkish sausage with three mini salads and a beautifully made coffee or soy chai (with actual spice, not that powder rubbish). Senor Gringo gets something different every time and has never been disappointed. The stand outs for him have been moroccan meatballs with three salads and yoghurt sauce; dukka eggs with pesto, avocado, rocket and sausage; sauteed mushrooms with Bulgarian fetta and poached eggs; and brushetta with fresh tomato and basil.

I'm trying to find some photos I have taken, I know I don't always just drool and tuck in but alas, I must have deleted them. Food pics will be added soon. 

This cafe is a stand out that consistently performs well above average with fresh, flavoursome food and coffee. Plus, bonus, if you have a lemon tree you can exchange four lemons for a free coffee - good for everyone. 

When it comes to breakfast I'm a bit of a bread addict but I don't need it at Advieh, which is a big call! 

Three ticks.

A platter customised for a fussy eater - falafel, home made Turkish sausage, roasted onion and peppers, green bean salad with tomatoes, tabbouleh, two dips, chicken for Senor Gringo and (off to the side) meatballs. Such a great meal and for only $22 we were completely stuffed - bargain. 

menu changes regularly

Bangpop: 35 S Wharf Promenade South Whaf

Here is a restaurant that is not getting the attention that it deserves simply because it is in the wrong place - South Wharf. It has food to rival Chin Chin, a great atmosphere and an enviable list of cocktails. 

I walked right in on a Saturday night with no booking, was seated promptly and then struggled to choose what I wanted to eat as everything sounded so appetising. I settled on the pad thai with no egg or shrimp and the pork belly croutons with stir fry Chinese broccoli, soy, chilli and garlic. The dishes were huge but we courageously powered through, did a little dance in our seats and blessed the universe for chefs that can cook so well. 

Words fail me when I try to explain why but I think the following questions say it all: 

• How come some people can cook the food that is served at thousands of other places and just do it so much better? 
• Why aren't more people blessed with this talent?
• Is food allowed to taste this amazing?   

I recommend you take friends, as many friends as you have, and then insist on ordering for all of you so you can taste lots of dishes. They will thank you at the end of the day, even if they do call you bossy. 

Here are some pictures to wet your appetite: 

We're back (after being turned away twice, turns out you need to book for standard dining hours). 

This time we ordered the beef short ribs with salad as well as the vegan rice crackers with a red chilli and herbs dipping sauce (nam prik ta). 

The beef short ribs were AMAZING. They were caramelly and smokey all at once, with a little chilli zing. They were perfectly matched with a cucumber, bean shoot and cashew nut salad that was tangy and citrusy but not too sharp. The rice crackers were also great, my only gripe is that there was not enough sauce. It was so good I wanted more and there was only enough for a little on each cracker. I would order these again to dip in a curry.

We also ordered mocktails. Usually I steer clear from mocktails as I consider them overpriced fruit juice with a distinct lack of booze but these were stunning, with lots of flavour. 

Spicy Fish: 209 Little Bourke St Melbourne

Two words: delicious and yum! This place is going to the top of my Chinese food list (which is actually a really short list, hey I'm fussy!).

The menu contained all the Chinese food essentials. Each of the dishes we ordered had complex flavours with layered spices, which gave me confidence that I could order anything and it would be good.

We ordered the shao long bao (steamed pork buns that contain soup), which were really lovely (think about a dish that you would call lovely, you know it is better than average). Plus, the dry fried chilli beef, which was fabulous.

I was overjoyed to see dry fried chilli beef on the menu. I have not found it anywhere else in Melbourne so far and frankly I was beginning to think something was wrong with the city for its absence (joking, Melbourne is awesome)! Dry fried chilli beef is one of my favourite Chinese food dishes and I don't think I have had it better anywhere else, thank you Spicy Fish. The dish was salty and spicy and a little bit sour. My lips were pleasantly burning at the end and as it was rated as 1 chilli, I would say this place deserves a spice warning in general. I usually go for the spiciest dishes on the menu and often ask for more. If this dish gave me burning lips, I'm curious to see what they rate as three chillis(?!) For the record, Senor Gringo was bright red and had to drink copious amounts of water and he probably represents the general public when it comes to his tolerance level.

   

Three ticks.

 Mm, fried beef goodness

The menu has pretty pictures for everything, so you know what you're getting. 

My Taiwanese friend ordered this. It was basically cold cooked bacon. I couldn't bring myself to eat it but it got a big thumbs up.