Transformer

You know what the sign of a good vegetarian restaurant is? 

When the menu doesn’t read vegetarian at all. 

After a glowing write up in Broadsheet, I expected Transformer, from the people of famous Vegie Bar to be absolutely packed to the brim the morning that Brad and I showed up for breakfast. 

But to our great fortune, the elegantly transformed warehouse space was relatively empty, with plenty of tables at our picking. Mildly disappointed there were no autobots hiding around, but that’s a nerdier conversation for later.

I love how the warehouse space has been divided, so that it feels private, despite being open, with interesting uses of textured concrete and plenty of lovely greenery draped on wire mesh. It’s bright, airy and such a lovely morning space. 

As I’m ogling the menu, it takes me a second to realise that there is no meat on the menu, as it reads so delectably (and maybe borderline pretentiously). 

No chai on the menu yet, so it’s a Lemonzilla tea by Storm in a Teacup, lemongrass, ginger, turmeric, galangal and lemon myrtle. I’m absolutely smitten with it’s golden hue, and is a lovely warming and invigorating tonic to begin the day with. 

Brad’s coffee was looking good too. 

It took a while for me to decide, but for Brad breakfast was a relatively easy decision. Turkish fried eggs, with spelt and seed flat bread, kirmizi biber butter, spiced labneh and silver beet. Now fried eggs aren’t a common menu item, but when they’re done well…well, I’d rather them over poached eggs most days. Gooey yellow yolks, lightly charred egg whites, just the way we like them. I didn’t really try any of Brad’s dish, but despite it’s simple appearance, it’s well done and Brad lapped it all up in a heartbeat.

Now, whilst I had every intention of eating green and clean after my gym session, I could not peel my eyes from the buckwheat and wild rice hotcakes served with coffee-cacao ganache, mascarpone, date syrup and snap dried mandarins. Gluten free hot cakes? That sound totally and utterly delicious? Well hello over there. 

These were just delicious. You would not have guessed they were gluten free, fluffy and remarkably light. With the coffee, chocolate combo, a little coffee dust and mascarpone, the flavour profile reminded me very much of a tiramisu, but not in the overly sweet way. And that date syrup? Mopping up that goodness. 

Feeling pretty full, I decide to also get a digestive tonic, of fresh ginger, cayenne pepper, lemon juice and raw honey. It packs a wallop, especially with the cayenne pepper in there, and is both good sipped, or gulped down (if you can handle it). It certainly helped with the metabolism I reckon! Perfectly warming, especially as winter sneaks in as well.

All in all, I can’t wait to revisit Transformer again, the menu is full of goodness, the space makes me happy to exist in, the waitstaff on the floor are friendly and lovely. Plenty of ticks here for me, and I’m also fascinated to see what dinner is like sometime too. Who doesn’t love visiting somewhere that makes eating veggies so easy? 

Transformer

99 Rose Street

Fitzroy 3065

East of Everything + Smith and Daughters + The General Store

Disclosure: I was invited to the below restaurants and events as a guest 

Goodness, life seems to be getting the best of me, and although I am trying to keep up with the writing…it can be a challenge sometimes! So here's a little round up for a couple of media events I've been invited to…

East of Everything 

Level 3, 72 Auburn Parade

Camberwell 3124

When it comes to going out for a drink, my brain is quick to jump to the city or inner suburbs such as Fitzroy, Collingwood or Richmond, which are littered with funky little bars and some nice drinking holes.

But out in Camberwell? Who would've thought a great little beer spot could be found there? 

East of Everything brings a fantastic selection of rotating beers on tap and food from the Southern states of America to a surprisingly light and bright space (c'mon, who doesn't think dark and pub-like when they think beer?) tucked up a rather unassuming staircase. On a sunny summer evening, it was a very soothing environment to be in as light poured through the windows. 

A tasting paddle was the perfect way to get a nice taste of a couple of the beers, from left to right we sampled a Kolsch from the Mornington Peninsula Brewery, a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Hargreaves Hill El Dorada IPA and a Beer Here Vinter Ale. 

I particularly adored the lightness of the Kolsch, bringing me back to my time in Dusseldorf, where Cologne, or Köln, was just a half hour train ride away, where Kolsch is the specialty brew. And although the weather was not typical weather for a dark and heavy beer, like the Vinter Ale, I loved how Christmassy it tasted, making me wish for a white Christmas!

With good beer, comes good food (or so we hope) and East of Everything does not let you down. We're talking mac n' cheese croquettes, pulled pork and the piece de resistance? A fried chicken po'boy. Awwww damn!

The mouth waters on sight, with a rich barbecue sauce spread over a perfectly crunchy and fried piece of chicken. It's surprisingly juicy, off set with just a bit of slaw hidden at the back, to make sure you kids are still eating your veg. 

Brad and I had actually visited East of Everyting once before, and I honestly think it makes for a great date spot with it's chilled out vibe, and I guess if your date can handle a full po'boy, they're surely a keeper…

Smith and Daughters 

172 Brunswick Street

Fitzroy 3065

Call me stupid, but it didn't occur to me that a 'plant based' menu meant vegan for the longest time. Honestly! 

So I was honestly genuinely surprised to rock up at the Smith and Daughters preview to learn that everything was indeed vegan (with the waitresses rocking out 'vegan' shirts). 

But even then, I wasn't entirely convinced as I browsed the menu and found 'tuna' croquettes and 'prawns' in the paella, but true to their word, it is indeed vegan, with any 'meat' to be found made out of vegetable protein, but the 'vegan' aspect is not what they're trying to promote, which I think is honestly a very clever move. 

After all if the food is banging, is it really going to hurt anyone to eat more vegetables? Probably not. And fortunately at Smith and Daughters, the food was amazing, with so much variance in flavour and variety. I tend to find vegetarian places tend to taste a little same, same sometimes, but definitely not here!

From the zesty and bright oyster mushroom and white bean ceviche, to the fresh and homey flavours of the tamales, to the earthy and richly spiced aromas of the pazole. 

I was definitely very impressed with the paella, bursting with tomatoey goodness and a surprising depth I wasn't necessarily expecting. Complete with faux prawn. We were all given a small bowl, and I would have easily gone for seconds…if I had the tummy space! 

One absolutely cannot miss out on the jalapeno, cucumber and coriander margarita which is definitely one of my favourite cocktails of the year currently. Savoury, salty, spiciness, alcohol, what's really not to like? 

The General Store

213 Franklin Street

Melbourne 

"It looks like the guys from American Pickers walked in and threw up on the place."

This was Brad's immediate observations upon walking through a fridge, in lieu of a door, and into the General Store, on a quiet corner of Franklin Street opposite the Queen Victoria Market. 

Inspired by old US Trading Posts that later evolved into store that sold just about everything, the General Store is a curious space, where one can get some food for a nibble, a drink or three, sit on out of commission coffee machines, buy your groceries…and even get your hair cut by the in-house barber. 

Righto. 

The place is huge, two buildings with a common courtyard in the middle. Even when the bar was heaving with load beats and limited personal space, it was nice to be able to find a relatively quiet corner to take catch a breather, or at least hear your friend! 

There was a great mix of booze on the night, Fog City's sangria making an appearance, a great Canadian Club cocktail (which was far too easy to drink) in mandatory hipster mason jars, and Trumpeters alcoholic ice tea, which was probably my favourite thing of the night. 

My other favourite thing of the night (I can have more than one right?) is this milk crate Statue of Liberty which stands in the courtyard, which is also used as a vertical vegetable patch, where bartenders freshly pick their garnishes for their cocktails. 

Not everyone's kind of interesting, but I wouldn't say no if I was in the area (especially with those nachos…) 

Shakahari

Just off a bustling Lygon Street, a street with a rather loud personality, opposite an always full Brunetti's, is an unsuspecting and modest little house (surprising considering it is bright orange). It's easy to miss, like a lot of Melbourne cafes and restaurants, but naturally once in, it's usually not what you expect from the outside! I sort of expected a slightly more Indian-esque interior, but it's really very simple and well, very orange.

Shakahari is one of Melbourne's vegetarian instutitions, having been around for over 18 years. The menu definitely has a slight Asian skew to it, but there is variety, with some fairly experimental and innovative dishes, along with some fairly basic and easy to love dishes (spaghetti etc. etc.). We were here for a friend's birthday, who has been vegetarian for quite some time and could not stop praising the food.

So I was quite excited!





We got a few starters to share, the 'Avacado Magic' captured my imagination. Did I forget to mention they have a great assortment of gluten free menu items as well? Avocado wedges and red capsicums, rolled in thin eggplant slices then 'Tempura' fried in a rice batter, served with a jade green sesame coriander puree. Apparently a signature dish and I can certainly see why. It's almost like a vegetable sushi deep fried....lots of interesting textures, the tempura batter was tasty and just beautifully crunchy. Inside the batter and eggplant, the avocado and capsicum retained their original soft texture and added a nice sweetness. Quite an interesting dish!





Another gluten free starter for sharing, the Chia, Buckwheat, Besan Trio. Crusty flatbread made of chia seed, buckwheat flour and chickpea flour. Served with a tangy, coriander and almond coconut dip. The flatbread wasn't so crusty as I somewhat hoped for, but the dip (more like a spread) was just to die for, I just wanted more!



The birthday boy and David went for the 'Satay Shakahari', deep fried skewers of beancurd, seitan, onion and capsicum with a mild peanut sauce. Served with pickles, blanched greens and tumeric rice. I hadn't even realised these were deep fried when I helped myself to some of David's! It was really light and not particularly oily. And honestly, who doesn't love a good peanut sauce? Mmmmmm.



The birthday boy's brother went with the green, green laksa, with a buckwheat and wheat mixed noodle, lots of vegetables and a coconut broth. Beautiful and warming, the brother was complaining slightly that it wasn't really spicy and it didn't quite have the bite, but for most people I think it would be just enough. Great flavours, although don't have this if you like your super traditional Malaysian laksa!





I opted for the 'Tokyo Awaken', unpolished red rice cooked with riso, diced kombu and vegetables. Served with a spinach and mashed tofu salad, ponzu braised pumpkin, leeks and daikon. Ah, so refreshing, I adore, adore, adore wild rice and it's not something you come across too often. I always fail at trying to describe the texture (what adjectives would you guys use...?) but I love the nuttiness and the flavour, there's so much more complexity to it than just regular rice. The spinach salad wasn't too excited, but I loved the flavours in the braised pumpkin and daikon. A very refreshing, healthy and tasty combination.

Service I felt was a little bit hit and miss, it took a while to get anyone's attention to get drinks, the first girl I managed to get to notice us, promptly told us she'd get the person looking after our table to attend to us. However, once we had our waiter's attention, he was quite courteous and the food came out very promptly. I'd describe the service as a bit casual and unpolished, but it doesn't damper the experience too much.

My friend made the comment that Shakahari is really the only vegetarian 'restaurant' in Melbourne. Yes, there are places that do, do vegetarian pretty well and yes there are lots of cute cafes or smaller places (like Yong Green Food) that do vegetarian well. But they're not quite under the same umbrella as a 'restaurant'. Which is a shame, Shakahari proves it vegetarian can be very innovative (the salad selection on the menu only had two items on it), satisfying and enjoyable.

Shakahari
203 Faraday St
Carlton, 3053