More Vegan grub!

Newtown may be the most populated with vegan offerings but there are plenty options elsewhere in Sydney. As I mentioned in the previous post, Sydney chain IKU whole foods have various locations in the CBD, Glebe, Rozelle, Bondi. I have often visited the one in the Westfield (Pitt St) food court in the CBD when working in the area as its nutritious and reasonably priced. The salad dressing is so good that they even sell bottles of it to take home! In the CBD there is Mother Chu on Pitt St which is a home style Chinese restaurant with a huge menu to select from. Bodhi is a more upper class Asian dining option in Cook and Philip Park with a Chinese/yum cha menu. I loved their tom yum soup but was unimpressed with their duck pancakes. On Oxford St  I would tend to opt for the great North Indian Diner which has a good selection of vegan curries at a price you just can’t beat. It has a small sit in area or take-away. Sambreo a Mexican chain store also on Oxford St advertises that they do vegan versions but this did not include vegan cheese or sour cream(when I went to the Townsville one anyway), however California Burrito on Crown St does have the option of vegan cheese and sour cream yay, it makes it so much better! Near to this burrito shop, on Cleveland St the Maya  Vegetarian Indian Restaurant is well worth a visit. The jackfruit curry I had was amazing and they have a couple of dairy free Indian sweets too, bonus, I bloody love Indian sweets! Nourishing Quarter also on Cleveland St, is very popular so you will always have to book. It has the cutest vintage décor and some really healthy, but comforting dishes. Sydney vegetarian institution Govinda’s is a great way to spend an evening. Eat a huge buffet then veg out with your food baby in their lie down cinema up the stairs.
Now it’s a bit of trek out of the city(about 50mins by train) but the suburb of Cabramatta which has a large Vietnamese community has lots of vegan restaurants and shops with a huge range of vegan products. I swear I was so excited the first time I went there, seeing the huge freezers of every type of mock meat product you can imagine and also lots of fabric shops with ridiculously cheap fabric- I was in heaven!. The area around John St at the Belvedere Arcade has heaps of vegan eateries such as Green Palace Thai, Duy Linh and Loving Hut plus the best shop called Just Green Health Food Store. I swear the amount of stuff in this place in unreal: vegan eggs, bacon, chicken drumsticks, calamari, cheesecakes, chocolate, dried goods, cheeses, pies, you name it they’ve got it! I will definitely be back in Cabramatta again before I leave Sydney.

Cabramatta

Oh yeah!

yes for real!- very good ontop of fried rice/

Obviously there are more places that I have not name checked or that I even know about, we are just so lucky here in Sydney to have so much to choose from. I think the next place on my list to visit is a reasonably new vegan Indian on Broadway called Vrnda’s.

Vegan munchies in Sydney part 1

Living in Sydney as a vegan has been nothing short of awesome. It seems everywhere is so much more knowledgeable, its not just limited to the fully vegan establishments. For example coffee (something that the Aussies take almost as seriously as their sport), in the UK, if you want a coffee with soy milk you’d either have to go to a vegan café or a huge chain such as Starbucks, but here all vendors be it a small hole in the wall at the station or a quirky hidden oasis, all carry soy and damn do they make good coffee. I don’t think I’ll ever be satisfied when I go back to the UK. And most restaurants seem to do at least something vegetarian that isn’t just a cheese loaded pasta. I think the Asian influence in Australia helps a lot. If you are stuck you can always find something like sushi or pho on nearly every corner.
The suburb where I live is Newtown and its famed for its quirky residents and vegan food. I love living here, if I had more money I’d probably eat out every night. You can get cheap Chinese and Thai food at Green Gourmet and Blossom Lotus on King St, both do hot plate buffets that you can take away as well as order from the menu. Vegans’ Choice supermarket next to Green Gourmet stocks lots of faux meat products in their freezers as well as cheeses, cakes and homemade tofu ice cream. There is Vina a vegetarian Vietnamese too. Your best choice for vegan pizza is at Basil Pizza, try the animal lovers its amazing! They also do a great brekky on the weekends. You can also get vegan pizza at Mad which is situated in Civic video, its not as good as Basil but you can get good offers when you rent a movie too. For weekend brunch APT in Berkelouw books on O' Connell St, is fantastic. They have different specials every week as well as staples such as pancakes and full breakfasts. Sadhana Kitchen does stunning raw foods, I love to go there for a coffee and one of their many raw cakes which are always very decadent. On Enmore Road close by, there is Spoons vegetarian butcher, they do hot snacks like ‘popcorn’ tofu bites to take away and you can buy packs of sausages, burgers and schnitzels to stock up your fridge. I am especially fond of the schnitzels. You can get vegan options in may other places too, like the Indian restaurants, they advertise their dairy-free options on the menu, you can veganise a couple of burgers in the chain store Burgerlicious, and Gelato Blue ice-cream parlour has a whole section of sorbets, but be sure to try the chocolate- it’s the best chocolate ice cream/sorbet I have ever had.
Bondi is remarkably vegan friendly. My favourite Funky Pies (not biased or anything!!) is situated a couple of streets back from the beach but well worth going to. A large range of fully vegan pies, (available with mash, peas and gravy if you wish) coffee, cakes, ice-cream and a small selection of grocery items such as vegan cheese and bacon, make this a winner. Close to Funky Pies there's also Sababba, which does the most amazing falafel pockets, and IKU Whole food where you will find lots of healthy options such as salads, macro burgers, millet balls and stews. IKU is a chain of stores, they also have locations in the city, Glebe, Rozelle and Neutral Bay. Close to the beach, ice cream giants Gelatissimo, do a large range of dairy free sorbets. Miss Chu, a popular Vietnamese tuck shop chain, has a spot on Campbell’s’ parade, they have a few vegan options such as dumplings. Laurie’s Vegetarian on Bondi road, is bit of a walk from the beach but they do lots of lovely fresh salads and burgers. I believe there is a new place near Laurie’s, called Bondi Organic café which stocks a lot of IKU whole foods items but I have not been in yet.

Phew! thats a lot of places and I haven't even started on the city centre yet! Sydney vegans sure are lucky. Sorry for the lack of photos but I don't tend to photograph my food, I just get stuck in!

Some Funky Pies to wet your appetite.