Yeti Eats: Vegan Melbourne

Any discussion of our admittedly brief time in Melbourne has to start with Lord of the Fries. This has to be the least healthy vegan restaurant in the world, and we loved it! Fries, onion rings, nuggets, burgers, sauces from around the world, and it’s all vegan! (I keep emphasizing this because I didn’t know it when I visited in 2008.) We ate here each day, and while it was all great, the spicy burger perhaps was the best. But as you can see below, it was difficult to choose.

Everything on the menu = vegan

Everything on the menu = still vegan

We would buy a bag full of goodies, wander around until we found an unclaimed bench or stairs, and then munch away.

Lord of the Fries burger

Vegan does not necessarily equal healthy.

There were plenty of other, cheaper places with all you can eat curry. Since we were leaving for Asia, we regretfully passed them up, but they looked great. (Spoiler: Not that regretfully, since Lord of the Fries is so good.)

Cheap buffet!

But lest you think we one-trick (soy) ponies, we sampled other places too. This cupcake was a real find on the way to Patagonia in South Yara. They had about a dozen different kind of mini-cupcakes; needless to say, all were vegan. And presumably all delicious.

Vegan Cookies and Cream Cupcake

We also had a great dinner in St. Kilda. Though there were a lot of options, we hadn’t been out for pizza in over a year-and-a-half. This place had insane pizzas (Rachel got a curry one) and was relatively cheap (for Melbourne, anyway.)

Our first pizza for many moons.

Mr Natural’s Awesome Pizza

We didn’t go here, but the rest of the world did. Cool idea though, and super popular to prove it.

Co-op restaurant; pay what you think is far

We met Dave from What’sDaveDoing our last night in Auckland, and having lived in Melbourne for a few years he recommended Veggie Bar in Fitzroy to us.

Fuzzy picture / Crowded Place

Like “As Lentil As Anything,” this place was crowded! (See the above picture if you can.) It was hard to choose from the extensive menu, as well.

Deliciousness

They had no room inside, but we grabbed take-out and found a nearby bench (creatures of habit, we are.)

Veggie Bar: Nachos and Tahini Tempeh

It doesn’t compare with the cheapness and ubiquity of vegan food in Portland–not yet! But since my first visit in 2005, the vegan scene has grown in soyleaps and tempehbounds. Melbourne is a place that could make any vegan happy (except, maybe, a poor one.)