IL GOBBO.

Okay so something pretty exciting happened last Friday night. IL GOBBO opened, in ESSENDON! YAY! We moved from Brunswick to Essendon a few months ago and man does it suck leaving all the noms. We pretty much downgraded to a crappy IGA that stocks nothing interesting and a milk bar that is never open...

THEN we heard about new vegan place IL GOBBO and had to see it to believe it. Oh my god.

I got The Spot Burger - meat, cheese, bacon, onion, pickles, ketchup and mayo. The chips were fresh made which was a little too exciting for me. Actual potatoes cut up and fried instead of a bag of frozen chips. Man they were awesome. The burger... was actually the best vegan burger I've ever had. It was very LOTF but better. The bacon was not facon, thank god and actually had flavour and texture. I was immediately happy to live so close and very afraid to live so close.

Tess got The Bogan Burger (of which you can only see bun - sorry) - chicken, herbed mayo, lettuce, beetroot, pineapple and cheese. She says it was absolutely delicious. I was too busy scoffing my Spot Burger to steal a taste.

I already spent the whole weekend raving about this place and am waiting for the first moment I can sneak back. Do this guys, seriously.

Sausage rolls and relish.

 

I'm cooking a few dishes for a friend's wedding soon and spent the weekend as a test run.

Recipe SUCCESS!

Sausage rolls were insanely good and were scoffed down by three meat-eaters that day!

The reviews assured me that the rolls were super meaty-tasting but I had doubts (tofu, walnuts... oats!), way too hippy for my liking.

Still I gave it a go and am seriously glad I did as this meal is going straight to the pool room.

I also made relish to accompany, as I'm fancy.

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Half Moon Cafe.

Half Moon Cafe gets amazing reviews and is said to have the "best felafel in Melbourne"...

A challenge!

I accepted.

Went there last week and ordered aforementioned best felafel in Melbourne.

Felafel won.

Moist, tasty, fresh cooked, lot's of pickles and hommus on fresh chewy bread...

Okay Half Moon, you made the list (a list in my phone of about a million and three new fave places to eat in Melbourne.)

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La Panella Bakery.

 Heaven.

 Sausage roll.

 Curry pie.

 Jam doughnut.

Chocolate muffin.

 Chocolate walnut slice.

 Veggie pastie.

Coffee cinnamon scroll.

Remnants of an apple pie (FRENZY before I could photograph... the shame.)

Mushroom, veggie and veggie meat pie.

The softest and most delicious wholemeal bread I've ever eaten - $1.80. 

My downfall.

The end of days.

Gym membership = useless.

The intense love and hate that I felt for my boyfriend the day he took me to La Panella still resonates in me.

Basically he was like "so there's a vegan bakery in Preston, 5mins drive from your house... wanna go?"

Me - "yeah whatever, you're so obsessed with bakeries, how good can it be?"...

OH MY GOD.

I've spent a good hour tossing up whether or not I should share this here as the shame that follows is depressing...

So we walk in to the bakery, I see that there are shelves and shelves of vegan marked treats.

Of course everything is old world prices, $1.50 vegan sausage rolls, $2 pies, $1.30 jam doughnuts etc. etc.

Well what choice did we have?

We bought it all.

There was a FRENZY, I don't know what came over me.

Seriously, we spent $20 and got 11 items plus a drink... ELEVEN BAKERY GOODS FOR UNDER $20.

Although we didn't eat ALL of it on the pavement outside, we did eat most of it...

I drove home a broken and bloated lady.

What am I meant to do with myself now that I know there are AMAAAAAAAZING $1.50 VEGAN SAUSAGE ROLLS RIGHT NEAR MY HOUSE!?

*sigh, my will power has been doing double time.

Anyway enough of the rant, I am sure you get the idea by this point.

La Panella = cheap, delicious, vegan bakery goods and certain doom to my bathroom scales.

GO THERE.

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Cauliflower and caramalised onion tart.

Wow you guys, epic recipe win!!

I've had this tart recipe on my 'to cook' list for about a year.

The tofu and nutritional yeast had put me off - I was a bit less into that stuff then.

I was mostly into fresh produce and legumes in the beginning.

A year into veganism and I'm feeling a bit more love for cooking experiments.

So, last night - it was time.

It may have taken two hours to make (am sure it will be faster next time when I'm not obsessively re-reading the recipe) but, absolutely worth it.

Not only was the tart DELICIOUS but it will make a fine lunch today and also won me many love points from the (incredibly spoilt) resident boy :)

PUT THIS TART IN YOU, seriously.

Priya.

 

Priya ready Indian meals = lazy lunch score!

I keep these in my desk at work with single serve brown rice bowls.

4 minutes in total in the microwave and $2.50 lunch.

I top with fresh squeezed lemon, yes indeed.

Ykillamoocow.

Live in Brisbane?

Ykillamoocow has a stall at the West End markets on weekends.

The 'no bull' pies are the freakiest beef pie-tasting things ever (in the best possible way) and the pumpkin and barley sasage rolls are amazing too.

Tried a dagwood dog on the weekend and it was pretty delicious!

P.S the 'no bull' pies are also stocked at The Forest cafe in West End :)

Syndian.

Syndian burgers = delicious.

Not the cheapest patties available (4 for about $6-7) BUT seriously tasty.

Junky take-away.

UPDATE AUGUST 18 2013 - Nandos veggie burgers are no longer vegan.


I have done extensive research into this one.

Hungry Jacks veggie patties have cheese in them, so even asking for no mayo or cheese is a no go (which is lame cause they are delicious!)

Nandos however have great vegan veggie burgers (asking for no mayo of course) and the peri peri chips are an epic win.

I eat a faiiiiir bit of those...

Anyways, Oporto veggie burgers are vegan (minus the mayo/cheese) and they are a very tasty treat.

Pizza Hut and Dominos have dairy in their pizza sauce, so no escaping that.

Eagle Boys however is great as their sauce (and therefore dairy-free veggie pizzas) is vegan and they're the tastiest pizza chain anyways.

So yeah, your diabetes can thank me later but your tastebuds can thank me now!

P.S yes there is cheese on that Eagle Boys pizza pic, but use your imagination people :)

Arnotts Roadies.

The new chilli flavored Roadies are vegan, and delicious.

Sakata.

With so many chips and crackers containing cheese powder it can be hard to find junky/party snacks that vegans can enjoy.

I've eaten maaaaaaany bags of original Kettle chips and plain salted crackers.

I found Sakata whole grain crackers on the weekend, the smokey BBQ flavour was vegan!

I can't find a pic though so here, behold original whole grain sakata crackers.

The smokey BBQ ones were very tasty and a welcomed change.

Actually, while on the topic - BBQ flavoured shapes and Peckish salt'n'vinegar Thins are vegan, woo!

 

 

Naan.

 

Naan bread is made with yoghurt and usually ghee or milk too.

Eating out at Indian places just got a little sadder.

Eating in however, there is nothing to fear.

Space Bazaar on Logan Road near Garden City sells bulk packs of vegan naan!

It's only a few dollars for a three pack but each naan is a bit bigger than a pizza, huge.

I buy the pack then cut the naans into single serve pieces then freeze.

On curry nights I grab a couple out, cover them in fresh minced garlic, oil and salt then bake 'til crispy - amazing.

Also, a great cheat's naan is Pampas reduced fat pastry.

You cut it into pieces, then throw in a hot fry pan.

When bottom side is cooking add fresh garlic, oil and salt (and I add chopped herbs) to the top then carefully flip.

Each piece puffs up in the pan and you just press it down with spatula.

It's cooked and crisp in about a minute and tastes JUST like chewy naan.