At a loose end in the CBD and for once not feeling like Lord of the Fries, Cindy and I finally dropped in on Om Vegetarian. It's almost directly above the Elizabeth Street LotF store and proudly advertises $6.50 all-you-can-eat vegetarian food. While it's not a Krishna place, Om works on a very similar model: $6.50 gets you a big tray of food including a couple of curries, some bread, rice and pickles. It also gets you as many refills as you can handle. You can pay $2 more to get a lassi or a couple of gulab jaman, but the main focus is on the savouries.The menu changes every day, so you can go back with some expectation of variety. We were offered moong dal, a capsicum and potato curry, pulao rice, naan and an onion pickle.
The curries were both fairly simple - warm and filling but not particularly exciting. The star of the show was the naan bread, freshly made, hot and delicious. The staff brought around bread refills and I couldn't resist.Om Vegetarian is a fairly basic sort of place (both in terms of food and décor), but it's made a space for itself because of its tremendous value for money. We saw heaps of people getting full value by making 2 or 3 trips back to the bain marie to reload. Vegans will struggle - there's butter and/or ghee in much of what Om serve - but as a quick, cheap CBD lunch for vegetarians and omnivores, Om does a decent job.
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Om has been praised mainly for its value for money by Oh There You Are, Sweet and Sour Fork, Living Cheap Down Under and Gastrology.
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Om Vegetarian
Level 1, 28 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne
9663 0062
All you can eat veg food $6.50
http://omvegetarian.com/
Accessibility: Om is one floor up, with stair and lift access. The restaurant is fairly spacious and open, with ordering and payment happening at the front counter. We didn't explore their toilets.
This sounds awesome! I loved going checking out all the vegetarian cafes/restaurants when I was in Melbourne :) I'm not sure if you've mentioned these places already- but my favourites were Soul Food and Lentil as Anything (so great!). x
ReplyDeleteI never get why these guys put butter and ghee in everything, other than for religious reasons. So many people are dairy-free, for vegan or allergy reasons.. So frustrating!
ReplyDeletesounds interesting - always looking for cheap and cheerful places in the city - and I stopped going to gopals once Sylvia was born because the idea of getting a pram up all the stairs was too much - so the lift access seems like a great thing
ReplyDeleteHi Hannah - this one's right in the city centre so easy to get to. We're familiar with both your favourites; I once had some awesome French toast at Soul Food. :-)
ReplyDeleteMattheworbit - indeed, it does seem to be a religious thing at some of these places. :-/
Johanna - yes, I think you might find this place a little more pram friendly! And very close to the train and tram if you're travelling in via public transport. :-)