Naha, Okinawa

November 4-7, 2025

   

After a wonderful visit with Matt and his wife, Michael and I moved on to Naha, Okinawa. This was a fascinating place, popular with Japanese tourists, and rich with its own distinct cultural traditions that draw from its Pacific geography and coral reefs, and centuries of trade with Japan, China, and Korea. We bounced between seeking veg-friendly foods from general vendors (soba, Nepalese, convenience stores and museum cafes) and visiting veg-specific venues. Here are a few highlights.

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We fell upon Mana with relief and delight after a string of improvised meals - each day they offer one vegan meal set, with an emphasis on local and organic ingredients, for ¥1500 ~ AU$14. We were blessed with a bowl of silky pumpkin soup, brown rice, a generous tumble of teriyaki soy meat, tempura shiso leaf, quinoa with green papaya, stir-fried bamboo and burdock (a new fave!), mustard greens and loofah in miso and vinegar, pickled rosella and green papaya, and a fresh wedge of dragonfruit to finish. The cafe was quiet, calm and spacious; everything we needed.

   

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Kuninda sat oddly on a street full of plastic souvenirs and gimmicky foods - it's a starkly modern, high-end restaurant that celebrates local Ryukyu cuisine. While omnivorous eaters a treated to a multi-stage banquet for dinner (and we observed our fellow diners' dishes with interest), veg*ns receive the same multi-dish plate that they would if attending for lunch (¥3500 ~ AU$34). It's still a very special experience with carefully composed local flavours.

We began with a small sample of Ryukyu moromi vinegar, a fermented by-product of the manufacture of awamori, a local spirit distilled from rice. (Among their non-alcoholic drinks was Shikuwasa juice, a native citrus, that I enjoyed very much.) The main plate was a beautiful selection not best photographed in the restaurant lighting: miso soup and rice, jimami tofu (made entirely of peanuts and not soy! has a more elastic texture and is lightly dressed in sweet soy), nigana (a green leafy vegetable) dressed with tofu and sesame (a familiar preparation style from Idées), deep-fried taro (a local staple), tempura vegetables, pickled vegetables including bitter gourd (another local staple), tofu sauteed with carrots, and a special salt-based seasoning. The meal concluded with a small taste of zenzai, sweetened red beans simmered in Okinawan brown sugar and salt, accompanied by jasmine tea.

The meal was very memorable and the service was flawless - the only shame was that, having been served most of it all at once, it was over too quickly.

   

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Our time in Okinawa was brief and, unluckily for us, was mostly spread across the weeknights that smaller venues aren't open. We were able to try Tamatebako for our last dinner - it's a small, densely-packed vegan ramen bar run by two jovial young men. More notable than the ramen was the array of local delicacies were tried there: more jimami/peanut tofu (¥700 ~ AU$7, above), a small cube of richly-textured and fermented tofuyo (¥700 ~ AU$7, below), and a bowl of sea grapes (¥600 ~ AU$6, below).

   

Michael had plenty of appetite to work through their coconut curry laksa (¥1400 ~ AU$13, below right), while I more slowly picked through a bowl of ma jiang mian (¥1400 ~ AU$13, below left), noodles in sesame paste topped with a welcome medley of tofu and fresh vegetables, and fine threads of chilli. The homemade ginger syrup (¥700 ~ AU$7, background) was much more ginger than syrup, and I nursed it across the entire meal. Michael finished with a taste of the awamori spirit on ice, of which they offered many varieties. We were glad to have such a cosy, distinctly Okinawan experience on our last night on the island.

   

Idées Kamakura

November 2, 2025  

   

In November, Michael and I made a long-overdue visit to Japan, where Michael's brother Matt has lived for almost two decades. It was fantastic to experience the neighbourhood where Matt and his wife live, including a couple of local restaurants, their community garden plot, a cultural festival, a short hike to a lookout for a picnic, and a sculpture garden. Matt also arranged for Michael and I to attend a vegan Japanese cooking class via Idées Kamakura. The class is hosted by 94-year-old Miyo sensei in her own home, and translated warmly into English by her daughter Naoko.

 

Once we were through introductions, Miyo sensei set us to work with chopping. They had cute little flower-shaped cutters for the carrots, which then went into a pot of kombu kelp dashi stock and sake, along with taro and pumpkin pieces, to simply simmer in the flavour.

Michael and I got to know gobo (also known as burdock in English), a long thin root vegetable with an earthy flavour. We kept the pieces submerged in cold water as we worked, and cut carrot into similarly small bite-sized lengths.

   

Naoko guided us through a tasting of different miso pastes, each with a unique origin, ratio of ingredients, and flavour profile. The Hatcho miso was dark, long-fermented and strongly flavoured, reminding me of Vegemite. Mugi barley miso was the lightest coloured option, with a gentle pungency that reminded me of blue cheese. My favourite was a bright, salty, golden-coloured and grainy textured miso. It was labelled 'miso zwate' but I haven't been able to find this description online since.

This now-mysterious miso was used in a dressing, ground together walnuts, mirin and sugar in my preferred ratio. In a second dressing, Naoko had me use soy sauce instead of miso. For a third dressing, I ground umeboshi (salted plum) with mirin and agave for a sweet and sour effect. We ultimately spooned a little of each into separate bowls of lightly steamed broccoli to appreciate their distinct flavours and textures.

   

The burdock and similarly-sliced carrots were stir-fried until tender and flavoured with sesame oil, sake, sugar and soy sauce. Miyo sensei got them started, then Michael and I took our turns tossing them around.

   

In parallel, Miyo sensei showed me how to grind roasted sesame seeds with suribachi and surikogi (traiditonal Japanese mortar and pestle), then mix in silken tofu. This mixture did double duty. First, it was seasoned with sugar, salt and soy sauce, and mixed with finely chopped vegetables to form a small, cool, salad side dish. Second, it was used to stuff potato starch-dusted mushroom caps as a 'mock abalone'; these were fried on both sides and brushed with teriyaki sauce.

I had whisked up the teriyaki sauce to taste (soy sauce, mirin and sugar). It was used primarily to flavour squares of pressed tofu that had been dusted with potato starch and fried until just golden. The tofu and mushroom caps are plated together, below.

   

Somehow (through Miyo's more than our efforts) a banquet was created! Steamed green beans and mushrooms appeared to accompany the simmered vegetables. Edamame were cooked into the rice in a large rice cooker, then moulded into a thick arc shape. There were pickled vegetables and huge, slightly sweet hana-mame beans, plus a beautiful tofu noodle soup.

   

It was a beautiful, expansive meal that I savoured slowly. Naoko spoke to us about the philosophy of Nihon Ryori (Japanese cuisine): five tastes, colours and methods. The aim is to capture a variety across the meal: sweet, salty, sour, spicy, bitter, pale/natural, umami; black, white, red, yellow, green; simmering; pan-frying, deep frying, stir frying, steaming, pickling, dressing, soup, rice, sweet.

To properly tick off that last category, there was still a little more to come.

   

Miyo sensei kneaded a dense dough of shiratamako (refined glutinous rice powder) and water, and we all gathered around to form small dumplings and drop them into boiling water. They only took a minute to cook! We ate them for dessert with unflavoured kanten (agar agar jelly cubes), sweet azuki beans, and black sugar syrup. After taking the below photo, I also sprinkled over some kinako (soybean powder).

   

It was such an honour to learn from Miyo sensei and Naoko in their home! They welcomed us with warmth and immense generosity, we deeply enjoyed the food that we shared, and we've started replicating a couple of these techniques at home.

Cumbé

October 24, 2025

   

The bright orange panels at Cumbé caught my eye on Sydney Rd before they'd even opened, and I was excited to see that this would be another sandwich shop. (It's a trend I'm firmly in favour of.) More specifically, Cumbé is focused on Mexican tortas, offering a compact list of tortas/bowls alongside pies and sausage rolls. There's a lot of pork going on but also one vegetarian option in each category - a pie of roast pumpkin and lentils ($10) and chilaquiles con huevo ($16 as torta/$15 as bowl). 

Michael and I snuck in for a work-from-home day lunch and both sampled the torta. It is immense, and immensely messy! A long roll barely containing a mostly-gooey cacophony of fried egg, ricotta-like cheese, black beans, corn chips, spicy pickled onions, coriander and fresh chilli. I enjoyed the ride but got off early; Michael saw through his and the rest of mine. This situation clearly isn't built for vegans and I'm not sure that I'm built for it. I bet Michael will be back for another round, though.

   

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Cumbé

551 Sydney Rd, Brunswick

menu

instagram page

Accessibility: Cumbé has a flat entry to a low counter. There's a mix of high benches with backless stools by the window, and regular height tables with backless stools and bench seats. We ordered and paid at the low counter, and received food at our table. We didn't visit the toilets.

 

Chickpea & artichoke salad

October 6, 2025

   

Michael was away for work, and I wanted to stock the fridge with a couple of durable salads to rely on across the week. This one was so deep in my bookmarks that I needed the Internet Archive Wayback Machine to retrieve it! It's a natural and appealing mix of artichoke hearts and chickpeas, both browned in a pan, then dressed with lemon juice, olive oil and some green herbs, finished with almonds.

This fit the brief perfectly. I first ate it alongside beetroot and rhubarb salad and vegetarian sausage rolls, and in a few other configurations as the week went on.

Chickpea & artichoke salad

(slightly adapted from a recipe by Ricki Heller)

5 tablespoons olive oil, and/or oil from the jar of artichoke hearts

juice of 1 lemon

2 teaspoons dried or 2 tablespoons fresh basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup flaked almonds

1 x 400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 x 280g jar artichoke hearts, drained and quartered (reserve oil, if included)

2 cloves garlic, minced

In a medium-large bowl, whisk together 3 tablespoons of oil, lemon juice, basil, oregano, parsley and salt. Set aside.

Set a frypan over medium heat and gently toast the flaked almonds until they're starting to brown and they smell great. Remove them from the pan.

Pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil into the frypan. Add the chickpeas to the oil and cook them for about 10 minutes, until they start to brown. Transfer the chickpeas from the pan to the bowl.

Add 1 more tablespoon of olive oil to the frypan. Place the artichoke hearts in the pan and cook until they're well browned on that side, then turn them to brown them on another side. Add the garlic and stir it all together for a minute, then transfer the artichoke hearts and garlic to the bowl. Stir everything together well, then sprinkle over the flaked almonds.

Kariton Sorbetes II

October 5, 2025

   

Even since before my first visit, I've been coveting the sundaes at Kariton Sorbetes and waiting for the time and place to try one. I made the time after a Sunday rally in the city and pounced on a small Taho ($11) - it's a still-generous swirl of silken tofu soft serve, a decent spoonful of soy milk pannacotta, and a drip of small tapioca pearls in oolong tea syrup. After years of resistance, I think I'm finally getting the hang of soy milk as a dessert - and this is a fine way to do it without any masking of the flavour. Even so, I would have liked a little more of that dark tea syrup to distribute across the cup.

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You can read about our first visit to Kariton here. You can also read about the various Kariton outlets on Sweet & Sour Fork, Mamma Knows East, Mamma Knows West and The Resolved Wanderer.

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Kariton Sorbetes 

177 Russell St, Melbourne CBD 

menu 

https://www.karitonsorbetes.com/ 

Accessibility: Kariton Sorbetes has a flat entry and somewhat narrow, roped queuing system. There are few seats, mostly low backless stools. I ordered, paid, and picked up our icecreams at a low counter. I didn't visit the toilets.

Walrus

September 29, 2025

   

We've not paid much attention to Walrus and its diner style in the couple of years it's been on Sydney Rd. It's clearly popular, though, with people often spilling onto the street on weekends. A couple of recommendations from friends filtered in and I decided to visit for a quiet solo lunch on a weekday. A staff member offered me a seat at the counter top and the booths rapidly filled up behind me.

The menu is very firmly grounded in diner traditions - sunny side up eggs with Texas toast, blueberry pancakes, biscuits and gravy, steak and eggs, hash browns, Denver omelettes - but there are a few nods to the present-day brunch scene, like avocado as an add-on, and apple porridge flavoured with miso and lemon balm. There are no indicators of what fits dietary requirements, and it took a chat with the staff to officially rule out the biscuit and gravy as not vegetarian. 

Instead I chose a bodega roll with hash, egg and cheese ($14) and a huge, ice-filled orange juice ($6). The roll was wrapped, steamy and comforting, with a tangy tomato sauce that cut through the richness of the triple-yellow filling.

   

The specials board right next to me announced the pies of the day, and I had to try the key lime ($11). It was exceptional, with a buttery crumb and smooth filling that was equal parts creamy, sweet and sour. The frill of aerosol cream added to the retro look, but I could take or leave it, really.

The staff were welcoming and sufficiently available. I had a great little time at Walrus, but it's not as inclusive as what I'm usually looking for - the fixed booths and high, backless stools won't suit all bodies, and the menu doesn't have vegans or coeliacs in mind. They've successfully found their crowd, regardless.

   

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Walrus has also received a positive review on Around Melbourne.

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Walrus

312 Sydney Rd, Brunswick

7071 2596

food, drinks

instagram

Accessibility: There's a small lip on the door and a clear, flat corridor through the centre of the café. Seating is mostly fixed booths at regular height; there's also a high counter with fixed backless stools for individual customers. I ordered and paid at the high counter. I didn't visit the toilets.

Omelette roll sushi rice bowl

September 26, 2025

   

This is a fun little Meera Sodha recipe that we'd never think to compose ourselves, but we love on sight! So much so that we repeated it one night later with our remaining eggs, and again perhaps a month after that. The hook is the mirin-sweetened omelette roll. It's teamed with sushi rice, quick-pickled carrots and wasabi mayo. 

We've made some minor adjustments. We prefer less rice in the ratio and sprinkle a little shichimi togarashi over it for extra spice. We add a scoop of microwaved edamame for some extra greens and a novel texture. That's it! If there's a downside, it's that this meal isn't particularly leftover or lunchbox friendly. But it's a level of effort that we're willing to make on a weeknight, and it feels like a treat.

Omelette roll sushi rice bowl

(slightly adapted from a recipe by Meera Sodha in The Guardian)

200g sushi rice (this was too much for us, and we reduced by a third the second time)

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup sushi rice vinegar, or 1 tablespoon caster sugar dissolved in 1/2 cup rice vinegar

1 large carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks

1-2 teaspoons wasabi paste

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 cup frozen edamame

6 medium eggs

1 tablespoon mirin

1 1/2 tablespoons tamari

2 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil

shichimi togarashi

1/2 teaspoon black sesame seeds

Place the rice in a saucepan and cover it with 280ml water. Bring it all to the boil, cover it with a lid, turn down the heat to low and cook for a further 10 minutes. Turn off the heat but keep the lid on for another 10 minutes.

In a small bowl, stir together half of the salt and half of the sushi rice vinegar. Set it aside. 

Place the carrot matchsticks in a medium bowl, pour over the remaining sushi rice vinegar and salt. Stir it all together and set it aside.

In a small bowl, mix together the wasabi paste and mayonnaise. Set it aside too.

Place the edamame in a microwave-safe bowl and cover them generously in water. Microwave for 2 minutes, until hot, and set aside.

Now, the main event. Crack the eggs into a medium bowl and beat them well. Add the mirin, tamari, and half a tablespoon of sesame oil. Set a frypan over medium heat and add a tablespoon of the sesame oil. When it's hot, pour in half of the egg mixture and cook until golden on the bottom and just barely set on top. You can take the omelette out now, or flip it to fully set the other side if you prefer. When the omelette is done, transfer it to a plate and repeat with the remaining sesame oil and egg mixture.

To serve, divide the rice between two shallow bowls and sprinkle it with shichimi togarashi. Roll up each omelette, slice them into inch-thick spirals and arrange them next to the rice. Add the edamame and pickled carrot to the bowl, then spoon in the wasabi mayonnaise and sprinkle it with black sesame seeds.

The Sporting Club Hotel IV

September 13, 2025

   

When the weather forecast is warm on a day in September, we want to make the most of it! Michael suggested that we find somewhere local for dinner outdoors. This pub and its beer garden used to be a fave, though less so in recent years. We knew it first as the Sporting Club Hotel through the early 2010s and visited many, many times in the latter years that it was known as the Charles Weston Hotel. 

The food went downhill after the pandemic hit, and then it closed for a long while for secretive renovations, only to reopen under that past name, the Sporting Club Hotel. The opening menu included wagyu beef doughnuts, and the once rambling courtyard looked uniform and sterile - I wasn't impressed. It was Michael who loyally checked what they're now serving and persuaded me to give it another try.

Happily there are now a decent number of well-marked vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options across the menu, though they're still going for an upscale vibe: you'll spot oysters, celeriac cakes and tuna ceviche long before you can confirm further down the page that chips are available.

We got started with reputation-saving plate of fried Brussels sprouts ($16, pictured top). They're served atop a rich cheddar sauce, tumbled together with croutons, onion and parsley.

   

Our sunny night was rapidly cooling, and Michael drew some comfort from the deceptively filling lasagne alla norma ($32), layers of eggplant, pasta, pesto and ricotta that were perfect for the season.

   

I tried the vegetarian version of the pasta fazool ($30) - casarecce with braised beans, broccoli and a sprinkling of parmesan but no pancetta. It's the kind of dish we love making at home.

I'm still not over the loss of this pub's back garden, but those Brussels sprouts are bringing me around. You might see more of the Sporting Club Hotel on this blog yet.

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You can read about one, two, three of our visits to the 2010s Sporting Club Hotel, and our first of many visits to its interim life as the Charles Weston.

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Sporting Club Hotel

27 Weston St, Brunswick

9996 1869

menu

https://sportingclubhotel.au/

Accessibility: The Sporting Club Hotel has a flat standard-width entry, an even wider flat entry directly to the beer garden, and plenty of space inside. Ordering and payment takes place at the bar, which in our experience can be very loud. It's been a while since we visited the toilets; back then they were easy to get to but were just ordinary sized cubicles for men and women.

Torn lasagne with kale & kimchi, plus pickled fennel

September 7, 2025

   

Hetty Lui McKinnon's Tenderheart has been one of our favourite recent additions to the cookbook pile, but we've got to keep reminding ourselves to keep digging through it for more gems (instead of just falling back on the classic gems). This torn lasagne has been on my list for ages, and we had a quiet Sunday night to give it a go. 

The idea of a low fuss lasagne is obviously hugely appealing - no meticulous layering, just a delicious baked melange! There's still a bit of work to prep-wise, but it's definitely easier than some our other baked pasta attempts. There are two pre-baking steps: fry up your kale a bit and then make your smokey tomato sauce and then pile everything up in a baking tray and wait. It was so perfect for my tastes, smokey and spicy and hugely cheesy - the torn lasagne sheets give just enough texture to the whole thing. I would eat it every week if possible. 

We decided it needed some sort of vegetable accompaniment and after a quick flick of Tenderheart I settled on this very basic pickled fennel. It was basically the perfect accompaniment, tangy and crunchy and just the right thing to cut through the rich lasagne. What a meal.

 

   

Torn lasagne with kale & kimchi

(from Hetty Lui McKinnon's Tenderheart)

1 bunch of kale

1 garlic clove, crushed

450g fresh lasagne sheets

500g ricotta

1 cup grated cheddar

1 cup kimchi

olive oil

salt and pepper

tomato sauce

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons gochugaru

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon white sugar

800g can crushed tomatoes

sea salt

olive oil

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Trim the leaves off the kale stems and roughly chop them, then finely slice the stems.

Heat some olive oil in a frying pan on high heat and saute the kale stems and garlic for a minute. Add in the leaves, sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and stir-fry for another 4-5 minutes, until the leaves have wilted. Kill the heat and put the kale aside.

Get cracking on the sauce, by heating a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and the garlic in a large saucepan. Cook for 30 seconds and then throw in the gochugaru, paprika, oregano, sugar and a couple of generous pinches of salt. Pour in the crushed tomatoes and about 2 cups of water. Stir everything together and let it simmer for 20 minutes or so. 

Tear the lasagne sheets into rough strips, fairly large ones but really whatever suits your vibe. 

In a large bowl combine the ricotta with a couple of tablespoons of water and whisk until it's smooth. Add half the cheddar, a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and some salt and pepper and stir together. Fold in the kale and the kimchi and then finally gently stir through the torn lasagne sheets.

Pour the sauce into a large baking dish and then gently stir in the cheese/kale/lasagne mix. Top with the rest of the cheddar and carefully pop the whole thing into the oven. Bake for 40 minutes until the cheese has gone nice and golden. Let it all sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Pickled fennel

(from Hetty Lui McKinnon's Tenderheart)

1 bulb fennel, finely shaved and chopped

125ml rice vinegar

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons white sugar

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon black mustard seeds

Place the fennel in a bowl.

Put 125ml of water into a saucepan and add in the rest of the ingredients. Heat over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Take off the heat and immediately pour it over the fennel. Leave to pickle for 15 minutes and serve!

Etta VI

September 6, 2025

   

This year Michael and I celebrated 25 years since our first date. We had a progressive evening celebration, starting with a cocktail and snack at Waxflower, moving onto dinner at Etta, and then dessert at Billy van Creamy.

At Etta we were agreed that we'd share my favourite, the golden tofu, and Michael's favourite, the zongzi. And what about our third dish? We assumed that the brassicas would round out the meal with some greenery but figured we'd ask the waitstaff for their recommendation. I'm so glad we did! After a quick chef consult, they offered us a new vegetarian adaptation of the crab wonton ($36).

Instead of crab, tender wonton skins are wrapped around a savoury lion's mane mushroom filling. Outside, it's the same story of pickled green tomatoes, crispy fried wonton shards, and an exquisite sweet, sour and spiced coconut curry sauce. This tremendous plate has put both of us in an awkward position - what's our favourite Etta dish now?

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You can read about one, two, three, four, five of our previous visits to Etta.

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Etta 

60 Lygon St, Brunswick 

9448 8233 

http://ettadining.com.au/ 

Accessibility: The entry is flat and there is one step up from the bar area to the dining area. Tables are moderately spaced and lighting is quite dim. We received full table service. Toilets are unisex and spacious, but we didn't notice handrails or other mobility aids.

Sani II

August 30, 2025

   

Sani was a handy local spot for brunch in bad weather, forming a convenient little loop with the food shopping we had planned. On our first visit, we strung together a funny medley of very good savoury plates; this time we ordered a little more conventionally.

   

Michael was very much in favour of the Sani interpretation of avo toast ($26) - smashed then topped with bbq corn salsa, feta, pickled onions and coriander, chipotle aioli between the toasts - except for their choice to stack the slices. At least it made room for his bonus fried egg ($4).

   

I was similarly pleased with how they play French toast ($23). It's a single thick brioche slice - not too eggy - served with a moat of vanilla anglaise, topped with a hearty dollop of mascarpone, enough poached rhubarb, and a scattering of macadamia crumble.

I find the Sani setting a little stark, although the staff are plenty friendly. Vegan options were sparse for Brunswick (adaptations on the otherwise-cheesy avo toast and winter salad) but what they do, they do well.

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You can read about our previous visit to Sani here.

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Sani 

63 Lygon St, Brunswick East 

9020 7952 

menu

https://www.sanimelbourne.com.au/ 

Accessibility: Sani has a shallow-ramped entry and clear walkway through the main areas. Furniture is medium-spaced regular-height tables with backed chairs and cushioned benches. We ordered at our table and paid at a low counter. We didn't visit the toilets.

A snippet of south-east Queensland

August 14, 2025 

   

Following our sodden long weekend in Sydney, we moved onto south-east Queensland, where the blue skies smiled down upon us. (The photo above was taken spontaneously while waiting at a bus stop - even this pedestrian activity was a pleasure.) We were focused primarily on spending time with family and friends, which meant mostly home-cooked meals or cafes chosen for convenience over cachet. Here are two exceptions.

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When I grew up north of Brisbane, North Lakes did not exist. Now it's a suburb of two decade's standing and my mum is plugged into the local council's events, including yoga in the park and a science week panel discussion that we went along to together. Even more surprising, North Lakes has a Thai restaurant with a dedicated vegan menu! Thai Ginger Express and Vegan! Thai-riffic are effectively the same business, though I assume the separate names help their SEO.

Between three of us, we shared tofu satay sticks ($9.50), dense little drumsticks ($8, not the layered yuba version I expected but still good), a very spicy basil and chilli stir-fry ($16.50) with mock chicken ($4), and a smoky Pad See Ew ($15.50) with tofu ($2). It wasn't quite a match for Sydney's YOD but it far exceeded my expectations for a neighbourhood I had to move out of to experience Thai food at all.

   

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After we dropped our luggage in our Brisbane hotel, we headed immediately to Sendok Garpu for lunch. We had a tasty meal that nonetheless confirmed we ordered best on our first visit a year earlier. Bakwan jagung (corn fritters, $9.95, pictured above left) were sweet and crunchy and teamed with a smooth peanut sauce. An Es Kopi Hitam (iced black coffee, $6, pictured above right) served Michael the caffeine he craved while I chose the Es Kopyor ($9, pictured above right), a super-sweet milky rose concoction stacked with coconut jelly slices.

My gado gado ($16.95, pictured below left) was a trusty, mild medley of tofu, steamed tempeh and veges (including heaps of bean sprouts) under a blanket of peanut sauce, and sides of boiled egg and crackers. By contrast, Michael's nasi kampau komplit ($29.95) was very spicy! Sendok Garpu thoughtfully replaced beef rendang with jackfruit and chicken curry with more corn fritters; the cabbage green bean curry and excellent chilli eggplant came standard.

   

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There's plenty of other good veg*n eating to be had in south-east Queensland but we didn't mind missing out this year - it's much more important that our other meals were shared with the people we love spending time with, year after year.

Snaps of Sydney 2025

August 8-11, 2025

   

Michael signed up for Sydney's City2Surf this year, and we used it as an excuse to have a long weekend in the city. It rained heavily and incessantly so, run aside, we focused on indoor activities like the White Rabbit Gallery and Golden Age Cinema. We didn't let it get in the way of good eating, either!

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We arrived in Sydney just in time for lunch, and found casual Thai restaurant YOD to be the closest all-veg option to our accommodation. YOD has a dozen $15 lunch specials, but we were ready to splash out on a couple of the numerous full-price mains. I was over the moon with the colours and flavours of my Kao Klug Ka-Pi ($19.90, pictured above). Even the mound of jasmine rice was dotted with fermented soybeans and rich with flavour, let alone the veg mince, sweet and chewy barbecue strips, crispy-fried enoki, bright chopped salad veges and chilli. Happy to be in hotter weather, I teamed the plate with a coconut smoothie ($10, also above). Michael's Ga-Prao ($19.90, pictured below) looked more modest, but was a deceptively tasty medley of eggplant, mushrooms, tofu, mock meat and veges in a Thai basil sauce that was heavier on the black pepper than the chilli.

   

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We had a lovely evening catching up with Herbal Gill and her Significant Eater. Gill booked us into a new vegan ramen restaurant named Towzen, and we're so lucky that she did! As a queue built along the block, we were able to skip right in to our reserved seats. Six varied ramen bowls head the menu, all enriched with plant-based milks. The aroma surrounding us nudged Gill to select the truffle ramen ($35), while Michael took on the Si Chuan Tan Tan Men ($32, pictured above) where soy meat, mushrooms and other vegetables were swirled in an oat milk broth flavoured with sesame paste, peanut paste and chilli oil.

As a group, we shared okra ($12) and lion's mane mushroom karaage ($20), and drank house-made sodas flavoured alternately with yuzu and strawberry ($10 each, pictured below). Everything was prepared with care and precision and served at reasonable speed. (Luckily we also grabbed a drink at the neighbouring Papa Gede's Bar before eating, so we'd had plenty of time to chat.)

   

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I've been following Don Fred on instagram for a while, and we booked it in for another dinner. At night Don Fred is loud, crowded and dimly lit, with a very friendly host. Though it's Italian, there are zero pizzas and two pastas on the menu - rather, there's a series of veg-based shared dishes with a few appearances of mock meat, and half a dozen focaccia sandwiches with thoughtfully composed fillings. We had a pleasant time with the polpetz on polenta chips ($28) and the garlic green beans ($16), but the biggest plate and biggest success was the casarecce carbonara ($26). It was tasty way for Michael to carb-load ahead of his race, though my inability to hear him and carry a conversation was a dampener.

   

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On Sunday morning, I took a bus well away from the City2Surf crowds. The Marrickville Markets were a complete washout - regrettably I didn't have the appetite for the vegan pastries on offer, and satisfied myself with a vegan chai under the verandah and a large punnet of strawberries for later. Our friend Jess had urged us to visit Miss Sina, and it was overwhelming in its own way too - very busy, with a dense indoor queue that didn't give clear sight of the numerous vegan sweet treats in the display case. (The staff were lovely, though!) I ordered a Lox & Loaded bagel ($17, pictured below) to take away and it was still in good shape when I pulled it out of my backpack, sitting in the Botanic Gardens an hour and a half later. The everything bagel had lost the crispness of toasting, but was still an excellent base for a herb schmear, carrot lox, caper verde, cucumber and dill (I asked them to omit the usual pickled onion).

   

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Radiant from a running success, Michael chose The Chippo Hotel for dinner. The all-vegan pub menu had us spoiled for choice: blooming onions, corn ribs, loaded fries, including an Irish spice bag! Salads, pasta, bangers and mash, a KFC plate, even lasagne! Somehow, we just wanted to keep it simple and chose from the six burgers. My smashed cheezeburger and Michael's zinga ($26 each, pictured above) were both solid and satisfying, and the fries were just fine. My foam-topped Frenchtini mocktail ($12, pictured below) was more memorable. I hope we get a chance to revisit The Chippo one day and order more adventurously.

   

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Our Sydney mornings were bookended by visits to A.P. House, a rooftop bakery with varied stunning baked goods. I absolutely loved the milk bun stuffed with an egg cake, cheese, onion and salted egg yolk ($18, pictured above) and hash brown ($8, pictured above), and Michael was just as pleased with the messy, oily Turkish eggs and garlic bread ($23, pictured above). The zucchini flower & ricotta focaccia ($14, pictured below) and Vegemite cheesy scroll ($9.50, not pictured) were winners, but the hot pocket ($22, not pictured) wasn't as successful. We sampled well across the sweets, too, relishing the brownie-like dark chocolate cookie ($8), Basque cheesecake ($10), candied orange brioche Danish ($11) and impeccable lemon meringue tart ($9, pictured below).

   

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Sydney wasn't its most sparkly self for us this year, but the city's restaurants served us so well. We're always happy to go back to see and taste what's new.