Sleepys

April 5, 2025

   

Though it's not far from our home, we don't pay Nicholson Village the attention it deserves. It took a recommendation from Michael's friend Evie to alert us to Sleepys, a cafe and wine bar that occupies the spot we once knew as A Fan's Notes. The space is much brighter and more carefully composed in this incarnation. The menu is modest in length but bold in flavour: croissants are stuffed with spam and bechamel, bacon and eggs are served only inside dumplings, and the omelette is flavoured with prawns, shiitake XO sauce, and Chinese broccoli. Clear markings indicate that about half of the dishes can be served vegan, and a third gluten-free.

   

Michael was drawn to the breakfast congee ($15). It's a deeply savoury experience, with the rice garnished with soy sauce, chilli oil, a tea egg, spring onion, furikake and fried shallots; Michael took it a little further and ordered the extra Chinese broccoli and shiitake ($6).

   

I couldn't resist trying the mi goreng toastie ($14) and added a fried egg ($3) to split the carbs with some extra protein. This was oily, wiggly deliciousness - very salty and very satisfying. I reckon the composer of this dish must've worked a while to perfect it, because the toast had just the right amount of crispness to hold together right down to my last bite.

The Sleepys staff made us feel very welcome and not at all rushed. The two of us agreed to rush back for more as soon as we could.

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Sleepys has also received a positive review from Whatever Floats Your Bloat.

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Sleepys

787 Nicholson St, Carlton North

food, drinks 

https://www.sleepyscafeandwinebar.com.au/

Accessibility: Sleepys has a step up on entry and clear pathway through the middle. Inside there are  densely arranged regular and high tables with backed chairs; the backless benches outside look a little unstable. We ordered at our table and paid at a high counter. We didn't visit the toilets but it looks like there's a tight turn on the way out. (When this spot previously housed A Fan's Notes, we described the toilet as "a single, unisex toilet cubicle, which is a step up off an uneven path".)

This Borderland II

April 4, 2025

   

As 2025 opened, Preston diner This Borderland celebrated their 6th year but also announced that it would be their last one. I've been determined to get back there at least once more, and there are still a few months left for you to do so too!

   

The menu has remained pretty consistent for years - a suite of burgers and fried sides, plus a couple of desserts. Vegetarian and vegan options are available on all meat-based dishes, but there's no explicit guidance for coeliacs. Our fries ($7) arrived quickly and were excellent, with the full line-up of sauces.

   

I just had to stick with my favourite order, the Half Charlotte ($15.90) - a beautifully seasoned piece of southern fried seitan with a little pool of chipotle mayo, plenty of pickles and a huge mound of slaw.

   

Michael went all out on a Buffalo Bill ($21.90), a mock-beef burger with bacon, cheese, slaw, onion rings, bbq sauce and mayo. Even the very-game Michael had to eat the onion rings first before wrapping his mouth around this burger.

The desserts - cherry pie and white chocolate raspberry cheesecake - always look incredible but impossible after a meal this filling. I've got just a few months to figure out how to fit one in!

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You can read about our first couple of visits to This Borderland here.

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This Borderland

208 Tyler St, Preston

no phone

food, liquids 

instagram

Accessibility: There are two steps up on entry; most of the seating is in booths, but there are high backed seats at the window and the counter too. We ordered and paid at a low counter. There's a single unisex toilet - it's quite small and not particularly accessible.

Smith & Daughters XI

March 28, 2025 

   

There are numerous Smith and Daughters posts in our archives, but none since they moved to Collingwood in 2021! The friends we shared food with in the ninth and tenth posts arranged a shared dinner at what's currently known as Smith & Daughters Social Club. The vibe is a touch more relaxed than the original Fitzroy incarnation - less crammed with witchy artwork and knick knacks, with a bit more space around tables - but still dark and moody, with a menu of rich vegan food.

   

In a very rare occurrence, I was the one person at the table to order alcohol! I started the night with a strawberry and vanilla spritz ($20), while my companions all had non-alcoholic spiced margaritas ($16). Smith & Daughters has always been proud of its cocktails, and these upheld that standard.

This was as much decision-making as we could be bothered with - we elected to sit back and see what was in the four course chef's choice menu ($95 per person).

   

We were started with a small bowl of smoky, earthy BBQ baked beans and burnt ends with brightly contrasting watermelon pickle and a side of corn bread madeleines. We also shared out fried green tomatoes with a tangy, creamy remoulade.

   

Jerk oyster mushroom skewers were meaty and spicy! I had to drain some of the hot oil from my skewer, and others gladly mopped it up.

   

The little platter of rice, red beans and plantain was all starchy comfort - it'd make a satisfying main meal all on its own.

   

The gumbo bowl looked small but there was plenty to go around, with a mock-shrimp each, plus sausage, okra and veges in a thick broth.

   

Black eye pea fritters were thickly crumbed and dragged through hot pepper sauce. 

   

The most memorable course might've been the ultra-cheesy baked mac n cheese, dotted with bacon and grilled corn, teamed with a fresh and colourful plate of tomatoes and BBQ plums.

   

But that wasn't even the main savoury course! It was building towards a plate of southern fried lion's mane mushrooms (oddly, three to share among four) with white gravy and chow chow. Another impressive main in its own right, we were content to share a taste at this late stage in the meal.

   

We were offered the choice of two desserts of the three on the menu to finish out. We thought we wanted more than half a dessert each but we were mistaken - the sweets were generously portioned and there was plenty to go around. Ben took the lead on a banana pudding, a densely packed cup with fresh banana slices suspended in layers of creamy pudding.

   

Michael and I split the skillet brownie, which had absorbed its coffee chocolate fudge beyond recognition and was topped with a little icecream.

It's been a long time between Smith and Daughters visits, and it has retained the elements we value most: rich and abundant vegan food drawing from traditions across the Americas, fit for a special occasion and served by friendly and highly competent staff. We'll have to commit to more visits if we want it to stick around.

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You can read about one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten of our previous visits to the past Brunswick St version of Smith & Daughters.

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Smith & Daughters

107 Cambridge St, Collingwood

9123 1712

menu

https://www.smithanddaughters.com/

Accessibility: There's a wide, flat entry and medium-spaced furniture inside with a clear walkway through, mostly regular-height tables with backed chairs but also a padded bench, and backed stools at a high bar. We ordered and paid at our table. We didn't visit the toilets.

Blistered beans with gnocchi Trapanese

March 22, 2025

   

We're increasingly obsessed with Meera Sodha's recipes and have been digging around for ideas whenever the urge to cook something new takes us. She's very good at putting together really tasty dishes that don't require as much fussing as an Ottolenghi (for example). This is increasingly our cooking sweet spot - we don't put aside whole afternoons for dinner prep very often these days, so something that can be whipped together in less than an hour is always looked on favourably. 

We picked this one out for a lazy Saturday night in March and it delivered exactly what we needed. The little pesto you make is super simple but a cut above using a store-bought sauce. We added a can of white beans to the blistered green beans to bulk things out a bit, but it makes a pretty scant four serves, so consider doubling this if you really want to get into some leftovers.

Blistered beans with gnocchi Trapanese

(based on this recipe from Meera Sodha's Guardian column)

50g flaked almonds, lightly toasted

100g olive oil

30g basil (fresh leaves is best, we got stuck with those weird Gourmet Garden packet herbs which worked okay in the end)

30g sun-dried tomato in oil, drained

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 garlic clove, peeled

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

350g green beans, trimmed

1 can white beans, drained and rinsed

500g gnocchi

Put the oil, basil, sun-dried tomatoes, nutritional years, garlic, lemon juice and salt in a food processor and blend to a paste. Tip the almonds in and just pulse it all a couple of times - you want some decent sized almond bits for texture. 

Pop a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan and fry the green beans over med-high heat, turning occasionally, until they start to blister up. Add 3 tablespoons of water and pop a lid on the pan, cooking for another few minutes until they're nice and tender.

Cook the gnocchi as per the packet instructions, combine with the pesto, green beans and drained white beans and serve immediately.

Short Round

March 15, 2025

   

I was tempted not to blog about this meal - it feels like the kind of Melbourne brunch we've experienced many times before. But it's a very good rendition of that thing, which probably explains why Short Round has been around for over a decade and still has people spilling out the door.

What's so familiar? The white walls, exposed bricks, blonde wooden mid-century furniture and indoor plants. The all-day menu, with porridge or toast for vegans....

   

... the chilli scrambled eggs (technically "crispy chilli folded eggs", $24), which Michael ordered with a side of avocado ($6.50). But take a look at the photo, and see what a handsome rendition it is! They didn't even stack the toast.

   

In my caprice, I skipped over the porridge, the granola, the unexpected cinnamon torrijas, all the sweets in the cabinet, lingered over the house-made flatbread with cheese and pickles, the roasted mushrooms, and... ordered crumpets. To Short Round's credit these are made in-house and served with a perfectly tangy lemon curd. I paired it with a smoothie ($11) of banana, peanut butter, date, coyo and almond milk - strong stuff that couldn't be managed with a paper straw by the end.

That flimsy straw was the only teeny flaw in our experience. The light was golden, we were comfortable, and we were so well fed.

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Much older, positive reviews of Short Round appear on Cafe Hunting Melbourne and Chewing is Exercise.

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Short Round

731 High St, Thornbury

9484 3904

autumn food menu, drinks

https://www.shortround.com.au/

Accessibility: Short Round is split level, although there's a mindfully built shallow ramp on entry and one step between dining areas indoors. Furniture is quite densely packed with clear corridor through the middle, a mixture of regular-height tables with backed chairs and padded long benches, and high tables with backless stools. We ordered at our table and paid at a regular-height counter, and didn't visit the toilets.