Brisbane in winter 2026

July 16-17, 2026

 

   

 

Being in Brisbane is more about friends than food, but that doesn't mean we can't have both! Here are three meals that I pulled the camera out for this time around.

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We try to visit Alphabet Cafe for brunch whenever we're in West End. (Thanks to Tash for first sending us there!) Pretty much everything on the menu has a vegetarian option and many have vegan substitutes. Once I saw the words 'flaky cheddar buttermilk biscuit' I was hooked, arranging for pumpkin in lieu of ham ($28.10). They're teamed with scrambled eggs, avocado and pickled green tomatoes, and I spent a loooong time picking my way around this excellent plate. Michael was just as pleased and finished much faster with the chilli eggs ($27.10), a heaped plate of scrambled eggs, sprouting broccoli, roast pumpkin and grilled sourdough with house chilli oil and toasted sesame. I carefully selected a chocolate-chip cheesecake blondie to share for breakfast dessert - it tasted great but was a touch dense and dry - and we took home house-made jams for ourselves and our cat-sitter.

 

   

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We don't get to Bar Francine every year, but it's always a fun time when we do, and usually involves our friend Tash. (I will never forget the mushroom toasts from our first visit.) Somehow we ordered a lot of potatoes this time: as rosti topped with cultured cream cheese and capers (above right, $10 each), binding an artichoke croquette ($34), roasted with paprika and parmesan ($12), and then as straight-up chips ($12, all pictured below left). The staff took pity on our poor judgement and sent over a complimentary cucumber salad (usually $14, and much needed). For dessert we split an Earl grey pannacotta topped with rhubarb and honeycomb ($16), and a brulee carrot cake with cream cheese icing and brown butter ($18, both pictured below right).

 

   

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On a day that alternated with rain and bright sunshine, we did a circuit of the river by CityCat, through New Farm Park, and eventually on to the Valley. Vegan cafe Dicki's has been in New Farm for years, but this is the first time we've spotted it on Happy Cow and had the time to try it. It's small but bright and cheerful, with a menu full of the kind of wraps, toasties, salads and snacks that really appeal to me, many featuring mock meat plus both fresh ingredients and judicious condiments. (There's also a hint of Supreme Master about the place.) 

 

It takes a lot to steer me away from waffles (they had apple pie crumble and peanut butter & jelly versions!), yet what I really wanted was the Reef Burger ($24.50). This was fish of their own making - tofu with a beer batter that had great seasoning - sandwiched with tartare sauce, pickles and cos lettuce, then heaps of fries on the side. Michael happily demolished a brunch burrito ($23.50) stuffed with sausage, tofu scramble, spinach and hash brown, then helped me out with my fries. This is the kind of cafe that one need not move mountains to visit, but would easily become a regular favourite if it were in your neighbourhood.

 

   

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Though it's not been our neighbourhood for many years, these parts of Brisbane still feel a bit like home. It felt so nice to be back. 

Bundjalung Country

July 13-14, 2026

 

   

 

As we often do, we visited south-east Queensland mid-winter to catch up with family and friends (and see a bit of sun). This year we added a new adventure to the itinerary, hiring a car and heading south across Bundjalung Country for a few days. We wandered up hills, by the beach, and through towns; visited op shops, art galleries and a beach-side book fair; saw whales, elevated views across the landscape, and a pretty sunrise. And, of course, we ate - here's what we liked best. 

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Our first breakfast, at Woods, really set the tone for the 'wellness' angle on so much of the cafe food in the region. I caught myself dodging and weaving dishes containing Beauty Chef and mushroom powders but found more than enough to enjoy in the banana bread ($15, pictured below left), which was piled with miso maple butter, blueberries, and macadamia-coconut streusel. Michael was delighted by the Mexican Shakshuka ($28, pictured below right), with its base of braised black beans and poached eggs, layered with tomatillo salsa, chilli butter, fried curry leaves and a side of roti. Woods' outdoor seating was lovely, and I enjoyed browsing the surrounding Lumberyard Creative Precinct.

 

   

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As the special meal of the trip, Michael booked us a table at Byron Bay's all-vegan No Bones in advance. We visited on $20 carbonara night and were happy to work that into our meal - it was both the best savoury dish we ordered that night, and an all-time top-ranking vegan carbonara alongside Green Man's Arms' version. We ate heartily, with mushroom ragu ($38), dips, chat potatoes ($15) and Brussels sprouts on lemon cream ($17). For me, the other high point was the chocolate cremeux ($16), a scoop of chocolate ganache hollowed out to hold a gooey miso caramel, with a side of hazelnut praline. We took advantage of the original cocktail list too.

 

   

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Shelter was Michael's breakfast pick in Lennox Head, and a set of wide-open windows facing the beach established its relaxed and positive atmosphere. He loved the local avo toast ($22) covered in chilli crunch, with two poached eggs ($7), pickled onions and a herb salad. They were out of the porridge that I was eyeing off so I happily made do with crumpets and a juice.

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After hopping all along the coast, we finished the day back in Bangalow for a meal at Ciao, Mate!. The focaccia ($6, served with butter) and veg supreme pizza ($30) were on point, and the tiramisu ($17) was as big as a brick. They had their own distinct specials, too: a cute little brie custard tart ($20, pictured above left) crowned with endive, chervil and candied walnuts; and a fancy almond whey tart ($17, pictured below left) accompanied by spiced figs and Davidson plum.

 

   

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Byron Bay's Folk had a lovely, rambling garden setting but the weather kept us indoors. This menu swapped Woods' Beauty Chef powder for a house-blend nettle tea, hemp seeds and bee pollen, and held on to the reishi. Their chai-spiced buckwheat porridge special ($20+) was exactly what I needed, served with half a poached pear, labne, a generous streak of almond butter, crunchy buckwheat sprinklings, and a pink edible flower garnish to break up the brown. Michael made quick and messy work of the double egg roll ($19.50) - the standard cheddar, pickles and barbecue sauce added plenty of flavour and he wasn't inclined to add on avo, halloumi or mushies as the menu invited.

 

   

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We turned around, had a cute little moment (but no food) at the Murwillumbah Farmers' Market, and set off back towards Brisbane. Happily Izakaya Midori was right on our path and I steered Michael into the strip mall it inhabits for a vegan Japanese lunch. He was just as charmed as I was on my first visit: it's cordoned off and thoughtfully decorated to transport your senses well away from the Pacific Motorway, and the staff are just lovely. We both ordered from the slightly discounted lunch menu (a rice bowl and iced tea for $26.50): a saucy mock-chicken curry karaage for Michael, and a bright, vege-heavy mock-chicken karaage don for me.

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With that, we were refreshed and ready to return to our second home of Kurilpa/West End. This wasn't a food-first holiday, but it was definitely one of the joys of the trip. 

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.

Sendok Garpu

July 14, 2024

   

Two years ago Laura recommended Sendok Garpu to us, and this year while in Brisbane we took the time to cross the Victoria Bridge and try it for dinner. Its arcade location, low stools and adjoining grocery section hint that it's aimed primarily at city-worker lunchers, but it still attracts plenty of diners and delivery orders for an early dinner.

The Indonesian menu is enormous (I've linked to 20 pages below!), with vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and spicy options well marked throughout. It was tough to prioritise. 

   

Laura had warned us that the food was very spicy, so we figured we should set ourselves up with cooling drinks. Michael's Es Kopi Gula Aren ($7) had high doses of sugar and caffeine, and kept him abuzz for some time. Es Soda Gembira ($6) was a new-to-me mix of raspberry soda and condensed milk. The carbonation-and-milk combo actually worked pretty well, and the flavour reminded me of jelly tips.

   

Michael focused on the range of rendang dishes on offer, and chose a vegetarian adjustment to the Mini Tumpeng Rendang ($29.95). Around a centre of yellow herb coconut rice, he received an excellent jackfruit rendang (instead of beef), garlic crackers (instead of prawn), chilli egg, crispy tempeh, a very hot shrimp-free sambal and salad. He loved it, and even wished for more rendang.

   

Instead, he satisfied himself with picking at my leftovers. I'd ordered the Ketoprak ($15.95), noted as a famous vegan dish in Jakarta, and available at three spice levels. The featured rice cake chunks are barely visible - they're steamed soft and starchy, not dense and bouncy like Korean rice cakes. They were tossed together with thin rice noodles, then topped with bean sprouts and a sweet, mild and thick peanut sauce. Around the edges I could pick at spongy tofu cubes, boiled egg (not vegan, in spite of that menu heading) and garlic crackers.

We were full, even satisfied, except that I'd noticed a poster advertising martabak (dessert pancakes) on the way in. Happily these were boxed up to take away, so we walked a serve back to our accommodation and enjoyed thick pandan pancakes sandwiching a cheese and condensed milk filling from the comfort of our hotel bed.

Sendok Garpu's CBD location didn't fit naturally into our other planned activities but we were so glad we made the effort to visit. The staff were very welcoming, the food was novel to us, and most of all it was tasty. We're likely to work it into the schedule when we're back in Brissy.

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The Hangry Chef was a big fan of the past Coopers Plains incarnation of Sendok Garpu.

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Sendok Garpu

Shop 6, 97 Elizabeth St, Brisbane CBD

(07) 4602 9979

story, recommendations 1, recommendations 2, entrees 1, entrees 2, set menu A, set menu B, street food 1, street food 2, rice dishes, wok dishes, soup, mains 1, mains 2, mains 3, mains 4, sides, sambal & extras, drinks, desserts  

https://www.sendokgarpu.com.au/

Accessibility: The entry is wide and the stairs up to the tables include a wheelchair lift. Tables are low with backless stools, quite densely packed with a wide pathway along one side. We ordered at our table and paid at a waist-height counter. Toilets are shared within the arcade and located two levels lower, accessible by both stairs and lift; an swipe card from the restaurant staff is needed to access them. The toilets are gendered and a large ungendered cubicle with supports is also available. 

Izakaya Midori

July 7, 2024

   

For the first time in over a decade I've had a weekend at the Gold Coast, and I made a special trip to Izakaya Midori for a meal. I'm familiar with this restaurant through Susan, who's posted at least ten reviews of it! (See collected links at the bottom of the post.) It's located in a little suburban shopping strip, yet the business has transformed their space into a small slice of Japan with nostalgic wooden surfaces, decorative knick knacks and functional accoutrements like wooden chopstick boxes and fabric-covered bag holders on the floor.

It's a rare joy to receive an entirely vegan menu of Japanese foods. Not only is Midori's standard menu extensive, but they also offer specials (including dessert!) and a kids menu. Gluten-free, pungent-free and soy-free dishes are well marked. I was ordering just for one, and wracked with all the dishes I'd be missing out on: edamame served three ways (boiled, smoked and as chips), okonomiyaki, fancy-frilled gyoza, mash-it-yourself potato salad, numerous ramen and don mains.

   

That said, I couldn't fault the dishes I did order. I started with a katsu sushi roll ($6.50, pictured top), served with pickled ginger and not wasabi on my request. I figured the wasabi tartare sauce within would supply enough heat for me. The mock-pork filling was thick and succulent, generously and crunchily crumbed. I noticed and appreciated that I was served just 1-2 teaspoons of soy sauce, precisely sufficient for my needs.

When I saw 'yuzu' on the specials list I was sold, ordering the yuzu 'kara & tofu' combo salad ($19, pictured directly above). What a spectacular rainbow of ingredients it held! Crispy-chewy mock chicken, soft battered tofu squares, unblemeshed avocado slices, refreshing cucumber and tomato, corn kernels, sprouts, pickled purple cabbage, plentiful bright salad greens, all lightly dressing with yuzu and sesame oil. I am a notoriously slow salad eater, and it was a pleasure to take my time over this one.

My lemon myrtle tea ($7.50) enabled me to linger a little longer and digest my meal - I like that they sell this local option alongside their matcha. If I had more time at the Gold Coast, I'd eagerly return many more times to order across Izakaya Midori's menu. Knowing that I didn't, I contented myself with revelling in one unrushed experience.

   

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You can read one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten posts about Susan's experiences with Izakaya Midori. It's also been covered by I Travel For Vegan Food.

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Izakaya Midori

Shop 7/50 Woodland Drive, Reedy Creek Qld

(07) 5645 6625

lunch menu, drinks, specials, dessert special, kids menu

https://izakayamidori.com.au/

Accessibility: Entry from the footpath is flat and there's a shallow ramp between levels inside. Medium-height tables and backed chairs are generously spaced. The toilets are shared with other businesses on the block; they're gendered, narrow and lacking any accessibility features.

Brisbane 2023

August 8-10, 2023

   

A family celebration brought us up to Queensland in August, and we booked a couple of nights in Brisbane afterwards. Meals were limited and precious, with so many good veg*n options around West End and South Brisbane. We started with brunch at Alphabet Cafe with our friend Tash; she took us on a tour of the local second-hand shops and advised us some of the better eating in the neighbourhood. 

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The following morning, we followed her advice to The Twin, a cafe with a gorgeous garden courtyard by its side. The Twin is best known for its sandwich rotation: all sandwiches are made with puffy, generously salted squares of house-baked focaccia and at any time there are four vegetarian fillings available. Once each fortnight, the flavour that sells the fewest sandwiches is replaced with something new.

I went for a long-term champion, the tomato ($16). Thick slices of tomato are teamed with mustard pickle, malt vinegar mayo, and French fry-style crisps (plus some bonus greens). I was ecstatic. Before I was ecstatic, I was mildly surprised that Michael looked past the BBQ jackfruit option to order the marinated zucchini sandwich ($16). With broccoli sauce, fried shallots and Dijonnaise, it was fresh and green and flavoursome.

As if ultra-fresh sandwiches in a garden weren't enough, the Twin staff were just awesome, making us feel like regulars on our first visit. I absolutely would be if I lived closer!

   

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We rarely cover alcoholic drinks on the blog, because neither of us would consider ourselves connoisseurs and because I actually drink very little at all. But even we could tell that Maker is something special. It's a teeny, fancy cocktail bar on Fish Lane staffed with a slightly serious friendliness. Cocktails are named after their feature spirit ($22 each), and the staff will concoct something just for you for a little extra ($24).

I've not had much bourbon in my life, but I looooooved sipping it in combination with passionfruit, white chocolate and lemon (pictured above left). I could barely divert myself away from its wonder to try Michael's also-excellent carbonated vodka cocktail (pictured above right), which included strawberry, coconut and lemon myrtle.

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We resisted the jaffles and cheese plates at Maker in anticipation of dinner. We were hoping to revisit El Planta, but they were taking a winter break! Instead, we hopped on the free local bus and secured an outdoor table at Bar Francine. It also feels special, though a little more relaxed, with mismatched op-shopped plates and chipper service.

Among the three of us, we tried almost everything vegetarian across the menu. The individual French toasts ($8 each, pictured above) spread with marsala onions, ostentatiously piped with mushroom parfait and garnished with a maraschino cherry were surprisingly retro, unsurprisingly rich, and very fun. We also shared a puffy house bread ($8), butter beans with cimi de rapa and pangrattato ($15), a bloomin' onion (!), aka onion fritti with sour cream and sweet chilli ($15), fried Brussels sprouts with manchego and truffle vinaigrette ($24), chips ($10), and an early spring salad ($16). 

Dessert was another throwback: golden syrup dumplings ($16)! These were served small and were easily split among us. Their creamy counterpart was goat's milk gelato, which added a welcome little tang.

   

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Though this visit to Brisbane was brief, we packed in quality time with an old friend and several new food experiences (not to mention some shops, galleries and e-scooter rides!). It's kept us eager to return again soon.

Back in Brisbane

July 6-9, 2022

   

We're so very happy to be back in south-east Queensland for a holiday, spending time with family and friends. We've been celebrating milestones, playing games with the kids, browsing op-shops for bargains, and revelling in our mums' cooking. We booked ourselves a spot in South Brisbane for the last leg of our tour: it's right by the cultural centre, it's easy to get almost anywhere else from there via public transport, it's a short walk from our old neighbourhood of West End. And there's so much veg*n eating to be had! Here are the new-to-us places we loved best.

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(Update 17/07/2024: Grassfed no longer occupy this space and operate as a food truck.)

Grassfed is a small shopfront in Fish Lane that serves all-vegan burgers, chips and soft-serve icecream. Everything is huge and over-the-top but we can happily report that it's big on quality too. Michael's fysh n chips burger (pictured above, right; $15.50) stacked beer-battered mock-fish fillets both inside and on top of the burger! My limited-time special chick'en katsu (pictured above, back centre; $14.90) was just as difficult to get my mouth around, with an ultra-crispy-crumbed mock-chicken patty, two hash browns (I pulled 'em out to eat separately) and a side of Japanese curry sauce for dipping and/or pouring. It was a mistake to order additional curly fries (above, left; $5.50 including aioli), although they were very good too. The seating is a bit of a squeeze, yet we witnessed the staff cheerfully helping a young family bring a pram in.

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El Planta is a nearby vegan Mexican restaurant with a more grown-up atmosphere. I appreciated that they offered specialty mocktails and house-made sodas alongside their alcoholic drinks, and I showed it by ordering one of each (a $12 pineapple margarita mocktail with a smoked salt rim, and the $5 cherry-hibiscus soda of the week). The menu changes often, and we loved everything we ate: cauliflower tacos with crispy kale and cashew cream ($15); beer-battered mock-fish tacos with a thick, dominating morita  ($17); fried Brussels sprouts with almond and habanero mole ($13); and the queso fundido (pictured above; $14), a shallow dip of queso cheeze with black beans, carne asada, chilli oil and spring onion scooped onto thick corn chips. Again, the staff were high energy and happy to help.

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Our friend Tash recommended Alphabet Café as one of the best local breakfasts, and sure enough we were smitten. It's tough to choose across a menu of breakfast tacos and waffles, mushrooms on polenta and a cabinet full of the most luscious looking baked goods and ready-to-toast sandwiches (vegan adaptations to the savoury porridge and sautéed mushrooms are clearly marked). The warmed pesto, pumpkin and parmesan scroll (pictured above, front centre) was perfectly balanced in flavour and texture, and my iced chai (pictured above, back right; $6.50) was gently brewed and not too sweet. Michael was just as enamoured of his savoury porridge (pictured above, back left; $24) which was pumpkin coloured, miso flavoured and topped with spinach, soy eggs, sweet potato, cauliflower, chilli oil, sesame and scallions. We snagged the last coffee cruller for breakfast-dessert.

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(Update 17/07/2024: Botanical Lab has been replaced by teaffee.)

I've been following Botanical Lab's social media for some time, inspired by Susan's many positive posts. Sadly they were closed for several months after bad weather damaged their shop, and I felt very lucky that our visit coincided with their second week of reopening! Botanical Lab offers an overwhelming variety of cute, pastel sweets that I would associate with Japan and Taiwan: bubble teas, cream puffs, mochi, and soft-serve sundaes. There are a decent number of well-marked vegan options.  We were both impressed by the chewy-cakey taro-iced mochi donut (pictured above front). A huge portion of mango popping jelly and a lychee in Michael's iced tea slowed down his usually-speedy drinking in the best possible way (pictured above left; $7). I built a vegan-friendly sundae of Thai milk tea-style soft serve, brown sugar syrup and crunchy nut cereal (pictured above right; $6.80) - it was very cold and surprisingly refreshing, without the strong soy or coconut flavours that often bug me with mock dairy. It's possible to order even more decadently with mochi waffles, parfaits, and layered ombre teas. I can only dream of attending one of Botanical Lab's high tea events.

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(Update 17/07/2024: Nonna's Nightmare has since closed.)

Nonna's Nightmare is a vegan Italian restaurant that's willing to put pineapple on pizza and an eggplant parma in a burger. (In this way, it reminded me of dinner time at Sable.) We stuck with some of the more conventional, albeit veganised, main dishes. My plate of ravioli al tartufo (pictured above front; $28.50) was a study in deep umami: truffle mushroom, salted sage leaves, toasted pine nuts, and parmesan. Michael tried their current pizza special (pictured blurrily above back), a tomato base with roasted artichoke, bacon, black olives and a judicious, understated layer of mozzarella. While we cleared our plates with pleasure, we agreed that we didn't have the appetite for extras like the red wine arancini, crostini ai fichi, cannoli or (my usual weakness) tiramisu. Next time!

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Of course our primary purpose on this trip was to reconnect with people and places that are dear to us, and we've largely succeeded in that. Trying all these terrific restaurants was just a bonus! We both noticed how consistently sunny the staff were at every venue, and it was the easiest thing in the world to beam right back at them.

Newer flavours in West End, Brisbane

 April 17-22, 2021

   

West End has long had one of the more veg-friendly restaurant strips in Brisbane. A quick browse of the Happy Cow map shows that it now has more vegan and vegetarian restaurants than ever before, in a higher concentration than any other Brisbane neighbourhood. Here are three of the all-vegetarian restaurants that we most appreciated during our short stay.

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You Came Again is a vegan bar, now occupying a shopfront that previously housed a Tibetan Momo Café. Though it looked small from the street we were led past the front room, through a corridor, and down the back stairs to a buzzing courtyard. You Came Again isn't sleek, but it is cool, evidence that West End is still home to a sub-culture of haphazard artworks and youths in second-hand clothes. The menu is medium-fancy and reasonably priced. It's more about vegetables than mock meats, though there's aqua faba meringue, mozzarella sticks and Kentucky-fried jackfruit on the menu. 

The centrepiece of our meal was the vegan cheese platter ($25), a gorgeous spread of cashew and coconut-based cheeses, olive tapenade and quince paste, apples, walnuts and Turkish bread. We also loved the harissa roasted carrots ($12), served on red pepper hummus and sprinkled with hazelnuts and pomegranate seeds.

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West End Vegan Restaurant is a Supreme Master-led business, with all the mock meat meals we've come to expect from Chinese restaurants in Australia. It's got something of a food court atmosphere and that suited us just fine for lunch. We were a little too ambitious: yuba drumsticks (3 for $7.50) to start, garlic 'beef' in black bean sauce ($16) for Michael, sweet and sour pork ($15) for me, and rice all round. Ordering from the 'rice dishes' page (rice, steamed vegetables and a feature dish for $15) would have been more sensible, but we really enjoyed the food and appreciated that they mixed in a decent serving of vegetables with the mock meats. 

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Vegeme was the perfect setting to grab an early weeknight dinner with some friends and their young kids. The menu was well labelled, had lots of fun smaller dishes for the kids to graze on (edamame, okonomiyaki, spring rolls) and larger rice and noodle-centred dishes for the larger appetites. I ordered out of character - my body was telling me I needed less fried food and more vegetables - and a $12.50 satay noodle soup sounded modest but tasty. It was a good order - lots of veges, a smattering of tofu and soy protein, plenty of noodles, and a hot flavoursome broth - but it was also enormous. It both nourished and defeated me.

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This is but a sampler of the great foods that West End has to offer. There were too few meals in the day to visit every restaurant and café that interested us, and our stay wasn't timed right to hang out at the Davies Park Market or the Brisbane Vegan Market. Regardless, it's lovely to see a thriving veg scene for the local community.

Stalwarts of West End, Brisbane

 April 17-22, 2021

   

We took some time off work to travel to south-east Queensland in April. It's been about two years since either of us has visited, and we had lots of family and friends to reconnect with. Our trip included almost a week in Brisbane's West End, where we lived just before moving to Melbourne. The neighbourhood has changed enormously, yet also retains many features that we remember fondly. We're amazed at some of the cafés still going strong 15 years later - here are three that we revisited.

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(Update 11/07/2022: Three Monkeys is now closed.)

To enter The Three Monkeys Coffee & Teahouse is to travel back in time 20 or more years (QR code check-in and hand sanny excepted!). It's a rambling converted home with tables tucked in nooks and crannies, opening eventually onto a leafy courtyard. Though I believe it's changed management along the way, the menu seems immovable: foccacia is stuffed with chicken, avocado and sundried tomato; there's Greek salad and quiche, spanakopita and lasagne (beef and vegetarian). A display case bursts with a dozen or more cakes and they're cut in huge slabs. 

After a long walk in the sun, I ordered a Sweet Passion blended fruit drink ($6.95) - unfortunately it was more cordial than fruit juice, but it was refreshing nonetheless. The main appeal of Three Monkeys is that you can laze for hours in the shady back garden without bothering the staff, and that's exactly what I did, with a big plate of nachos and three of my high school friends.

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Indian Kitchen opened up in West End while I lived there. I was a student, and their food was cheap, so a couple boxes of their curries and a naan was a favourite easy takeaway. On this visit we stuck around for lunch, and splurged on a full vegetarian thali each ($10 each) and the special naan of the day, paneer and herb ($5.50), which was cooked specially to order. The curries weren't quite as special as the naan, but still incredible value - on this day we were served (left to right) English cabbage and potato, vege kadhi curry (a new one for me!), and garlic dahl.

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I used to pick up the odd sausage roll from Kim Thanh Hot Bread before I was vegetarian. I don't think I knew a thing about banh mi then, but now I know well what I was missing out on. We grabbed a couple of their tofu-stuffed ones ($7 each) for a quick lunch and walked them home. I felt a pang of regret when I noticed another Boundary Street café touting vegan duck banh mi, but that was assuaged when I sat down and took a bite of my own. This was the most intensely marinated, 'meaty'-textured tofu I'd ever eaten: it had Chinese 5 spice, a slow-burning heat and a sweetness to it that I don't have a hope of replicating.

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Amongst these tasty servings of nostalgia, we also ate at some of West End's newer establishments! I'll highlight some of them in my next post.