The Sporting Club Hotel V

April 8, 2026 

 

   

 

The Sporting Club Hotel was listed in the 2006 Cheap Eats guide, then became the Charles Weston around 2015, and has since reverted back to the Sporting Club name. Cheap Eats described it as "a bit like your best mate's lounge room", which was reasonably accurate. Some of my mates' lounge rooms have had upgrades since 2006, as has the Sporting Club, but the simile doesn't really fit any more. We first visited in 2011, moved closer a couple of years later, and have since stopped in several dozen times, I'd guess - it was our go-to casual hang-out spot in the 2010s.

 

   

 

In 2006 Cheap Eats mentioned chicken parmigiana and lamb shanks, but by 2011 the menu was more of a tapas-and-tacos situation. But I reckon vege burgers are one of the better ways to track a pub's trajectory. In 2012, the $20 portobello mushroom burger that Michael ordered earned howls in the comments for being too expensive. A year later, I mentioned the $16 crumbed haloumi burger, which I went on to order many, many times (raised to $18 in 2015) - it was beloved. At some point, it got switched for a vegan-friendly tofu burger, which I declined to try for several years in my haloumi grief, and then learned was actually also very good. The pub's food experienced a post-COVID dip, and then it had its makeover, and the Southern fried enoki burger with cheese and slaw ($26, pictured above) arose. This burger made a positive impression on Michael on our most recent visit - crispy, chewy and savoury.

 

   

 

Much as I did on our first blogged visit, I flitted around the sides list. The wombok, snowpea, mint and feta salad ($14) was fun, fresh and very finely chopped. What looked like raw red onion (which I detest) was actually radish, with the additional purple on top most likely sumac. The vegan-friendly roast potatoes with garlic and rosemary ($14) were unexpectedly served with the garlic and rosemary forming a viscous green goo all over the spuds. While weird to look at, it tasted brilliant, with the potatoes having been cooked to a rich golden brown before they were dressed.

 

The current Sporting Club Hotel isn't our favourite incarnation of the pub, but it's still a pretty good one. I've no doubt we'll continue to pop in for years to come, even if it no longer feels like a second lounge room. 

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You can read 2011, 2012 and 2013 posts about the Sporting Club Hotel, a 2015 post about the Charles Weston iteration, and then a 2025 post about the Sporting Club reversion. 

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Sporting Club Hotel 

27 Weston St, Brunswick 

9996 1869 

food, drinks 

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. There's table service in many areas, with ordering and payment also possible 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 split by gender.

Tokyo Maki

April 2, 2026 

 

   

 

We had a decent shot at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival this year - seven shows across four nights - with only the last one located at the flagship Melbourne Town Hall. Our first night out had us seeking an early dinner near the Speakeasy Theatre. While the theatre itself proved cute as a button, we weren't inspired by its location in the south-western corner of the CBD. Happy Cow once again came to our rescue, noting that Japanese-Korean fusion restaurant Tokyo Maki has a dedicated vegan menu.

 

   

 

Tokyo Maki was casual and welcoming, a little more than half full when we arrived. We noticed hotplates in the centre of many tables, and space-saving slide-out drawers in the tables for cutlery and napkins. The vegan menu runs to a full A4 page of several dozen items, proudly headed I am a Vegan. Flip it over and you'll find the equally confident alternative, Hate Gluten. Aside from being funny, it's unusual and welcome for Japanese food!

 

   

 

I was in the mood for several snack plates. First to arrive was the agadashi tofu ($9.90) in fine form. Michael and I also split the vegetable croquettes ($7.50), which had a unique savoury flavour that pleasantly surprised us. I spaced my food out with a house-made honey ginger tea ($5.80), served with a kawaii relaxed dog spoon (see second photo above).

   

 

When Michael sees the words 'mapo tofu', he's hooked. This Japanese Mapo Tofu Don ($18.50) didn't have the Sichuan pepper bite he's accustomed to, but he loved the rich and still-spicy douban sauce. It was packed with tofu cubes, veges and rice.

   

My last snack of the night was lotus root chips ($11). They were plentiful and came with nice condiments, but unfortunately they weren't crispy all the way through, the only flaw in our meal. 

Tokyo Maki was a nice little surprise in what we consider to be an unattractive corner of the city. The staff were lovely; the vegan food was plentiful, arrived on time, was mostly terrific, and on reflection very good value for money. We won't hesitate to return and sample more if back in the neighbourhood. 

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Tokyo Maki

547 Flinders St, Melbourne CBD 

9620 0375 

vegan, gluten-free, drinks & dessert 

order online

 

Accessibility: Tokyo Maki has a flat, reasonably wide entry. Regular-height tables and backed chairs are arranged at medium density. We ordered at our table and paid at a regular-height counter. We didn't visit the toilets.

Vegiera

Happy Cow already reports that Vegiera has closed. 

 

March 28, 2026

 

   

 

We were ready for lunch after visiting a friend in Beaumaris; Happy Cow turned up Vegiera as the nearest vegetarian spot and we figured we'd give it a go. Sadly, Happy Cow now reports that Vegiera is closed so this is probably just a document of a nice meal had rather than a usable recommendation for readers. 

Vegiera is nestled within a commercial/light industrial strip of Warrigal Road (and we made sure to stop by the neighbouring Savers for a browse before departure). While Vegiera is clean and naturally lit, it's difficult to shake off a certain food court vibe. They've got an appealing, all-vegetarian a la carte menu that spans the cooking traditions of Asia, with soups, appetisers, abundant rice and noodle-based dishes, curries and stir-fries, and a couple of desserts. Gluten-free options are well-marked.

   

 

Michael made the most of our visit, ordering a tempeh rendang ($19), served with five-grain rice. Look at those generous tempeh chunks, tender potatoes and luminous broccoli florets photographed up top! I was after something simpler and tried the omelette ($22), which was dense with veges and very well seasoned. I regret that I didn't have the appetite for Kado-kado, house-made sweet and sour balls, or Thai style fried rice - the Vegiera team seemed to be producing really nice vegetarian dishes with care.

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Vegiera

Shop 7a, 442-444 Warrigal Road, Heatherton

9558 2163

menu: one, two, three

facebook page

 

Accessibility: Vegiera has a flat entry and a clear corridor through its length. Regular-height tables and backed chairs are arranged at medium-to-high density. We ordered and paid at a regular-height counter. There was a large, unisex toilet cubicle with accessibility features.

Tom Phat IV

March 21, 2026 

 

   

 

When we first arrived in Melbourne, I thought Tom Phat looked so cool. It maintains the same vibe 20 years later, and I still think it looks pretty cool. That said, we've had some really mixed experiences, both within and between meals, and it has never really earned our loyalty. We've popped in for the odd late-night espresso martini or dietary-friendly friend date since our 2016 anniversary post and not been moved to document them. But we can't resist a longitudinal analysis, so here we are, back blogging Tom Phat in 2026.

 

   

 

Tom Phat continues to cover the larger floor space it had expanded to by 2016, and it is filled pretty effectively on a Saturday night. Tom Phat used to be an all-hours venue, from brunch to late-night cocktails, but now it's strictly a dinner-and-drinks affair. The drinks are good fun! A dozen cocktails and four mocktails focus on south-east Asian flavours, with numerous tropical fruits, lemongrass, and ginger. 

 

   

 

It was harder than we expected to order dishes we'd had before; tempeh, in particular, seemed to be off the menu. The hoisin tofu baos ($14) were a fun and tasty DIY experience, with more pickley bits than we could fit into the buns. The grilled roti with satay sauce ($12) is one of the few menu fixtures and sadly one of the least inspiring, with little flakiness or toastiness.

 

   

 

The choo chee curry with rice ($24) has a tofu option for the veg*ns, and it's an enjoyable if not memorable coconut milk-based curry with a good variety of vegetables.

 

   

 

Kung pao cauliflower ($24) was another new-to-us menu item, a bit spicy and plenty sweet, with lovely roasted cashews. The cauliflower florets were thickly battered, the effect was too heavy, and we didn't make it through the whole plate.

 

I had vowed to order the banana roti pancake for dessert if it was still around, but it was blessedly absent. While the menu has technically changed, this version of Tom Phat didn't really offer us anything new. 

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 You can read about one, two, three of our past visits to Tom Phat.

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Tom Phat

184 Sydney Rd, Brunswick  

9121 3377 

menu 

https://tomphat.com/

 

Accessibility: Tom Phat has a small ramp on entry. Tables are aligned through the length of the building with a corridor through that starts off wide but gets a little more crowded towards the end. Furniture is a densely-arranged array of regular-height tables with backed chairs and bench seats. There is a disability-marked toilet out back. We ordered at our table and paid afterwards at the low-ish counter. 

Andrew's Hamburgers IV

March 14, 2026

 

We're revisiting lots of places from the first couple of years of the blog to celebrate twenty years of posting about Melbourne's food and to check back on the Cheap Eats 2006 places we got excited about when we first moved here. Andrew's Hamburgers has been going a lot longer than twenty years, churning out famous burgers with the lot and laying claim to being Australia's first dedicated burger shop. There are conflicting accounts of its history, but it seems to have been run by the same family since at least 1957.

 

Its last two decades we can account for, with the shop basically unchanged since we first visited - a narrow, busy space pumping out burgers and chips well beyond the capacity of the few tables out the front. The menu itself has expanded since we last visited, with Mexican, Hawaiian and American themed burger options alongside the classics (plus the souvlaki that turned up on the menu around 2010).

 

Most people are here for the classics though I think. The burger with the lot is the mainstay, and I suspect the veggie burger ($16) recipe hasn't been messed with since whenever it first appeared. There are no concessions to vegans here, with feta in the veggie patty (based on a family recipe). It's gooey and dotted with veggies, layered up with cheese and just soggy enough - a far cry from the Impossible patties that now dominate the veggie burger world. We added in a potato cake ($2.50) and small chips ($6.50) and had a delightful dinner in the sunshine. 

    

Veggie burger prices at Andrew's have gradually increased, from $7 in 2007 to $7.50 in 2010 to $10 in 2016 to $16 on our 2026 visit. It's not outrageous, but it's not quite the bargain that it felt like back in 2007. Still, there's something wholesome about a business that knows what it does well and just keeps doing it.

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You can read about our earlier visits to Andrew's here, here and here. Since our 2016 visit there have been a few blog posts about the meaty options - see Team Cheeseburger and Food Trip (reviewing the short-lived CBD outpost). There is a lovely obituary for Andrew Georghiou here, as well as the interesting but inconsistent articles in The Age and Broadsheet.

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Andrew's Hamburgers

114 Bridport Street, Albert Park

9690 2126

menu

https://www.andrewshamburgers.com.au/

 

Accessibiltity: The entry is flat, but the interior is quite crowded and you order and pay at a high counter. The outside tables are reasonably well spaced, with bench seating. We didn't visit the toilets.