Oven-baked tofu chilli

August 19, 2026

 

   

 

I was home alone one Wednesday night and in need of dinner inspiration, so I popped the obvious phrase 'meera sodha tofu' into the internet and browsed the results. This was the clear standout - it takes a bit of time to make, but most of that is just waiting for things to bake, so it's a perfect recipe for a work from home day. It's a spectacular meal - I really like the texture of the baked tofu 'mince' and the beans, veggies and spices add lots of flavour. I'd recommend making a basic guacamole or a little salad or something with it, just for something a bit fresh, but you can't really go wrong. We've made it with rice both times so far, but it'd go great in tortillas or just straight up I reckon.

 

Oven-baked tofu chilli

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

2 brown onions, peeled and chopped

2 red capsicums (~450 grams), chopped with seeds removed

300g firm tofu (you can up this to 500g if you're feeling hungry)

6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1/2 cup sunflower oil

2 teaspoons salt

3 tablespoons chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

500ml passata

2 tablespoons white miso paste

2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Heat the oven to 210°C. Use a food processor to roughly mince the onions, capsicum and tofu (one at a time) and combine them into your oven tray(s) - we used two ~20cm x 30cm oven trays. 

Stir in the garlic, sunflower oil, salt, chipotles, herbs and spices and stir everything together thoroughly.

Bake for 30 minutes and then stir in the passata and give everything another 30 minutes. 

While that's all baking, stir the miso together with 500ml of hot water until it's dissolved into a kind of stock. 

When your 30 minutes is up, stir in the chickpeas and the miso stock and bake for another 30 minutes. 

Serve on top of rice, with a few big dollops of guacamole on top.

Flora III

August 18, 2026

 

   

 

MIFF season got us into the city for a few dinners and we started with a 20-year mainstay for quick and tasty sustenance around a show: Flora. It's been beset by scaffolding for years but is still holding on and has even had a minor renovation, with vibrantly patterned furniture and murals of famous cricketers.

There's an extra frill to the service too, with staff now handing out menus and taking orders at the tables following many years of counter-only service. The Indian menu is compact but offers decent variety and value, with plenty of vegetarian options (dietaries aren't otherwise explicitly marked, so vegans and coeliacs will need to quiz the staff).

   

 

Michael had the appetite for the veg thali ($20.95 in 2026 and pictured up top, a similar meal costing $11.90 in 2015). It always includes rice and daal, a choice of naan or roti, and then three veg curries - here bhindi masala, paneer rara, and a potato/carrot/pea medley. Though we could see the curries on display out the front, they didn't have the tired feel of food that's been sitting in a bain marie all day - textures and flavours were full and varied.

 

For me, it was always going to be the dosa combination ($21.95 in 2026, with similar options priced at $8-9 in 2006 and $10.90 in 2015). Here, too, the idli and vada were piping hot and distinctly textured, leading me to believe they'd be made to order. You can see the crispness of the dosa in the photo, and it held a generous portion of chilli-paneer filling (they were all out of the usual potato masala). As a chilli wuss, I focused on the coconut chutney and barely touched the sambhar.

 

At Flora the mango lassi is definitely prepared earlier and a little on the small side, but it's also a good time ($3.95 in 2026, $3 in 2015). 

 

   

 

It seems Flora have had to hike their prices more than most since we first visited two decades ago, but by our reckoning they've generally improved the service and food to match. It'll remain firmly on our fast-CBD-dinner list for a good few more years yet. We teamed this Flora meal with a viewing of the offbeat and heartfelt documentary Joybubbles at ACMI. 

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You can read about one, two of our previous visits to Flora. Since our last post it's received a positive review from Green Gourmet Giraffe.

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Flora

238a Flinders St, Melbourne CBD

9663 1212

menu: one, two 

https://flora.melbourne/

 

Accessibility: The entry is wide and flat. Regular-height tables backed chairs are densely arranged with reasonably wide pathways through the centre of the restaurant. We ordered at the table and paid at a low counter. We didn't visit the toilets.  

The Rocket Society

August 8, 2026

 

   

 

A couple of years ago, the excellent Rumi moved to its third home, at East Brunswick Village. They also added on a neighbouring wine bar called The Rocket Society. The crowded high tables indoors and rigid furniture outdoors at the Rocket Society don't invite extensive lounging, but they're a handy spot for a fancy snack before or after a movie at FOMO, especially when the weather is good. That was precisely our purpose on this visit, before a session of The Invite.

 

   

 

This is a wine bar with a decently-sized snacks menu. Dietary features aren't marked and there's a fair bit of meat, particularly barbecued on sticks. Yet the snacks skip through flatbread and pita chips, falafels and fries, with dressed-up green beans, baby cos and sugarloaf cabbage for those determined to eat a vegetable - most people should be able to find something suitable to nibble on after consulting with the staff. 

For us, the fries ($12) were just fine and plenty filling, with the accompanying 'tahinnaisse' not making much of an impression. Labne balls were oily but good ($14), each rolled in a different spice mix, alongside also-oily-and-crisp pita chips. I became one of the vegetable seekers myself, going for the green beans braised with tomato, lemon and, yes, more olive oil ($12). This was a good time but not a balanced meal, and that's more on me than on The Rocket Society.

   

The most memorable consumable of our visit was a distinctive non-alcoholic drink, the sekanjabin ($10, pictured up top). It's a tall, ice-filled glass of soda flavoured with honey, vinegar and mint - so refreshing that we ordered a second round.  

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The Rocket Society has received positive reviews on Bureau of Eating & Drinking, and Mamma Knows North. 

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The Rocket Society

2 Village Ave, Brunswick East

9388 8255

food, drinks

https://www.therocketsociety.com.au/

 

Accessibility: There's a flat entry. Indoor tables are high with backless stools, outdoor tables are low with backed folding chairs, all are densely arranged. We ordered and paid at a high bar. We didn't visit the toilets.   

Billy van Creamy II

July 26, 2026

 

   

 

While we were in Brisbane, I was hit with a bolt of FOMO: my Brunswick favourites Billy van Creamy and Tofu Shoten announced a collaborative icecream sandwich! It was sold out before we returned home, but so popular that they made an encore batch a couple weeks later. I pounced! They also had a second icecream sandwich on offer, so I picked that up too, to share with Michael.

   

 

First, the Tofu Shoten one. Not only was it vegan, but gluten free as well! The cookie was thin, crisp and coconut-based. The icecream had a lovely creamy texture without need of dairy, but the subtlety of its vanilla-soy-yuzu flavour was lost on me. The star - the absolute clincher - for me was the sweet smear of pear jelly.  

 

   

The other more regular BVC sandwich was also vegan - a pair of more substantive chocolate cookies holding together hazelnut icecream, a layer of chocolate fudge, all rolled through chopped hazelnuts. It's a classic flavour combination done extremely well here, with the overall effect being pretty similar to their vegan Easter egg special. The flavour is full and rich, so it's one for most devoted chocolate lovers, or perhaps to share. (In my case, on this day, both.)

Billy van Creamy's icecream sandwiches and other specials aren't always super-obvious in store, but they're well worth paying attention to. I'd recommend keeping an eye on their social media and being bold enough to ask what's new when you're in for a visit.

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You can read about one of our previous visits to Billy van Creamy in Brunswick, and one in Fitzroy. 

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Billy Van Creamy

146 Sydney Rd, Brunswick

https://billyvancreamy.com.au/

 

Accessibility: There's a shallow ramp on entry. Low stools and benches line the walls and windows, and there's substantial open flat space in the centre of the room. We ordered and paid at a low counter. We didn't ask about the toilets. 

Green Refectory III

July 25, 2026

 

   

Green Refectory opened on Sydney Road in 2004 and it's been a long-running local favourite, dispensing meals, muffins, pastries and drinks at inflation-busting prices. The classic Green experience (milling around awkwardly at the crowded counter dealing with confusing throngs of people getting and waiting for takeaway, paying their bills and ordering) is happily no more - last year they expanded into the shop next door and the whole process is a lot smoother these days. 

Otherwise very little has changed - they're still doing the veggie stack I had 2008 ($9 in 2008, $16.50 in 2026), they've still got an array of gigantic muffins and the pie cabinet is still loaded up with goodies that are perfect to pick up early on your way out bird-watching (for example). We were glad to be back for our Cheap Eats 2006/2026 project, we'd not sat down for a meal together there since 2013.

 

   

The menu is up on a blackboard over the counter and you order there and then find a table. There are eggy breakfasts, a decent set of vegan options, heaps of sweet stuff and more cabinet options than you can imagine. I rehashed my 2013 order - scrambled tofu with mixed spices, pickled veggies, Mt Zero olives and mountain bread ($10 in 2013, $15 in 2026). The consistency of Green Refec is pretty incredible, this felt almost exactly the same as the dish I vaguely remembered from decades before - they've switched from green to kalamata olives, but otherwise this is the same solid vegan brekkie they've been serving forever. The mountain bread is fun to tear to pieces and pick up the warmly spiced tofu with and the pickles and olives add nice salt and tanginess to the whole arrangement.

   

Cindy couldn't go past a two course muffin meal, starting with a pumpkin, feta and sun-dried tomato option ($3.50 in 2008, $3 in 2013, $5 in 2026) and finishing with blueberry/pear ($2.80 in 2008, $4.50 in 2026). They are surely made using the same recipes they've been using since they opened. The savouries are quite eggy, while the sweet ones have a cakey texture - it's familiar, it's delicious and, if you turn up near closing time, it's incredibly cheap.

 

   

Coffees were good, service was friendly and efficient and the whole Green Refectory experience was probably as good as it's ever been for us. The expansion has really made dining in work better (plus they've finally started accepting card payments!). There's something very dated about the menu but, like The Galleon before it, there's nothing wrong with doing an old fashioned brekkie. Most weekends I'll be lured by the fancy offerings at one of Brunswick's endless trendy cafes, but it's a delight to know that the Green Refectory will always be there, offering up solid, affordable brekkies.

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You can read about one, two of our previous visits to the Green Refectory. Since 2013 there have been positive reviews from Whatever Floats Your Bloat, Mosaik Melbourne, frenchtoastandindiepop and Melbourne Vita, while Curious Charlie had a more mixed experience.

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The Green Refectory

115 Sydney Road, Brunswick

9387 1150 

menu

https://www.greenrefectory.net/

 

Accessibility: There's a small step up on entry. The interior is much more navigable than it used to be, but the dine-in side is still fairly densely packed with tables and backed chairs. You order and pay at a low counter.