Gopal's IV

March 3, 2026 

 

   

 

We probably haven't been to Gopal's since our 2016 decade retrospective of the 2006 Cheap Eats Guide. What once suited our student budget and tastes and our newly vegetarian ways brought less excitement as the years went on. But what's boring to one can be comforting and even nostalgic to another.

 

   

 

Gopal's specialises in vegetarian and vegan food, prepared in bulk and served at affordable prices. The mainstay is the feast plate ($12 in 2006, $12.95 in 2016, $13.50 in 2026); they were out of soup on our visit so Michael dropped back to the otherwise-same vegan platter ($12.50). It's a plate piled with rice, two curries and salad, plus a dessert (apple crumble with custard) and drink (lemonade). The foods and their dietary features are well marked at the counter bain marie, but it all kinda melds on the plate.

   

 

I knew I couldn't handle the full shebang, so focused on kofta and rice, drink and dessert. It was simple, salty and filling, no more and no less than I expected. It's food that won't make new memories but might trigger old ones. It's remarkable that Gopal's have kept the prices so low for so many years, and maintained a space in the city that remains so accessible and accepting to anyone who can make it up the stairs. We might not be excited by Gopal's but we're lucky to have them.

 

    

 

On this night, we paired our meal with a Pulp show under a blood moon. Gopal's went on to rescue us from hunger between Melbourne Comedy Festival shows in April when the crepe cart was overrun and time was tight. 

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You can read about one, two, three of our previous visits to Gopal's.

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Gopal's Pure Vegetarian

139 Swanston St, Melbourne CBD 

9650 1578 

menu 

https://www.gopalspurevegetarian.com.au/ 

 

Accessibility: We entered via a narrow staircase with a handrail and did not notice an alternative access point. We ordered and paid at the counter. Tables are quite well spaced. Toilets are gendered and narrow. 

Artichoke heart cannelloni

Februrary 28, 2026 

   

 

We were in the mood for a cosy pasta project on a Saturday night, and I pulled this one out of Deb Perelman's first Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. The photo in the book has pasta shells oozing with something creamy and cheesy, edges crisped to a golden brown, and everything flecked with green parsley. My presentation is a little more coarse but it hit the mark well enough.

 

The major hitch was that I couldn't find jumbo pasta shells. I'm not confident that they're even a thing here in Australia. I pivoted to cannelloni: that meant filling them carefully while they were uncooked and brittle, compared to shells that were intended to be cooked, soft and open for filling. I kept an eye on the amount of liquid in the sauce and the baking time, wanting to make sure that the pasta cooked through in the last phase. They did pretty well under the original instructions, though perhaps they didn't look quite as satisfyingly gooey.

 

Pasta shapes aside, we stuck to the key flavours: a filling of blended artichoke hearts brightened with white wine and lemon juice, poured over with a thick ricotta béchamel, and scattered with basil leaves. It was gorgeous, paired with a favourite simple tomato salad that I've won Michael around to.

 

 

 

Artichoke heart cannelloni

(adapted from Deb Perelman's The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook) 

 

cannelloni

3 tablespoons butter

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 x 400g cans artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed, and sliced in half

1/4 cup white wine

1 cup grated parmesan

2 egg yolks

1 tablespoon lemon juice

salt and pepper, to taste

250g box cannelloni tubes 

 

sauce

55g butter

1/4 cup flour

2 cups milk

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup ricotta

2 tablespoons lemon juice

salt and pepper, to taste

 

2 tablespoons parsley or basil leaves, chopped, to garnish

 

 

Melt the butter in a medium-large frypan over medium heat. When it's lightly brown, add the olive oil, and then the onion. Cook the onion, stirring, until softened and browning, about 10 minutes. Add the artichoke hearts and cook for 5 minutes. Add the wine and cook it all, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated. Turn off the heat and allow the mixture to cool a little.

 

When the artichoke mixture is no longer too hot for it, transfer it to a food processor. Add the parmesan, egg yolks, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Pulse the mixture until it is well chopped but still retains plenty of texture.

 

Make the sauce by melting the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour. Gradually whisk in the milk, keeping it all moving to prevent lumps. Add the garlic and bring the sauce to the boil, stirring regularly. Reduce the heat and stir in the ricotta, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

 

Preheat an oven to 180°C. Spread a bit of the sauce over the base of a large, high-walled baking dish (about 20 x 30 cm). Use a teaspoon to carefully spoon the artichoke filling into each cannelloni tube, then set the tubes into the baking dish on top of the sauce. When all the cannelloni and filling is used up, spoon the remaining sauce over them. Cover the dish in foil and bake for about 30 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for a further 15 minutes.

 

Serve the cannelloni sprinkled with parsley or basil.  

Good Daze Canteen

February 27, 2026 

   

Since Nyala no longer serves tafach mooz, we had room for dessert on Brunswick St and I had a back-up plan. I've been following Good Daze Canteen on instagram for a while and we were both ready to try their cheery icecream menu. It was tough to choose across their flavours of the world (peaches cream cornbread! dulce de leche chocolate alfajor! guava chilli!), and we were impressed that a third of the menu seemed to be vegan. They also keep a cheeky little bowl of Lacteeze tablets by the register.

Michael ordered a double scoop ($9.50) of the very Australian Cherry Ripe and the Viet ice coffee*leche flan. Both were excellent: look at that swoon-worthy swirl on the Cherry Ripe!  

   

 

I went for a single scoop ($7) of the miso peanut butter caramel, credited jointly to Japan and the USA, and added Nutella on top ($1.50). Perhaps not the most adventurous choice in the year 2026, but an excellent combination: nutty, with a complex saltiness, gooey and rich.

 

This capped off our meal perfectly; we agreed that we'd welcome all future excuses to come back and try more. 

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Good Daze Canteen

316 Brunswick St, Fitzroy

menu 

https://www.gooddazecanteen.com/

 

Accessibility: There is a small lip on the door and a flat corridor through the canteen. There is a regular-height communal table with backed chairs inside, and a bench on the street. We ordered and paid at a low counter. We didn't visit the toilets.

Nyala II

February 27, 2026

 

   

We're back for another Cheap Eats 2006 two decades on post, with a visit to Nyala African Restaurant in Fitzroy. We first visited Nyala in about 2004, before we even lived in Melbourne and we loved it so much that we revisited very early in our where's the beef era - October 2006. According to their website, Nyala was the first Ethiopian place in Melbourne and has been trading since 1987 - pretty impressive!

Since our 2006 visit Nyala has moved down the street, to a lovely, airy space above Masti on Brunswick Street, but otherwise things are pretty similar: Ethiopian food, friendly service and some delicious African beers. 

    

   

We started out with a dip combo plate: small serves of lentil dip, tahini dip and eggplant/turmeric dip served with mountain bread ($15). This is a great way to try all Nyala's dipping options - I think the red lentil one was my favourite, but you really can't go wrong with any of these, especially alongside a St George's Ethiopian beer.

   

We followed up with the classic Ethiopian veg combo plate with injera - beyaynetu ($28). This comes with serves of each of their four vego mains: futari (Tanzanian cabbage with veggies in coconut cream), keek woet (Ethiopian style rich brown lentils), defen meser (yellow split peas, seasoned and cooked Ethiopian style) and gomen (steamed silverbeet and spinach with garlic and ginger). They happily kept our injera supplies topped up as we messily dug our way through these excellent dishes - there's something about the sour bread and the rich earthy flavours of these stews that just works. 

 

   

 

Prices at Nyala have just about kept up with inflation - mains in 2006 cost $14, up to $28 this year, while entrees have approximately doubled as well ($7 to $15). The menu has changed a little, but the only notable shift is the absence of the banana and brown sugar dessert Cindy enjoyed in 2006.  I'm so glad Nyala has survived, although things were pretty quiet the night we visited. We had such a lovely dinner - the staff were super friendly, the space gorgeous and the food excellent - a great reminder not to wait 20 years to visit again.

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You can read about our 2006 Nyala visit (and admire our 2006 photos) here. 

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Nyala African Restaurant

Level 1, 356 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy

9419 9128

food, drinks  

https://nyalarestaurant.com.au/

Accessibility: Nyala is up a flight of stairs, we didn't notice a lift but there might be one tucked away somewhere. Tables are nicely spaced out and we paid at a high counter. We didn't visit the toilets.

Beautiful Jim Key II

February 15, 2026

 

We stopped in at Beautiful Kim Key a second time for lunch, before a Barkly Square trip, and perched up at the bright yellow communal table.  

 

 

Michael tried their vegetarian toastie, which was stuffed with finely chopped broccoli and pecorino ($18), served with a cheek of lemon and chilli flakes on the side. A pretty good hash brown ($6) rounded it up to a proper meal for him.

 

I was less concerned about proper meals, see-sawing right until the last moment between the heirloom tomato and focaccia special and the pain perdu. Well, I got the pain perdu ($19), and it was flawless: a single golden piece of French toast served with a blood plum in syrup, and a flourish of creme fraiche.

 

Our meal wasn't heavy but it was full of flavour, just the thing to put a spring in our step for the errands ahead. 

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You can read about our first visit to Beautiful Jim Key here. 

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Beautiful Jim Key

7 Wilson Ave, Brunswick

0400 124 414 

food, drinks

https://www.beautifuljimkey.com.au/ 

 

Accessibiltity: BJK has a flat entry and medium-spaced furniture, a mixture of bench seating along the wall, low tables with backed seats, then a high communal table with backless stools. We ordered at our table and paid at a low counter. We didn't use the toilets, but I think I spotted a reasonably spacious unisex cubicle.