The vegan telegraph was abuzz this week with the news that the chef from the sadly departed East Brunswick Club had started a similar vegan-friendly menu going at The Cornish Arms on Sydney Road. We were quickly on the case and, with Danni, Keira and assorted others in tow, were there on Thursday night to check it out.
It's a nice enough pub - there's an enormous bar, loads of tables and a pleasant-looking, if spartan, courtyard. The crowd was a mix of hungry vegans, Brunswick hipsters and locals who may well have been hanging out at The Cornish Arms since before the cool kids moved north from Fitzroy. The menu is very reminiscent of the EBC - there's a parma, some burgers, nachos... in general lots of mock-meat and junky pub food (there are rumours of pizzas, but we didn't spot any vegan-friendly ones on the blackboard just yet). Our kind of thing.
Cindy tried out their fish 'n' chips ($20), which had a very familiar look about them. The 'fish' chunks are battered tofu, with the nori adding a bit of a fishy flavour and the vegan tartare providing the real highlight. The chips were okay as well. Not great, not terrible - just old-fashioned fried goodness.
I had the burrito ($18, which was at least a bit different from the EBC's mexi-night version).
This came stuffed with rice, black bean chilli, mock chicken, mock bacon and vegan cheese, with a side of scattered corn chips, a slightly odd jalapeno/guacamole/sour cream sauce bowl and some salad. It was pretty satisfying - these are good-sized burritos - but at $18 it doesn't really measure up to the excellence of the $10 tofu burrito at Trippytaco (but then what does?).
We decided to go the whole hog and try out the vegan dessert - just like the EBC their main offering is vegan cheesecake. On our visit it was peanut butter and chocolate flavoured ($6). And, just like the EBC, it took about an hour to turn up.
And, like the savoury food that had gone before it, it was... fine. A vegan cheesecake is a pretty reliable dessert option and these flavours hit the spot nicely. It might have just been my frustration at the wait (they'd forgotten our order!) but I just wasn't super impressed by it. Good, but not great.
Don't get me wrong, the CA is a nice pub - they've got good beers on tap, plenty of space and a nice, relaxed vibe. But the food is expensive (vegan mains are $16-$20) and pubs like The Gasometer and The Fox have really kicked the vegan-friendly pub food up a notch since the heyday of the EBC. Still, if you're after something junky and animal-product-free and want somewhere you won't need to book or worry too much about how stylish your facial hair is looking, then it's well worth checking out the Cornish Arms. Let us know what you think.
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You can read about some of our many visits to the East Brunswick Club here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
Nobody seems to have blogged the new menu at the Cornish Arms yet, but Beer Bar Band and juganaut both liked the old menu well enough.
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The Cornish Arms
163A Sydney Road, Brunswick
9380 8383
vegan mains $16-$20
Accessibility: There's a flat entryway and a pretty spacious interior. Lighting is low without being ludicrously dim. Ordering and payment happens at the bar. The toilets are on the same level and are wheelchair accessible.
I was worried that the prices were going to be the same. $20 is too much for mock meat. SRSLY.
ReplyDeleteCarla, I tend to agree - it's a lot to charge for some fairly casual food.
DeleteWe were there the next night.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't order desserts but our meals took an hour to come out. Also, one of us ordered the F&C and I didn't try it but the batter looked quite different to yours, it was a thicker batter more like a traditional beer batter.
Was the music really loud when you were there? I'm not particularly volume-sensitive but it was a bit toooo loud for me.
And I agree with Carla about the prices to be honest.
ReplyDeleteHi Joanne! Thanks for updating us with your visit. Yep, the music was too loud for me as well. And I was a bit disappointed with the thin batter so I'm interested to hear that they changed that!
DeleteEverything looks pretty mediocre. Do you think the vegan parmas would taste the same as they did @ EBC?
ReplyDeleteHi grave.architecture! No-one at our table ordered a parma, but I think there's a very high probability that they'd be just like the ones at EBC.
DeleteHaha Cindy! I don't know why it says "grave.architecture"! It's Binny here :) I've FINALLY finished the article, but it needs more polishing up so when it's really done, I'll email it to you for your perusal.
DeleteAh, Hi Binny. :-) Glad you're writing's working out, I'll look forward to reading it soon!
DeleteI'm no fan of mock meat but they deserve congratulations for catering to the niche market for such a product.
ReplyDeleteThey really should live up to their name and do a housemade signature cornish pastie ...
Kitchen Hand - great idea! I'd definitely be in for a veg-friendly pastie.
Delete$18 for the parma is sort of justified as theres cheezly and a bit of effort involved, but $20 for the fish and chips is crazy talk! From the looks of the pic I don't actually think thats even been battered by them as they do come straight out of the pack with a very thin layer of batter like that from the freezer at most vego friendly asian groceries.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely craving a parma now....
Good points, eastcoastveg. Joanne above seemed to encounter a thicker batter on her visit so maybe they're putting that little extra effort in more recently!
DeleteHi Guys,
ReplyDeleteIt's been awhile since you reviewed The Cornish Arms Hotel. I would love to have you back in so you can try out our new amazing vegan menu. We have vegan specials that change weekly, last week was the crazy popular vegan Big Mac & this week we have the huge vegan Manwich with onion rings.
Please call 9380 8383 and ask for Jessica & i will sort out a table for you.
Hi Jessica - thanks for the invite! We drop by quite regularly - we've written two more blog posts since this one, and a few on facebook. Michael tried and loved the Large Mac a couple of weeks ago. We'll no doubt be round again soon!
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