December 14 & 21, 2023
Late in 2023 while on a Lygon St tram, I noticed that the shopfront that was North Carlton Canteen for a decade now had little red lettering that said Pickles Milk Bar. I rapidly located it on instagram and hit follow; it hadn't quite opened yet. When I stopped in to try a takeaway lunch a month later, I was thrilled to learn that this milk bar is all vegan!
The milk bar menu runs through coffees and milkshakes, a couple of hot breakfast sandwiches with optional hash browns, four day-time sandwiches, pies and chips, dims sims and potato cakes, a counter of cakes and a row of vegan-friendly lollies.
On that first visit I picked out two sandwiches ($16 each) that I could pop in my tote bag and cycle home with. They were both made with a terrific garlic butter focaccia! (I am so happy that focaccia is making a comeback.) Up top is the Damn Caesar featuring fried enoki mushrooms, soy bacon with pickled red onion, capers, parmesan, dill chimichurri and lettuce. Beneath is the Gyros with the za'atar zucchini option (mock meat also available), fries, sumac onions, tomato, pickled turnip and cucumber, garlic and mint sauce and red cabbage. In both cases the fillings mixed together in an enjoyable savoury way with specific ingredients only being detectable in occasional bites. The focaccia was just barely sturdy enough to hold everything together through to my last bites.
A week later we were back and word had clearly got around; we ran into three veg*n friends while there! We figured that we needed to sample the salad sandwich ($16) which is served on sourdough bread. The hot mustard and the avocado were the highlights here for me, amongst cucumber, tomato, red onion, carrot, beetroot, dill chimichurri, lettuce, alfalfa sprouts and mayo.
The breakfast scramble pie ($9) was where I could really taste the layers! This open-top pastry is lined with mock bacon, filled with a hearty tofu scramble and topped with potato gems, with a tub of relish on the side. It is precisely as good as it sounds.
It is such a great surprise to have Pickles Milk Bar opening up so close to home - we have every intention of becoming regulars and systematically working our way through the menu. (Next on my agenda: milkshakes!)
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Pickles Milk Bar
1008 Lygon St, Carlton North
Accessibility: There is a small lip on the door and a relatively spacious interior with a low counter. There is a line of bench seating along the wall, with small low tables and low backless stools. We ordered and paid at the counter. We didn't visit the toilets.
from Johanna @ https://gggiraffe.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteThis looks great. I am putting it on my list for sure - those sandwiches, that pie and vegan dim sims sounds amazing. And I pass this place quite regularly so am sure I could stop there soon, though might not get there before our holiday in a little over a week.
Johanna, I am sure both you and Sylvia would have fun here! Though I see you are currently having fun much further afield. :)
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