December 22, 2024
Our veg*n group chat brought our attention to a new veg restaurant, Toil & Trouble, towards the end of 2024. It's located on Lygon St and a pleasant walk from our home so we ducked in for a visit just before Christmas. The atmosphere is a little fancier than most veg*n restaurants, perhaps aiming for a wine bar style, and they clearly take pride in their mixed drinks as we were offered, served and sitting with our drinks for some time before we caught sight of the food menu.
Michael tried the spicy cucumber margarita ($20), even (especially?) after a neighbouring diner spluttered in surprise at its heat - the medley of cucumber, chilli and coriander made sense. I selected Fluff of the Dog ($14) from the mocktails, a tall glass of yuzu and mint-spiked salted lemonade.
While a couple of the cocktails included egg whites, the food menu was all vegan, with many entrees to share, a couple of salads and a couple of mains. Our cocktails especially complemented the burnished miso butter corn ribs ($17).
I'm always keen to try a veg*n phish & chips ($27) when it's available. Unusually for Australia, this one comes with a curry sauce, which worked well with the chips but just can't win over my love of tartare. Apple, fennel and cabbage slaw is a refreshing idea as an accompaniment but in practice wasn't quite as bright as I'd hoped. The centrepiece phish was impressive, though! The tofu had a bit of flakiness, was lined with nori, and was well-battered and seasoned - an excellent alternative to the off-the-shelf mock meats we know well.
We rounded out our meal with a spicy tofu salad ($18). Again, Toil & Trouble didn't shy away from the chilli and added some chunky charred leek to this plateful of greens.
It's early days for Toil & Trouble, so their menu and systems might still be adjusting. Our visit was a flawed but a pleasant and promising experience and we hope they'll have the space to grow into something great.
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Toil & Trouble
169 Lygon St, Brunswick East
7050 4821
Accessibility: The entry is narrow with a very shallow ramp. The interior is flat with quite densely arranged furniture, mostly standard-height tables with backed chairs and a few high tables with backless stools. We ordered at our table and paid at a high counter. We didn't visit the toilets.
What a great meal! This looks like a place to add to our list of places to try. All the food looks great - esp the miso corn ribs - and I love some mocktails - though I had a very salty plum soda in China Bar which has made me wary of salted drinks.
ReplyDeleteRest assured, Johanna, there are several mocktails to choose from! Hope you make it there.
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