Bundjalung Country

July 13-14, 2026

 

   

 

As we often do, we visited south-east Queensland mid-winter to catch up with family and friends (and see a bit of sun). This year we added a new adventure to the itinerary, hiring a car and heading south across Bundjalung Country for a few days. We wandered up hills, by the beach, and through towns; visited op shops, art galleries and a beach-side book fair; saw whales, elevated views across the landscape, and a pretty sunrise. And, of course, we ate - here's what we liked best. 

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Our first breakfast, at Woods, really set the tone for the 'wellness' angle on so much of the cafe food in the region. I caught myself dodging and weaving dishes containing Beauty Chef and mushroom powders but found more than enough to enjoy in the banana bread ($15, pictured below left), which was piled with miso maple butter, blueberries, and macadamia-coconut streusel. Michael was delighted by the Mexican Shakshuka ($28, pictured below right), with its base of braised black beans and poached eggs, layered with tomatillo salsa, chilli butter, fried curry leaves and a side of roti. Woods' outdoor seating was lovely, and I enjoyed browsing the surrounding Lumberyard Creative Precinct.

 

   

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As the special meal of the trip, Michael booked us a table at Byron Bay's all-vegan No Bones in advance. We visited on $20 carbonara night and were happy to work that into our meal - it was both the best savoury dish we ordered that night, and an all-time top-ranking vegan carbonara alongside Green Man's Arms' version. We ate heartily, with mushroom ragu ($38), dips, chat potatoes ($15) and Brussels sprouts on lemon cream ($17). For me, the other high point was the chocolate cremeux ($16), a scoop of chocolate ganache hollowed out to hold a gooey miso caramel, with a side of hazelnut praline. We took advantage of the original cocktail list too.

 

   

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Shelter was Michael's breakfast pick in Lennox Head, and a set of wide-open windows facing the beach established its relaxed and positive atmosphere. He loved the local avo toast ($22) covered in chilli crunch, with two poached eggs ($7), pickled onions and a herb salad. They were out of the porridge that I was eyeing off so I happily made do with crumpets and a juice.

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After hopping all along the coast, we finished the day back in Bangalow for a meal at Ciao, Mate!. The focaccia ($6, served with butter) and veg supreme pizza ($30) were on point, and the tiramisu ($17) was as big as a brick. They had their own distinct specials, too: a cute little brie custard tart ($20, pictured above left) crowned with endive, chervil and candied walnuts; and a fancy almond whey tart ($17, pictured below left) accompanied by spiced figs and Davidson plum.

 

   

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Byron Bay's Folk had a lovely, rambling garden setting but the weather kept us indoors. This menu swapped Woods' Beauty Chef powder for a house-blend nettle tea, hemp seeds and bee pollen, and held on to the reishi. Their chai-spiced buckwheat porridge special ($20+) was exactly what I needed, served with half a poached pear, labne, a generous streak of almond butter, crunchy buckwheat sprinklings, and a pink edible flower garnish to break up the brown. Michael made quick and messy work of the double egg roll ($19.50) - the standard cheddar, pickles and barbecue sauce added plenty of flavour and he wasn't inclined to add on avo, halloumi or mushies as the menu invited.

 

   

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We turned around, had a cute little moment (but no food) at the Murwillumbah Farmers' Market, and set off back towards Brisbane. Happily Izakaya Midori was right on our path and I steered Michael into the strip mall it inhabits for a vegan Japanese lunch. He was just as charmed as I was on my first visit: it's cordoned off and thoughtfully decorated to transport your senses well away from the Pacific Motorway, and the staff are just lovely. We both ordered from the slightly discounted lunch menu (a rice bowl and iced tea for $26.50): a saucy mock-chicken curry karaage for Michael, and a bright, vege-heavy mock-chicken karaage don for me.

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With that, we were refreshed and ready to return to our second home of Kurilpa/West End. This wasn't a food-first holiday, but it was definitely one of the joys of the trip. 

Snaps of Sydney 2025

August 8-11, 2025

   

Michael signed up for Sydney's City2Surf this year, and we used it as an excuse to have a long weekend in the city. It rained heavily and incessantly so, run aside, we focused on indoor activities like the White Rabbit Gallery and Golden Age Cinema. We didn't let it get in the way of good eating, either!

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We arrived in Sydney just in time for lunch, and found casual Thai restaurant YOD to be the closest all-veg option to our accommodation. YOD has a dozen $15 lunch specials, but we were ready to splash out on a couple of the numerous full-price mains. I was over the moon with the colours and flavours of my Kao Klug Ka-Pi ($19.90, pictured above). Even the mound of jasmine rice was dotted with fermented soybeans and rich with flavour, let alone the veg mince, sweet and chewy barbecue strips, crispy-fried enoki, bright chopped salad veges and chilli. Happy to be in hotter weather, I teamed the plate with a coconut smoothie ($10, also above). Michael's Ga-Prao ($19.90, pictured below) looked more modest, but was a deceptively tasty medley of eggplant, mushrooms, tofu, mock meat and veges in a Thai basil sauce that was heavier on the black pepper than the chilli.

   

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We had a lovely evening catching up with Herbal Gill and her Significant Eater. Gill booked us into a new vegan ramen restaurant named Towzen, and we're so lucky that she did! As a queue built along the block, we were able to skip right in to our reserved seats. Six varied ramen bowls head the menu, all enriched with plant-based milks. The aroma surrounding us nudged Gill to select the truffle ramen ($35), while Michael took on the Si Chuan Tan Tan Men ($32, pictured above) where soy meat, mushrooms and other vegetables were swirled in an oat milk broth flavoured with sesame paste, peanut paste and chilli oil.

As a group, we shared okra ($12) and lion's mane mushroom karaage ($20), and drank house-made sodas flavoured alternately with yuzu and strawberry ($10 each, pictured below). Everything was prepared with care and precision and served at reasonable speed. (Luckily we also grabbed a drink at the neighbouring Papa Gede's Bar before eating, so we'd had plenty of time to chat.)

   

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I've been following Don Fred on instagram for a while, and we booked it in for another dinner. At night Don Fred is loud, crowded and dimly lit, with a very friendly host. Though it's Italian, there are zero pizzas and two pastas on the menu - rather, there's a series of veg-based shared dishes with a few appearances of mock meat, and half a dozen focaccia sandwiches with thoughtfully composed fillings. We had a pleasant time with the polpetz on polenta chips ($28) and the garlic green beans ($16), but the biggest plate and biggest success was the casarecce carbonara ($26). It was tasty way for Michael to carb-load ahead of his race, though my inability to hear him and carry a conversation was a dampener.

   

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On Sunday morning, I took a bus well away from the City2Surf crowds. The Marrickville Markets were a complete washout - regrettably I didn't have the appetite for the vegan pastries on offer, and satisfied myself with a vegan chai under the verandah and a large punnet of strawberries for later. Our friend Jess had urged us to visit Miss Sina, and it was overwhelming in its own way too - very busy, with a dense indoor queue that didn't give clear sight of the numerous vegan sweet treats in the display case. (The staff were lovely, though!) I ordered a Lox & Loaded bagel ($17, pictured below) to take away and it was still in good shape when I pulled it out of my backpack, sitting in the Botanic Gardens an hour and a half later. The everything bagel had lost the crispness of toasting, but was still an excellent base for a herb schmear, carrot lox, caper verde, cucumber and dill (I asked them to omit the usual pickled onion).

   

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Radiant from a running success, Michael chose The Chippo Hotel for dinner. The all-vegan pub menu had us spoiled for choice: blooming onions, corn ribs, loaded fries, including an Irish spice bag! Salads, pasta, bangers and mash, a KFC plate, even lasagne! Somehow, we just wanted to keep it simple and chose from the six burgers. My smashed cheezeburger and Michael's zinga ($26 each, pictured above) were both solid and satisfying, and the fries were just fine. My foam-topped Frenchtini mocktail ($12, pictured below) was more memorable. I hope we get a chance to revisit The Chippo one day and order more adventurously.

   

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Our Sydney mornings were bookended by visits to A.P. House, a rooftop bakery with varied stunning baked goods. I absolutely loved the milk bun stuffed with an egg cake, cheese, onion and salted egg yolk ($18, pictured above) and hash brown ($8, pictured above), and Michael was just as pleased with the messy, oily Turkish eggs and garlic bread ($23, pictured above). The zucchini flower & ricotta focaccia ($14, pictured below) and Vegemite cheesy scroll ($9.50, not pictured) were winners, but the hot pocket ($22, not pictured) wasn't as successful. We sampled well across the sweets, too, relishing the brownie-like dark chocolate cookie ($8), Basque cheesecake ($10), candied orange brioche Danish ($11) and impeccable lemon meringue tart ($9, pictured below).

   

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Sydney wasn't its most sparkly self for us this year, but the city's restaurants served us so well. We're always happy to go back to see and taste what's new.

Sydney 2023

August 10-12, 2023

   

We had a strategic stop in Sydney on our way home from Brisbane - everything was timed perfectly for us to see The Weekend at Belvoir St Theatre (which is based on a novel I enjoyed very much). We haven't been to Sydney since 2019, and there's lots of old and new veg*n eating to enjoy, but this time around we stuck to venues that were convenient to our other activities.

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As if being present for The Weekend's short season wasn't good luck enough, our long-time food-blogging friend Gill had tickets for the same night! She recommended that we meet up for dinner at Flyover Fritterie before the show. At that early hour, we had the top floor of this contemporary vegetarian Indian restaurant to ourselves, although the ground floor looked full by the time we left.

Full marks to Flyover for offering six mocktails on their drinks list. Gill had their signature Thandaai ($10, right-most drink in the photo below right), a soy milk seasoned with almonds, watermelon seeds, rose, fennel, and chia seeds. Wary of the heat of the food to come, I ordered a passionfruit lassi with coconut yoghurt ($14, front-left drink in the photo below right), and Michael went for the house soda, flavoured with tamarind and raspberry ($9, back-left drink in the photo below right). 

To eat, there were fritters galore. The corn bhel puri ($20, photo below left) was a fresh and crunchy table favourite, with the coconut lime daal khichri ($24, photo above) coming a close second. Flyover also make fancy jaffles!

   

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Breakfasts were had a short walk from our accommodation, at Reuben Hills. It's a past favourite of Michael's and doesn't seem to have changed a whole lot. It's got an industrial look, emphasis on coffee, and an all-day menu that marks its veg*n and gluten-free options clearly.

We fell into typical roles: Michael went egg-heavy with soft-baked ones in spicy ranchero sauce ($23, pictured above left, with kale and goats curd), then scrambled ones ($22.50, pictured below left, with onion, chives and smashed avo). I scanned the sweet side of the menu, relishing the ricotta pancakes ($25, pictured above right, with raspberry and rhubarb compote, mascarpone, candied pecans and maple syrup) and downsizing to banana and walnut bread ($8.80, pictured below right) on our second visit. 

   

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We've been out of the loop on Shannon Martinez's ventures over the past few years - we've not properly visited Smith & Daughters since it moved (although we've stopped by the Deli to pick up sandwiches) and not crossed town for Lona Misa. Lona Misa sits within an Ovolo hotel, and so does Alibi in Sydney. The white cane felt out of step with Martinez's typically goth-punk vibes, but a few familiar items on the menu assured us we were in the right place.

   

With The Twin still front of mind, we ordered the focaccia starter ($12, front of photo above left), which was on the small side; we couldn't really taste the promised black garlic but the confit tomato and wakame-sprinkled ricotta were present and accounted for. We can always depend on Martinez for incredible croquettes ($18, back of photo above left), and these ones were flavoured with padron and (vegan) parmesan.

Michael was keen to revisit the cacio e pepe ($25, front of photo above right) and this was a well-seasoned, creamy portion. We balanced it out with charred broccolini ($16, back of photo above right) served with pickled radicchio, roasted hazelnuts, orange and aged balsamic vinaigrette. For dessert, it was always going to be quince filled doughnuts ($15, photo below). 

Alibi was a bit more formal and finicky than we usually expect from Martinez, but it was a special way to spend the last night of our interstate holiday.

   

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Between meals, we were busy! Not just with the theatre, but with three art exhibitions and an Aboriginal harbour heritage tour. (We passed the site of now-closed Bodhi several times, and remarked longingly upon it each time - the weather and our schedule would have been perfect for outdoor yum cha.) The veg*n wonders of King St will have to wait 'til next time.