Sugarcane

February 24, 2015

For our last night in Sydney we decided we should grab some Thai - the city's specialty. We tracked down Sugarcane, a slightly fancy option in the neighbourhood with good reviews and a decent range of veggie options. We nabbed one of the last few unbooked tables and scoped out the menu. It's the kind of place where you compile a meal out of bits and pieces - there are little dishes like grilled corn with coconut cream ($5), seasoned cashews with shallots, chilli and garlic ($6) and more sizable options like veggie pad thai ($15) and tofu with Malaysian curry sauce, snake beans and baby corn ($13).

We started with a plate of roti with curry sauce, cucumber and chilli ($10). It's pretty hard to go too badly wrong with fried bread and curried sauce, and Sugarcane didn't mess this up - probably not quite up to the standards set by the likes of Mamak, but excellent nonetheless.

Next up: vegetarian dumplings with soy, coriander and ginger dressing ($12). These were good as well - the pretty standard dumplings kicked up by the excellent gingery dressing.

We finished the meal off with the salt and pepper silken tofu with mushrooms and yellow beans ($13). This was probably the dish of the night - golden fried tofu with a light soy-based sauce on the veggies. Top notch.

Our dinner was short and snappy - just three dishes and less than $40 (we were saving room for ice-cream, see forthcoming post for details!). The vibe at Sugarcane is fun too - it's busy and upbeat without being stupidly noisy. The service was friendly, the drinks list looked great and the food hit the mark nicely. Check it out if you're dining in Surry Hills.

____________

The Food Diary, Grab Your Fork, Sir and M'Lady Dine Out, A Foodie's Joy, Bite Size Reviews, Does My Bomb Look Big in This?, isnappedet, Resume Eating, Le Bon Vivant, Lots of Cravings, Got My Vote, WHVT EM DID, Gastronomous Anonymous and Gourmantic were all very positive, while Richard Elliot had mixed feelings.

____________

Sugar Cane
40-42 Reservoir St, Surry Hills
9281 1788
menu
http://sugarcanerestaurant.com.au/

Accessibility: There's a flat entry. The interior's pretty crowded and there are a range of table options, from high stools to regular chairs. The toilets are fully accessible. There's full table service.

Mad Spuds Cafe

February 24, 2015

For a couple of years my mates K and Worbit have screeched about the potato-based vegan nachos at some cafe in Sydney. While walking home from Maya Vegetarian we spotted Mad Spuds Cafe and I confirmed with K that they were the venue of said nachos. A walk back to the cafe made a nice break in my hotel-bound working Tuesday.

Mad Spuds Cafe is the kind of cute and slightly daggy cafe that reminds me of the places I ate out as a student - charmingly cluttered with furniture, potato-themed knick-knacks and postcard-sized pictures. The spud-centred menu didn't do much to dispel this feeling, filled as it was with big eggy breakfasts, burgers, 'chicken n avo' sandwiches, stacks and nachos. Nevertheless, this cafe has found its niche and been widely, regularly blogged for years. Their many vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options are labelled clearly.

The famed potato nachos ($15) are available in beefy, vegetarian and vegan versions. Unfortunately working towards the latter type seems to be a process of subtraction rather than substitution - other blogs show plates stacked with cheese, sour cream and chopped tomatoes, while my vegan-ordered potato skins and beans were topped with a just little guacamole and some garnishing sprouts. As nachos they looked underwhelming but as lunch they were delicious - the beans were sweet and filling, and the signature spud skins were crispy outside and waxy-tender inside with a very snackable seasoning. I methodically worked my way through the whole plate.

Staff were in high demand and inconsistently attentive, but got the job done. As I looked around at the other tables, meals looked brighter and less stodgy than I expected - I'd enjoy a chance to sample more.

____________

Fellow veg*n blogger Vegangela loves Mad Spuds Cafe. The cafe has received widespread coverage and compliments from omni bloggers, see The Food Book, 2 Hungry Guys, Jenny Chews, Memoirs of a Foodie, A Hedonist's Love, Foodversation, Gondo's Kitchen, The Hungry FoodTech, AdjacentAngles' Food Adventures, polyphagia, Project Sweet Stuff, The Classic Styler, Eat Your Teacup, Fight the Craving, i'm sorry scale, Little Miss Tanya, The Hungry Engineers, Eat Show & Tell, My SeeFood Diet, My Little Yummy Food Blog, hello it's ming, cameras & cuisines, Indulging Gluttonous Urges, Crystal Noir, Constant Diner, jeroxie, Buggles and Squeak, ChococolateSuze, Juju Chews, The Brunch Club, The Food Pornographer, Potato Princess, confident liar, Oh Hey Sydney!, Gastronomous Anonymous and Love My Foods & Sugar.  

Wordtography and Edesian Feast liked the food but thought it was pricey; eat sleep live repeat, The Chronicles of Hilda, Richard Elliott and food baby were also ambivalent.

____________

Mad Spuds Cafe
479 Crown St, Surry Hills
(02) 9698 8108
menu front, breakfast, brunch & lunch, spuds, skins & salads, drinks, specials
http://www.madspuds.com.au/

Accessibility: There are a couple of steps up on entry (see photo above). Tables are crowded inside but have a clear pathway through the centre. I ordered at the table and paid at a low-ish counter. I didn't visit the toilets.

Maya Vegetarian

February 23, 2015

Once back in Sydney, I googled around for a vegetarian dinner option in Surry Hills. I thought I'd hit on something new with Maya Vegetarian, but the other blog posts listed below revealed that it was just new to us. There are several Maya Indian restaurants clustered together on Cleveland St, and at number 470 you'll find an all-vegetarian menu and a display case stacked with sweets. 

The setting is casual and comfortable - you need to order at a counter and fetch your own water, but food is delivered to the freshly-wiped tables and there are Bollywood posters and televised film clips to enjoy as you eat.

There's a lot to choose from - crispy-fried starters, a range of mains, Punjabi and South Indian thali, dosa, uttapam, breads, chaat, desserts and daily specials. I noticed helpful (v)s on vegan dishes throughout their online menu but not in store, so a bit of preparation may be in order.

Michael loves the variety and vastness of a thali ($15.90) - this Punjabi one included (clockwise from top) two breads and a papadum, salad and pickle (under the bread), herbed yoghurt, a charred eggplant curry, a dahl, sambhar, mattar paneer, basmati rice and a runny rice pudding. The bread was excellent and the eggplant and paneer curries were the first to disappear, but eventually Michael demolished almost the entire plate (...with a little help from a friend).

I tried out their Tandoori Paneer Kulcha ($8.90) - two fluffy, tandoori-charred breads stuffed with crumbly paneer, fresh herbs and green chilli, with a tub of raita and a smear of pickle.

The only shame of Maya's meals was that they were so generous we couldn't contemplate ordering anything sweet. I envy the residents of Surry Hills their opportunities to stop in for a cheap snack or an easy, filling and spicy meal.

____________

Maya Vegetarian has won fans on food blogs Millie's Food Symposium, Feeders Digest, More Dinner Than Cents, B-Kyu and My Darling Darlinghurst.

____________

Maya Vegetarian
470 Cleveland St, Surry Hills
(02) 9699 8663
starters & mains, dosa, uttapam, breads & specials, desserts, drinks & chaat
http://www.mayavegetarian.com.au/

Accessibility: There is a step up on entry and well-spaced tables inside. We ordered and paid at a low-ish counter. We didn't visit the toilets.

Rubyfruit

February 21-23, 2015

Leura has a vegan cafe that I'd heard of long before our plans to visit the Blue Mountains, thanks to The Lentil Institution and Little Vegan Bear. Pretty much every time Michael wanted to plan some detail of our mini-holiday, I'd try to insert a visit to Rubyfruit into the schedule. This was probably starting to grate on him but I (or Rubyfruit) clearly did alright because we ate there three times in three days.

Our first visit was for breakfast on a drizzly Saturday morning. Michael settled in with his usual soy flat white ($4), while I sampled their chai latte ($4.50). It was tough to choose our meals with chia pudding, polenta pancakes and scrambled tofu all on offer.

Michael actually skipped straight to the specials board and ordered the Oriental Bowl ($18) - greens, tomatoes, pickled ginger, avocado, shredded nori, kimchi, tamari ginger tempeh skewers and a miso dressing on a bed of black bean noodles. He made short work of it, declaring between mouthfuls that we should start cooking with these noodles ourselves.

I was famished and, in an uncharacteristic move, took on the Big Cook-up ($18). I worked my way through two dense but tasty little Linda McCartney sausages, some exceptional garlic fried mushrooms, sauteed baby spinach and roast tomatoes, two hash browns, a cup of sweet baked beans and two slices of sourdough. (Actually, I couldn't make it through the second piece of toast but I still considered myself victorious.) It was wonderful, and obliterated any need for lunch.

On Sunday morning we set off on the Prince Henry cliff walk in spite of the rain and mist, returning to Leura mid-afternoon, damp and hungry (a few highlights are included in a slideshow at the end of the post). A mango, passionfruit and coconut smoothie ($9) instantly brought a smile to my face with its Weiss bar flavours.

Michael dug into a satay tofu wrap ($15) with a rainbow salad side. The battered and fried tofu strips were padded out with fresh salad veges, and he was really impressed by the complex, rich peanut sauce.

I was in the mood for the special Schnitzel Burger ($16.50). The lazy-but-good Fry's patty was supported by more great greens (I picked the same rainbow salad side), generous aioli and 'slaw and a crusty bun.

Honestly, I'd spent all weekend mooning over the cake cabinet and was pretty insistent that we stop by for morning tea before setting off for Sydney on Monday. I started out with a sweet and frothy hazelnut milk shot through with Heilala vanilla syrup ($5).

I was sad that Saturday's peanut butter cheesecake was sold out and not replenished, but the cherry coconut ripple cheesecake ($8) was ample compensation - a silky smooth slice with all the right elements that didn't go over the top.

The triple chocolate hazelnut brownie ($5.50) was square, dark and handsome. Heated up and intensely flavoured with a dollop of cool coconut whipped cream ($1.50), it might've been the high point of our three thoroughly enjoyable meals.

We'd enthusiastically recommend Rubyfruit to any veg*ns visiting the Blue Mountains - they've got a great array of savoury dishes (including well-marked gluten-free options) and the sweets cabinet is superlative. Service was sometimes slow, but always warm and capable. Their talents are no secret, so get in early or be prepared to wait for a table.

____________

Rubyfruit attracts visits and praise from numerous veg*n bloggers visiting the Blue Mountains, see Vegan Westie, miscdebris, Vegans Have Superpowers, Little Vegan Bear, Thinking Creature (in Russian!), VegeTARAian, ALL THINGS BEAUTY AND LIFESTYLE!, The Lentil Institution and Kittens Gone Lentil.

____________

Rubyfruit
Shop 10, 166-168 Leura Mall, Leura
0432 963 663
breakfast, lunch, drinks, specials
facebook page

Accessibility: There's both a staircase and a lift available to access this first-floor cafe. Furniture is moderately spaced. We ordered at the table and paid at a high counter. Toilets are located on the ground floor of the arcade, gendered and include disability access.

____________

Leura Garage

February 20 & 22, 2015

We had done very little in the way of pre-trip food research for this weekend, so one of our first tasks was to have a wander up and down the main street and see what grabbed our attention. Leura Garage had the sort of vibe that attracts us - more relaxed than the slightly stuffy white tablecloth style of Silk's - and a menu that was pretty well stocked with vego options. We headed there for dinner on our first night.

It took us a while to hit upon a plan for the meal - Cindy was keen on the pizzas, while I wanted to sample more broadly from the menu. In the end we decided to sneak a side in along with a pizza and come back for a second visit if things measured up.

The pumpkin pizza with house made onion jam, feta and spinach ($26) was impressive. A great base, with some crispness to the crust and a wonderful salty and sweet combination of toppings.

Our side dish was a summer bean mix ($17) - snake, borlotti and flat beans with toasted garlic flakes, pine nuts and an citrus and olive oil dressing. They'd seasoned this heavily too, and the lemon juice and salt really made the beans sparkle.

It's safe to say that we were won over, so when Sunday rolled around we booked ourselves in for another visit. This time we ordered the vegetarian board I had my eye on the first trip - a selection of fresh and house pickled bulbs and vegetables with rustic bread and dips ($26). We matched it up with the yellow polenta chips, served with tomato and red pepper relish and parmesan ($16).

The veggie board was a good mix of bits and bobs - heirloom carrots, pickled olives and onions, a smoky eggplant dip, bread, crackers, mushrooms and on and on. I'd have happily traded a couple of the pickled things for another dip, but all in all it was a pretty good package. The polenta chips were fat, crispy and well seasoned - dunked in the relish and sprinkled with parmesan they were terrific.

We were very happy to find Leura Garage - it's got a lovely fit-out, embracing the building's history as a garage without descending too far into quirkiness. There's great beer, friendly staff and decent coffee. It's not cheap - $26 for a pizza is pushing things a bit - but when I'm on holidays I find it easy to just go along with higher prices. And the food is great - that's the main thing really.

_____________

Reviews for Leura Garage are pretty positive - check out food is our religion, maggietea, Nadene's Suburban Farmyard, Confessions of a Glutton,  the cooks room, foodies agenda, Got My Vote!, Miss K Licious,, Food Porn Nation, A Table for Two, Not Quite Nigella and Gourmanda. The Adventures of Miss Piggy thought the food was good but overpriced, while beyond jelly and  Prick with a Fork thought the service was mediocre.

____________

Leura Garage
84 Railway Parade, Leura
02 4784 3391
menu
http://leuragarage.com.au/

Accessibility: Excellent - a flat entryway, a slightly crowded interior (especially when it's full of people as it seems to be all weekend). It's full table service. The toilets are fully accessible.

____________