I stumbled upon this vegetarian cafe whilst looking for somewhere to have breakfast in Belgrave…read more Being vegan I wasn't expecting to find much so The Laughing Owl was a very happy surprise. The menu is varied and includes crumpets, burgers, and a vegetarian and vegan big breakfast. They also have a selection of baked goods (vegan date scones even), raw cakes and other takeaway goodies. A prominent sign also advertised their ability to cater for those requiring fodmap friendly meals. Staff were very friendly and helpful. Chai and juices were delicious and the vegan big breakfast was actually big! An all round wonderful cafe in the heart of Belgrave.

What a wonderful place - a cafe with a conscience - that's how they describe themselves. I knew I…read morehad come to a great place when I saw the list of lattes available - beetroot, dandelion, mushroom, matcha or blue pea. I enjoyed their stunning Nourish Bowl - fabulous mix of falafel, mini chick pea patty, hummus, pepitas, beetroot, carrot on red cabbage and spinach. Fantastic. I loved it. Water comes in a jar but be careful not to knock your teeth on the steel straw. Service is quick. Coffee is great. Thank you.

This is only losing a star because they forgot to give me cutlery and a lack of credit card…read morefacilities! This is a vegetarian restaurant and has amazing choices! I was over the moon. I couldn't decide between entrees so for such a cheap price I got two. I had fried wontons and fried tofu entrees and for my main was polenta haven. The wontons were delicious with a lovely sweet sauce drizzled over them. The fried tofu came with a gorgeous sauce for dipping but the masterpiece of this place was the polenta haven! Omg dreamy - a large chunk of polenta within a bean and tomato stew base. Heaven! Highly recommend

Drive past here all the time - stopped in for dinner and it was great…read more Great value and friendly service, main meals are actually really large sizes as well.

Was highly rated by my Mum so, we went and we were not disappointed. The staff were great as was…read moreour seat/s. We were a table of 5 and can't work out why we couldn't do a 2 per "meal deal" and a 3 person "meal deal". There is no extra benefit for the customer or the restaurant. You just have to put the food on the table and then we eat!!! Despite this, we had a great time. So much so, we forgot to take photos!!! (Apart from desert) We are coming back

Great food Great service…read moreGreat ambiance Had a selection of entree and mains sharing with a work colleague We enjoyed everything that we ordered. Food was served promptly Great experience and will be going back next time in the area.

This place never disappoints!…read more The owners sponsor/support several orphans in Vietnam and tips go towards this great cause.Front of house staff leave a little to be desired (reminders for cutlery, if you are outside you may nee to wave them down to order, delivery of food isn't always great etc), however they are friendly and seem happy to be there. However what may be lacking up front is certainly made up for in the kitchen. The food always is fresh and tasty and covers off on all of the favorites, plus they keep it interesting with changing specials. Outdoor seating is great during periods of warmer weather with enough action happening in the local area to keep you entertained (if your dinner guests aren't up to the challenge), however not too much so as to be distracted if deep in dinner conversation.

This place has been in the ponds for ages, for some reason my work mates and I never considered…read morelunching here despite the fact we love Vietnamese food and eat at the other 2 Vietnamese restaurants on puckle street often. I guess we just forgot this existed? Anyway we corrected that right away when we realized the fact and had Friday lunch here. Prices are a bit steep compared to the other places. Just a tad though. But couldn't help but let this become a factor as the portion size of food we ordered was on the smaller side. It was incredibly tasty though! I ordered the pork skewer vermicelli salad and the others the same but with grilled chicken instead. I was surprised they dunk the dipping sauce in your bowl already - efficiency I guess? Not something I'm used to seeing but I didn't really mind it, but what happens if you diner couldn't tolerate chili or something like that? Vietnamese iced coffee (cafe sua da) was good. They do it legit - and I say this because I know some places where they just use like instant Nescafé blend 46 coffee or something!) A huge plus with this place is because it's right next to the wine bar you get to order booze from them and have it sent over to you. That or you can go to the wine bar and then order from here and they deliver to you - love the partnership here. All in all. Of the 3 Vietnamese restaurants in moonee ponds, this is my second best pick. I wouldn't avoid it but I'll def come here if I'm after a change.

Hidden behind Leo's supermarket from the main road, the cafe has floor to ceiling glass windows at…read morethe front, overlooking the supermarket carpark. Parking is for 2 hours with additional 2 hour parking space available just across from the supermarket parking on Brougham Street. V Series was previously known to locals as 'A Caterpillar's Dream' and under new management, the same management/family as Tao's Restaurant in Bulleen, it has now become V Series with the same head chef. The cafe like the previous cafe still serves contemporary vegetarian food with vegan and gluten free options. When we arrived at 11:30am on a Saturday, the supermarket parking was very full so we drove through to the car park on Brougham Street. The cafe itself was reasonably calm and having tried the food, I am a little surprised that was the case. The menu itself, I must admit was a little overwhelming with a mish mash of cuisines and types of food available; meaning there's basically something for everyone on the menu (a great place to cater for a group with different preferences). Instead of the usual vegetarian breakfast items or pasta and burger (next time perhaps!), we opted to try a few dishes from their noodle, bento and small items menu which clearly had an Asian influence to them. Dishes that make up this review: Stewed tomato noodles (vegan); V Series's signature Taiwanese tomato broth noodle ($16). Extremely appetising with the sweet and a little sour broth. Bento box (vegan); teriyaki mock chicken served with multigrain rice, spring roll, enoki tempura and pumpkin salad ($18). I wasn't a huge fan of the multigrain rice (perhaps a little too healthy for me hehe...) but the variety and the rest of the bento was delicious. Not normally being a fan of mock meat, I actually did enjoy this and found it to be as close to the real thing as it can be in flavour but not in texture. Green tea soba noodle (vegan); organic Japanese green tea buck wheat noodles tossed with avocado, spinach, kale, goji berries, cashew and sesame seeds ($16). A cold dish with a nice sesame dressing and fresh salad. I didn't personally love the goji berries in the mix (they kind of stick to your teeth) but that aside, I enjoyed the dish and probably will request no goji berries next time. Crispy peking bean curd bun (vegan); Asian style steamed bun stuffed with daikon pickles, cucumber, coriander and peanuts ($10 for 2). The bun was nice and soft even once cooled down (after all the photo taking), the bean curd was crispy and the Peking sauce was delicious. A great combination that surprisingly works. Vegan cupcakes; salted caramel and cheesecake ($5.50 for regular sized and $2.80 for mini). The cheesecake cupcake was definitely a first for me and probably my favourite of the two (I could not tell the difference between the real thing versus vegan). The salted caramel cupcake on the other hand while still tasty and moist, I could tell the texture of the chocolate cupcake was not exactly the same as its non-vegan counterpart. Fo0die dined as a guest of V Series. Therefore this review has not covered the customer service aspect of the cafe. Follow me on Instagram for more photos: @fo0die

Really impressed by the quality of food on offer at this vege/vegan cafe. Went for breakfast and…read morehad the matcha pancakes (please put them back on the menu!) - range of freshly-made juices were also fantastic!

I came here with some friends on night. One of them has been here before and she really liked it,…read moreso I was excited to try out this mock meat restaurant. For 8 people, we ordered 6 banquets and one additional main dish and wow, there was a lot of food! Some of the "meat" dishes was more convincing than others. (I really liked the duck. The beef was a good attempt.) But more importantly, the sauces and spices were balanced very well with the mock meat, so each dish was great. None of them made you feel "here is a failed attempt at mock meat that tastes terrible" because even the not-as-convincing dishes tasted great. The menu can be quite entertaining, because most of the plate names don't have the word "mock" in them. So as I read something like "sizzling beef," I thought "I'm vegetarian, so I can't order this," and then I realized "oh, this is actually sizzling mock beef!" I wonder if it would be possible to bring a friend into the restaurant and trick him/her into thinking it was all real meat!

Every so often you come across a restaurant that will keep on dragging you back, it's cheap, it's…read moreeasy, the food is fantastic... Enlightened Cuisine is one of those restaurants. Sort of. Though maybe not for the right reasons. As a vegetarian living in Southbank I have eaten here a number of times and have always found the food to be rather hit and miss. Sometimes everything will be fantastic and other times you will leave the restaurant with the sneaking suspicion that you've just wasted your money. While not overly expensive, Enlightened still isn't exactly cheap for the quality of the food that you're getting - you're going to struggle to find a main on the menu for under $20 and some meals really feel like they should be priced in the 12-15 dollar range. Don't get me wrong - I have eaten here may times and enjoyed myself - the beef with black bean sauce is excellent and the chicken with satay is definitely a worth a try, but the good meals can be let down by others which don't quite match up. The vegetable and oyster sauce for instance comes accross as rather bland and oily and there are a number of dishes where the msg tickles at the back of your throat just a little too much. My advice is to turn up with a few people and order a number of different dishes and share them so that you can find out what you do like and what you don't - the menu is rather expansive so it may take you a number of visits to find something that you really like - once you do however you will probably end up coming back. After all there aren't that many mock meat places in the area to choose from, decent or other wise.

Small cafe with a serious vegetarian menu and distressed timber vibe. I'm a carnivore by choice but…read moreI was in a serious hurry, so I went for a hot lentil pie and the agave sweetened raspberry lamington ball. Not cheap, but definitely tasty, fast and filling. Lots of delicious looking choices including Golden Boy Turmeric Latte's.

We usually ordered delivery from buffet hut but we went in for the first time today and was blown…read moreaway! Set off from the main road, i didnt expect such genuine indian cuisine, great food and great service in a warm friendly authentic setting. Great value too; i highly reccommend buffet hut for any occassion. Ill be coming back, thankyou!

From the owner: One of the finest Indian Restaurants you may find. Our buffet price is $13.99 - All You Can EAT.read more