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.

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 a brand-new vegetarian Vietnamese restaurant in Footscray, right around the corner from the…read moretrain station. And it's yummy. I like Vietnamese food, but vegans and vegetarians usually find Vietnamese cuisine a bit tricky because it can contain beef stock, pork bones, etc. during the cooking process. And sometimes stuff gets lost in translation, where "vegetarian" in a Vietnamese restaurant could easily mean "no chunks of meat actually in the food but including animal products in the stock or sauce." So yeah, even "vegetable pho" or "vegetarian pho" is questionable. I'm always a little uneasy eating at a regular Vietnamese restaurant for that reason. But at a fully vegetarian Vietnamese restaurant, a lot of those concerns evaporate. Lots of times the owners are vegetarian Buddhists and will definitely not use any beef or pork in their cooking process for religious reasons. You still have to watch out for egg, but it's a lot easier overall. Huong Viet is one of those places. Nearly all their meals are vegan, with the egg-containing meals being the exception rather than the norm. And these ones are clearly-marked as "vegetarian" on the menu, so you know you can avoid them (or request modifications to make it vegan). I came with two friends and we shared three dishes: the Com Đo, the Tàu Hu Chiên Xa, and the Mì / Hu Tieu / Pho Xào Thap Cam (geez, giving the ol' Character Map a good workout). The Com Đo (tomato rice, cashew nuts and sesame shredded tofu) was the least impressive. It was still tasty, but kind of ordinary. I think adjusting the spices would give it a bit more flair. The Tàu Hu Chiên Xa (deep-fried lemongrass tofu), however, was DELICIOUS. A really nice lemongrass flavour and plenty of veggies to offset the unhealthiness of eating something deep-fried. We enjoyed this dish a lot. The Mì / Hu Tieu / Pho Xào Thap Cam (stir-fried rice noodles with mixed mock meat) was also tasty, although not all the mock meats were that great. Mock meats are not all created equal, and some of them definitely tasted better than others. But the flavours of the dish were quite nice and I'd order it again. (Make sure to specify "vegan" on this one so they don't give you egg noodles.) Price-wise, this isn't dirt-cheap Vietnamese but it's still very reasonably priced. Atmosphere-wise, Huong Viet was super-clean and bright and nicely decorated (although a lot of the pictures on the wall were of European places, not Vietnamese places. I'm guessing some of this decor "fell off the back of a truck" somewhere, ha!) Service-wise, SUPER friendly staff -- he just seemed like a really happy and cheerful guy, and positivity is contagious, so that was nice :) Will definitely go back and try some of their other options (especially their house specials, which are $2 off at the moment).

I was not sure what to order for a while and the staff recommended the deep fried tofu. I have I…read morehave really enjoyed how good it was and the staff was super friendly and serviceable.

The Vegan Collective is a new food stall that's part of the Queen Victoria Winter Night Markets…read moreevery Wednesday night. It's great to have a 100% vegan option at the Queen Vic night markets, which for years have been very heavy on the meat. Not to mention, the food here is YUM. Right now they have 5 things on the menu, all vegan: - Middle Eastern Open Wrap - Japanese Udon Noodles - Yellow Lentil and Coconut Curry - Laksa Noodle Soup - Sesame Crusted Tofu I've had the Middle Eastern Open Wrap and the Laksa Noodle Soup. My friend had the Yellow Lentil and Coconut Curry. All very tasty. The Middle Eastern Open Wrap was my favourite -- it's probably one of the best falafel wraps I've had in a long time, and it seemed like a real step up from the junky kind you get at kebab shops. This one actually tasted somewhat "gourmet," if you know what I mean. Real thought was put into the flavours and the sauce, which was delicious. The laksa was OK -- a bit messy to eat if you can't find a seat and you have to stand around awkwardly holding the bowl in one hand and trying to navigate with your chopsticks/spoon in the other. (I'm bad with chopsticks anyway and nearly stabbed myself in the eye at one point.) This food stall is located next to the Sri Lankan food stall, away from the main row of food stalls, so you kinda have to hunt for it. It's further south than the main row of food stalls, if that makes sense -- kind of in the middle of the building, with more of the non-food stuff. On the plus side, that means the queue is much shorter than at other food stalls! Prices are right in line with every other food stall at the Queen Vic Night Market -- i.e., a couple of dollars overpriced, but you're paying for the atmosphere of the place. Really great food stall. I'll be back.

Their service and staff are perfect and very hospitable and friendly. Their menu has only few item…read morebut they are all vegetarian and all are very tasty and yummy.

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.

Traumatised by the ominous yellow glow emitting from Veg Out's Bain-marie, I had avoided this venue…read moreuntil a few weeks ago, often opting for the consistent burritos next door or the occasional heart stopping burger on the other side. I'm glad I overcame my terror and ordered one of their wonderful made-to-order tofu and vegetable dishes with brown rice. The cashew tofu dish has loads of vegetables, the brown rice tasted fresh, and I feel energised and light after having this four times now (on different days).

Veg out time is a favourite fast meal of mine. It's a Bain-Marie style front with a full menu of…read morefresh cooked meals to choose from on the board also. I'm a big fan of their curries with brown rice. Portion sizes are so large I generally manage to get tomorrow's lunch out of it as well. They will gladly give you a take away container with a bag and extra rice if you ask. The staff are always extremely friendly. My favourite meals are the fresh roti with satay sauce (made to order) and the yellow curry with ginger veggies from the Bain-Marie. All their curries are packed full of flavour with big chunks of veggies or tofu. There's a sister store in st kilda also, however they have a different name. From what I can gather though it's the exact same recipes. All meals are either vegan or vegetarian (marked on the board and window) and many are gluten free.

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.

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!

Good food - nice atmosphere…read more The food was really fresh and prepared well. Coffee was well made. It was a very comfortable place to eat.

Amazing food and service! We had the little sister breakfast and it was delicious - everything was…read morewell done and the ambience was wonderful for an early morning brunch. I would definitely recommend stopping by if you are in the area.