The King street vegan quarter acre: part IV
This is a long overdue review. As best we can figure out Basil Pizza in Newtown, has a separate and completely vegan (and pizza-free) breakfast menu on weekends. Best guess is down to some restaurant sharing scheme between the owner of the pizzeria and the operators of the cafe.
Since the close of McDonna’s (RIP), Newtown has been a desolate wasteland for vegan breakfast and brunch. Pretty much if you wanted something that wasn’t mock-meat and vegan in Newtown (or Thai) the pickings were slim. Along came Basil Pizza’s weekend vegan cafe (for lack of a better name) and filled a much needed void.
Expectations were high and initial impressions are good. Friendly staff, decent coffee and an all vegan breakfast menu goddamn it! That’s three out of five boxes ticked (your guess is as good as ours with what the other two are, we just make this up as we go along). The menu features a fry up (half eaten and pictured below), scrambled tofu and buckwheat pancakes, among other things. We here at VeganSydney like to sample a place at least twice–preferrably several times before throwing it out to our readers, but initial impressions were good enough the first time around. Stay tuned for a more comprehensive review once we’ve logged some more lazy Sunday hours here…
About average at About Life
VeganSydney’s corporate board of directors have been having regular breakfast meetings at About Life in Rozelle for the past several months. While conspiring to overthrow everything from a corrupt government to bourgeois art, we have sampled the entire vegan menu.
Lets start by saying it didn’t take too long! For a health food store and cafe of this size the vegan pickings are slimmer than Kate Moss on a steady diet of cocaine. Prices are outrageous ($18 for the 2 lukewarm pre-made tarts pictured below) and the food is downright average and lets not even start on the scrambled tofu breakfast….
A quick browse of their website confirms a commitment to providing meat, dairy products, beauty products, gluten-free options. Enough said.
Macro Wholefood$ bought by Woolworth$
Cynical about corporate wholefood and organic retailers? Here’s more fuel for the fire. Woolworths have acquired Macro Wholefoods for $30 million dollars. Just when you thought Macro couldn’t get any worse (for vegan products or for working conditions) along comes Woolworths.
Macro, who recently closed down their cafe in Newtown for the second time in twice as many years will be now branded Thomas Dux. Goodbye vegan groceries and (already sub-standard) working conditions, hello overpriced conventional food and hoards of SUV driving breeders getting their biodynamic goats milk*
(*insert latest dietry fad).
Problems viewing in IE
We accidently opened VeganSydney in Internet Explorer recently. Three words of advice: don’t do it! There are several major issues with both images not loading and colours not displaying correctly. Until we have time to update it use Firefox or something other than M$ to view the site. Your eyes will thank you for it.
Tofu is back
As confirmed by one of our readers the BBQ Tofu Burrito is back at Guzman Y Gomez. However, it’s only at their Newtown store. If you would like to see it back at all the stores email them at info@guzmanygomez.com and ask why vegetarians must trek out to their Newtown store just to get a decent vegetarian burrito.
We have had the pleasure of sampling a few since they were put back on the menu and they are decent for Mexican take away in Sydney. Our recommendation would be for more fresh ingredients and less cans of Goya products.
Photo of the month: Jasmin’s @ Lakemba
Amazing vegan platter at Jasmin’s at Lakemba. VeganSydney’s pick on the best Lebanese in Sydney.
Vegans at Tetsuya’s?
How does a vegan fare at the country’s most awarded restaurant? Surprisingly well. We’ve had the pleasure of eating here several times in the last couple of years, including a recent jaunt with friends with an entire assortment of dietry requirements. We were slightly reluctant the first time at the thought of being served a $170 salad. Thankfully we were proved wrong with 13 odd courses of a decadent degustation menu. In fact, one our flesh eating hosts commented that the vegetarian options looks tastier and more creative! You’ll need to book at least a few weeks in advance, take a large wad of cash–and if we can offer one suggestion—-get the wine course!
Stick it in your piehole Bondi
Word on the street is there is a new vegan pie cafe in Bondi. Funky Pies is located at 144-148 Glenayr Avenue, Bondi. While the name sounds like it was thought of by a 4 year–or a new ager wanker that thinks fire twirling and dreadlocks are cool–the menu is all vegan, the staff are super friendly and they are commited to running an eco-friendly establishment.
So how do the pies taste? Absolutely delicious! To quote a vege-aquarium friend ‘best pie I’ve eaten in as long as I can remember’. Forget Preston Pies in the outskirts of Melbourne, these are now the best pies in the country–definitely ain’t nothing funky in these pies!. Next time your down in Bondi be sure to support Sydney’s newest vegan establishment and wash it down with some vegan baklava from across the street at Sabba.
Online vegan perfection
Based out of Melbourne is a newish online vegan grocery store aptly named veganperfection.com.au They stock a wide range of grocercies including such delights as vegan ‘Mars’ bars, melting soy cheese, vegan bacon, mock fish fingers, and fake pepperoni, as well as soy cream, parmesan and gelatin-free marshmallows. Having tried several of these products (available from Vegan’s Choice in Newtown) all we can say is YUM!
Bondi beach burritos
Sydney’s current trend for Mexican fast food has just hit Bondi. Beach Burrito Company is a semi-decent attempt at bring the best of Southern California (at twice the price) to Sydney. While the vegetarian pickings are slim they are certainly better than Gozmen Y Gomez and more creative than Mad Mex. VeganSydney’s pick would be the tofu and wood roasted vegetables burrito (sans cheese), while not 100% authentic, if they would just sort out their the guacamole it would be the best vegetarian burrito in Sydney at the moment.
