My sister and I headed down to the Royal Exhibition Building last weekend for the Finders Keepers Market. So much lovely stuff! I didn’t see anything specifically vegan, or at least, there was no obvious ‘vegan’ label on anything I saw. Apart from the Mister Nice Guy’s stand of course. Quick tour and info: The Royal Exhibition Building and the surrounding Carlton Gardens were completed in 1880, for Melbourne’s first International Exhibition in 1880-1881:

I loved this bike rack:

Beautiful textiles and home furnishings:

Lots of gorgeous clothing:

I resisted buying anything at this vintage and retro shop:

Sometimes I see things, like these baskets, and although I don’t need one I still do the “but it’s so PRETTY” argument with myself:

I didn’t buy anything apart from a couple of buns to share with the family:

When we were done at Finders Keepers, I loaded up Happy Cow to see where we could go to lunch. Smith & Daughters was a very short walk away so we thought we’d try our luck there. Fortunately there were a few free tables and we were able to be seated right away. I was pretty happy that finally, I got to visit.

The brunch menu is served until 3pm. For our late lunch we decided against the sweeter options because we had the cinnamon bun and lemon bun getting squished in my handbag. My sister ordered the breakfast burrito with chipotle cashew cheese ($18 with the chipotle cashew cheese, $15 without). It arrived around the 31 minute wait mark and although it didn’t appear to be a large serving it was certainly very filling. I think I would prefer it without the cashew cheese as I find the sweetness of cashew to be a little too much with savoury dishes:

I ordered the baked Spanish omelette ($16). The description mentioned potato, but I only got one piece in mine which was quite a let down. The omelette overall was tasty, especially the saffron sofrito on top and it was nice to have a sort of gooey consistency but not be grossed out by undercooked egg, something I always hated pre-vegan. I used the bread to mop it all up:

Apart from the single piece of potato in my omelette, my other gripe would be the noise level. The table we had was a smaller one but my sister and I had to raise our voices to hear each other. The music wasn’t blaring but it was still loud enough to be on the irritating side.

These shortcomings would not stop me from going back a second time, as I really want to try their dinner menu and those fantastic looking desserts. I may be tempted to get the breakfast burrito myself in the future, but for now I’ll stick with finding a suitable time to go for dinner.

Smith & Daughters

175 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy

9939 3293 (check website for Bookings)

http://www.smithanddaughters.com/