Tag Archives: Moonee Ponds

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Olivia Spring Vegan Cafe in Moonee Ponds

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Olivia Spring Cafe has recently-ish opened up in Moonee Ponds. It’s a vegan cafe, located right opposite the big bus and tram terminus, not too far from Queens Park.

My first visit was very quick and I didn’t have time to eat in, so I got a bbq pork banh mi to take away. Excellent, and this action photo doesn’t do it justice:

I made time for my second visit and got the broken rice plate. Another great meal:

For the next visit I went all out and got the rice paper rolls, which were pretty large and filling and didn’t leave much room for my main. The sauce was excellent:

I ordered the peanut Japanese noodle dish, which was piled high with delicious noodles, beetroot, sprouts and carrot. Wow:

Service has always been great and the cafe itself is nice and quiet. I want to go back a few more times as the menu is pretty enticing.

Olivia Spring is located on that main busy part of Mount Alexander Road where there’s no parking. I’ve always been on public transport when I’ve visited which is easy, because of the tram and buses opposite. For parking, you might be lucky to get a spot on Puckle Street or Hall Street or across the road in the parking bay, but there’s always the carpark for Moonee Ponds Central, a short walk away.

My apologies for the lack of pricing or info on gluten free options, I had jotted everything down but misplaced my notes. The prices are reasonable though and there are GF options. Definitely worth a visit!

Olivia Spring Cafe

637 Mount Alexander Road

Moonee Ponds

http://www.facebook.com/OliviaSpringCafe/

 

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4

Return To I Dream Of Sushi In Moonee Ponds

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I blogged about I Dream Of Sushi back in March 2015. I’ve been back quite a few times, always opting for the tofu don ($13.50) because I like it so much. Tofu, beans, carrots and greens all on a nice big amount of rice with a tasty sweet sauce:

The vegetable gyoza are always a winner:

The past couple of times I’ve ordered something different from the vegan menu. The veg bento (about $14.50) was really quite good, with perfectly crispy tempura veg. A bowl of rice is included:

The agedashi lemon soba ($15) is made with a tasty shiitake broth with chunks of fried tofu. Photo at the top.

A food display case contains all the hand rolls. The vegetable varieties are $6. When you eat in, they’re presented like this eggplant miso roll:

I Dream Of Sushi is still my go-to vegan place in Moonee Ponds. It’s located at one end of Puckle Street right opposite Moonee Ponds train station. The vegan menu is on separate cards.

Seating inside is on stools, with I think about 10 stools in all perhaps. There are a couple small tables on the footpath. I make sure to go at non peak times and have never had trouble getting a stool.

This is good, authentic Japanese food and definitely worth checking out if you’re around Moonee Ponds!

I Dream Of Sushi (located opposite Moonee Ponds train station)

6 Margaret Street

Moonee Ponds

http://www.idreamofsushi.com.au/

 

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13

I Dream Of Sushi, Moonee Ponds

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I Dream Of Sushi, Moonee Ponds

I was in Moonee Ponds today right near Puckle Street, which meant I finally got to visit I Dream Of Sushi. Whenever I’ve been in the area, it’s been after they close so today I wasn’t going to miss this lunch opportunity!

I’ve heard a few vegans saying how much they like I Dream Of Sushi. It’s quite a small place inside, with some stools along the window and side wall plus some extra seating outside on the footpath. They were full when I arrived, with a few people arriving to buy takeaway meals:

I Dream Of Sushi, Moonee Ponds

I Dream Of Sushi, Moonee Ponds

I asked the friendly staff for the vegan options. I was able to choose from the vegetable gyoza, tofu salad and tofu don. I didn’t ask about the ready-made fried eggplant miso handroll I saw in the display (the veggie handroll had egg). I ended up getting the gyoza (four dumplings for $6.50) and the tofu don ($12.50).

The gyoza were pretty good and I always appreciate a bit of a crunch to the base when they’re fried:

I Dream Of Sushi, Moonee Ponds

The tofu don was a really big serve and I couldn’t finish it. Four decent sized pieces of soft tofu (I was delighted to find the fourth piece under the veggies!), topped with a bbq sauce (not too much), carrot, beans, lettuce, spring onion and nori pieces. Plus a heap of steamed rice! I had to have mine in a takeaway (takeout) container as the family and I were on the way home. Before the lid was put on, my tofu don was really piled high and looked beautiful. I think it looked just as tasty when I ate it in the car while the fam were off getting their own lunch. Close up!

I Dream Of Sushi, Moonee Ponds

Husband bought some non-vegan handrolls and said they were very good. I really enjoyed my tofu don and would happily get it again. I Dream Of Sushi isn’t veg*n but this is one really tasty vegan option. When I’m around that area there aren’t many vegan options for me, so it’s good to know I now have a place where I can score a tasty Japanese meal!

I Dream Of Sushi, Moonee Ponds

I Dream Of Sushi (located opposite Moonee Ponds train station)

6 Margaret Street

Moonee Ponds

http://www.idreamofsushi.com.au/

I Dream of Sushi on Urbanspoon

I Dream Of Sushi, Moonee Ponds

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8

Random Eat-y Bits and Pieces

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Back on the air after some internet silliness!  Like… going over your monthly usage quota and being punished by the speed of your connection slowing to snail’s pace.  Whoops.

I haven’t been keeping much of a record of what I’ve been eating.  Lots of smoothies and juices which kinda seem too boring to put on the blog. Here are some of the more less-boring ones.  A beet-berry-banana smoothie.  I don’t like the taste of beetroot in smoothies but this was okay.  The perfect thing to drink on… Prince’s birthday perhaps:

beet berry smoothie

This one had fig, banana, greens, flax and other stuff I don’t remember now:

fig banana smoothie

One of the nicer green juices:

green fruit veg juice

a maple walnut banana smoothie.  I used maple extract:

maple walnut smoothie

I made the Lentil Taco Meat recipe from Isa Does It (using chipotle powder instead) though I added a can of black beans to the mix.  Then I decided to use up the cooked red quinoa I’d discovered in the freezer so I threw that in too, along with some mushrooms.  I served it up in a bowl with baby spinach, lettuce, tomato, avocado all squirted with a little lime juice.  This is one of my favourite bowls:

lentil taco meat bowl

Johanna from Green Gourmet Giraffe posted a great nut roast recipe that uses buckwheat, one of my favourite ingredients to use.  Johanna’s recipe is also up on Ricki Heller’s awesome site. My attempt could have been a disaster because when I was simmering the buckwheat groats, I forgot about them.  The simmer time was 10-12 minutes.  I remembered them an hour later.  They were pretty mooshy by that time but not very burnt on the bottom of the pot which was a surprise and a relief!  Blurry photos, argh:

tomato nut roast2

tomato nut roast1

I made this fab chocolate chip cookie wedges recipe by Joann from Woman in Real Life.  In true Veganopoulos style, after I started the recipe I realised I didn’t have the full amount of sugar so I had to use less but it turned out great regardless.  This was a belated Valentine’s Day treat for the family:

oatchocchipcookiewedge

Chocolate chip biscuits:

choc chip biscuits

We had dinner at Loving Hut in Northcote again.  Southern fried ‘chicken’ and the homemade curry equals yumz:

Loving Hut Northcote

lhn2

aaaaaand Husband and I went to Loving Hut in Richmond.  I got my usual, which is the veg curry with tofu puffs.  Husband got the spring rolls:

Loving Hut spring rolls

Loving Hut curry

I over roasted some canned chickpeas with nooch for Arthur:

chickypops

Possibly my favourite kale dish is this cheezy chickpeas and kale dish from Fannetastic Food.  I added in some leftover roasted sweet potato:

cheezy chickpeas and kale

Husband and I received these lovely cherry truffles with the added bonus of it appearing quite vegan:

cherry chocs

Now, how many of you know how to fold a fitted sheet nicely?  I’ve been watching YouTube clips on how to do it but nope, mine turn out all horrible and I end up totally frustrated.  None of those pretty smooth corners for me.

Last weekend we went to the Moonee Valley Festival.  I did a quick run past the food stalls and there didn’t appear to be anything vegan.  If there were, I wouldn’t have waited as the queues were too long:

festival7

festival2

festival4

festival5

DeeW made a seed ball and planted it at home:

festival6

I lost $10 on this…

festival8

There were lots of lost balloons in the air:

festival1

I was glad to be home again.  I like visiting these community festivals but after a while I need to get out of there:
 festival3
I found this sight quite amusing:

paintingtransporter

Excellent news is that tomorrow is the last day of summer!  Summer is my least favourite season so I’m not exactly sorry to see it go.  I have some plans for autumn and this year I hope I’ll stick to them!

talltree

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10

Dinner at Philhellene, Moonee Ponds

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My mum’s birthday was this week and she decided she wanted to have her birthday dinner at Philhellene.  When she initially phoned them up, she asked about vegan options for me and was assured there were vegan dishes.  Of course, this didn’t stop me from going straight to the menu online and confirming that for myself 🙂

It was a busy night but our entrees arrived quickly.  My sister and I shared the ‘rodi dip’, which was made from roasted red capsicum, walnut and pomegranate:

philhellene1

I stuffed myself on bread before even thinking to ask if it was vegan, seeing as all the Greek women in my family only ever made bread with vegan ingredients.  I just assumed it was then later smacked myself in the head for not asking (I don’t want to know now!):

philhellene5

Arthur and DeeW got some chips and I had… quite a few of those:

philhellene2

I ordered the cauliflower salad with cous cous, parsley, pomegranate, onion, almond and dressed with a pomegranate molasses vinaigrette.  This was delicious and not a huge serve, though I was already a little full with the bread, dip, and pinching the chips.  I want to try and replicate this at home as it was a winner for me:

philhellene4

My sister ordered the vegetarian platter.  I’m really proud of my sister.  She no longer eats meat and although she’s more vegetarian now, most of what she eats or cooks is vegan.  Anyway, I’ve decided to include a photo (I only show vegan foods here on the blog but in this case all you see is pastry!).  I think the only non-vegan item on the veg platter are the pastries which contained feta and spinach.  This was a really big meal and my sister couldn’t finish it without help (she didn’t eat the pastries 😉 :

philhellene3

We all enjoyed our meals and service was very efficient and friendly.  The restaurant was quite busy and although our entrees arrived quickly, our mains took a really long time which is kinda a little difficult when you have young children getting impatient!  I’d brought along stuff to keep them occupied so fortunately there was no “where’s Charlie Chan with that food?” moment:

murielswedding

I didn’t have a chance to take a photo of the inside of Philhellene, plus there were people everywhere, so here’s the indoor view from my seat:

philhellene6

 

Although not a vegan establishment of course, I was very happy with my food and if my family wanted to go back there I would gladly order the rodi dip again (though I’d check if the pita bread is vegan but ohhh it was good bread) and some of the other vegan options.

Philhellene is located at 551-553 Mt. Alexander Road, Moonee Ponds. http://www.philhellene.com.au/

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