Sunday 17 December 2017

Molly Adventures Part 7 (Melbourne)

After breakfast with Leigh, I met up with Molly at the World Vegan Day festival in Melbourne. It was huge! They even had special trains running from the city, as well as people waiting at tram stops to make sure everyone knew that this was the stop. There was lots of food, of course, and a lot of stalls selling cool things and offering samples. I sampled some cheeses and drinks and krauts, which was fun. I also picked up some Loving Earth chocolate covered Incan berries, and some plant-based wax re-usable wraps. As for food... it was just too busy at that time (which was peak lunch time), and neither of us felt like waiting in massive lines. I did get a lovely mango iced green tea from Those Girls, which was refreshing on a hot day in a crowded venue.

Mango Lemon Verbena Green TeaThose Girls at World Vegan Day


We reached our quota for being around large groups of people, and hopped on a train to the city to get something to eat. We both love sushi, and Sushi Sushi is my favourite Australian chain. So we stopped by and loaded up some plates.

Sushi Sushi


The afternoon was spent lounging around the hotel. And I had a cherry danish that I had bought from Smith & Deli for afternoon tea.

Cherry Danish from Smith & Deli


For dinner, we had very special plans at the late dinner seating for Transformer in Fitzroy. This is a fancy vegetarian place, with lots of vegan options. I had been there once before and loved it, and was excited to go back. This place is pricey, but worth it. Last time I had the 'Feed Me' menu, a set price for five courses the kitchen chooses. This time we went on our own adventure. We both refreshed ourselves with the Watermelon, Mint, Chia and Lavender Salt Elixir, and amused ourselves with a shot of the Ayurvedic Elixer (ginger, turmeric, tamarind, coconut water). The latter looks like mud water, but was quite tasty!

Watermelon, mint, chia, lime and lavender salt elixir at Transformer


Ayurvedic elixir at Transformer


The menu is divided into starters and larger plates, and is designed for sharing. We kicked off with a couple of small plates. First up, the spelt & seed steamed buns with crispy smoked tofu, pickled cucumber & gochujang mayo. We got the mayo on the side so I could control the heat level, I tried a little but it was pretty spicy, so just ate my bun without it.

Spelt and seed steamed buns with crispy fried tofu, pickled cucumber, and gojuchang mayo at Transformer


Probably our favourite of the night was the roast carrot, white bean & saffron dip with toasted cumin and flatbread. I could happily eat a tub of the dip with a spoon, and the flat bread was delicious and hot.

Roast carrot, white bean and saffron dip with cumin seeds and flat bread at Transformer


We had a refreshing start to the larger plates, with the chilled freekeh sealad with almond, mint, fresh apple, snow pea & fennel. I loved this one, probably my second favourite of the night.

Freeken, almond, mint, apple, snow pea, fennel at Transformer


Unfortunately the steamed broccolini with chickpea & miso butter, daikon & chive powder was a miss for me. This is one of the ones that is vegetarian with a vegan option, and it turned out that their vegan modification was to use coconut oil instead of butter. Even a tiny taste was enough to make me feel a little queasy. Thankfully Molly was happy to finish this off for us.

Steamed broccolini, chickpea and miso butter, daikon and chive powder at Transformer


The King oyster mushrooms with confit garlic & pine nut purée, smoked shallot & porcini salt was another favourite. You can't really go wrong with big slabs of well cooked, salty mushrooms!

King oyster mushrooms, confit garlic and pinenut puree, smoked shallots, porcini salt at Transformer


I enjoyed the native spiced beetroots with ginger pearls, macadamia cream, finger limes, salt bush & samphire. They were cooked to be very soft, and the ginger pearls were a fun texture.

Native spiced beetroot, macadamia cream, ginger pearls, sea vegetables at Transformer


Finally, we had the festive cider glazed roast red cabbage with celeriac & horseradish purée & toasted rye. This was a lovely end to the meal, and I could have easily had more of the puree!

Cider glazed roast red cabbage, celeriac and horseradish puree, toasted rye at Transformer


We finished by sharing a dessert of their small dessert menu, the warm chocolate brownie with salted coconut ice cream, hazelnut ganache, and cherry gel. With the ice cream of the side, as far too coconutty for me. The brownie is so rich, that it is not a bad idea to share! I wish I could get a lot more of the cherry gel, which is my favourite part. I also had a turmeric latter on soy, no sweetener.

Warm chocolate brownie, salted caramel ice cream, hazelnut ganache, cherry gel at Transformer


Turmeric latte at Transformer


The next morning, we met up with Molly's friend Fran and her friend Marta to go out to Matcha Mylkbar for breakfast. For a Monday morning, this place got packed! I'd been there once before, and was excited to try out some more of their ridiculous lattes. Thankfully the Purple Peanut Butter Latte (astronuts natural peanut butter, purple okinawan sweet potato, soy mylk, coconut aminos) did not disappoint.

Purple Peanut Butter Latte at Matcha Mylkbar


Unfortunately, the menu did kind of disappoint. It was different from what was online, and it was very very very small. Looking at their website, it looks like they have yet another new menu with loads more options, so perhaps we were there during a change over menu? Anyway, we had all hoped to get something that was not available. Please keep your menus up to date online!

Marta got the Hollondaise eggs with kale and avocado on sourdough, which she enjoyed. I have had their eggs before, and while they look like eggs they taste nothing like them, they are kind of sweet. Marta was glad that I had warned her about the taste, because it meant she could enjoy them for what they were, not for what she thought they were meant to be like.

Hollondaise eggs at Matcha Mylkbar


Fran got the Match Pancakes with dark chocolate sauce, fruit, and macadamia ice cream. I tried a little bit and these were very rich and dense, a small stack is all you need.

Matcha pancakes at Matcha Mylkbar


Molly and I both got the Avocado Toast with Zaatar and a side of Nut Feta, which was excellent. I know, I know. Avocado toast is the standard 'vegan' option as many places, but I love it.

Avocado toast with Zaatar and Nut Feta at Matcha Mylkbar


They also have some bakery stuff there you can get. Molly and I were going to try some doughnuts, but they forgot that we ordered them and they never came, so we decided to skip them as we were all pretty satisfied already.

Bakery stuff at Matcha Mylkbar


Molly, Fran, and Marta wanted to head off for some beach adventures after breakfast, as we were at St Kilda. This is all too sunny for me, so we parted ways for the day and I went on my own way. More on that next post!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

Carlton Cat


We passed this handsome friend as we were walking to Transformer, and they were very happy to act cute and pose for the camera.

4 comments:

  1. The mushroom plate sounds good to me, and the brownie looks delicious, especially with such a pretty presentation! Cute stretching kitty!

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    1. The do their food very beautifully there!

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  2. Everything looks terrific! The presentation on all of it is wonderful! AND...Those drinks! WOWZA!

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    1. I just love silly drinks so much, and these were so fancy, it was perfect.

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