Veganventure 2014: Part 6 (Smith & Daughter's Edition)

We had booked a birthday dinner at Smith & Daughters that I had been looking forward to for weeks and weeks! Unfortunately our Trippy Taco tummies were still feeling very unhappy, but of course we went hoping for the best. We started off with some drinks. Leigh had the Virgin Frieda (a virgin bloody mary) and I had a Watermelon Splash of Lash (coconut water, lime, mint and watermelon).



They have a fabulous collection of salt and pepper shakers, and we were sharing our table with these awesome ninja friends.



Smith & Daughters has a seasonal menu that takes the form of share plates, tapas and salads. We ordered the Layered Queso Dip (black bean dip, cashew cream, salsa and corn chips), Pastels de Cangrejo (herb and lemon crab cakes with mango salsa and avocado cream), Paella Fritters (with garlic aoli) and Seasonal Arco Iris Salad (heirloom tomatos, asparagus, baby cos, avocado, quinoa in basil dressing).









The queso is glorious and rich, the salad was refreshing and light, and the paella fritters were crunchy and tasty. The crab cakes were great, though once I saw the strands of actual faux crab in them then that was all I could taste and I am not a fan of that flavour. Unfortunately our tummies were extremely sad, so we could not finish our delicious dinner. I felt so bad, because the food was great, but our stomachs just couldn't handle it. We slowly walked back to the hotel for much peppermint tea, tummy rubbing and Trippy Taco cursing.

But all was not lost, because we had booked in for brunch at Smith & Daughters the following day! Thankfully after a night of sleep and a green juice to test the waters, our tummies were back in action!

We arrived at 10am for brunch (opening time), and we were the first people there. It was a much quieter, more relaxed atmosphere compared to dinner the night before. I was able to have a wander around and look at their salt and pepper shaker collection. Sadly they have to keep a lot of their favourites up behind the bar because people steal them! Jerks. They were nice enough to take this adorable kitten and wool ball one down for me to take a photo of.



Speaking of salt and pepper shakers, check out who our brunch companions were! NIIIIIIINNNNNNJJJJJJAAAAAAA!



Leigh ordered another Virgin Frieda (sadly I tried a bit and because it has freshly juiced jalapeno and also hot sauce already added to the tomato and cucumber juice, it was way too spicy for me) and a Mexican Hot Chocolate, and I ordered a soy chai latte. Oh. My. God. Their chai is the best I have ever had. Better than the Spicy Chai at Sweetpea in PDX. It is amazing! They brought the actual bag of chai down for me to smell - heaven! I ended up having three chai lattes while we were their - soy, almond and oat.



One of the things I was sad I didn't get the night before was the Tortilla, a big wedge of cold potato and onion spanish omlette with garlic aioli. It was simple, but delicious.



Leigh got the Mexican Potato Hash, which had potatoes, peppers, corn, jalapenos and guacamole, topped with queso, salsa and cashew cheese and served with corn tortillas. She reports that this would be too spicy for me!



I got the Breakfast Tortilla, which had scrambled tofu chorizo, black beans, garlic kale, guacamole and chipotle cashew cheese. This was so amazing!



They also have chia pudding, omelette and french toast on the brunch menu, as well as a selection of dishes from their dinner menu. They also have their desserts available! This was good, as we were unable to manage dessert the night before. Leigh had the Pina Colada Cream Pie.



I had the Warm Spanish Doughnuts, stuffed with quince and dusted in spiced sugar. These were amazing! Hot and fresh and perfect. Not as good as sourdough cinnamon sugar doughnuts, but they come second only by a whisper. Even the ninjas wanted to get in on the doughnut action!



All up this was an exceptional dining experience! I think Smith & Daughters brunch is an essential part of any Melbourne trip. I was sad to say goodbye to our ninjas.



Holding some very happy tummies, and a fourth chai (this one made on hazelnut milk, I got it to take away), we headed up Brunswick Street to visit the Melbourne branch of The Cruelty-Free Shop, where Leigh was signing some of her cookbooks and we had a good browse at their great range.

Afterwards we found ourselves a bit peckish, and conveniently just down the road from Yong Green Food (on Brunswick Street you are always just up the road or down the road from somewhere delicious!). To Yongs we went!

It was another hot day, and I was in the mood for refreshing and light. I ordered the Seaweed Salad, which was just perfect. I think this might be my favourite thing I had at Yongs during the trip. I also got the Buckwheat Crepe (organic buckwheat crepe with braised shitake mushrooms and wasabi soy mayo), which was lovely.





Leigh also started light with the Vietnamese Coleslaw (cabbage, cucumber, carrot and green beans mixed with lime and chili dressing, topped with cashews), but then went rather weather inappropriate with a steaming hot bowl of Miso Udon (udon cooked in miso soup topped with organic tofu served with kimchi). Worth it.





After our late lunch, we went back to the hotel for another rest from the heat before dinner. On the way we stopped off at Smith & Daughters so I could pick up my fifth chai of the day (large, soy milk). Seriously, best chai ever.

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Before we left Sydney Leigh's cat Squeak took a sudden and unexpected interest in this box. She was very pleased with herself!