Melbourne The First 2017 - Part 1

Let's get into some Melbourne adventures from my recent trip there! I call this Melbourne The First 2017 as I am probably going back to Melbourne another three times this year... the next one in only two weeks for OzComicCon! But for this trip, I went down to visit my friend Leigh and meet her kitty Chia! I'd like to apologise for some of the photos in this post and those to follow, the camera on my phone has been having a shocking time with focus. However I am now in possession of a shiny new Samsung S8 (upgraded from my S4), so on future trips my photos should be amazing!

I had a lunch time flight on Virgin, which does not offer vegan food on the flight. So I picked up some things from the airport. Sadly Sumo Salad did not have my favourite salads, the only vegan ones they had were full of capsicum. But I picked up a couple of rice paper rolls (regular tofu and low-carb tofu) from Roll'd, complete with some Veg Nuoc Cham. The regular carb-full one was my favourite, because the low-carb one had raw onion in it. I had hoped to try their vegan pho, but that wouldn't be good to transport onto a plane and I didn't have time before I flew. I also went to Mad Mex and got a veggie burrito, hold the cheese and sour cream. No photo of that because I ate it on the plane and it was super not photogenic.



I landed in Melbourne hopped on the SkyBus and then took a cab to Leigh's work. While I was waiting for her to finish, I headed to Mantra Lounge for some afternoon snacks. I have walked by this place so many times, but never been in. They are all vegan and have a range of curries and lasagne and salads and burgers at cheap prices, and they also have half serves if you just want something small. I was after something big... giant in fact. Their GIANT cinnamon chocolate chip cookie. This was so good that I had a nibble and immediately went back and bought another one! I also got a golden latte, and a sausage roll for Leigh.



It was a Thursday, so we met up with our friends Neibi, Michelle and Elyce at The Cornish Arms for trivia and brown food. The Cornish excels in brown food. Michelle got the Vegan Nachos, which were GIANT! And had a little bit of colour in them. Leigh had her favourite Vegan Souvlaki Wrap, and Neibi got the super fried Vegan Hot and Spicy Box.







Elyce and I both got the Vegan Colonnello Pizza, which had popcorn chicken, potato gems, bacon, two types and cheese and gravy. It was pretty good, I just wish The Cornish could get their toppings more evenly spread! Also more gravy please!!!



The next morning Leigh had to go back to work. I was in the mood for something a bit lighter, so I headed out to The Glass Den. I started with a super yummy Taro Soy Latte - pretty and purple! And I also had a hot Apple Cinnamon Ginger drink, which was yum. For my breakfast, I got the vegan version Avocado and Peach Bruschetta, which was a super fancy avocado toast, with added almond feta (the menu said macadamia, but it was a new menu and they still only had the old almond one... also they charge $7 for what amounted to a tiny little sprinkle). As well as avocado, toast, and peach, it also had beetroot hummus, dukkah, candied beetroot, salsa and balsamic reduction. It was so yummy! The only downside was the salsa, which had capsicum in it and was quite small so it was hard to pick out. I may never own a house, but at least I had a nice breakfast!









For lunch I went to Good Days, which is right next to The Cornish Arms. This Vietnamese place has a small menu, with a couple of vegan options. I had the yummy Vegan Rice Paper Roll, which was served with a peanut and hoisin sauce. Also the Vegan Mushroom Pho, which was delicious and had so many mushrooms!!! They also have vegan spring rolls and a vegan spring roll salad, but given it was chilly I was all about the soup.





Shout out to Veganopoulous who gave me many suggestions for places to eat, and helped me form my Friday breakfast and lunch plans!

I was in a walking mood. I had walked about half an hour from Leigh's place to get to Good Days, and I ended up walking a fair bit more down to Princes Park. I saw some ducks in a pretty fountain.



I caught the tram into the city and wandered around a little. I needed an afternoon pick me up, but finding somewhere that does non-raw afternoon tea-style things in the city is hard! However, as I was wandering through The Emporium I noticed a little gelato stall, and they had vegan gelato! it was called 7 Apples Gelato. The vegan flavours were raspberry and lemon, so of course I had raspberry. In a cone, as their cones were vegan as well! It was so good. Perfect and creamy and fruity. An excellent afternoon revival!



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



CHIA! What an adorably, silly, gorgeous, handsome little floofball. So glad I got to meet him!