But of course it wasn't all food. On Friday morning, Molly's last morning, we went out to Cleveland Point, which is a lovely little park. It also had a lot of little crabs scurrying all over the rocks and concrete down near the water, and lots of sassy seagulls.
For lunch we went to Cafe O'Mai, a vietnamese place with many vegan options. I had been there once before for breakfast, but was excited to try their lunch offerings. We started with some Lychee and Mint Frappes, which were wonderful. Though drink carefully, they are cold. So cold and with a metal straw, I gave myself a few brain freezes!
We shared the Tofu Rice Paper Rolls and the Vegan Banh Mi. The rolls are so lovely, with a hoisin peanut sauce. The Banh Mi was also great, though we both wished that it had some vegan mayo on it (the vegan one is tofu and veggies, no mayo or pate). Though as we were halfway through it, Molly spotted a sign in an obscure and hard to see place that said they did do vegan may on request, so I'll remember that for next time.
We both had the same thing for lunch, each ordering a Buddha Bowl Bun (which had lemongrass tofu, crispy tofu and vegetarian spring rolls as well as salad, noodles, and dressing). This was just lovely, so refreshing, and I loved all the different tofu textures.
Afterwards we went past Kiah Organics, an organic and wholefood shop that has a lot of vegan things, but also had this one flavour of Dr Bronners liquid soap that Molly loves and apparently is not available in the US. I also got a Cloud Latte (based on blue pea protein) to take away (after this we went to Kmart so that Molly could buy a second bag to take all her treasures home in!).
The afternoon was spent at home so that Molly could pack everything, before heading back into West End for dinner and a final trip to The Cruelty Free Shop for Molly. For dinner, we went to Eden Garden Indian Cuisine, a new to me place that has a separate vegan menu. We started with some Samosa Chaat and some Pakoras. The samosas were interesting, sliced and served on top of chickpea curry and spices. A bit spicy for me, but yummy.
They make some exciting vegan breads, and I was super keen to try the Vegan Kulcha, stuffed with soy cheese, onion and coriander. Sadly, this was not good. I believe they use one of the very old brands of vegan cheese that don't taste great or melt well, so it was a disappointment. Thankfully the Garlic Naan was great.
They also have a lot of vegan curries, including many that are traditionally vegetarian rather than vegan. Unfortunately it turned out the way they do this is through using coconut cream, so I avoided that. Some also have soy cheese in place of paneer, but after the soy cheese in the bread I think best to steer clear of that. And the biriyani did not have a mild option. So we ended up ordering those vegan old faithfuls, Daal and Aloo Gobi. However, these were delicious. I think the best Aloo Gobi I've ever had, so we had no complaints!
We were pretty full after dinner, so ended up going for a long night-time stroll through South Bank. I'd taken Molly there at the beginning of the trip during the day, but it really is quite lovely to see at night as well. The bridges get lit up, and the river is so pretty at night when you can't see how brown it is. We saw a heron who was also out for a stroll around the cultural precinct!
We even walked far enough and across a bridge so I could see the twinkle tree! The council has put fairy lights in certain trees, and every night when I drive home from work I see the tops of these trees as I am driving. This day I got to stand at the bottom of them, and it was magic!
Our final place that we visited was I Should Coco for a final ice cream. We both got the Berry Merry.
And then it was over. The next morning I took Molly to the airport, and she went home. Brisbane was so sad that the sky cried hard all day, there was so much rain! I had such a wonderful two week with Molly, getting to show her around my home and adventuring in Melbourne together. If anyone else wants to come visit, I am always in favour of that!
Cute Kitty Photo of the Post
Adventuring is fun, but my heart belongs to my baby girl. I missed her a lot when we were in Melbourne, and was glad to get to spend a few days with her hanging out at home before I had to go back to work. Here is a terrible selfie attempt of the two of us. At least she looks amazing, as always!
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Cleveland Point looks beautiful, and the Buddha bowl sounds really good! The lights are so pretty in the trees, too! Great selfie with Dim Sim!
ReplyDeleteThere are some really pretty places around here. The twinkle tree has my heart, though!
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