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.



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.



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



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!





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.



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.



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.



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.



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!



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.



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!



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.





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.



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.



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.



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.



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.



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



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