Showing posts with label Vegan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vegan. Show all posts

Friday, February 22, 2013

Small Town Bakery - Kew East - review

One sunny afternoon, on my way to visit the husband at work, I spotted a new addition to the High St shopping strip. With a wooden picket fence and neon yellow chairs it grabbed my interest enough to warrant a peek. Their window was filled with beautiful rustic loaves of organic bread which I am always on the lookout for, and to have it so close to the spouse's workplace made me jump with glee. (Inside they have a bread schedule to let you know what loaves are coming up)
Looking at those delectable loaves made my tummy rumble so I decided to pop in. The space itself is quite tiny but wonderfully decorated. The first detail that caught my eye were the cheerful bouquets of billy buttons which are a personal favourite flower of mine.
The colour scheme is natural with bright yellow accents and plenty of rustic wood and old-school chalk boards. The display case is the center of attention and filled with quality-looking items that are labelled with the cutest pegged and twined tags.
Behind the counter are large wooden boxes filled with supplies such as free-range eggs, scales and juices. 
The packaging is right up my alley - I wrap all my gifts in brown paper so I loved the small cardboard boxes for the salads and the brown paper and serviettes the other items come in; simple but stylish. 
They also have a record player, which on my first visit was filling the air with the music of the Jazz great, Miles Davis and on my second visit a selection of cool funk from the 70s.

Enough about the interior - unto the food!

Roast Beef with Dijon Mayonnaise, Rocket and Caramelised Onion - $7

Mr.M enjoyed this. He also wants to mention their Beef Empanada which comes with a delicious tomato chutney.

Quinoa, lentil, bean, rocket and veggie salad - $7

This is the second time I have purchased this salad. It is light yet filling with earthiness from the lentils, nuttiness from the quinoa, freshness from the herbs and sweetness from the diced veg. I have to also mention their Broccoli, cranberry and sunflower seed salad which I buy whenever it's available - it's delicious.

Dream bar - $5

With a name like that expectations are made, luckily for this little rustic beauty it was tremendously dreamy. The meringue like crust gives way to a gloriously fudgey chocolate center speckled with walnut pieces and chewy coconut which sits atop a crumbly base. I am incredibly smitten with anything that consists of cocoa-y gooeyness and so I am already thinking of heading back tomorrow to purchase another of these bars (ok, make that 2...).
Highly recommend to any sweet tooths. I have also tried their scones which were generous portions and delicious.

Lemon Bar - $5

I adore lemon bars, but so far none that I have purchased have truly satisfied my criteria until today. The ratio of lemon curd to shortbread base is spot on. The crust is akin to a creme brulee and cracks beneath your teeth to reveal a lusciously decadent filling that melds the right amount of tartness to sweetness. Another repeat purchase for sure.


Their selection of food is good quality, diverse and reasonably priced (I have noticed so many cafe sandwiches these days priced at $10!). I have also tried their vegetarian smashed avocado roll and the bread itself was so incredibly soft with the slightest hint of sweetness, and I am not even a bread person! They also have vegan empanadas as well as salads so even vegans are catered for.

With both of my sweet picks being so successful I am eager to try more of their desserts, especially the single origin chocolate brownie - drool... 

With friendly service, delicious, affordable and interesting food, not to mention great music, you can't go wrong with a visit to Small Town Bakery. 

Small Town Bakery on Urbanspoon

Friday, July 6, 2012

Vegie Hut - Box Hill - review

 Name: Vegie Hut

Address: 984 Whitehorse Rd 
Box Hill, VIC 3128
03 9898 2287

Food: Chinese, Vegetarian, Vegan, Buddhist

We ordered: (take away). Vegetable Spring Rolls
These were some of the tastiest spring rolls I have had, but the pastry could have been cooked a touch more.
Salt and Pepper chicken
Incredibly spot on texture wise. Reminiscent of KFC's popcorn chicken. These were still nice the next day.
Chicken Nuggets
Mr.M exclaimed these were some of the best chicken nuggets he has had so he enjoyed them. I never liked chicken nuggets back in my meat-eating days so these weren't to my liking.
Pad See Ewe
Unfortunately this was too bitter for me and the noodles quite gluggy. I wouldn't order it again.
Lemon Chicken
Probably the least spot on in terms of texture but others a fairly good replica of lemon chicken. Funnily enough, despite chicken being the only meat I used to eat I didn't enjoy the faux versions, they tasted too much like the real thing and meat just doesn't taste great to me. Hubby enjoyed it more as it didn't have that chewy, poor meat quality taste you sometimes get from the real deal. (pictured without sauce).
Crispy Duck
As you can see I accidentally poured the lemon sauce over the duck. That aside I couldn't eat this as it just tasted too much like meat and duck was one of those meats I never tried as I couldn't bring myself to eat a duck. Hubby said it tasted extraordinarily similar to the real thing.

Veggie dumplings
My favourite dish of the night.

Website: vegiehut.com.au

Hours: Closed Tuesdays.

Would I return: Yes. Great place for vegetarians/vegans - it would probably fool most meat-eaters too!
Vegie Hut Vegetarian on Urbanspoon