Nothing says love like eating out. LOL.

So maybe my presence here has been a little thin on the ground of late. Ok so maybe it has been very thin. Now of course I'd like to give you a list of excuses as to why i've been so neglectful for my little vegan thought tank. But quite simply, I moved out of home and have neither the funds to experiment with cookies as freely as I usually would. I also had another kitchen fire so am kinda sitting on the whole "using the oven a whole lot" thing at the moment. But it did occur to me that just because my only food cooking adventures seem to be confined to midnight pancakes doesn't mean I can't fill this page with a seasoning of treats. Albeit from someone else's warm and delicious kitchen. So here it is, Wendy's run around guide to snacking in Melbourne! Because god knows, if there is one thing I can do, it's furiously snack.

COOKIES!
Because I'm pretty sure my heart stops if I don't eat one like every 20 minutes.

My Choice!

"Lord of the Fries"
Now LOTF comes up pretty much every time anyone, ever, anywhere, mentions vegan eating. And it is awesome, it’s burgers especially need a special mention for their killer style. But it’s their cookies that keep me coming back for more. Often leaving parties early to grab one on the way home before they close. I don’t know what it is, the mix of flours, the seeds, the fruit, the vegan chocolate that isn’t totally gross. The lovely crumbly texture awarding you surprise crumbs in your hair hours after the event of eating them is over. Maybe its the coming together of so many lovely things. Ultimately who cares, just cram a bunch of these bad boys into you.

Crn Elizabeth and Flinders street
Flinders Street Station
(Obviously there are like a million other locations now, but common, I’m not the yellow pages)

Runners Up!

“Oreo’s”
That’s right, what the fuck? As if these are vegan? Now this is one of the rare examples when something being vegan marks just how artificial and terrible for you this product is. In short, cream filled chocolate biscuits shouldn’t be vegan. And you shouldn’t read the back to ascertain what the hell they are cramming into these bad boys to ensure their animal free goodness. Don’t think, just eat. Words to live by.

You can buy these everywhere. In fact if you can’t find them be careful because it appears you have stumbled into a wormhole and now appear to be living in Victorian times.

ICE CREAM
Just because the word ‘cream’ is in the title doesn’t mean you gotta get all up close and personal with the cow.

My Choice!

“Tofutti”
Pretty much anything in the range. The huge, huge range. It’s all pretty good. And its also kinda liberating to be able to ask yourself, ‘do I feel like an ice cream sandwich today or one of the other trillion options they have?’ The runner up is a close second but Tofutti takes the prize just because of their ability to spoil you for choice.

Is stocked sporadically is often surprising places, just check out their website
www.tofutti.com

Runner Up!

“So Good”
Yeah I get it’s hell obvious, but its also yum, cheap (oh btw Tofutti is pretty much the price of saffron) and readily available. It also manages to blend to sometime off putting soy smell pretty seamlessly with its chocolate flavor.

Same deal as Oreos in terms of tracking this down. Pretty much any big supermarket is a safe bet.

MAIN MEAL!
Coz a grrrls gotta eat!

My Choice!

“Crossways”
Pretty easy choice really. Word to the wise though, heartbreakingly the soul singing dessert is not in fact vegan. But the crazy ass delicious curries and stews are. They’re also so cheap you probably don’t want to know how they’re keeping costs so low, and are usually served with a heavenly side of chanting and subliminal religious messages.

123 Swanston Street Melbourne

Runners Up!

“Mamasitas”
Now every food blog this side of the river is loosing its shit over the progigal son of mexican food so I’ll keep this brief. Although an omnivore restaurant, Mamasitas has the kind of animal free options you usually reserve for your extra nerdy vegan dreams. It’s also cheap, cool and has a hell of a drinks list.

Level 1, 11 Collins St Melbourne

PIES!

My Choice!

“TOFWD”
Now I wasn’t even going to include pies, pre vegan I wasn’t THAT blow away by them. Too many mystery filling surprises. That is of course until I stumbled onto TOFWD and their range of sour dough crusted delight. Actually so yummy I could cry, into my tofu and pumpkin dream. Cheap, fast and wholesome; just like the girl of your dreams. Splash out a few more clams to get it with a side of salad and relish and really make a day of it.

28 Degraves st Melbourne

Runner Up!

“Vegie Bar”
I actually didn’t want to include this one, it just all seemed rather obvious. But their ever evolving dessert case always draws me back for more. I’m not even going to mention a specific flavor but their hit rate of a warm fruit pie or crumble has been 100% since I was a kid. Oldies but goodies usually get that way for a reason.

380 Brunswick St Fitzroy


CAKES!

My Choice!

"Las Vegan"
Hands down, turn on the lights, fold up the envelope, put your shoes back on and go home. THIS.IS.WHAT.THEY.WERE.TALKING.ABOUT.WHEN.THEY.COINED.THE.TERM.THE.SHIT.

2 Smith St, Collingwood

Runner Up!

‘Habib Wholefoods’
A pretty decent wholefood store in its own right, you have to give these guys props for always having a decent selection of sweet treats to keep you blood sugar sky high while running for the train.

2/260 Flinders St Melbourne

SPECIAL MENTION!

‘Cato Pick n Mix’
Their ever changing array of surprises is not only practical (a really cheap way to buy your everyday cooking staples) but also super fun and delicious. Their nutty, sweet, salty, spicy and sometimes just plain weird selection is always changing; but personally it’s their sweet potato chips that keep me coming back for more. The single reason why I gained weight after cutting out seven eighths of the food pyramid.

Cato Street Prahran, I forget the number, pretty much next to Coles

COFFEE!

‘Jungle Juice’
It’s Melbourne, most of the coffee is pretty banging. But it doesn’t even rate a mention if they don’t rep BonSoy. But I’m giving it to these kids because the vibe it good, its fast service, quality chit chat and I’m yet to have a bad experience of any shape their.