It was a hot January evening in Melbourne in Fitzroy on the achingly cool Brunswick Road. We had stopped off at George's Bar for a pre-drink, named after the Seinfield character, and bearing some of his finest Georgeism and stickers of his face all over the walls.
We were greeted warmly and seated swiftly at Vegie Bar, which was packed to the rafters. There is a mezzanine level above the kitchen where you can pretty much sit in the rafters! So popular is Vegie Bar that they were able to purchase the shop next door and punch a doorway through the wall to extend to a third restaurant area with exposed brick walls and cacti.
After pouring over the extensive menu - Burgers, wraps, gourmet pizza, salads and touching on a few various Asian cuisine options, we decided to share three dishes so no one had to make too big a decision. I had the Ginger Ninja cocktail which had just the right amount of ginger to give it a kick, without being overpowering.
We ordered the vegan nachos, the vegan cheese wasn't overly tasty but the salsa and guacamole were nice and there was a generous portion of jalepenos thrown over the top, which will always court my favour.
The Chèvre de Montage pizza was a gorgeous mix of early mushrooms, tart goats cheese and salty kalamata olives. The star of the show for me was the ravioli. The white wine and double cream sauce was subtle enough not to overpower the vegetables, the blanket of sharp Parmesan enhanced the favour of every bite.
The only thing I can fault about Vegie Bar is the lack of two G's in veggie, but that appears to be an Aussie thing! Even if you are a Grammar Nazi vegetarian, it's worth overcoming the spelling for a visit.
No comments:
Post a Comment