Vegie Bar, Fitzroy

I had forgotten how awesome Vegie Bar is. I used to frequent there quite a bit in my late teens and loved it, but its been awhile since I have been there. Will not leave it that long between visits again.

The boyfriend and I went there on the way to the football today. We chose Vegie Bar because we have been discussing adding more vegetables to our diet as part of a more detoxing diet in the next few weeks. Obviously this won't be possible every meal but we will attempt it as much as we can, and why not begin at the Melbourne hub of vegetarian food? The best thing about Vegie Bar is that you do not miss the presence of meat at all as the food is so flavoursome and wholesome.

We took a seat outside watching the Brunswick St world go by and started with two super healthy juices. The juice range is extensive and reasonably priced, and what better drink to accompany a healthy vegetarian meal?

Between us we shared three dishes and ended up with WAY too much food. I had forgotten how much value you get for your money at Vegie Bar so a small pizza and too very cheap mains set us back $40 (with drinks) but left us with enough yummy food to feed a small family. We gave it a good crack though.

The 'Duo' of Chickpea Dahl and Potato and Lentil curry with roti bread and brown rice was really good. The brown rice is probably not even needed though as we used the roti in the same way we do with Malaysian food, as a kind of spoon to mop up the curry and dahl. In particular, the chickpea dahl was so packed with flavours, I could quite happily eat a whole bowl of it.

We loved the Vegan Nacho's- if all vegan food could be this yum, I think I could handle being one! We barely noticed the fact that the cheese and sour cream was missing dairy as there was more focus on the other elements of the dish, like the yummy black bean mix on the bottom and the amazing homemade tomato and corn salsa. The oven roasted chips were great too.

This Moroccan pizza was so good that we didn't even notice it was cheese-less. Topped with tomato sauce and hummus, eggplant, roasted capsicum, pumpkin, mushrooms, olives and sesame seeds it was a massive vegie fest and so enjoyable. The base in particular was perfect and the toppings so fresh and perfectly cooked.

I am so happy to have rediscovered Vegie Bar and plan to return there again soon to have another vegetarian feast- especially when I am on a budget as the value for money can't be beaten. If you are a meat-lover and haven't tried legit vegetarian food before, give it a go. I think even the biggest carnivores would find something on the menu that pleasantly surprises them.

L x