2 Reviews in 1: Soul Food & Shakahari

In the past week or so Will and I have visited two vegetarian establishments to explore their culinary offerings. Unfortunately no photos were taken.

Soul Food Cafe

273 Smith St
Fitzroy 3065 VIC

Phone: (03) 9419 2949

This little hipster cafe is located in a rather grungy area of Fitzroy as we passed many suspicious characters hanging outside the local Tab on the way their. It somehow transported me back to my days in Madrid. The inside of the cafe had a homey, comfortable feel to it and once inside we weren't sure whether to seat ourselves or wait to be seated. Once we sat down, we also weren't sure whether we'd be waited on or if we ordered at the register; it was the latter because there weren't any menus for us to browse. We quickly scanned the cold display of foods available, which was a bit scarce due to it being the end of the night for them (around 8:30 pm), and decided upon a roasted eggplant pizza and a curious little dish called Haystack, both averaging about $12 a serve. The pizza was self explanatory, lacking in the vegetable department, heavy on the cheese, but graced with a lovely thin wholemeal crust that much a 'crunch' with each bite. The Haystack was an interesting little serve of a tasty, yet dry legume-nut filling wrapped with puff pastry topped with a sweet sultana sauce with cumin undertones. Without the sauce it would have been difficult to swallow. The food was satisfying overall, but not a place I'd go to for dinner before a night out on the town. The ambiance was so mellow I became sleepy, but the chai for two we ordered picked me right up.

Shakahari Vegetarian Restaurant
201 Faraday St
Carlton 3053 VIC

We'd walked by this little wonder heaps of times and only just now took the time to visit the establishment. I was familiar with the interior as I'd gone in on a previous occasion to drop off my CV. The inside of the restaurant is reminiscent of a Thai teak wood house with its dark wooden furniture and green foliage. The menu was small but obviously showed their dedication to using seasonal produce. The beverage menu was a decent size and included a selection of Rieslings, so I was sold on that alone. We settled on the Satay sticks of tempeh and tofu and the Croquettes, both mains priced at $17 each. When the dishes arrived at the table we were rather pleased with the presentation: stark white plates, eye-popping colours and neatly arranged edibles. Presentation is something that vegetarian restaurants are usually not noted for, but Shakahari earned extra points in that regard. The clientele here is not as young and hip as Vegie Bar, but more aligned with Soul Mama in St. Kilda. Overall, it was a great experience; it's as close as one can get in Melbourne to vegetarian fine dinning.