Life cafe

We are back in Hong Kong and since being gf is hard here. Im going to try to blog my meals. Although I've already missed a few things.

Hong Kong is such a crazy city. I feel like I still love it and hate it. I always get whirled into shopping too much even now when I have no money. This city makes me want to go out more, see more, do more but then I get tired and over the heat and the crowds and just want to retreat.

I'm seeing a new side to it at the moment though. Its no particularly baby friendly, I'm glad for baby wearing because I think prams and strollers would be tough here.  Also parent rooms are hard to find especially areas to breastfeed privately. But it's also nice seeing so many people playing and talking to our 9 old month old son. He's been loving the attention and seeing his HK relatives and all the neon lights.

Anyway, on to the food.

First meal that I managed to take photos of was this delicious kale risotto. This was so much better than it sounds. Brown rice risotto cooked in wine with crispy tofu 'bacon'. My bowl was licked clean. I also devoured their sweet potato fries with a garlicky aioli type dip and a juice. Toby enjoyed his big vegan breakfast. We will definitely be back.

Life cafe
Central
Hong Kong

Olive oil and butter

Hi, remember me ? Just realised I can blog while feeding my son!

Olive oil and butter is a Greek cafe/bakery. They have at least one sweet bakery item which sadly my coeliac disease stops me from trying and reporting on. They recently started offering all day breaky on the weekend which includes a vegan and gluten free option. Their polenta is creamy and porridge like but not lacking in flavor, served with slow cooked beans (gigantes) and avocado. They somehow manage to pull off both slivered almonds and crispy fried shallots together too. 

Bonus points for having high chairs and interesting flashing lights which together with a friendly waitress helped entertain my 9 month old son.

It's also been blogged about by Mel hot or not and Consider the sauce. 

Olive Oil and Butter
196 Sommerville rd
Kingsville (tiny suburb near yarraville and seddon)

Some News...

I'm pleased to announce that I recently gave birth to a healthy baby boy.

Needless to say, we will be on temporary hiatus at least til we get a bit more sleep and are a bit more settled.

Green Global Vegetarian Food Mart

Hi, remember me? 

Despite living in the west for 9 months, I had never really heard much or come across green global vegetarian food mart until recently. It's situated in Braybrook which is close by but a surprising destination, close to sunshine and west footscray. It seems it was originally opened near the vicmarket. It's a small shop situated on a rundown strip of shops. 

It's quite similar to vincents vegetarian foods, except it is smaller, but has slightly more variety. It sells all sorts of regular Asian mockmeats as well as funky pies, I'm guessing the ones next to it are la panella pies and sausage rolls. They also sell vegusto, notzarella, nakd bars and much more.

Also lots of tofutti products.

 And lots of vegetarian sauces/pastes. I wish the tom yum paste was msg free. Excuse my blurry phone pics.

More importantly though its' cheap! My cheezly was only $5.95. I'll certainly be stopping by to get more cheezly and marry me ice creams.

Green Global Vegetarian Food Mart

105 south road

Braybrook.

9939 8566

Monday-Sunday 9-6pm.

It's also been blogged about by veganpolous. 

Also if you live in the west you should join cruelty free guide to the west on facebook.

Aangan- West Footscray

I swear it feels like the baby might be part Indian, I've never been so obsessed with Indian food.

Aangan is a fancy Indian restaurant which always seems busy, and despite it's large size, it's hard to get a table without booking in advance. It's the only Indian restaurant I have been to which has both Indian and non Indian staff. The customer service is excellent and the waitress was very knowledgeable about vegan and gluten free options. The website states that aside from their breads and a few entrees the entire menu is gluten free.

The outside area has a marquee and fairy lights and is generally quite pretty, shame people were blocking the view for this picture:

We went on Saturday night with my mother. We ordered onion bhajis which were quite large, covered in chickpea flour batter and served with a tamarind sauce. I could have easily eaten a whole plate of these crunchy tasty fritters as a main. In fact I'm sure I filled up way too quickly but munching down several of these before the mains come.

Toby couldn't resist a proteiny dish so ordered the dal tadka ($14.50). This was tangy and delicious. I wish the dhal I made at home tasted more like it. I would definitely order this again.

I ordered the baigan bhartha, roasted eggplant curry. It was tasty and mild but I was expecting the smokiness that sometimes comes with Indian eggplant curries. I think next time I'll order the Aloo jeera (potato curry) which is also vegan.

I was so ridiculously full by the end of it. My mother loved her super spicy meat curry too, my mother has a a very high chilli tolerance which generally surprises people as she often out spices many Indian people but she found something which matched her tolerance level quite well even at level 10 spiciness. She and Toby enjoyed the huge non spicy samosas too. Toby said that the pastry reminded him of apple pie.

Aaagan

559 Barkly Street

West Footscray

Facebook page

Aangan has been blogged about by Consider the source, Fika & Kuidaore, Eclectic taste, Let's get fat together, foodscrazy and footscray food blog.

If you know other great Indian restaurants in the inner west with excellent vegan and gluten free options let me know.

Jellybread- West Footscray

Jellybread is a small kid friendly cafe filled with retro laminate mix-matched tables and chairs. They have a small menu mostly consisting of breaky options or sandwiches but they are quite vegan friendly, offering soy milkshakes, nuttelex and clearly marked vegan options. 

Excuse these photos!


Kids have their own indoor play area

I opted for a strawberry milkshake and when I enquired about whether their soymilk was gf she agreed to make it with gf soymilk since the regular one was not gf. I love that attention to detail and customer service.



I got some gf toast with baked beans and a side of avocado. I also asked for nuttelex, I think its the only cafe I've seen it listed as an alternative option. With an extra sprinkle of salt and pepper, this was a great breakfast. The baked beans were not spicy as advertised but contained veggies and red kidney beans and were tasty enough. The other vegan option I could see was avocado, tomatoes and rocket on toast.



They also had a vegan cake option and separate gluten free brownies.

I have read that they have a nice outside area where kids can be found playing on warm days, this is the place to go if you have kids and I look forward to returning once bub comes along. I'm always looking for more breaky options in the inner west, let me know if you have other suggestions.

Jellybread has been blogged about by little eats, hey bambini, and fill up on bread.

Jellybread
561 Barkly Street
West Footscray
Monday- Sunday 9am-4pm

Salaam Namaste Dosa Hut- West Footscray- 2

Unfortunately staff have since confirmed that they use ghee so that their dosas are not in fact vegan!!!!!

I'm pleased to announce that I'm feeling a lot better, no puking for 10 days now. Still experiencing nausea and dependent on meds but they seem to be working the closer I get to 20 weeks. I've started eating out again and just enjoying life and had to blog about my latest obsession.

About my third meal out after a long hiatus I suggested dosa hut to my mother. My mother has been a saint spending most saturdays with me to keep me company and taking me on little outings when I started to be well enough. I was scared about how curry may make me feel sick but that's what I felt like eating and foods with strong flavour are preferable to all the bland ones that I ate whilst I was sick which I still can not eat. Still I was nervous.

Dosa Hut is a small cafe and its not the fanciest place but it does serve what I believe to be authentic food. My mother and I were the only non Indian people when we went at lunch time. The main street of West Footscray seems to be filled with Indian restaurants but Dosa Hut always seems busy.

I ordered a vata, a spiced lentil  flour patty which was tasty and quite hard and I was a little disappointed that they serve them cold, but at $2.50 can not really complain.



I also ordered a masala dosa. Now this really is the best thing I have tasted in a long time. I'm since been obsessed despite eating a wide range of foods since but this really is perfection. Nice crepe type crunchy consistency, most addictive potato curry inside and served with two curries, the one on the far right is a tiny bit spicy but not too bad for me and I can only handle mild range of chilli and also served with coconut cooling sauce.  My mother loved her chili and cheese dosa.  At $8.95 the masala dosa is such an affordable meal. A can of sprite washes it all down wonderfully.



Here's an inside shot:



My stomach has shrunk a little so I couldn't finish it. Next time I'll just order just a dosa but I remember last time I wanted two.  I'm pleased to report they didn't make me sick and I've been dreaming about going back since, trying to convince Toby to go tonight.

See my previous review here. I couldn't see any new reviews since last time we went.

Salaam Namaste Dosa Hut
604 Barkly street
West Footscray
9687 0171



Edited to add: I have heard reports of one person being advised that they use ghee despite them denying it when I asked. I'm really hoping this isn't true but hoping that someone from South India can confirm.