Wednesday 18 May 2016

Eating Out: Vegeme and Southbank Sweets (APT8 edition)

A couple of months ago I went to see the 8th Asia Pacific Triennial exhibit at the Southbank art galleries with my parents and my friend Ashleigh. Of course a trip into the area would not be complete without some yummy noms.

We went for an early lunch at Vegeme, which had opened a while ago in West End. It was the first time we had all been there. It is an Asian-style vegetarian restaurant, with many vegan items and options on the menu. It also has gluten free vegan items and options, which was important because Ashleigh is a GF-vegan, so we definitely wanted her to be able to eat a good lunch!

I had recently done a very sweaty bikram yoga class, so I was after some refreshment. I ordered a nice Mango Green Tea ($4) to go along with the regular water.

Mango Green Tea from Vegeme


I would say that Vegeme's strength lies within its Small Dishes menu section, which could be put together to form quite a nice yum cha-style experience (or dim sum, for my non-Australian readers). We ordered several things from here, the highlight of which was the pan-fried dumplings ($8.50) and the radish cakes ($5.90). I am not sure if I have mentioned how much I love radish cakes (or turnip/yam/lobok/whatever you want to call them)... but I have a very deep love for them.

Pam-Fried Dumplings from Vegeme


Radish Cakes from Vegeme


Ashleigh enjoyed some of their gluten-free and vegan deep-fried delights - the Salt and Pepper King Oyster Mushrooms ($7.95) and the Sweet Potato Wedges ($6.50). The mushrooms had really good seasoning, but I could only try a couple before the fried got too much for me. The wedges came with plum salt, which I love, but I was not a fan of the batter at all. I pulled it off and dipped the nekkid potato into the salt. Bear in mind though, I can't tolerate a lot of deep-fried food, so this is just my opinion.

Salt and Pepper King Oyster Mushroom from Vegeme


Sweet Potato Wedges from Vegeme


Mum and I shared the vegan-option for the Okonomiyaki ($9.50). We are both lovers of this Japanese dish (my mum the egg-version normally, as she is not vegan), and it is rare to find a vegan version. Unfortunately, this wasn't great. It was gluggy to begin with, and the middle of it was mostly raw. I would not recommend.

Vegan Okinomiyaki from Vegeme


We also ordered the Pan-Fried Inari, which was from the Rice Section of the menu, though really they belonged with the Small Plates as they would not be a meal in themselves. These were quite delightful, with basil and lemon fried rice stuffing.

Pan-Fried Inari from Vegeme


After this we walked around the galleries for a while, looking at the installations. I must say, the exhibit wasn't as strong as it usually is. But I did find a few pieces I loved, including these giant horse sculptures and a beautiful but very sad sculpture of a dying elephant.

Horses from ATP8


Elephant Statue from APT8


After filling up on culture (and I bought a cool Cat Therapy colouring book), it was time for dessert! We hit up Beach House for some more pay-by-weight soft serve fun times. I had peach, strawberry, nutty (which was hazelnut) and chocolate. Such a yummy mix!

Peach, Strawberry, Nutty and Chocolate from Beach House


We also stopped by Doughnut Time to pick up some doughnuts to take home. Doughtnut time has two vegan options available (though sadly for Ashleigh they have stopped making them GF as well). I got one of each - The Vegan Fox (chocolate glaze with strawberry and pistachio) and Blue Ivy (cinnamon sugar with blueberry filling). The Vegan Fox was a bit sweet in the glaze for me, but Blue Ivy was spot on what I love. Unfortunately they have since rotated Blue Ivy out of their repertoire and replaced it with another glazed vegan doughtnut. The tragedy!

The Vegan Fox and Blue Ivy from Doughnut Time


Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

Sahara is doing good!


You were so sweet and concerned after the old photo I posted of Sahara with her bandaged leg in my last post, here is a photo I took 10 minutes ago to show you that she is all good! She is 14 now, and does have issues with IBD (which is tricky to manage, so she is on some serious drugs) and arthritis in her front legs, but she is still a very happy and purry and sweet little cat. The girls just had their senior checks done at work, and Sahara's bloods came back as all good!

8 comments:

  1. Oh Sahara, I'm glad you're doing well!

    And omg, inari with fried rice. That's, like, my dream food! And Okonomiyaki! Even though it wasn't good (that's sad). Doughnuts! So much goodness in this post!

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    1. I often feel like Brisbane is terrible for vegan food. Then I look at some of my posts and realise that, while we are mile behind so many other places, it really isn't that bad. ;) Can't complain about yummy dumplings and doughnuts!

      Sahara says thanks. :)

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  2. I would love to try all of that food. I don't eat much deep fried stuff but #i do crave it sometimes. I know a gf vegan who uses the term glegan which I love. Good to hear the cats are all doing well.

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    1. Gleegan always makes me think of very happy vegans. I love the word! Though I can imagine it is frustrating for them because they can't always find food, which is less happy.

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  3. That elephant sculpture is beautiful and sad at the same time. How big was it?

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    1. It was life-sized, and took up the centre of the room. I loved it, even though it broke my heart.

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  4. "Ashleigh is a GF-vegan" Yay! I would really like to meet a vegan who is also gluten-free to go out to eat with. Most of my friends are nice about it, but get frustrated sometimes.
    Those pan fried dumplings look so good!
    Doughnuts! Those look insane =) It is rare to find vegan & gluten-free doughnuts. I found a place about a 3-hour drive from me haha ;)
    Glad Sahara is doing well.

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    1. I have quite a few gleegan friends. And I am always happy to make sure we go somewhere that has options for them as well. Though I know there are some places that just aren't GF friendly, but I save them for other times when I am with only gluten-full people.

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