Coffee Trial Day 4 - Exprezzo

This was the last cafe I tried for my trial & it probably has the worst name. It looks pretty new (& I couldn't find any information about them online so I think they must be). They have done a nice job on the decorating - the inside is very inviting with warm colours, chandelier lighting & colourful prints on the walls. They also play real music which is a huge plus.It's the smallest of the cafes I visited but there is still plenty of space inside plus a few sunny seats outside. On a side-note - as much as I love the feeling of discovering a new 'hole-in-the-wall' cafe in Melbourne's laneways, sometimes I prefer to know that I'll be able to get a seat. None of the truly great cafes in the CBD stay secret for very long which means that unless you can get there at dawn to stake out your place, you'll be moving on to find somewhere bigger. So I have really enjoyed trialling all these cafes where I know I'll always be able to find a quiet corner to hide away.
The coffee? Unfortunately not good. It's very hot, but also very bitter. A soy latte in a mug is $3.80 ($3.50 normal size).Same old story with the menu - a few choices for vegetarians but nothing for vegans. I'm sure they would be happy to whip up some toast or a sandwich if you asked - the staff are very friendly. The few times I have been to Exprezzo they have been very quiet - even when I went at lunch time. The location probably isn't ideal - opposite the station, but possibly a little too far from the main shopping strip to attract passing pedestrian traffic. I hope they survive because they are doing so much right.
Exprezzo
92 Railway St South, Altona

Coffee Trial Day 3 - Melissa Cakes

This cafe is the closest to my new place of work, so I have been there quite a few times now, even though I prefer the coffee elsewhere. Melissa Cakes definitely has the least atmosphere of all the cafes I visited. It's a big space - with heaps of indoor & outdoor seating. There isn't much in the way of decorating & they have the radio blaring all day (not sure which station - something commercial with a poorer music selection than Triple M).The staff are pretty friendly, but service can be pretty hit & miss. On the mornings I have been there they tend to have long chats with the locals (and each other), rather than worry about the queue of people - which can get quite long. I've been there around mid-afternoon a couple of times & it was much faster - different staff, I guess.
My regular order is a soy latte in a mug which is $3.80 - this is a photo of a normal size which was $3.50. The coffee is average - very hot & very strong but not too bitter. It's better than Artichoke, but not as good as Creme. It suffers from the too-much-froth syndrome like all the others.
The menu is deli-style - OK for vegetarians but vegan options would be the ol' toast with sides for breakfast or a salad sandwich for lunch. I got excited when I saw some gluten & dairy free cakes for sale - unfortunately they still have eggs in them though - so not vegan :-(

Melissa Cakes
34 Pier St, Altona
7 days, 6am-11.30pm

Volunteering

I need some help again!

I'm thinking about giving up some more of my (already quite stretched) time by doing some non-professional volunteering. I already work 2 jobs & volunteer on two committees for my professional association, but I feel like I'd to do something more personal. I'm still not sure I'll be able to manage it, but the thought is growing.

I'm trying to decide between Friends of the Earth (Melbourne) & Vegetarian Victoria. Does anyone have experience working or volunteering with either organisation & can you offer any advice? I'm completely open to your sales pitches :-)

Thanks!

Coffee Trial Day 2 - Artichoke Deli

I went to write up the rest of my reviews on Wednesday morning only to discover I had somehow deleted all the notes I had made on my phone - so frustrating! So I've had to go back & start again... but that's what I'm like, always happy to suffer for the cause :-)

The name of this cafe is really appealing (who doesn't love artichokes?) & the logo - which you can just about make out in this photo - is pretty too - it's a very versatile vegetable! It's also repeated on the wallpaper inside - so I'm thinking they probably got the wallpaper first & adapted the logo from there.The interior is inviting - really bright with lots of seating options. One downfall is the music (or lack of). The Artichoke Deli, like many other cafes in Altona, chooses to play the (commercial) radio rather than music, which kind of destroys the atmosphere. Yesterday morning it was Triple M & it was loud. I don't know about you but I just can't deal with Eddie McGuire at 8am.

It's a pretty big cafe, but it gets busy, so you might find it difficult to find a seat at times - particularly on Tuesday, which is market day. There's just the one table outside & it's a nice sunny spot, so I think it will get nabbed pretty quickly as the weather continues to warm up.The service is friendly & efficient but the menu is similar to the others - OK for vegetarians but not much for vegans. As the name implies it's a deli-style cafe so you can get the normal things like quiche & pasties & sandwiches. Breakfast would definitely be limited to toast with sides & for lunch the best option would be a salad sandwich.

The coffee isn't great - I've had a couple of passable ones, but yesterday it was so strong & bitter I almost couldn't finish it. My soy latte in a mug was $3.80 - the one in the photo is a normal-sized soy latte I had last week which was $3.50 I think.Artichoke Deli
Mon-Fri 8am-5pm, Sat 8am-4pm
71 Pier St, Altona

Coffee Trial Day 1 - Creme Lounge

OK, it's time to stop putting off these reviews. I recently started a new job in Altona. Before I even took the job I scoped out the local coffee options because it's VERY important to me to have somewhere nice for my morning coffee :-)

But I needed a more structured approach (I am a librarian after all - research & structure are my lifeblood). So, over the last couple of weeks I have been working my through the cafes of Altona trying to find the best coffee. I'll say this straight up - Altona is not the most vegan friendly town. I haven't had a meal in any of these cafes, though I have checked the menus in each & come to the conclusion that the only way to eat in any of them would be to stick with the basic sides (boring!) or make significant alterations to the dishes - something I hate doing.

Day 1 was Creme Lounge. (Apologies in advance for the photos in all these reviews - it's the curse of the phone camera again)This is definitely the 'trendiest' of all the cafes I visited. It has a nice atmosphere inside (quite dark), with lots of timber furniture & soft music playing. It's huge so no worries about not getting a table & there's also plenty of outdoor seating. At the back of the cafe is a bakery - Holy Bread - which I haven't tried, but would no doubt be a good place to get a baguette or sourdough loaf. The breakfast & lunch menus are both long with quite a few vegetarian options, but nothing vegan (you could always do the toast with sides for breakfast or chips with a salad for lunch).

Creme has had a number of bad reviews, but I haven't experienced anything like what has been described (though my experience is quite limited considering I haven't eaten there). The staff are friendly enough & service is quick. The outdoor seating also provides a nice a sunny spot in the morning.Now - the important part - the coffee. My soy latte in a mug was $4.30 (the most expensive of the cafes I tried). It was creamy, slightly bitter & warm but not hot, so you can't sit on it for a long time unless you enjoy cold coffee. What you can't tell from the photo is the amount of froth on top - at last 2cm worth - which was a common problem everywhere I went. I'm starting to think I should order a cappuccino instead - at least I'll get some cocoa to enjoy with my froth :-)

Creme Lounge
60 Pier St, Altona
7 days, 7am-10pm

A spring take on the weekly lunches

Well, we had to wait until October, but we're finally starting to see some blue skies & sunshine in Melbourne. This means I'm changing my weekly lunch from a stew to a salad (I actually changed last week but was rewarded with a miserable cold & rainy day so I'm ignoring that). This week I chose wholemeal cous cous as my grain base (the one thing I find it difficult to get enough servings of is grains, so I always try to make sure my lunch includes them). To the cous cous I added a can of chickpeas, a couple of stalks of finely sliced celery, a grated carrot, 1/2 a finely diced red capsicum, 1/2 cup mung bean sprouts, 1/4 cup frozen peas, 1/4 cup frozen corn & a slurp each of olive oil, balsamic vinegar & lemon juice. I added some salt & pepper for good measure & there you have it - a healthy & filling lunch for the week in about 10 minutes!D's lunch is some delicious Spinach & 'Cheese' Rolls which I saw here. How do I know they're delicious I hear you ask? Well, I might have tested one or two - you know, just to make sure I wasn't giving D dodgy food :-) These taste just like the ones I used to buy from the local bakery before I was vegan. Using the Tofutti also makes these really easy to make, although you could probably substitute a tofu 'ricotta' with equally good results.

Breakfast food for dinner

I was all out of inspiration on Thursday night but was also desperate for a quick & healthy dinner. Staring into the fridge I saw a selection of fresh veges & a block of tofu. Now, I've only ever eaten scrambled tofu for breakfast - over toast - as a kind of substitute for scrambled eggs (a much healthier & tastier alternative!). I figured it would be easy enough to bring the dish into the evening with the addition of a whole lot of vegetables & some stronger flavourings. Here's what I came up with - D & I both devoured it so it must have been delicious :-)Scrambled Tofu with Attitude

• 1 block firm tofu, rinsed & dried (you can press it if you have the time)
  
• 1 leek, finely sliced (you could use onion)
  
• 1 carrot, grated
  
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
  
• 1/2 red capsicum, finely sliced
  
• 2 tomatoes, finely diced
  
• 2 handfuls baby spinach
  
• 1/4 cup mung bean sprouts (optional - I just added them because they came with my veg delivery & I don't know what else to do with them!)
  
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  
• 1/2 tsp minced chili (I used the jar stuff, you could also use powder or flakes)
  
• 1 tsp turmeric
  
• 1 tsp coriander
  
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  
• 1-2 TBS soy sauce, to taste
  
• 1/2 cup vegetable stock

Crumble the tofu into a bowl. Heat a little oil in a large frypan & add the leek, carrot, celery, capsicum & garlic. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, about 5mins. Add the tofu & all the flavourings & cook another few minutes. Add the remaining vegetables & cook until the spinach has just wilted & most of the liquid has been absorbed.

Here's a photo of my breakfast this morning - D is away again so I can freely indulge my sweet tooth :-) This is the 'Fast & Fabulous French Toast' from The Vegan Table.I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book! Everything I have made from it has worked out so well! This french toast really was fast & fabulous & super simple to make. It's just soy milk, no tofu (which is good because my local supermarkets don't stock silken tofu so I rarely have any in the fridge). I warmed a handful of frozen blueberries with a teaspoon of agave syrup to serve this with - they added just the right touch of tartness to the sweetness of the toast & maple syrup.