OK, vegan guys and girls, it’s time to fess up. You love taking your meat-munching mates out for a meal and waiting until they’ve licked their plates clean to tell them that it was totally plant-based.
The number of vegan and vegetarian options around these days makes this kind of ruse increasingly easy, and the following is a list of places where you’re most likely to hear “I can’t believe this is vegan!”
Bliss & Chips – Sydney
Meet the new kid on Newtown’s hip foodie block. This is the perfect place to punk your favourite omnivores. The shop looks exactly like your normal fish and chippery, and the V word is nowhere to be seen. Battered fish, potato scallops, calamari … you name it, they serve it. The real catch of the day is it’s all made of soy or konjac! And just try to walk out without a level 10 gooey, deep-fried dessert.
The Green Edge – Brisbane
The Green Edge – or vegan heaven, as we like to refer to it – has every food you ever dreamed of in vegan form, including brekky fry-ups, curries, pasta, veggie wraps, pancakes, waffles, milkshakes, and all manner of raw and baked treats! They are always trying out new dishes and adding to the menu.
Challenge one of your non-vegan mates to take on the big brekky! It’s a mission many ambitious swoldiers have failed to do solo.
Two-Bit Villains – Adelaide
If you’ve got a taste for the fried, fast and fizzy, Adelaide’s Two-Bit Villains can hook you up with the goods. This soda shop–style eatery offers an extensive menu of “beef” or “bird” on buns, including the classic cheeseburger, sloppy Joe, hot dog and so many others. There are also chilli fries, tortillas with “pulled pork”, vegan mac and cheese, and nachos. The vegan sundae topped with hot salted peanut butter and chocolate is criminally good.
Smith & Daughters – Melbourne
Sink in for a quirky cocktail and a feast to remember! An ever-changing menu of dishes created by renowned chef Shannon Martinez, Smith & Daughters is a must-visit destination for anyone looking for an insanely delicious food fix. Oh – and if a snack is what you’re after, you can also pop round the corner to Smith & Deli – a fully vegan Jewish-style deli full of treats that have to be tasted to be believed.
Suzy Spoon’s Vegetarian Butcher – Sydney
You know when people say, “But bacon …”
BUT SPOON’S!
While the name of this venue might be a bit too obvious for cynical diners, once inside, they will ogle the wonders of seitan and soy. Spoon’s deli is packed with delicious gourmet sausages, chicken schnitzel parmis and everything else you could flip on a barbie. Meanwhile, the café does all-day breakfasts with all-too-realistic–looking “eggs” and smoky rashers that could satisfy even the most dedicated “but bacon” Internet trolls.
Henry Saw – Perth
Vegan pies, check! Vegan doughnuts, check! This little Perth laneway find is perfectly set up for a vegan conversion lunch date. Its salads and wraps are totally drool-worthy. And a chocolate peanut butter cup smoothie? We can’t even deal.
Kingsland – Canberra
With 86 different menu items (not counting dessert and drinks!), this place is certainly the king of mock meats. Ordering “chicken” drumsticks, chilli “prawns” and roast “pork” might feel a bit wrong if you’re a seasoned vego, but trust us, everything is cruelty-free. This is also the perfect spot for Canberrians to pick up yummy take-away for the next Netflix and chill night with your omnivorous bae.
Mo Mo Bubble Tea and Coffee House – Hobart
There are plenty of yummy, savoury vegan options at Mo Mo, but we’re going to skip straight to dessert and the most divine cakes that are sure to score you some numbers on Instagram. Once you’ve photographed them at every angle for 40 minutes, they taste great, too! After all, if your buddies are going to eat vegan, they need to let everyone on social media know #WhatVegansEat.
Easy House Vegetarian Restaurant – Gold Coast
If you love dumplings (and who doesn’t), this is where you’ll find them in all their vegan glory. You can grab a “chicken” curry laksa or sweet and sour “pork” from the lunch menu or dig into some all-day yum cha. With 40 vegan options to choose from and a max price of $11.90 per plate for meals and $7.80 for yum cha, how could you possibly go wrong?
Lord of the Fries – Melbourne, Sydney and Perth
It started in a van and is now one of the most successful vegetarian food franchises in Australia, with restaurants in Melbourne, Sydney, Parramatta and now Perth! We heart LOTF for bringing ethics to the fast-food movement.
Once you’ve hooked your friends on vegan food, why not gift them a copy of our free Vegetarian/Vegan Starter Kit?
Let’s make 2025 a historic year for animals
