Father’s Day where it all began

It’s Father’s Day today in Australia, and it’s ANOTHER glorious spring day. The best part is that our kids are obliged to hang out with us for a while, because years ago we banned Mother’s Day and Father’s Day presents in our house.


We didn’t ban presents because we’re against Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, we banned them because my birthday is so close to Mother’s Day, and we’d rather that the kids did something with/for us…and, SO FAR, they’ve gone along with this idea. (Shhh…don’t tell them they have a choice.)

The breakfast in bed that H had planned (Isa’s Puffy Pillow Pancakes) didn’t end up happening. The kids have both been up late studying hard lately, so B decided to let them sleep in while we took our dog, Cocoa, for a walk at Yarra Bend Park.

Morning dog walk at Yarra Bend Park

B loves this picture, because his shadow looks tall and slim. 🙂

The park was full of toddlers and joggers and dogs and birds. We could barely get Cocoa to walk, there was so much to smell!

Myrtle’s

We stopped to return last night’s DVD on the way home, and picked up coffee and hot chocolate from Myrtle’s.  It’s a cute little cafe that specialises in crepes, but I haven’t eaten there before because crepes (in general) aren’t vegan. They do make a good Bonsoy hot chocolate though, and are nowhere near as crowded as Barry up the road.

Tramway Hotel

Once everyone was up and about, we set off for Father’s Day lunch at the Tramway Hotel in North Fitzroy. This little pub holds a very special place in our hearts, because it’s where B and I met back in 1989. (In actual fact, we first met in the house down the road where I was living at the time, but B doesn’t remember that – as much as he tries to pretend he does. Hmphhh!)

The much-loved juke box, pool table, dart board, Space Invaders and lucky tickets are gone now. A few years back it was renovated and these days it’s one of the groovy, inner suburbs pubs, with a menu that includes a good number of vegan items marked on the menu. It’s almost as if they saw us coming!

The online menu I was going to post wasn’t actually up to date. They have EVEN MORE vegan options now! I should have taken a photo of the menu, but I didn’t. I can tell you they had edamame, chips and FIVE vegan main meals on their burger menu (these aren’t necessarily their actual names – really should have copied that menu!):

• Pulled pumpkin burger
• Beet burger
• Mushroom burger
• Quinoa and hummous burger
• and one more that I can’t remember, for the life of me!

We started with a bowl of sesame edamame. Then, for mains, H and I chose the Beet Burger (very much like the beet burger from Isa Does It – yum!) and P, our son, chose the Quinoa and Hummous Burger. He was pleased with it, and it filled him up, which is pretty hard to do.

They were all really good – and their chips are fresh and pretty much perfect – the kind that still look like they’re related to actual potatoes! This was really good, casual pub food, and the servings were just the right size.

Quinoa and Hummous Burger at the back, and Beet Burgers at the front.

When lunch was over, B was looking longingly out the window at the trees blowing in the breeze, so we dismissed him to go off for a sail. P had to get an assignment written, so he left for uni, leaving me and H wishing the Tramway had a vegan dessert on the menu.

Sorbet for dessert

Then we remembered Il Melograno, the new cafe in Westgarth that specialises in gelato, granita and VEGAN sorbet. We’d been meaning to try it since it opened, and as it was on the way home, this was a perfect opportunity.

There were 4 sorbets: lemon, pear, strawberry and apple (I think!). We each chose a lemon sorbet – mine in a cup and hers in a cone. It was nice and icy with a gooey texture, and was refreshing after the big burger and chips. I know we’ll be heading down for more of these as the weather gets hotter.