March 21-22, 2009: Continental House

Continental House is a 'vegan life sanctuary' inwards Hepburn Springs. It offers pocket-size accommodation equally good equally activities similar yoga, massage courses, chanting together with raw nutrient workshops. They likewise get got a vegan banquet on nigh Sabbatum nights. This is what drew a grouping of Vegan Potluckers to the Conti for a weekend route trip.

Most of the rooms tally ii or 3 people, together with they're pleasantly comfortable if non modern. There are shared toilets together with showers unopen to the corner, though Michael together with I works life ourselves inwards the i room alongside an en suite. This proved to endure a bathroom room inwards the nigh literal sense, containing a zip to a greater extent than than a bathroom together with mirror! As good equally numbers the rooms get got nicknames (ours was 'Pixie'), subsequently the murals painted on their walls.

There are likewise communal kitchen together with lounge areas where you lot tin residue together with instruct to know the other visitors together with residents. While making toast inwards the kitchen, Michael met a resident who'd been on a water-only fast for the past times sixty hours. Why he was torturing himself past times standing inwards the midst of food, I don't know.

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The banquet takes identify inwards a lovely room below the invitee bedrooms. There's plenty of room for everyone staying at the House, together with the 10 of us easily fitted unopen to the largest of the tables.

The Conti is alone alcohol free, but nosotros were treated to freshly squeezed orangish juice equally good equally non-alcoholic passionfruit, strawberry together with ginger wines.

The get shape was a sweetness potato, tomato, lentil together with basil soup served alongside corn chips. As nosotros happily slurped together with crunched together with chatted our agency through it, nosotros didn't notice the empty serving tables (pictured above) existence stacked generously alongside to a greater extent than food. It was an overwhelming array of salads, dips together with bakes.

My plate includes:

• a pumpkin kokosnoot curry alongside chickpeas, coriander together with dark mustard seeds,
• tabouleh,
• beetroot dip
• a spicy pickled cabbage salad alongside bitter greenish leaves,
• avocado,
  
• more corn chips,
• a salad of tofu, seaweed, carrot together with shitake mushrooms,
• a spicy mash bake,
  
• lightly dressed kolrabi together with Chinese greens,
• and the tabular array favourite, an orangish dip of eggplant, capsicum, garlic together with olive oil.
  

There was plenty to instruct around, alongside Toby piling upwardly his tertiary plate alongside avocado simply equally I was finishing my first.

And of shape at that topographic point was dessert: fruit salad topped alongside banana icecream together with terra firma cashews.

This variety of banquet is hardly contest for Melbourne's degustation greats. Rather, it's stuffed amount of home-made hippy goodness, what you lot powerfulness expression to abide by at a Hare Krishna eating theatre (though alongside less deep frying). The tranquil setting is plenty to gear upwardly anyone at ease. That is, if your catch doesn't coincide alongside a raucous Vegan Potluck route trip!

Address: ix Lone Pine Ave, Hepburn Springs
Ph: 5348 2005
Alcohol free
Price: $70 per person, accommodation together with vegan banquet
Website: www.continentalhouse.com.au

March 22, 2009: Himalaya Bakery Too Cafe

Our post-banquet post-pub morning time at The Conti was spent inwards diverse ways: I desire for a wander through Hepburn Regional Park, a committed gang got upwardly to suffer a massive yoga session together with everybody else waited to a greater extent than or less getting hungry. By the fourth dimension everyone had saluted the Sun sufficient times it was getting on towards xi together with the less flexible alongside the grouping were dying of hunger. Luckily, having rounded the whole gang upwardly it was but a brusk campaign to Daylesford together with our breakfast appointment at Himalaya Bakery together with Cafe.

They hope a broad attain of vegetarian together with vegan baked products, including pastries, cakes, muffins together with breads, along with amount breakfast together with tiffin menus. Everything is well-labelled, together with in that location are plenty of vegan together with gluten-free options both on the menus together with inwards the bakery case. Everybody with prior Himalaya sense raved close the smoked tofu pies together with the cherry danishes (more on these later), but nosotros needed to foremost things off with something hot together with delicious.

Cindy together with I basically ordered the same thing: mushroom scrambled tofu ($11) - a deliciously herby mess of tofu together with mushrooms fried upwardly into a big gooey scramble. Cindy was smart plenty to append a side social club of herbed potatoes ($2.50), which I happily stole past times the forkful. Outstanding.

I'd been pushing for either a smoked tofu pie or some assort of delightful dessert, but the charge of breakfast was but also heavy. Instead, nosotros packed upwardly a delicious accept habitation bundle for dinner: 2 smoked tofu pies together with a cherry danish to share.

To hold upwardly honest, the pies were a piffling disappointing - a chip on the dry out side together with a piffling brusk on the tofu. It was likely skilful for us that they were liberally packed with piffling vegie pieces, but I was looking for something a chip to a greater extent than rich together with tofu-y.

Contrastingly, the danish actually hitting the location - fruity together with sugarry, with some of the tastiest vegan pastry you'll e'er find. We likely should get got swapped the social club together with dived into 2 of these together with but ane of the pies.

The Himalaya is a fine vego house - perfect for a belatedly breakfast. The staff teach a piffling overrun at busy times (to hold upwardly fair, it's likely non frequently that a grouping of x wanders inwards looking equally ravenous equally nosotros did), but they're friendly together with helpful together with the nutrient to a greater extent than than makes upwardly for it.

Address: 73 Vincent Street, Daylesford
Ph: 5348 1267
Price: $5 - $13
Website: www.himalayabakery.com