Melbourne Healthy Eats - Gut-Friendly Edition
When a Brisbanite heads to Melbourne, she is excited about two things: the food and the shopping! I’m going to focus on the food here because that’s what us gut-health peeps really care about (maybe even more than Chapel Street and Chadstone?) and share all of the places that I sampled and can recommend. The list of healthy cafes I wanted to check out would probably require a month-long endeavour, so I’ve tried to pick out a selection of gut-friendly places, in and around the city that you may not have heard of or tried.
I’ve broken it down into Melbourne CBD and South Melbourne, then the surrounding suburbs so you can use this as a guide for healthy eating options close to your location. I’ve also tried to think about what dietary philosophies would be achievable to each location. Obviously, SCD/low-FODMAP or Paleo AIP will be challenging wherever you go (think simple meat and veggies dishes if this is you), but here are some great options for paleo, vegan, raw, gluten-free, dairy-free or egg-free eaters.
Melbourne CBD
Seedling Café, Melbourne CBD
www.seedlingcafe.com.au 349 Little Collins Street, or 275 Flinders Lane, Melbourne 100% gluten-free and paleo inspired.
Seedling is an awesome little wholefoods café serving up nutrient-dense meals with lots of paleo, refined-sugar-free and vegan options available.
We went here for lunch and had turmeric lattes and smashed avo on GF paleo toast. There were some fresh and tasty-looking superfood salads in the front counter, as well as raw vegan and paleo treats like paleo banana bread and raw caramel slice.
Head here for breakfast, lunch, snacks or drinks.
Seedling Cafe Melbourne Healthy Eats Gut Friendly
Fonda Mexican, Melbourne CBD
www.fondamexican.com.au 31 Flinders Lane, Melbourne Locally sourced Mexican street food that offers some gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free and vegan options..
We stopped in at Fonda for dinner on Friday night and the atmosphere was amazing! Our favourite menu options were the GF tacos (they use non-GMO corn), and deconstructed salad bowls. Eating grain-free and legume-free (paleo) would be challenging here.
Check this place out for lunch or dinner.
Fonda Mexican Melbourne Eats Gut Friendly
The Kettle Black, South Melbourne
www.thekettleblack.com.au 50 Albert Road, South Melbourne Organic and sustainable, use locally-sourced products. Offer vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free options..
This place was gorgeous! If you tolerate legumes, I highly recommend the beans with basil pesto, chorizo, red peppers and tomato with avocado and GF toast. They also do an organic pancake dish which contains gluten, dairy and eggs (it’s pictured, mainly because it was a work of art). Also, just note that eating grain-free and legume-free (paleo) would be challenging here. The avocados are a feature at Kettle Black. They are all ripened to perfection and you get ½ a massive avo as your side! Just really awesome food, so if you are in South Melbourne definitely check them out.
Head here for breakfast, lunch, snacks or drinks.
Kettle Black Melbourne Eats Gut Friendly
Kettle Black Melbourne Eats Gut Friendly
Happy Place, South Melbourne
http://southmelbournemarket.com.au/traders/happyplace/ Stall 56, South Melbourne Market, Cecil Street, South Melbourne On-the-go options that are paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free, vegan and low-FODMAP-friendly.
Happy Place is Lola Berry’s gorgeous little creation where every smoothie purchase receives a free crystal. We headed to the market mid-morning and ordered the Green Gaia and Salted Caramel smoothies. The ingredients list made it sound like the Salted Caramel (pictured) was going to be sickly sweet, but it was absolutely perfect and I highly recommend it! Some other creative menu options that you can check out are veggie bowls with protein options that include poached chicken, seared tuna or kangaroo meatballs; acai bowls; chia cups and raw desserts. If you are at the South Melbourne market, save some space in your stomach for a Happy Place delicacy.
Head here for breakfast, lunch, snacks or drinks.
Happy Place Melbourne Eats Gut Friendly Lola Berry
Sweet Greens (formerly Green Press), Melbourne CBD
www.greenpress.co 525 Little Collins Street, Melbourne On-the-go juices and smoothies, vegan, raw food and gluten-free options available.
Sweet Greens share their story of bringing healthy food options from New York City to Melbourne CBD on their website. I was intrigued so we visited for breakfast and sampled the Popeye’s Choice and Peanut Butter Addiction Açai bowls. Their açai bowls are all vegan, gluten-free and refined-sugar-free, plus they were super tasty and filling. They also serve a selection of pre-made salads, chia puddings and raw donuts, as well as a great range of cold pressed juices and smoothies.
Head here for breakfast, lunch, snacks or drinks.
Sweet Greens Press Melbourne Eats Gut Friendly
Sweet Greens Press Melbourne Eats Gut Friendly
MELBOURNE SURROUNDING SUBURBS
Combi, Elwood
www.wearecombi.com.au 140 Ormond Road, Elwood Organic, with a focus on raw, vegan, refined-sugar-free and gluten-free options.
Combi is a very cool café offering an incredible selection of raw delicacies ranging from superfood smoothies and dragon fruit bowls to raw spaghetti and beautiful raw desserts. Did I mention they also have Kombucha on tap!?! We visited with friends and feasted on açai bowls, avo on GF toast, a raw burger and pizza, then washed it down with Kombucha, hot cacao and smoothies. It was a crazy windy day and the entire street lost power so we had dessert to go, but I need to mention the raw choc-mint cheesecake… Oh baby, it was seriously delish.
Head here for breakfast, lunch, snacks or drinks. Or just go there for the raw cakes.
Combi Melbourne Healthy Eats Gut Friendly
Combi Melbourne Healthy Eats Gut Friendly
Barry, Northcote
www.barrycoffeeandfood.com 85 High Street, Northcote Gluten free and vegan options available.
Let me start by saying I was blown away by their immensely creative menu. Barry are known for their really awesome coffee, but I’m not a coffee drinker so I can’t say much about that, so let me rave about the food. We went for breakfast and my husband had his favourite meal of the trip: benedict eggs, slow braised free range ham hock, apple cider hollandaise, granny’s apples and potato hash (gluten-free of course!). I can also highly recommend the activated-charcoal porridge with cherry compote, fruit, coyo and chia glass (vegan, gluten-free). Do yourself a favour and head out to Barry, I promise it will be worth it.
Head here for breakfast, lunch, snacks or drinks.
Barry Melbourne Healthy Eats Gut Friendly
Pana Chocolate Café, Richmond
www.panachocolate.com 491 Church Street, Richmond Raw, vegan and refined-sugar-free.
I’ve been keen to visit Pana’s café since first stumbling across their chocolate bars in 2014 at Wholefoods in London. Their Insta account is mouth-watering and I can finally say that their raw cakes are as delicious as they look. In carrying on with my mint obsession, I tried the wild berry and mint cake which was divine, but I had major food envy of my husband who went for the choc-raspberry Pana-pop – taste and texture were both incredible. If you need a Pana chocolate bar recommendation, try out the new Pineapple & Ginger bar. It is sweetened with coconut nectar in place of agave, so I’m all for it!
Head here for a tea break or delicious snack.
Pana Choc Melbourne Healthy Eats Gut Friendly
Pana Choc Melbourne Healthy Eats Gut Friendly
Patch Café, Richmond
www.patchcafe.com.au 32 Bendigo Street, Richmond Paleo inspired, real food café.
I absolutely adored everything on the menu at Patch Café so it was a sad moment when I realised there was only space for one meal in my stomach. Lucky for me, my husband is great at sharing his meals so I got to try out two. We headed here for lunch and sampled the absolutely delicious Veggie Patchies (broccoli, zucchini, carrot, pine nut and quinoa patties with “avodaise”, spiced pumpkin mash, cashew cheese and a side of pulled pork) and The Showstopper (pumpkin, banana, coconut flour and almond butter waffles with coyo, paleo ANZAC crumble, fruit and maple). Everything on the menu screams ‘nutrition bomb’ and they have plenty of vegan options and will tailor a meal to suit low-FODMAP. Again, this place is a little further out, but I highly recommend you consider it for breakfast or lunch when you visit Chapel Street for your shopping day.
Head here for breakfast, lunch, snacks or drinks.
Patch Melbourne Healthy Eats Gut Friendly
Patch Melbourne Healthy Eats Gut Friendly
Foddies Café, Albert Park
www.foddies.com 181 Victoria Avenue, Albert Park Low-FODMAP-friendly with paleo, vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free options..
Foddie’s offer a really simple menu for those who follow a strict low-FODMAP diet. If you want to head somewhere that you don’t have to stress about what to choose off the menu then this is the place for you. They specialise in pizza and pasta, which we didn’t try because I avoid eggs (it’s still a food sensitivity for me). We visited for lunch and had the winter bliss bowl and the pulled pork burger – all low-FODMAP.
Check this place out for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Foddies Melbourne Healthy Eats Gut Friendly
Foddies Melbourne Healthy Eats Gut Friendly
If I had to choose my top three places to check out, they would have to be:
Patch Café
Combi
Barry
All three had great atmosphere and served really creative and different menu options, so try to prioritise and please let me know what you think! Next time I am back in Melbs, I’ll add to this list, because there are about 20 places I still haven’t been to - Matcha Mylkbar, I’m looking at you!