Monday, June 22, 2015

Eating out in Melbourne - Supercharger Wholefood, Zumbo and Cupcake Central



I recently discovered the fabulous vegan and vegetarian eatery, Supercharger Wholefood, in Emporium in Melbourne.  While I am not vegan or vegetarian, I appreciate the healthy, fresh offerings at Supercharger.

Supercharger operates on a bowl system - you get a pencil and a reusable paper menu, tick the boxes for the options that you want in your bowl, and depending on the number of options chosen(up to two bases plus 4 items - $12.80, 5 items - $13.80 or 6 items - $14.80), you pay for your meal, which can either be eaten in or take-away.  If the thought of building your own bowl seems too confusing, you can choose from one of four complete meal options where the choices are made for you ($13.50).
 

This is what I bought on my second visit to Supercharger -  bases of steamed brown rice and baby spinach, a "smash" of sweet potato, tamari, roasted pepitas and parsley, "raws" of broccoli with tamari and ginger and chilli and coriander dressings, a "simmer" of fragrant green curry with fresh pineapple and red grapes, and a "ferment" of red cabbage and caraway kraut:


Here is the curry close up - it is truly delicious:


The only catch with Supercharger is that it can be quite hard to get a seat in the Emporium food court, even for just one person.

Supercharger also has a number of breakfast options, including porridge and smoothies.

Still in Emporium, I noticed on Facebook that Adriano Zumbo does a Two Tart Tuesday, where you buy one tart at $9 and get another one half price.  This is obviously not an every week thing, but it was fun to try.  The first one I bought was a fleur-de-fraise - pistachio dacquoise, coconut creme patisserie and fresh strawberries:


It was so fresh and light - just my type of thing.  Here's a peek inside:


The other one was Me So Nutty - White Miso Gianduja Caramel, Milk Chocolate Gianduja soft Ganache and  Golden Hazelnuts:

This one is quite a surprise, as it looks sweet but tastes savoury:


I shared these tarts with three other girls at work.

Moving right along, I had a voucher to get 50% off at Cupcake Central in Melbourne Central.  I bought two cupcakes from their Fridays range - the Butterscotch Popcorn and the Strawberry Milkshake:


Here's a look inside them:



My favourite was the Strawberry Milkshake, without a doubt.  I shared my cupcakes with Tim.

Cupcake Central Cupcakes sell for $4 each, with boxes of 4 or more selling at a discount.  For those inclined to bake cupcakes, Cupcake Central also runs cupcake baking and decorating classes.

Level 3 Emporium,
287 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
Ph: +3 9020 4334
 
Patissier
Emporium Melbourne
Level One, 287 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
 
Melbourne Central
Level 2, Dining Hall
Melbourne VIC 3000
Ph: + 3 9077 4542



5 comments:

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

I've never tried a curry with grapes but I have with lychees and I would imagine it's quite similar!? The food looks good and I like occasionally eating vegan food too :)

Johanna GGG said...

wow you really need the healthy food of supercharger so you can indulge in those sweet treats :-) - am intrigued by the chocolate ganache tart and the cupcakes look pretty

Mae Travels said...

On my recent cruise to the Arctic, I met a couple from Melbourne... they said they were often asked where to eat out in Melbourne, and I said that despite never having been there, I knew where to find lots of places. And described your blog! They didn't seem to be blog readers, though they found it amusing. This looks like another suggestion I would use if I ever came to Melbourne.

Cakelaw said...

How funny - I love it!

Kayte said...

I'm not vegetarian either but I do like going to vegetarian restaurants as it is fun to see what they come up with for recipes for veggies...and they always taste so good! The tart deal looks interesting...sweet and savory, a nice way to get to experiment and try different tastes. Those cupcakes look amazing...that strawberry milkshake one has my name written all over it!