Soul Food

Years ago, I’m going back 5 — 7 years, the previous owner made his pizza on pita bread. NOW, the new owner makes his own pizza base and it’s AWESOME !!! I had the Veggie supreme with baba ganoush as the base sauce. I will go out in the rain to pick up a couple of these beauties, yes they do take away as well.

The crew at Soul Food are lovely, between the singing and friendly chats. The food is also really cheap and good in quality — yay for all the veg options! Obviously, a bit of an issue if you don’t like your company and don’t want to sit through an entire hour waiting for your meal, but if you’re with good people then you’ll be set.

Soul Food serves up delicious food in a relaxed environment. The food also happens to be vegetarian, vegan with all the options in between for wheat free and gluten free, the beverages and also organic.
I recently shouted my Mum for lunch here as I like to steer her away from the monotony of pizza and pasta on Lygon street. We found the staff to be friendly, helpful and we didn’t need to wait long for our meals. I had the tofu burger with hand made chips and satay, which was very tasty and massive. Mum had the mexican pattie with chickpea targine, I am not usually a fan of tagine however I did manage to polish of Ma’s chickpeas. All meals are very cheap. This place also does a roaring take away trade. The only concern is that Mum states she has had better coffee before.
Two thumbs up from me and the old girl.

Soul Food Café is a vegetarian café that is great for all the folk who want wheat-​free, gluten-​free, dairy-​free, sugar-​free and vegan products.
There is a really welcoming and «free» vibe at this alternative café where you’re sure to enjoy their rustic décor and interesting menu. Scrambled Tofu with a Punjabi chai tea with hot Bonsoy is an interesting way to start the day but never the less very tasty. There is a very fresh and open feel here were it gets busy and is becoming increasingly popular as I pass it often.
These organic, fresh, vegetarian styled cafes are a growing culture in Melbourne where Soul Food Café has been around for a while and has a step in front of the rest.

Unlike the nearby well-​oiled health food machine that is Vegie Bar, the staff at Soul Food seem to have made the associative leap from vegetarian to hippie to «we’ll bring your food when we get around to it, man». Yup, sometimes the food takes a really, really long time to come out. Other times it’s quick. Go figure.
Still, the breakfast is delicious with some seriously epic serving sizes. They do home made baked beans that are pretty spesh, and their toast is super crunchy.
At lunch you can get stuck into the booze — and they’ve got quite a lot of it for such a healthy café. Just don’t make the mistake I made and assume organic wines won’t give you a headache. If you drink enough in one sitting, it will. Trust me.

So, where i’m from (southern USA) there is a very prevalent local food, called soul food. It’s the good stuff, that’s bad for you. Chicken-​fried chicken, chicken-​fried steak, collared greens cooked with pork knuckles… imagine my disappointment when I discovered that my local ‘soul-​food’ café was vegetarian…
As for vegetarian food, it was good. Not rich in grease, like ‘my’ soul food should be, but rich in flavour. Nice wine selection, though a bit pricier due to their ‘organic’ statuses.
Nice, unassuming place, this Soul Food Café is, but it just hurts when you call it that and I had something TOTALLY different in mind…

This place truly is good for the soul. Delicious vegetarian food (vegans and people with food allergies are well catered for too) for cheap as prices will fill your belly and not empty your wallet.
If you suddenly start to feel too full of health after your lentil burger, you can order alcohol here because this café is fully licensed. You won’t get too far from the health fix though as the wines and beers are organic, so you might as well embrace all the good feeling and good feeding at Soul Food Café and order a vegan chocolate mud cake for dessert.

As the name suggests this place offers food that is good for the soul. The menu is full of vegetarian treats and the lasagne is and always has been deliciouso!
There are full options for gluten-​free, wheat-​free, dairy-​free and vegan. The vibe is very relaxed and the staff seem super friendly. You are informed to choose a table upon entry and you can choose from the few on the street, the front windowed room, the tables running the length of the sideway or take a couch way down the back.
The furniture is a mishmash collection of retro and second-​hand table and chairs, with a few odd lamps thrown in to increase the ambiance. There is also a community notice board on the side of the kitchen wall. The unisex toilets are in the back, up the old staircase.
The coffee here is smooth as silk and they have a great selection of teas, juices and smoothies. If you after something a little harder there is a decent selection of organic and vegan wines and beers.

Soul Food may not be the typical new trendy café/​restaurant that is in vogue these days and it may not actually serve up ‘Soul Food’ in the Southern states of America sense of the word. But it sure does serve up some delectable feasts and great tasting coffee.
Soul Food sells Jasper coffee which is organically grown and is freshly roasted in Fitzroy (i.e. just up the road) and the Demeter (biodynamic) milk which was voted best tasting milk in Australia last year. So as you can imagine these are the ingredients which go towards making great tasting coffee regardless of the fact of whether or not they employ Fitzroy’s trendiest looking barista (which arguably they do).
They are also a fully vegetarian dining establishment, with hearty meals full of flavour and light on the wallet. Look out for their daily specials like $ 10 curries (my favourite) and $ 10 lentil burgers.
They also have a range of beer, cider and Organic wine at quite reasonable prices. So next time you are looking for a chilled meal or a friendly coffee take a bet on the unlikely place and give it a try. You won’t be disappointed.
If you are an avid meat eater you can always hit the fried chicken place next door to satisfy any cravings you might have after a delicious vegetarian meal. But I assure you that you will fully satisfied after a meal at Soul Foods.

Soul Food Café is a bit of a Smith Street institution, serving a delicious menu of vegetarian food and offering everything from vegan, wheat, gluten, dairy and sugar-​free products to its loyal Fitzroy clientele.
A real mish mash of culinary influences — spanning Thai, Indian, French, Moroccan, Italian and more — rather than serving what would typically be understood as ‘Soul Food’, this popular café serves everything from Tempeh Burgers to Tagines, Caesar Salads to Chocolate Truffles.
Prices are very, very reasonable — especially considering the hugely generous portion sizes — with most meals hovering just below the $ 10 mark for a main. Soul Food’s coffee is brilliant, with the café also offering a pretty exhaustive selection of herbal teas and juices.
The café itself is friendly and charming with lots of well appointed seating and largely friendly staff. Frankly one of the best value, best quality cafes on Smith Street.