Mary St. Cafe (Me & Art), Surry Hills

First of all, Happy Birthday to me woo, but above all the, food mustn’t stop! A little treat for you vegetarians and vegans (I’m sorry I don’t eat enough of it, I do like my meat), here’s a quirky, vegan cafe for you all:

Mary St Cafe (or Me & Art)

Conveniently placed just a bit down Albion from Central station (62 Mary Street, Surry Hills), the little white building covered in greenery and the brightly coloured door isn’t very hard to find. In fact it could be one of the many places you’ve walked past and thought “hey that’s a cool looking place, I’ll try it, someday”. Like me! What a great idea too.

The first thing to notice about this cafe is that the outside is very deceiving. Something that looks so simple yet if you walked in, you are just bombarded with awesome decor through narrow corridors that lead straight to the courtyard seating area.

twisting and turning to get to the courtyard

On top of that, the courtyard had one awesome outdoor experience. Just sitting there with clear blue skies, greenery all around you and interesting antiques and ornaments to look around you, it was an awesome environment to have a cuppa or just talk.

the courtyard

Now that we settled in and admired the good stuff around us, it was time to get started. The menu was vegetarian and vegan friendly. I actually didn’t know that until I was reading descriptions with scrambled tofu and vegan pies. It was a nice touch and a bit different. So what the heck, we ordered a chai latte, a coffee, their big vegetarian breakfast, and a big vegan deal they had which included a pie, sweet potato mash and salad.

Flat White (Left) and Chai Latte (Right)

The beverages were nothing special, just the average great cup of coffee, but it was important to note that the chai used soy (wasn’t too sure about the coffee). So by default, it was vegan-friendly, woo!

The Big Breakfast – $18

So, what’s on this delicious vegan plate of breakfast? Firstly, it was so aesthetically pleasing, just look at those colours. The plate consisted of some baked beans, some spicy beans, some sourdough, some kale, about half an avocado’s worth, scrambled tofus and garlic mushrooms. It was delightful. Call me a meat lover but damn, I can say I like vegan brekkies now. Apart from the tofu being slightly bland lacking in seasoning, the flavours this plate combined were perfect! Especially with the lemon adding that extra tang, it was awesome. My favourite was probably the garlic mushrooms, so moist and flavoursome. Yum! Give it a try if you’re on the hungry side.

The Big Vegan (with a Thai pie) – $15

Now, what can I say about the pie? Crispy. The pastry was incredibly flaky and crispy but soft on the inside, just like how it should be! On top of that, the soy-based meat substitutes in the pie along with the Thai flavours really popped. Didn’t have a lot of it but I did taste those flavours from the amount I did have. On top of that, the sweet mash potato was ridiculously smooth. Slightly unseasoned again, but a really nice touch nonetheless.

So, the verdict? Good. Great. A very very good option for all you vegans. It was important to note that being in the courtyard, we did often get forgotten in service (we were out the back), which was slightly annoying when we wanted to order, but again, no biggie since being outdoors was so nice anyway. If you’re around Surry Hills and want to try something new, give Mary St cafe a try. It’s cheap, vegan friendly and has an awesome outdoor environment.