Vegan dining in Melbourne is broader than a single cuisine, taking in Hare Krishna canteens, a famous pub parma, Ethiopian injera platters and dedicated plant-based kitchens that do mock duck better than most do the real thing. We ranked the inner-city kitchens by Curateria Score and by what diners keep writing across their most recent reviews, with far suburbs, multi-location chains and the global franchises all left out. Here is where the evidence lands this month.
Top of the list is Crossways Vegetarian and Vegan Restaurant in the city, the Hare Krishna canteen whose all-you-can-eat menu changes daily, past two thousand reviews with a sticky date pudding diners single out and wholesome food at a very small price. The Cornish Arms Hotel in Brunswick is the famous pub on the list, a 4.69 room past three thousand reviews best known for a vegan parma that has earned its reputation alongside the regular pub menu.
Rice Paper Scissors in Fitzroy is the modern South-East-Asian room, a banquet of crudo, massaman and sticky ribs reviewers call fresh and grand, with plenty done plant-based. Gopals in the city is the Hare Krishna vegan-platter standby, two curries, salads and rice behind a lentil pie diners love at a small price. Ras Dashen Ethiopian Restaurant in Footscray is the Ethiopian pick and the list's near-top scorer at 4.89, doro wot, shiro and a coffee ceremony in a room regulars take every visitor to.
Brother Bon - Your Local Vegan Restaurant in Northcote in Northcote is a dedicated vegan kitchen reviewers return to for vegan pho, a Mongolian mock-beef and Peking-duck pancakes, big portions worth the price. Cookatoo Kitchen - Vegan Takeaway in Richmond holds the list's highest score at 4.97, a vegan Thai takeaway diners flatly call the best vegan food in Melbourne over a vegan duck red curry and a tofu green curry. Lah Bros Modern Nepalese Restaurant Chapel Street Melbourne in Windsor is the modern Nepalese room, also a 4.97, where the pork-style momo and a Kwati nine-bean dahl earn the warmest-service line, with plant-based options across the menu.
The list closes across the inner city. Gong De Lin in the city is the Buddhist mock-meat institution, a vegan Peking duck and a sizzling Szechwan mock-beef diners call super delicious in the heart of town. Vegie Bar in Fitzroy is the long-running plant-based all-rounder past three thousand reviews, a vegan laksa and a vegan lasagne that won over a self-described sceptic, affordable and generous. Little Africa Restaurant in West Melbourne is the East-African room whose vegetarian combination platter and injera carry an authenticity reviewers travel in for, and Ahadu Ethiopian Restaurant & cafe in Sunshine rounds it out as the Ethiopian option further west, awaze tibs and an injera platter on teff bread reviewers call the best, with ginger coffee to close.
We start every kitchen on this list from its Curateria Score, a number drawn from the venue's whole run of reviews and then pulled toward its most recent hundred, so the order reads as the kitchen cooks today rather than how it cooked a few seasons ago. We hold the field to a tight inner-Melbourne radius of about 15km, and we set aside the multi-location chains and the global franchises that trade on a brand more than a local following, which leaves the names the city keeps choosing on their own merit. Against that quality score we weigh how often and how recently diners are still writing about a place. The corpus is Victorian and scored by us; no AI writer ever reads it. The maths fixes the order, the words are ours.
Explore more Vegan across Melbourne on Discover ->
Every venue here is ranked by its Curateria Score, a recent-review-weighted quality signal that leans on what diners are saying now, not years ago. Keep browsing Melbourne, sorted by Curateria Score, on Discover.
More from the Lowdown
Support our work
Reader-supported, ad-light. Three ways to back the work.
Vegan dining in Melbourne is broader than a single cuisine, taking in Hare Krishna canteens, a famous pub parma, Ethiopian injera platters and dedicated plant-based kitchens that do mock duck better than most do the real thing. We ranked the inner-city kitchens by Curateria Score and by what diners keep writing across their most recent reviews, with far suburbs, multi-location chains and the global franchises all left out. Here is where the evidence lands this month.
Top of the list is Crossways Vegetarian and Vegan Restaurant in the city, the Hare Krishna canteen whose all-you-can-eat menu changes daily, past two thousand reviews with a sticky date pudding diners single out and wholesome food at a very small price. The Cornish Arms Hotel in Brunswick is the famous pub on the list, a 4.69 room past three thousand reviews best known for a vegan parma that has earned its reputation alongside the regular pub menu.
Rice Paper Scissors in Fitzroy is the modern South-East-Asian room, a banquet of crudo, massaman and sticky ribs reviewers call fresh and grand, with plenty done plant-based. Gopals in the city is the Hare Krishna vegan-platter standby, two curries, salads and rice behind a lentil pie diners love at a small price. Ras Dashen Ethiopian Restaurant in Footscray is the Ethiopian pick and the list's near-top scorer at 4.89, doro wot, shiro and a coffee ceremony in a room regulars take every visitor to.
Brother Bon - Your Local Vegan Restaurant in Northcote in Northcote is a dedicated vegan kitchen reviewers return to for vegan pho, a Mongolian mock-beef and Peking-duck pancakes, big portions worth the price. Cookatoo Kitchen - Vegan Takeaway in Richmond holds the list's highest score at 4.97, a vegan Thai takeaway diners flatly call the best vegan food in Melbourne over a vegan duck red curry and a tofu green curry. Lah Bros Modern Nepalese Restaurant Chapel Street Melbourne in Windsor is the modern Nepalese room, also a 4.97, where the pork-style momo and a Kwati nine-bean dahl earn the warmest-service line, with plant-based options across the menu.
The list closes across the inner city. Gong De Lin in the city is the Buddhist mock-meat institution, a vegan Peking duck and a sizzling Szechwan mock-beef diners call super delicious in the heart of town. Vegie Bar in Fitzroy is the long-running plant-based all-rounder past three thousand reviews, a vegan laksa and a vegan lasagne that won over a self-described sceptic, affordable and generous. Little Africa Restaurant in West Melbourne is the East-African room whose vegetarian combination platter and injera carry an authenticity reviewers travel in for, and Ahadu Ethiopian Restaurant & cafe in Sunshine rounds it out as the Ethiopian option further west, awaze tibs and an injera platter on teff bread reviewers call the best, with ginger coffee to close.
We start every kitchen on this list from its Curateria Score, a number drawn from the venue's whole run of reviews and then pulled toward its most recent hundred, so the order reads as the kitchen cooks today rather than how it cooked a few seasons ago. We hold the field to a tight inner-Melbourne radius of about 15km, and we set aside the multi-location chains and the global franchises that trade on a brand more than a local following, which leaves the names the city keeps choosing on their own merit. Against that quality score we weigh how often and how recently diners are still writing about a place. The corpus is Victorian and scored by us; no AI writer ever reads it. The maths fixes the order, the words are ours.
Explore more Vegan across Melbourne on Discover ->
Every venue here is ranked by its Curateria Score, a recent-review-weighted quality signal that leans on what diners are saying now, not years ago. Keep browsing Melbourne, sorted by Curateria Score, on Discover.
More from the Lowdown
Our read on where Melbourne is eating, drawn from every review we track. Free, no algorithm, unsubscribe in two clicks.