Review: Brisbane’s first vegan tapas bar

Not only is this vegan restaurant a first for Brisbane, it addresses a long-standing pet peeve of our food reviewer.

You Came Again Vegan Tapas Bar in West End. Picture: Mark Cranitch

HERE’S a vegan eatery that’s different in more ways than one.

Not only is it Brisbane’s first vegan tapas bar, it addresses my my pet peeve with so many vegan restaurants: their unnatural and unnecessary obsession with faux meat.

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Instead of simply heroing the humble vegetable and creating something delicious with nature’s bounty, they focus on developing an animal substitute with more fillers than a real housewife.

Whether it’s so-called pork, beef or chicken, they taste like Spam left out in the sun for three days and could be used to re-sole your shoes with their rubbery texture.

Thankfully at new plant-based eatery You Came Again in Brisbane’s West End, there’s only one fake meat on the menu, and it’s actually good.

Roasted carrors at You Came Again Vegan Tapas Bar. Picture: Mark Cranitch

The strangely named venue is designed as a modern tapas bar with a bit of West End grunge.

The charcoal-hued main dining room with banquette seating and a row of stools at the bar is brightened with an abstract mural down one wall, and leads out onto a smart, relaxed courtyard.

It balances personality with understated elegance, making it a place you could easily take a vegan for a date, or just enjoy a few wines with friends from the global vegan vino list, which covers all the popular styles.

There are also local craft beers including Brouhaha and Slipstream; plus a basic cocktail offering and small collection of artisan spirits.

Vegan meatballs at You Came Again Vegan Tapas Bar. Picture: Mark Cranitch

The menu is pasted on pages of old books — perhaps more sacrilegious to the authors than quirky cool — and covers everything from roasted thyme and tamari nuts to beetroot carpaccio, as well as pesto-stuffed mushrooms.

In quality examples of how to hero veg, Dutch carrots ($12) come roasted whole till shrivelly and sweet on a swirl of red capsicum hummus with a scattering of jewel-like pops of pomegranate and crumbed hazelnuts; while fried cauliflower florets ($11) boast a lemony zing, ready for dipping in a humming sriracha mayo.

Agedashi tofu ($11) is possibly the standout, the semi-firm soy curd lightly battered and towering in an aromatic dashi broth that’s good enough to drink.

The courtyard area at You Came Again Vegan Tapas Bar. Picture: Mark Cranitch

As for their meat substitute, it comes in the form of vegan meatballs ($13) made from a blend of beans, quinoa and nuts coated in breadcrumbs and fried till golden with a smoky red capsicum sauce.

The only miss is the lemon meringue dessert ($14). Using turmeric to colour the lemon curd in the absence of eggs, it’s savoury rather than sweet with the potent spice dominating the entire dish.

That aside, whether you’re vegan or not, You Came Again is, in fact, enough to having you coming again with plenty more on the menu worth exploring and an engaging service team to ensure you enjoy the experience.

YOU CAME AGAIN

Address: 245 Boundary St, West End

Phone: [phone]

Web: youcameagainvegantapasbar.com.au

Open: Mon-Thu 5pm-10pm, Fri-Sun noon-10pm

VERDICT

Food: 7

Service: 8

Ambience: 7.5

Value: 8