Matcha Mylkbar in St Kilda taps into healthy-eating zeitgeist with dedication and mainstream appeal
WITH its Kermit-green buns clogging Insta feeds and algae lattes, Matcha Mylkbar is so achingly hip and healthy it almost makes you want to cry into your activated almonds.
Melbourne
Don't miss out on the headlines from Melbourne . Followed categories will be added to My News.
WITH its Kermit-green buns clogging Insta feeds and algae lattes, Matcha Mylkbar is so achingly hip and healthy it almost makes you want to cry into your activated almonds.
This 45-seat vegan hangout — in a former cheese shop opposite McDonald’s in St Kilda — burst on to the scene in April, with a two-hour weekend wait for a table still standard.
It’s the baby of Matcha Maiden tea brand founders Sarah Holloway and Nic Davidson, along with two business partners.
Matcha Mylkbar’s menu is entirely plant-based but completely approachable — vegan food through non-vegan eyes and jumping on the clean-eating bandwagon.
I want to dislike this place for all its trendiness but the good vibes are infectious and its conscious uncoupling from mass-produced meat and unsustainable food admirable.
FOOD
The soy chicken burger ($20, right) with its vivid-green buns made with matcha (green tea powder) fly out of the kitchen with verdant regularity. Beetroot hummus and kraut bring earthiness and acid while the “chicken” has a satisfying texture.
The sweet potato fries are total winners.
Have some bun fun, too, with the blackened charcoal burger ($22) with a hearty black bean and quinoa patty and purple potato wedges.
The matcha pancakes ($19) were a little flavourless, leaving the heavy lifting to chocolate sauce and lemongrass and macadamia ice cream.
Up for breakfast? Poached eggs here aren’t eggs: vegan concoctions made with coconut, sweet potato and turmeric with the same protein, look and texture of a traditional googie. I didn’t care for them (too sweet) but other diners lapped them up.
The menu also features five “longevity bowls” — dishes paying vegan homage to the diets of the long-living populations of the world’s so-called blue zones, including Sardinia in Italy with a pumpkin gnocchi with eggplant bolognese.
DRINKS
Filtered water that’s supposedly three times more hydrating than the ordinary stuff lands on tables promptly.
There are nine types of lattes, and thankfully one has caffeine ($4.50) — from Clement. The “smurf” latte ($8) containing antioxidant-heavy blue algae is sweetened with agave and coconut milk and doesn’t taste too bad — kinda sweet, kinda sour — given it’s meant to be so good for you. Trendy turmeric lattes and apple pie and carrot cake varieties are also available.
There’s also a long list of Insta-worthy smoothies ($12), matcha tea served every which way and cold-pressed juices.
SERVICE
Young and sweet for the most part and excitedly au fait with the menu.
X-FACTOR
Much of the wow is on the plate. Smoothies are served in cool, skull-shaped glass steins and cutlery is custom-made from matt black metal. Pencils and pages to colour in entertain children and mindfulness devotees.
You’ve got to love a pun-filled menu. Anyone for a Tall, Darth & Handsome smoothie with activated charcoal?
BANG FOR YOUR BUCK
This healthy-eating caper can be pricey. At $8, the smurf latte might not be replacing your daily takeaway coffee any time soon.
VERDICT
Cultish? Yes. Gimmicky? Yes. Done well? Sure is. This corner “mylkbar” taps into the healthy-eating zeitgeist with dedication and mainstream appeal. The place has online haters, but I was hard-pressed to find major fault over two visits, despite a lack of bacon.
matcha mylkbar
72A Acland St, St Kilda
9534 1111
FOOD
Vegan
HOURS
Daily,
8am-4pm
CHEF
Lachlan Timms
BOOKINGS
No
TIME BETWEEN ORDERING AND EATING
15 minutes
PERFECT FOR
Vegans and health kickers
DESTINATION DISH
Soy chicken burger
NOISE FACTOR
Effervescent
ONLINE
matchamylkbar.com
REVIEW BY
Megan Miller
PICTURES
Rebecca Michael
Was bizarre shooting suicide pact or murder?
Two men walked into a Melbourne photography studio one afternoon in 1872 to pose with their pistols in a bizarre series of pictures. Hours later a gunshot rang out in nearby Treasury Gardens and their true intentions became clear.
Why Curtis Stone wants to come home
Curtis Stone is the Keilor East boy turned celebrity chef who now lives in a multimillion-dollar house in one of Los Angeles’ coolest suburbs. So how does he show his young kids how to be everyday Aussies?