Misoya Sake Bar, Brunswick

A year ago (!) I belatedly ate at the new-ish ramen place conveniently located close to home in Brunswick. I now belatedly present my findings.

Having had spectacular vegan ramen in Tokyo, I was aware that it was pretty unlikely I would find something up to scratch in Melbourne. Everyone says so, vegan or omni, but there was some excitement about Misoya opening up and not just because Brunswick was lacking a ramen place. They offered a specifically vegan ramen. Huzzah!

Craving something richly umami I was very happy when omni friends suggested we go there after seeing a show at the Comedy Festival. 

Alas, even though I suspected it wouldn’t measure up to  T’s in Tokyo, I was disappointed further still.

This is what the vegans get: some broth; a slice of woolly tomato; a dozen kernels of corn; two green beans; a handful of rice noodles; some sesame seeds. 

For ~$17 or $18.

Setting aside the huge and ridiculous profit margin; setting aside the very poor treatment of veg*ns by a place that has decided we can have but a whisper of what the omnis get; this broth tasted of miso and nothing more complex, the noodles were unremarkable, the vegetables were scant and bland, and overall this was a recipe for kwashiorkor. 

This could have been a lot better with the addition of some better vegetables, mushrooms, and (PLEASE) some protein. And you’d still make a healthy profit on the ingredients.

I am sick of paying the same or more for vegan options when vegan ingredients are often cheap or the expensive ingredients (egg, meat etc) have been removed. 

Restaurants and cafes of the world, you need to up your game. 

I haven't been back to Misoya, and I won't unless there is good intelligence that things have improved.  

(Note, omnivores seem pretty happy but I guess that's because they're not paying for malnutrition.)