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Brother Bon
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Vegan
Vegan
Western
Beer/Wine
Delivery
Take-out
Asian
Vietnamese
Gluten-free
Licensed cafe and restaurant serving vegan food, hot and cold drinks, and desserts. Dishes include stir fries, rice dishes, noodles, burgers, soups, salads, bao and dumplings, as well as sweets, including several flavours of gelato. Beer, wine and cocktails available. Business operates on solar power. Open Tue-Sat 5:30pm-9:30pm, Fri-Sun 11:30am-3:30pm, Sun 5:30pm-9:00pm. Kitchen stops 30 mins before closing.
85 Reviews
First Review by chantea
JackRock-ThatVeganDad
Points +92
Great menu for a variety of tastes! - Edit
I recently had the pleasure of dining at Brother Bon with my family, and it was a hit with everyone. Our visit took place during a Sunday lunch, and right from the start, we were greeted warmly by the attentive and friendly staff. As a parent of two young children, I found it particularly delightful to discover a vegan restaurant that caters specifically to kids with its dedicated vegan kids' menu. To top it off, the restaurant provided our little ones with colouring pencils to keep them happily engaged throughout the meal.
Read moreWe indulged in a variety of delectable dishes during our visit. The crispy 'chicken' pieces we ordered had a delightful crunch and a satisfying texture, while the vegetable dumplings burst with flavourful goodness. For our main courses, our kids relished the generously portioned schnitzel and chips, which proved to be a definite crowd-pleaser. On the other hand, the Bun Bowl Salad, a more traditional Vietnamese dish, offered simplicity yet an explosion of flavours that left us thoroughly satisfied. We couldn't resist trying the Bon's Chicken Burger, complete with vegan bacon, cheese, and a crispy chicken fillet. The food, in general, was not only tasty but also brimming with delightful flavours.
The restaurant itself boasts ample space, high chairs, and convenient change tables, making it a welcoming environment for families. However, it's worth noting that the prices at Brother Bon may be a tad higher in comparison to other vegan restaurants in the vicinity. To give you an idea, our bill for two main courses, two kids' meals, two sides, two ice creams, and a few beverages totalled approximately $150. Despite this, I would still recommend Brother Bon due to its exceptionally flavourful dishes and the family-friendly ambiance it offers. It was indeed a wonderful experience dining with the family!
Pros: Family Friendly, Expansive menu to suit a variety of preferences, Good Flavours
Cons: A tad pricier to other vegan restaurants
Guest
Mikacreative
Points +30
Good foods and drinks - Edit
All the meal we had were really tasty.
Read moreThe staff were very friendly and helpful😊
Pros: Food, Service
Guest
lisaelvis
Points +81
Feast! - Edit
We had such a terrific meal & delicious dessert! Wish I lived closer. I’d be there every day!!!
Read morePros: Food, Layout of restaurant , Dessert
Cons: None!
Guest
Tiggy
Points +13747
C’est si Bon - Edit
Brother Bon has become one of my favourite restaurants for both lunch and dinner. When it was in its previous incarnation as a Loving Hut I never went at all, but it has clearly developed into a sophisticated, high-quality eatery with a pleasant vibe. They’ve managed to make the huge space, which used to look like a workplace cafeteria, a lot more attractive. Importantly, the business pays its workers properly, which unfortunately isn’t something that can be taken for granted. It’s also eco-conscious, using solar power. The international menu is large and varied. I’ve worked my way through a lot of it, although it would take a long time to do it all, particularly with all the options for variations within a dish. The meals that come to mind when I think of this restaurant are the Vietnamese-style noodle soups and other noodle dishes, from udon to Singapore noodles to char kway teow, all delicious, very good quality and well presented. Having said that, the more brunchy and western-style dishes, like burgers and pasta have been great too. The cocktails are the icing on the cake. While prices are not low, they are absolutely comparable to those of similar cafe restaurants, and portions are certainly not stingy. BB is the only valid place to dine out in Northcote.
Read morePros: Delicious food and decent servings, Fair wages for staff and environmentally conscious, Drinks-poos
Guest
chatreuse
Points +1609
Delicious but SO pricey! - Edit
I've always thought Brother Bon was pretty pricey, but now I can't believe just HOW pricey it's gotten.
Read moreThe food is delicious, but I find myself not wanting to go too often due to the price.
We popped in for a late lunch and ordered the Bam Bam cauliflower. I've had this before and really loved the creamy spicy sauce. I still very much enjoyed it, but it seems like they deep fried it before the oil was hot enough, the batter was a little bouncy and still retained a bit too much oil.
My partner chose the netted spring rolls, I didn't think I would enjoy it but it was nice and crispy, although the nuoc mam was quite spicy.
The chilli scramble was SO good, very creamy, but it tasted mainly of the butter they used,
could have used with some black salt. The feta was delicious on it's own, but was overpowered otherwise. The bread was perfectly toasted with a beautiful crust. The sausage was a really good texture, and the chilli oil they drizzled around was really delicious.
Pros: Delicious food, Huge variety
Cons: PRICEY
Guest
RuthSharon
Points +948
My mouth is very happy - Edit
We had the chicken dumplings, the wontons, crispy chicken bao buns and some gelato (pandan coconut and Thai tea). I can’t believe I haven’t had the chance to try brother Bon before because my tastebuds are on fire (in a good way). The menu describes the food perfectly, the spicy food was spicy, the crispy chicken was crispy and the flavours were incredible.
Read morePros: Gelato is made there. Awesome, Delicious food
Guest
PotatoesTho
Points +13427
It's been a while - Edit
June 2023
Read moreFirst visit in over three years and interestingly the menu hasn't changed too much but the prices (like everywhere else) have risen considerably. Noticed the addition of a cocktail menu and gelato menu which looked interesting.
Vegetable dumplings - (described as large on the menu, but they're pretty small). They were okay.
Udon carbonara - quite good but very rich. Got to give them credit for nailing the smoky, creamy sauce.
Char kway teow with tempeh - very good
March 2020
Rice paper rolls - good
Japanese Curry - pricey for the quality and size. Deep fried tofu made this dish heavier and more oily than ideal.
Vegetable dumplings - not bad, but not noteworthy
Satay skewers - very well presented but the flavour didn't deliver unfortunately.
Vietnamese iced coffee - very good
All of the above dishes were a few dollars more than they probably should have been, all things considered.
Feb 2020
Revamped space and refreshed menu! The mushroom bao were quite tasty and the diy presentation was an interesting point of difference. I found the Aussie burger a touch oily for my liking although the fillings were varied and the bun better than most. The satay udon with tempeh was quite good. Will definitely be back to try other options.
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Updated from previous review on 2020-03-08
Pros: Plenty of variety, Friendly staff
Cons: Pricier than expected
Guest
AnnabelleArnold1
Points +131
Comfort food - Edit
This is my go to on Uber eats if I want some vegan comfort food. The only downside is it’s a little over priced in my opinion
Read moreGuest
MaiaTea
Points +26
LOVE - Edit
We love Brother Bon, the food, the staff, and the atmosphere. We have been many many times, so often that at one stage it appeared that we had tried everything on the menu. We have never had a bad experience here. The food is always delicious. The staff are friendly and the restaurant is very pleasant to sit in. Down the back, they show anime that might help distract the children and give people a little bit of time to enjoy their food and chat. It's probably time we visited again.
Read morePros: Delicious, Friendly, Great Atmosphere
Guest
CA88SS
Points +1251
Incredible and extensive menu! - Edit
It was really hard to choose what we wanted off this menu. It’s huge and everything is so tempting. We went with the crumbed cutlet with plum sauce, Vietnamese salad and the Taiwanese fried chick’n. Lots of seating but make sure you book because even midweek they nearly couldn’t fit us in.
Read moreGuest
KorollMiez
Points +175
Will come back to try the rest - Edit
The food came fast and we really liked it. Will defo come back to try the other meals as well. Nice stuff!
Read moreGuest
KatieBatty
Points +1402
My fav vegan Chinese place - Edit
My favourite vegan Chinese place in Melbourne - plus they also do burgers. I love the broken rice with the fried vegan "egg" - so yummy. Nice big place for large groups. Also has a good range of desserts. Oh and don't forget to try the KFC style fried chicken!
Read moreGuest
StefGlover
Points +30
Go-to take away - Edit
So many delicious options. A bit expensive but you do get really good serving sizes
Read morePros: Good portion size, Friendly staff
Cons: Expensive
Guest
ethanbr
Points +49
Favourite Vegan Restaurant in Melbourne - Edit
Consistently delicious. Very lovely and accommodating staff. And an absolutely huge menu!! Can't recommend enough
Read moreGuest
Vegfix
Points +4838
Awesome - Edit
Visited Brother Bon on a Saturday night back in September and we loved it. We hadn't booked a table and they were busy, but they squeezed us in. It's a big restaurant, great ambience, and low lighting making it great for a date night. The food and service was spot on, we would definitely go back. A huge menu to choose from and we were very pleased with our choices.
Read moreGuest
hydomel
Points +199
Always satiated! - Edit
Delicious cocktails and food - the canteen atmosphere is a bit of a downer but food itself is excellent
Read moreGuest
Orangetoupee
Points +432
Even had the omni excited - Edit
Second time here for me. Took my newly vegan father and my omni mother for dinner.
Read moreThe service was really good, plenty of staff and they were all lovely, food was very prompt and delicious all round.
My mother honestly said she wouldn't have known it was vegan if I didn't say and we all loved everything we had.
Food has awesome flavour, exactly what you'd expect from a really nice Asian themed restaurant.
Pros: Unbelievable variety , Amazing food, Solid service
Cons: Couldn't find one if I tried
Guest
MsBy
Points +36
So good. Frequent customer - Edit
Yum. We have been so often that there might be anything on the menu we haven't tried at least once. Everything is delicious. The staff are always lovely and the place is often busy. We've been in family groups, vegan groups and just the 2 of us. We love it.
Read morePros: Food, Staff, Vibe
Cons: No cons
Guest
sean.m
Points +18
Best vegan Asian cuisine in the north - Edit
Amazing Asian cuisine; predominately Vietnamese but also has Japanese, Chinese and SE Asian options. Bit expensive but worth it imo. Just the fact that I can have Hainanese chicken rice again makes this a 10/10 for me
Read morePros: All vegan
Cons: Expensive
Tiggy
Yeah i agree it is a bit pricey but the food is good. You’ll find vegan Hainanese chicken rice at a few places around 🙂 It’s a perennial favourite
Read moreGuest
jazzy.g
Points +358
Vegan Fun! - Edit
I love the creativity of this place. It’s really a vegans delight to be able to try things I haven’t had for years, like a fried ‘egg’!
Read morePros: All vegan , Creative options
Guest
Ajuna661
Points +60
I love Brother Bon :) - Edit
Brother Bon is lovely, the staff are always so lovely and make me feel happy, the place always has a lovely chilled vibes with lovely plants and such a nice clean set up :). I love the food very much although the only issue is that you get so much that it can be hard to finish it all so I usually take the rest home which is nice to eat some more later and also it's good you get a large portion because it is a bit pricey so it's good to get plenty.
Read moreSome of my favourite dishes are: Pho, Vietnamese Fried Rice and Pineapple Fried Rice.
Pros: Yummy Food , Nice staff, Lovely place
Cons: A bit expensive
Guest
JanisShoesmith
Points +123
Family birthday dinner - Edit
Beautiful people. My dinner was tasty but a little spicy for me. Everyone else really enjoyed their meal, 3 non-vegans 😊 will definitely be back ❤
Read morePros: Totally vegan food , Great service , Great portion
Cons: Not all alcohol is vegan , No parking
Guest
RachaelEmily
Points +167
Hot, fulfilling, belly full of love! - Edit
As much as I loved Loving Hut, Brother Bon has definitely turned it up a few notches! They truly can't disappoint, Insanely huge menu, massive portions, very reasonably priced. Loved the wine. Loved the 'duck' in plum sauce. Forever love the tofu bites
Read morePros: Hot Fresh Food, Massive Menu, Very nice modernised atmosphere
Cons: Can't wear belt/tight pants :P
Guest
Jay13
Points +150
Best vegan restaurant in Melbourne - Edit
Hands down the best vegan food in Melbourne. They've transformed this place so much since it's Loving Hut days. The food is so delicious, portions are huge (so you get what you pay for), it tastes fresh and I've never been disappointed yet. Great gluten free options and still fully vegan, so big ups there.
Read morePros: Food is incredible, Big portions, Good gf options and fully vegan
Cons: Could be considered pricey but portions are big
Guest
heartfeltsarah
Points +213
Pricey but so worth it - Edit
This is at the more fancy end of restaurants I go to. Lovely decor, comfy chairs, enough room at the tables.
Read moreThe service was slow (as they were busy) but faultless. Everything arrived as we asked.
And the important bit: the food! I feel I could have closed my eyes and pointed to anything on the menu at random and been thrilled. It’s all vegan and everyone in my group was delighted with the flavours and textures.
Pros: To-die-for food , Very comfy, clean and generally a nice space, Good place to bring skeptical non vegan friends
Cons: Expensive (but worth it for a special occasion)
Guest
HaydenAnglin
Points +16
A favourite - Edit
A bit pricey but great food
Read moreGuest
aashkat
Points +536
Highly recommend - Edit
You will go crazy over flavours and options. Must try!
Read morePros: Delicious eatery
Guest
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