Om Veg Cafe - Capitol Arcade

The last two times I ate here have been disappointing. Last time the rice was undercooked and therefore hard and dry. Soaking in the sauce didn't help much. The staff are volunteers I think. As rice is the main part of the course, I expected it to be reasonable - don't they taste test after cooking? I was given lots of burnt buttered naan
bread. The watery sauces semed to be missing one of the two varieties. Ok if living homeless,suitable for a fill up but low on protein.

The food is certainly very cheap - $6.50 for a vegetarian thali. They will make it vegan on request, although the vegan naan is very dry without butter, it's a shame they don't use oil. Food was lukewarm. It sits out in bain marie so you don't know how fresh it is. Quite spicy but the bread helps. In general a very unsatisfying meal, you're better off paying a bit more somewhere else and getting food you can enjoy.

Since writing this review the place has gone downhill in a big way. We went over the Christmas - New Year break and the food became plain with a few beans slathered in a sauce. Just in case the cook was having a bad day, I tried it again and there were hardly any vegetables. The hot snacks have been replaced by essentially a potato filled samosa and other deep fried potato patty (no more vadi or other typically Indian snacks). If you are happy filling up on carbohydrates (bread and rice) and don't like vegetables or pulses then you might be happy, but it is too carb heavy and tasteless in my view.

The emphasis here is cheap - it serves a purpose but it is no longer a place I go to.

Older review (2015) below--------
This is a really cheap tasty place to go out for lunch in the city. The food is served fresh apart from a few fried items in the bain marie. The only problem is that service can sometimes be extremely slow - so go at the start of your lunch break.

I've found this place to be the best of all the Om restaurants. The restaurant is in an arcade and you can sit in the arcade to eat your food. I usually take the vegan dosa which is really tasty, but recently they have started serving tomato sauce with it as a side. I would rather have nothing than the tomato sauce! It is cheap and convenient and they can veganise most things. I think the birds have become a big problem though. Please put something on the door to stop them getting in. I love sparrows but not near my food!

I come here regularly to get the vegan dosa special. $7.90. Yum.

Busy little cafe with wider choice than the other 'Om cafe's. A vegan thali-all you can eat for $6.50-now that's a bargain. Not full of ghee and cream as your usual Indian restaurants and pleasant place to sit inside or in the arcade.

Amazingly tasty, great value Indian meals; in fact better than most of the Indian restaurants I have been to in Melbourne.

Eager to revisit and try the other meal deals.

This is the best Indian food that I have had so far in and around Melbourne... for a fraction of the price of other establishments. Very impressed; will be back and will definitely be checking out the other Om Vegetarians as well

Great value, quick and friendly service.

I just had the thali for lunch today (I was really hungry), and now I'm so full!

The thali dishes are not amazing, but are ok , and great value ($6.50 all you can eat).

The other dishes on the menu look more fetching than the thali, and are still appear to be very good value ($7.90 to about $8.50).

Updated from previous review on Wednesday January 28, 2015:
I had one of the dishes off the menu, the spinach and mustard leaves curry.

With three branches of the Om Vegetarian enterprise all within a couple of city blocks, I'd go to this one in the Capitol Arcade every time. They have a more extensive menu than the others, still including the all-you-can eat thali. The lights are lower and the decor is a little more thoughtful, with cute, colourful stencils on the walls.

Their masala dosa seems extremely popular and it's easy to see why. For $7.90 it comes with all the trimmings - sambar and creamy coconut, tangy tamarind, and refreshing green chutneys. The sambar is above par with chunks of eggplant, okra, and yellow split peas. The dosa itself is the right balance of crispy and chewy, stuffed with golden spiced potatoes. Yum! It's the only thing I've tried there so far but even the ubiquitous $6.50 thali looks a bit more tasty and interesting than the others so might even give it a go when I return - which I inevitably will since it's in the same arcade as my hairdresser (Rocco at Clash City Hair, FYI).

I was pleasantly surprised with this new addition to the Om vegetarian restaurants. The others have generally been places to go for a quick, cheap all-you-can-eat meal and not much more than that. When I discovered this place I noticed the different menu items and my interest was piqued. There are signs indicating any meal can be made vegan. On my first visit I ordered a masala dosa and this was simply delicious with its side condiments. On a second visit with my partner we got the dosa again as we'll as the Maki Roti Combo. The roti was a little bit dry for me but fine with the spicy sarson ka saag accompanying it. Unfortunately this time they also added butter to my requested vegan dish, and some (but only some) staff seem to not quite understand vegan. (Most are very vegan savvy.) This has become a regular spot for me when I need a quick dinner in town.