Sister of Soul

We were really excited to visit Sister of Soul based on their breakfast menu, but ended up visiting for dinner. It was really busy and loud and didn't feel like the sort of place we could sit back and enjoy a meal, but we had made the effort to get to St Kilda and had heard good things so stayed.

The menu is eclectic, which in my experience is never a great sign. Some options seemed very expensive for their ingredients ($13.50 for dhal?). We ordered the gnocchi and the "Om-mazing yellow curry". The gnocchi was delicious but not an immense portion for $18. The yellow curry - turns out the "vegan option" is simply to omit the labneh rather than replace it with anything - was quite small, and again quite overpriced for a dish consisting of lentils, potatoes, peas and a side of rice and poppadums. We shared a side of fries which were very good.

We made our visit quite fleeting as we didn't feel it was the sort of place we could lounge around, and weren't that inspired by the dessert options following our mains. The only word to describe the experience is "average".

I experienced the best breakfast I have EVER had here at Sister of Soul. The menu is a delight with almost too much to choose from and is clearly marked with the vegan options (everything is at least vegetarian though). The meals came out in a reasonable time although the drinks were much slower which is the only part of the experience I could fault. The wait staff were friendly and efficient also.
Do yourself a favour and order the Rainbow Breaky Bowl. You're welcome ☺️

Service was quick and the food delicious. They have a wide range of vegan foods including an amazing rocky road dessert! Can be a bit loud of an evening, but worth a visit!

I went here for a nice dinner with my (mostly vegetarian) family and we had a great night! The beer selection was expansive, the Thai raw noodle bowl that I had was delicious, and the staff were really inviting! It was packed on a Friday night so I would definitely suggest booking ahead

I've eaten here twice and loved the vegan buckwheat pancakes and the raw lasagne!

The vibe is very relaxed and boho, and there is lots of seating.

During a short visit from the United States, I totally enjoyed an early dinner at Sister of Soul with a vegan friend who is a Melbourne native. There were so many vegan options at this all-vegetarian restaurant that it was hard to choose just one, but I went with the Bibimbap Nutrition Bowl and was very happy with my choice. Exactly as described, this is a "traditional Korean bowl with marinated tofu, salted cucumber, bean shoots, pickled carrot and daikon, shiitake mushrooms, seaweed salad, brown rice and topped with shredded nori and bibi hot sauce." All very authentic, fresh ingredients. (The hot sauce is indeed pretty hot - so if I return to this place, I will probably ask the staff to dial down the spiciness a bit.) I found the atmosphere as fresh and inviting as the food.

Had the notella crumpets there this morning for breakfast. It was the bomb digity. Highly recommend it

I've been to this place more than a handful of times mainly because it's always been the easiest option when in at kilda. The first couple of times I thought I'd ordered wrong but I'm consistently being let down. The sweet potato fries are soggy and Cold. The stir fry portions are so small considering the price and the jack fruit burger to me is mediocre. The only positive for me is that staff are nice.

So the pulled jackfruit burger was incredible!!! Honestly amazing. My mum had the rawsagna which was also super tasty, and my brother had the nachos (again I loved!) The menu is broad, there is something for all tastes I believe! I will be back for the rocky road :D

Fairly reasonable pricing for what it is, but small portions. Friendly staff, nice venue, tasty food and good variety. Service was speedy and the venue was clean. Presentation is immaculate.

Took my partner out for lunch here after a Sunday stroll along the foreshore. It was pumping but we still got a table right away. I'd describe the atmosphere as more shiny than soulful and, coming from the northside, VERY St Kilda. Shiny stainless steel tables, long wooden bench seats along the window that runs all the way along one wall. It's certainly bright and airy.

We both started with the white miso soup which had a warming touch of ginger. My partner had the okonomiyaki, which he said was the best he'd ever tried - crunchy on the outside, fluffy on the inside. I had the fried eggplant salad. Chunks of eggplant were silky inside with a slightly chewy surface and not too oily. The dressing was tart with black vinegar and the salty bite of fermented black beans. Sweet, fresh tomato and loads of Asian green herbs finished it off. The tastes were so intense that it might have been nicer balanced with a side of brown rice. An enjoyable dining experience that I probably won't repeat - proximity and price make it a bit inaccessible.

Already having eaten elsewhere dropped in for a drink. Tempted by desert - almost rocky road. Vegan jelly and marshmallows with chocolate paste and crunchy bits - wonderful. A bit small to satisfy both stomach and wallet. Good vibe and plenty of seating. Looked like it had a good range of food.

Great space, friendly staff, extensive menu, yummy food!

This place is vegetarian and vega, however, vegan options are clearly marked. They have a fairly good range of food here and everything thing I've had so far (I've been twice in two days) has been absolutely amazing!

Gave this cafe another go for brunch, after a disappointing first visit for dinner 12 or so months ago. First off the bat was a very ordinary coffee. It's great they use Bonsoy, but the coffee was weak and poorly brewed.The vegetarian breakfast menu is fairly extensive, yet only features 2 or 3 rather uninspiring options for vegans. Our meals were pleasant enough, if a little bland but quite pricey for the serving sizes. Unlikely to go out of my way to return for a 3rd attempt.

We went there on a public holiday because a couple of other places were not opening until midday. The breakfast menu was all that was available and is surprisingly restrictive for Vegans considering it is a vegetarian establishment. We did ask if they would serve us from the starters/main menu 20 minutes prior to 12pm, but they refused, which is okay but no chips before 12pm is a bit daft.
Fairly decent food, some interesting ideas and good flavours, reasonable serving size; but definitely room for improvement and more effort required. Over priced. 2 breakfasts and 2 coffees = $47 (including 10% surcharge due to public holiday)
Not quite living up to it's potential.
Coffee was bad.

Checked this out with some buddies who had eaten there a bunch of times and love it. I had the big vegan breakfast and added a sausage. My wife had the avocado smash. It was ok but not amazing. The service was friendly but a bit hit and miss. One of our friends ordered an extra with his breakfast that never arrived. We followed this up a couple of times but it never arrived. The coconut water and mango juice had a freaky almost jelly consistency. All of that said the food was ok and there is a generous number of options to choose from. I'd go back if I happened to be near by but I wouldn't drive across town to get there again.

The food is terrible. Overpriced, and tasteless. The agedashi tofu - the tofu was okay, though not the silken tofu the dish demands (yes, I know it's easier to work with firmer tofus, but you're a chef, figure it out, skill up), the vegetables in the broth were however from a packet and the broth was from the dishwashing sink. Seriously. Yuck. Tepid, under flavoured, with a fine film of oil from the tofu. Nasty, overused oil.

The DIY wraps were a joke, $17 for a few wisps of spiralled carrot, some tiny, over-trimmed lettuce, a few dry slices of chilli, cucumber sliced in a way that ensured it did not work in the wraps, nori, some soya chunks that had been deep fried to desiccation (and again cut wrong for the wrap concept) and some unidentified slightly sweet brown sauce with a thin scum of oil on top. No idea what the sauce was, and the only reason I'd look it up is to make sure it never, never enters my life again.

Unlike some others, I had no real issue with the service. They were nice enough, and fast enough (but it was a Monday lunchtime, hardly peak) and even double checked a typo on the menu with regard to an item's gluten-free status with the kitchen (I probably shoulda worried right then, given they're trying to cater to GF types. Getting the description right might be a start)

Coffee was adequate. Service, as I say, nice enough. But fundamentally I paid $30 for a meal that left me hungry, dissatisfied and mildly cross. I went over the road and bought fruit from a supermarket to fuel me.

[edit by staff]

Popped in here for breakfast during St Kilda festival and it was a very satisfying experience. I was very impressed to find the option of avocado and vegemite crumpets on the menu - one of my favourite combos, but I have never before seen it on a restaurant menu. I had a couple of hash browns as a side and they were delicious - thick and fluffy with crispy outsides. They call them roosts on the menu, but they are not like the traditional thin crispy rostis (which disappointed one of my friends) but I loved them. I also had a gorgeous drink comprised of coconut water and mango puree. The others at my table had vegan sausages and vegan breakfast, with smoked tofu, corn salsa, avocado, toast, spinach. They all loved their meals and various juices. This is definitely on my return visit list.

I have to say, I'm honestly surprised at the number of negative reviews here. Sister of Soul is our regular, and we really love the food.

Both my partner and I are vegans with coeliac disease and we've only had positive experiences. The food is great - we love the quinoa patties, fries, Eggplant Rasavagny and Green Sister Stir Fry. Although we've tried other things, we always go back to our regular choices in the end!

The service has always been good, although a few of the wait-staff have been a little funny about making an extra note to the kitchen staff about gluten.

Went here for brunch and the wrong meal was brought out, ingredients were added to the old meal and brought out again so part of it was cold. The food was very average. Staff seemed very disorganized and had to wait ages for cutlery. Would not recommend

I've eaten lunch at Sister of Soul twice now and have been impressed on both occasions. The prime location is fantastic, as is the trendy décor, ample menu, attentive staff, quick service and great tasting meals.

I think this is a great example of the future in vego restaurants.

Only discovered this place recently... So I can't wait to go back to check out the rest of their menu!... I had so much trouble deciding on a dish in the first place.
I had the taco trio... The chili non carne mix is awesome!... And they use plenty of fresh ingredients. I didn't like the actual taco... But I think this was mainly for a lack of salt.
If you're looking for healthy... And something a bit new... Different... You have to try this place!
It's also pretty busy... Makes it difficult to get the waiters' attention... But when the food is this good... It's worth it!

We visited soul sister in its opening week and had a disappointing meal. So gave it a few months and booked for a special date treat meal that was equal disappointing as our first visit. Everything about the place is so promising to a great experience until the food shows up. If it's not completely bland then it will be overdosed I conflicting strong flavours. Rawsanga made with dill laced through it. Burrito that tasted of jarred jalapeño and not much else. We had a few starters that were fiat but nothing stand out. On top of this staff were inconsistent and prices too much for food that does have even basic balance of flavour.

I don't think we'll return in a hurry which is a shame as I really love location decor and feel of place.

My partner and I read about this place on happycow as well as my partners sister mentioning it. We love to try new veggie places when we are in Melbourne and tried dinner at this restaurant on our recent stay in at kilda.

It was very easy to find on busy acland street. It had a great beach-feel vibe with great big glass windows open to let the summery breeze through.

We ordered two vegan entrees - tofu agedashi and veg gyozas. Both had great flavour and I really felt nourished by the agedashi broth.

For mains my partner ordered the burrito which he loved and I ordered the vegan pad Thai which was delicious too!

We both had fresh juices - orange crush and citrus both were great!

Dessert we shared the raw berry cheesecake. This was the only fault I found in our dining experience - although the cheesecake had okay flavour, the cashew cream later was much too grainy and I make many similar desserts at home that are much smoother and tastier so this was a bit disappointing. The berries and edible flowers were my favourite part if the dessert.

The restaurant had good decor and waitstaff were all lovely. Our main waiter was a super lively French dude and he was just beautiful.

Overall a fantastic experience and would definitely go back :)

We've been to this new restaurant a few times now, and eaten our way through most of the vegan options.
While the food has been consistently well-made, beautifully prepared and tasty, the service can be a bit hit-and-miss. Some of the waiters are fantastic, but there doesn't seem to be any allocation of waiters to areas of the restaurant, so you end up meeting all members of the staff during the course of dinner - and having a bit of a problem tracking someone down once your food has been delivered, e.g. if you want another drink. We also watched three different groups arrive and wander around in confusion as all the waiters were at the other end of the restaurant, so there was no one to greet anyone or show them to their tables.

The food though has always been yummy. There are plenty of vegan options - the green sister stir fry, quinoa patty, rice balls, burrito, curry and pad thai are all tasty - though the gyoza are the best thing!

The restaurant is still very new, so still ironing out a few things, but the food keeps up going back even though it's a bit of a trek!

I was bold enough to visit this venue with a long-term raw vegan friend. This was only because the menu provided her with at least a couple of raw items for entree, main, and dessert.

When we arrived at around 7pm on a Monday night, Sister of Soul was almost full. This must be quite a coup for the owners after being open only a few weeks.

Our orders came relatively quickly. My quinoa burrito (vegan version) was wholesome and quite filling, though there was a slightly sour smell coming from the burrito which suggested that at least one of the ingredients in the mix had gone off (an interesting flavour if that is how the dish is actually meant to taste). Unfortunately, my partner's raw zucchini spaghetti was a rather light serving of shredded zucchini and carrot - not terribly filling or nutritious. Surely raw main meals are not meant to be the same as an entree salad!

The biggest disappointment of the night was the rather expensive raw berry cheesecake. At $11.50, not only was it small, but the flavour and texture impressed my friend so much that she refused to finish it. I have tried similar raw desserts a number of times in the past and I had to agree with her that the cake failed on most counts. When we raised this issue with a staff member upon paying, we were told that 'other diners actually like it'; surely a new business should listen and not argue with dissatisfied customers.

I look forward to trying other dishes at Sister of Soul in the future, though I'll probably avoid the desserts.

We visited Sister of Soul within the first two weeks of opening on the weekend for breakfast. They were already pretty busy, and seemed to be running smoothly. Service was friendly and welcoming. Seats are comfortable and there is outdoor dining as well (which is nice when you consider the quality of people watching in St Kilda).
I had scrambled tofu - which was done with mushrooms and spinach. I really enjoyed it, although strictly if was more blocked tofu than scrambled, the taste was there - I'd say Asian inspired block scramble (I have uploaded a photo). Also at our table was a big breakfast - with scrambled eggs. I believe it was pretty good. The coffee was excellent.
They really seemed to care about our feedback. It seemed to us when speaking with the staff (who were still a little nervous about being open) that they had done their research.
They do other meals as well, check their website, but for breaky it was definitely an awesome option, particularly for vegans.
Updated from previous review on Sunday January 26, 2014