Smith & Daughters

Awesome Mexican hot chocolate, great food and service. Fully vegan

great food, great service, nice place.

Smith & Daughters is one of the best vegan eats in Melbourne. The menu is Mexican inspired but there is something for everyone on the menu. Make sure you order the mushrooms, they are to die for 😍 we also tried the prawns (bit too fishy tasting for me), the Brazilian slaw (amazing!), the paella fritters (10/10) and the noodle dish for 2 (a very large meal- you have been warned!).
The cocktails are also great and the service is perfect, there is always more than enough waiters happily to help you navigate the menu or have a friendly chat. I absolutely recommend this place although make sure you make a booking!

We arrived in time for brunch, and despite a slight mix up with our order, everything was delicious. The service was very friendly and down to earth. Keep up the good work!

I went here as I've heard the hype and I was not disappointed! Delicious food and excellent coffee. I took advantage of the house made cashew milk for a mocha and I have to say that it was the best mocha I can ever recall having. The biggest issue here was working out what to have off of the well sized menu!

There's a really good atmosphere and heaps of options (e.g. you can choose from a bunch of nut milks, cashew milk coffee is really good...). The desserts are also really good, some of the mains are kind of average/underwhelming but it's still really good.

Love this place. The second meal I had here was better than the first. The cocktails are good too. Great setting and atmosphere. Love the design. Awesome. Love it!!!!

When I first visited Smith & Daughters the restaurant had a Spanish theme and the vegan prawns were heavenly! The new menu is more focused on junk food and recreating some Melbourne favourites that used to be served at now-defunct restaurants. There are still a few good original things too, though.

With the new menu I came here for dinner and tried the Southern Fried Chicken Waffles which were fantastic, definitely hit the spot for sweet and salty goodness.

Came for brunch more recently (see photos for pic of menu) and ordered the corn fritters and bread and butter pudding. I was keen to try to Froot Loop Waffles but it seems they have moved on from that menu. Corn Fritters were deep fried and delicious with some aioli. Bread and butter pudding was really sweet and lovely with cinnamon and spices. Overall great meal, although the serving sizes are a little small.

Very popular so book ahead, especially for a bigger group.

This restaurant's reputation precedes itself, and I was looking forward to experiencing some vegan 'fine dining'. My companions and I ordered the white truffle pate, 'blood sausage', tortilla salad, tortilla bean soup and leek and kale bake. Everything on the menu sounds delicious, and clearly much time and energy has been spent making each item sound ravishing. If only such time and energy had been spent constructing the actual dishes themselves, perhaps one would not leave this venue feeling like they'd been ripped off.

The truffle pate - which is plentiful - tasted kind of like a creamy, salty nothingness. The bread provided is enough for the first few scrapings, and each subsequent serving of bread (a couple of tiny slices) costs an extra $2. Their signature dish - the 'blood pudding' - also tastes of very little except salt (my dining companions suggested that it tasted like white rice, or maybe bread crumbs, salted and dyed with beetroot juice). The tortilla salad seemed promising - a deep-fried tortilla stuffed with mounds of TVP and bean mix, topped with a creamy coriander cashew paste and a slice of lime - until one dug below the surface to discover most of the tortilla stuffed with almost half an iceberg lettuce (I mean, is TVP really that expensive that you need such filler?!). The soup was a very basic bean soup with a tiny garnish of avocado, cashew cream and four slices of radish (really not cool to describe a *garnish* as the actual meal). The soggy strips of tortilla add a sort of DIY cheapness to the dish.

The only really delicious item on the menu was the Leek and Kale Bake. Despite not being a fan of kale, I loved this dish: creamy, cheesy, tasty. The tiny dish it arrived in was less than half full - no problem, as it's quite rich - but my companions and I were horrified to discover that, once the mound of 'garlic bread crumbs' had been excavated, this $16 dish comprised less than one centimetre of actual casserole (I mean we're not talking smoked salmon or caviar here!!). It was as though the kitchen had a couple of tablespoons remaining, spread it on the base of the dish, and filled the rest with bread crumbs to give the appearance of a full serve. Bottles of water are not provided (possibly due to the tight space), but rather diners are expected to rely on the small glasses being refilled by waitstaff. I had to ask four or five times for water (it was a hot night) by waiters standing around doing nothing in a half-filled venue.

Updated from previous review on 2015-10-05

The worst management attitude ever. Table of 7, ordered a large selection of dishes with a drink each.
Arrived the time of the main courses, we ordered a bottle of wine (until then no problem..), after pouring a small glass to everybody, i attend to order another bottle to be told after 20 mins that i couldn't get it. (without explanations).
I asked to see the manager, who after 15 mins, told me that as we were drunk, she was refusing to serve us.
Maybe somebody need to explain her properly the rules of 'responsible Service of Alcohol'.
Needless to say We won't be back and already enjoying tell all our friends and social media contact to avoid such an establishment.
We still left a good tip to the service staff who were awesome.
SHAME, SHAME, SHAME

This place is an absolute must! We got the chicken burger which was so convincing and reminiscent of KFC. The poutine was just incredible, the gravy alone was perfection let alone on chips with cheese.

We should have left it there for the mains but the menu said you must order the Mac and cheese, and so we did. It was meh, big serving but nothing exciting.

Cocktails were fantastic and if you don't mind a creamy beverage you must try the peanut butter cup, it was perfection

Gotta get the cheesecake and pumpkin pie, both classics and done exactly as they should be - the taste and texture was all there

A great night, highly recommended and will certainly be back for breakfast

I went not too long ago and had the mock chicken burger. The texture was so convincing! But it tasted amazing!!! Really cool place and great staff

If you tend to associate vegan with healthy, this place sets-out to prove you wrong. Vegan food can indeed be super-junky. I ordered the "ribs" and the canadian chips . The chips arrived drowned in gravy. Poor soggy things! As for the fake meats, you don't really know what goes into them. I only know that by the end I was feeling seedy. Somebody at my table got the type of reaction she only gets after ingesting msg. Fortunately they kept refilling our jug of water. After eating so much salt you find yourself continuously reaching for it.

So, so good. I love a place where I can order anything at all and know it's 100% vegan! So great that they are willing to alter ingredients to cater for my lack of spice-love. Great food and service. Make sure you book well in advance.

Oh how I wish I had one in Hobart! Fantastic to be able to order anything on the menu and not worry about cruelty! The food I had was fabulous, tasty and friendly staff, go there!!

It's good, but not as good as all the hype I've heard.

I wouldn't tell you not to go, I'd just say to bring your expectations down a little.

Hint: the desserts are the best part. Maybe just skip to that right away :)

Mexican Hash & Breakfast Burrito are delicious. Service is fast with a smile.

Amazing food. I had the big breakfast and it was delicious. Lots of atmosphere. Very popular place to eat, it was packed.

The bullet coffee is better than any dessert you'll have!! It's made with coconut oil and coconut butter if my memory serves me!

We shared the potato hash and the choc torte both were delicious but small, although I was full leaving..so no complaints really.

Such a cool place to hang out, they have a great bar. I'll be back for to sample some cocktails:)

After around 4 visits to Smith and Daughters I feel this establishment is not delivering the same standard of tasty fare it became famous for.

On the positive side,the smokey Champinones al Ajillo are exceptional. However, there are several dishes on the menu which unfortunately miss the mark. On the last visit, my boyfriend and I tried different dishes to those previously enjoyed and were quite disappointed in the quality over all.

The cocktails are some of Melbourne's best, but on the pricey side.

The service is mostly upbeat and excellent.

Like many Vegans in the area I have eaten here a few times and was generally very impressed. Serving sizes and price are comparable and the food was generally of a high standard. The last time that I visited, the food was surprisingly average/bland and this appears to now be unfortunately common.
Book ahead if planning to dine at night.

I thought this place did a really good job of imitating non-vegan food. It was all very visually appealing and texturally pleasant but I feel like it was missing the "wow" factor for me. Perhaps the chef was having a bad night but the food was lacking a certain explosion of flavour that I was expecting when I bit into it. It could be as simple as adjusting the seasoning or trying out a few different herbs/spices. I'll try this place again in a month or two because I've seen such fantastic reviews from other people and the service was A+

Finally got to visit Smith and Daughters on a trip over from Adelaide and it was well worth the wait. We were greeted by wonderfully friendly staff who were attentive and helpful the whole time. The food was just amazing. I'm already craving the garlic prawns again just days later. This place definitely lives up to the hype.

Great price, great service, great food

I went here for dinner with my boyfriend and a friend and we were all blown away!! It was seriously delicious food!!

The staff were wonderful and friendly and the decor was great!

It is very busy so make sure you book for weekend nights.

Highly recommend and would definitely go back! They have recently opened another shop called 'Smith & Deli' and I am very much looking forward to my next trip to Melb to try it out as I've heard its amazing!!

I'd heard a lot of good things about this place, so I came in with pretty high expectations. It didn't quite meet them.

The atmosphere was great, and despite being seated at a shared table, we had enough space that my husband and I didn't feel much different in that regard than if we'd had a table to ourselves, and the staff were good.

However, the food, while tasty, wasn't, on the whole, anything remarkable. The queso dip was good, but the beans in it could have done with a little more flavour. The mushrooms were delicious. The roast potatoes had little crispy bits, but the whole potatoes themselves weren't crispy, though that could be a personal preference thing. The avocado ice-cream, while adventurous, was actually pretty ordinary and I didn't finish it, and the chocolate torte it came with was pretty ordinary as well. The pear crumble, however, was a wonderful example of taking an old favourite and tweaking it to make it new and interesting without losing the comforting charm.

Also, just a note about the booking system. When I tried to book, via the website, it didn't take any of my information, but told me it had made a booking. When I called, I found out that the booking hadn't been made. If the booking app isn't behaving itself properly, I think you might have more success searching for the restaurant on dimi website.

This is IMO the best vegan restaurant I've visited in Australia and does well against the best I've visited anywhere in the world.

The food and service at Smith and Daughters are amazing. A great example of what you get when you pay for quality. The dishes are genius; seriously, avocado icecream! The people clearly love what they do and I'll keep going back again and again.

amazing place that features some v different and exciting food ideas, well presented and full of flavour
our friends loved the tuna and pea croquettes, but i thought they were a bit boring
the brocoli and cauliflower thing was good, as were the morcilla, mushrooms in sherry sauce and the coriander/chilli martinis
only quibbles - expensive and very noisy - but as there aren't really enough greens on offer, it get good rather than excellent
having said that, this is a must go place - needs to be supported and encouraged as really exciting

Outstanding restaurant. Every dish we had was excellent. Interesting and varied menu. The mushroom pate (served with crisp bread, gherkins and caper berries) were a particular highlight. High quality vegan desserts. Friendly staff and prices and pretty reasonable by Melbourne standards.

I had no bad experiences whatsoever with this place. Highly recommended.

Simply put, this is the best vegan food I've had in my life. The faux prawns are to die for.

I cannot recommend this place enough - just perfect and reasonably priced! BOOK a table! You'll need to - everyone wants to go here, and with good reason. My god - the food is to die for!!

Perhaps the best chirozo on the planet. I was in a hurry and couldn't order as many things as I wanted, but the salad was excellent and so was the vegetable juice. The staff were friendly and the place was lively.

Visted S&D for the first time tonight with my lovely lady, the staff were amazing, especially out waiteress Charlie, We had the Cashew, cheese, salsa and black bean dip and shared the garlic prawns (faux) the texture was amazing and the taste even better and the blood sausage, this also had a beautiful flavour, we let Charlie choose our deserts to share; donuts with jam and Pina Colada cake.... Wow!
This restaurant is a MUST visit, I'll be back for sure

I came here this weekend because my sister was visiting Melbourne and I wanted to take her to a new restaurant. S&D has changed since I last reviewed it so I thought it was time for an update. Contrary to what I used to think, I now believe you can have a decent meal for a reasonable price here (although I have still on one occasion ended up spending $32 on an omelette and a smoothie here). The menu consists mainly of shared dishes and tapas items. The restaurant's strength is still its attention - to detail and to you. Your water glass will never be empty, with staff continuously circulating to make themselves available. There were four of us on this occasion and we ordered shared dishes: a couple of my staples, the layered queso dip with corn chips and the mushroom pâté with crisp bread and gherkins; and new for me, the tartare, the potato salad and the vegan blood sausage, all around $15.The queso is very good and savoury with its base of black beans. The pâté is delicious and intense but there's never enough bread and you have to order more. I was less impressed with the tartare, which didn't seem to have lot of flavour. The potato salad was OK but not exciting. The 'blood sausage', which I was initially apprehensive about, had the texture of a loaf or cake and was on the sweet side. The main expense of the evening was the wine and unfortunately the staff got this wrong twice but, to be fair, I didn't pick up on it until afterwards. All of us chose the chocolate molé cheesecake for dessert and it was nice but not as good as other vegan cheesecakes I've had (and not very much like a conventional cheesecake). Other dishes I like that I didn't have this time are the potato tortilla and the tuna and green pea croquettas, nicely flavoured and both immaculately served on a board with a smear of creamy sauce. It's still hard to get a table, so book well in advance, although you can sometimes walk in and get a seat at the communal table or bar.
Updated from previous review on Wednesday March 26, 2014

Excellent place, original vegan menu and nice atmosphere! Beautiful sunday brunch. Lovely and caring staff. I would totally recommend this place.

The food here is exceptional and the staff are incredible. I've been here a number of times now as it's simply my favourite restaurant ever. The flavours these guys use are amazing and as a result the dishes are like nothing you've ever had before.

This is definitely a place to take your vegan curious friends who are unsure about just how amazing vegan food can be.

I wholeheartedly recommend this restaurant to anyone visiting Melbourne.

Went here a couple of months back. I think this is Melbourne's only completely vegan restaurant. It has a kind of rock'n'rolly bar sort of vibe and is pretty loud, so bear that in mind.

Food is absolute quality, without blowing your mind. A range of dishes, some with mock meat and some not. We had a chorizo dish which was great, the tuna croquettes (really impressive) and the Mexican combo thing that comes in the edible bowl (good). We only got the bowl thing because they messed up our paella. This was disappointing, but at least they were honest with us. The manager came out and told us she would rather not serve us something half-assed and that they were sorry. It wasn't a big deal and they had been super-busy that night. We also had cocktails which were very good.

Prices are reasonable. Not expensive by any means. Dishes tend to be smallish, so err on the side of more if anything. No real cons I can think of. I definitely look forward to going here again.

This is by far the best vegan South American restaurant I've been to, and maybe even the best vegan restaurant! The food is divine, especially the vegan molten lava cake with cinnamon ice cream, made freshly for you! The atmosphere is great and the staff are super friendly and always willing to help. The amount of thought that went into Smiths & Daughters is what makes this restaurant so special! I loved the decor and it fits perfectly on Brunswick st. in Fitzroy. I really hope I can go back again!

I have eaten dinner at Smith & Daughters twice in the last month and was impressed in every respect on both occasions. The all vegan menu is such a treat, with imaginative, unique and very tasty meals on offer. From the starters menu, I really enjoyed the mushrooms, croquettes and potato dishes. I really enjoyed the presentation, variety, size and taste of the large taco dish in particular. Perhaps the most outstanding aspect is the friendly and extremely attentive service offered by all staff, which is a rarity in Australia these days. This place obviously makes a concerted effort to offer quality service over quantity of custom, unlike some of the other veggie bars further up the street.

I went with friends and we chose to pick some small plates to share. We chose guacamole to eat with our cocktails, all of which were very tasty. We also shared the tortilla, tamales, potatas con chorizo and the champinones dish. I really enjoyed all of them but preferred the less "meaty" type dishes but my meat eating friends loved the mushrooms particularly. We also shared the desserts, a flan, doughnuts, and a chocolate tart. The avocado ice cream served with the chocolate tart was amazing. The chocolate tart would probably be too sweet as a full dessert and is recommend sharing.
I can't say enough good things about the staff. They were helpful, attentive and so nice! It was a Friday night and busy but the food came out quickly and we didn't need to wait for staff. It was a bit noisy, but that can be said of any restaurant.
We were all so full after our meals And we will definitely be going back!