subterrain - 167 st georges road fitzroy north 3068 9497 8077

they call it licensed vegetarian fun. and it is licensed and vegetarian. the fun may well have been there, but it must have been cowering in one of the dark corners, sobbing quietly to itself and rocking back and forth. they did have some good food, a nice attitude and a full bar so who's complaining? they only slightly suffer from the 'mountainous servings because we're vegetarian' syndrome but it was partly our fault for being indecisive and over-ordering. if you're a vegan, firstly that's your problem but they will take care of you here. you have vegan options for many of the dishes if you choose to totally divorce yourself from the animal kingdom.

local beer anyone? don't bother. i've brewed better in my bath or at least i can't say it's significantly better than the beer i made in the tub. i'll bet friends of mine are reeling in horror with that little gem. yeah we didn't even scrub the ring off before making the brew! haha. for some reason we did not have a g&t - probably because it was the first warm evening this year so we had to do the cold beer thing. stick to the beers that come in bottles with labels.

there's a glass case chock-full of desserts, to remind you that just because they're vegetarian, doesn't mean they can't have a decent shot at hardening your arteries along with everybody else. the waiter was playing his own understudy, as well as all the other principle roles in the show - chef, maitre d', coffee maker, information desk, pot scrubber, all-round nice guy. he let us know that in melbourne, lots of people go away for this weekend, and that's why it's quiet. two things: we're from melbourne, so are fairly up to date with the public holiday calendar (it's 27 working days 4 hours 38 minutes until the next public holiday), and two, so you're telling me it's packed to the rafters every other weekend of the year?

this place is great. if you like vegetarian pizzas and curries, go here and enjoy. when they say madras curry, it's actually spicy, not gravy-like with a curry flavour. they have dj jo who comes on friday nights. who can resist a chick who's a dj called jo? open til 1am. it seems to be popular with some practising wicca members (or at least that's what we surmised from the cackling emanating from the next table), so you might also like to go there if you're into that sort of thing.