Ten years ago, Jake Smyth and Kenny Graham were attracting queues in Newtown with burgers that could be maximized with trashcan bacon. The restaurant has come a long way from those beginnings, now serving a fully vegan menu (with fried cauliflower, mash and gravy, and four plant-based burgers) at all of its locations, including Castle Hill, which opened in 2022.

Anyone who misses the vegan yum cha at Bodhi (RIP) should check out Green Sprouts, which offers dumplings, bean curd rolls, and “pork” buns for weekend brunch. The mall-based eatery also presents a full-day yum cha menu during the week, so you can find plant-based har gow, siu mai, and chile-smoked soy and beetroot dumplings at 8 p.m. on a Wednesday, if that’s when the cravings hit.

It’s hard to upstage the postcard view from the 36th floor of the Shangri-La Hotel, which looks out over the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. But the venue’s vegan high tea does its best to take all the attention. The service (which is cheaper during weekdays, when window tables aren’t so hard to come by) hits reliable notes. Recent highlights include rich date gateau coated in raspberry chocolate, pulled jackfruit kimchi tacos, and berry jam scones with airy soy cream.

Melbourne’s Shannon Martinez is (rightly) one of Australia’s most high-profile vegan chefs. Her beloved cheeseless cacio e pepe from Smith + Daughters is now at Alibi in Sydney’s Ovolo Woolloomooloo hotel, where she also taps into her Spanish roots with a miraculously egg-free potato tortilla. You’ll want her spanakopita with lemon ash and pillowy slices of confit tomato, ricotta, seaweed, and black garlic focaccia on your table, too.

Junda Khoo’s Ho Jiak restaurants pay tribute to his amah, the Malaysian grandmother who strongly shaped his culinary memories. At the acclaimed Town Hall outpost, there are some plant-based dishes worth asking about, like the koay kak, where radishes are steamed, cooled, deep-fried twice, refrigerated again, and then crisped further in the wok. They’re finished with punchy vegan sauces, which Junda has carefully experimented with.

Natasya Soetantyo’s Indonesian vegan menu is an underrated gem. Try her garlicky version of batagor (a fried Javanese fish-based snack) or her grilled tofu satay, in which ultra-soft bean curd turns caramel-crisp thanks to continuous sweet-soy basting over charcoal. Ferments’ Lab tempeh crisps (crafted by chef Darwin Su) make a welcome cameo, too.

At Gunjan Aylawadi’s welcoming all-day Indian diner, you have to order the sabudana vada, essentially spiced hash-brown bites that chef Dhruv Sadaphal (previously of Fred’s) keeps vegan-friendly with sweetened coconut yogurt. The broccoli wings with hot tamarind sauce and dosa potato jaffles are also vegan and boast strong followings among fans.

Long before Impossible Burger and other tech startups got into headline-attracting plant-based patties, old-school Asian restaurants were championing tofu and mock meats for Buddhist customers. In Cabramatta, eateries serving this unshowy fare have been a fixture for decades. At An Lac, Vietnamese dishes known for their meaty or seafood flavors have been translated in vegan-friendly ways, from slurpable bun bo hue to bun rieu.

The team behind Vandal taqueria (a Vegan Mile resident) keeps expanding its plant-based empire. The ambitious Greens Supermarket on nearby Enmore Road serves a range of in-house vegan desserts, sandwiches, and dishes to go. You can also fill your shopping basket with pantry items like caramelized onion camembert and local artisan tofu. There’s bistro-style outdoor seating if you want to linger. Look out for several attached restaurants to come.

In its pre-vegan era, Gigi was recognised by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana for its traditional slices, a rare honor in Sydney. It maintains that accreditation today even after pivoting to a plant-based menu, including a classic tomato-garlic marinara alongside inspired vegetable toppings. Gigi is one of many standouts on Sydney’s Vegan Mile.

Yu Ozone’s charming Japanese cafe, a worthy stop on Newtown’s Vegan Mile, truly caters to every dietary restriction. The acclaimed onigiri, katsu curry, celebratory mochi, and sweet potato donuts contain zero traces of gluten, dairy, or other animal products. Take advantage of the new dinnertime hours to try the slurpable yuzu-flavored noodles.

John Gebran opened this restaurant in 2001 as a celebration of his Lebanese roots. And while it may not promote its vegan offerings explicitly, it’s worth seeking out the plant-based dishes on the menu, particularly the snackable and feast-friendly meze: fried cauliflower, bite-sized falafel, chile-spiced cubes of fried potato, and smoky baba ghanoush. You might be intrigued by the beetroot, za’atar, and lemon salad, too.

This plant-based cafe offers a highly dunkable vegan translation of a classic French dip sandwich, a tribute to the Burger King Whopper, and a “bacon and egg” roll. The restaurant counts chef Elijah Attard (who has plated vegan dishes at Yellow and Maybe Sammy) among its fans.