Sister of Soul ‘Raw berry cheesecake’
St Kilda restaurant’s raw, vegan cheesecake
Pros: Presented wonderfully, didn’t leave me too uncomfortably full
Cons: Not really a “berry” cheesecake, expensive for portion size, flavour left a bit to be desired
St Kilda’s Sister of Soul is a highly trafficked vegetarian restaurant with a pretty decent selection of vegan, raw, no garlic/onion and gluten free options (thankfully very clearly marked on the menu). After a trip into the HIA Home Show in the CBD on Sunday, my wife and I decided to head to St Kilda and take a look around.
On the corner of busy Acland Street, number 73, is the restaurant. It was originally brought to my attention by a colleague who liked the George Bernard Shaw quote on the wall “Animals are my friends and I don’t eat my friends.”
It is always crowded, which I can say with confidence now I’ve been three times at different times of the day and week and occasionally you end up with a not-so desirable seating arrangement (two couples that don’t know each other on a six person table). It also gets a bit uncomfortable on the warmer days, as flies seem to be in and out regularly with the windows open often. It’s an interesting blend between a diner and a restaurant. Cutlery is kept on the tables and the menus are printed on A3 paper, but the menu (and its prices) sound a bit more upmarket.
We ordered some chips, quinoa patties, a couple of pieces of plain gluten free bread (it seems they didn’t have any vegan butter or margarine, which is a shame), papaya salad and, the most exciting part, a raw berry cheesecake. I had hopes that this would be comparable to the deliciousness that was the cheesecake at Radhey Chai Bar.
The menu at Sister of Soul is really mixed. Noodles, DIY rice paper rolls and curries, mixed with raw lasagnas, burritos and “mid-class” Australian dining dishes, there’s basically a bit of each cuisine in the menu. In the past I’ve tried a curry and a raw zucchini noodle pasta. The curry was great but the raw dish left me unsatisfied.
The savouries were light and delicious, even the chips seemed crunchier than average chips. The papaya salad was a clear standout — a huge portion, fresh, crunchy and with carrots and papaya that had been almost ‘zoodled’.
They were all well-presented, though I’d say the quinoa patties were a little small for the price and the dish was a little underwhelming. I liked that, despite being fried, they were still light and crispy. The plum dipping sauce was really nice.
And then it came time for the cheesecake. The bit we were all waiting for.
Firstly, it certainly looked more striking than that we’d had at Radhey. On a cut out of bamboo leaf and dotted around with berries, a clump of berries on top with micro greens, the cream coloured cheesecake was molded into a perfect circle. It appeared as though it had a good mixture of base to cheese ratio and, yes, it was impressive to look at.
In texture, it’s lighter than you’d expect. I was disappointed that the berry flavouring was merely those that came on the plate with none in the cheesecake itself. The berries, on tasting, also appeared not to be fresh and seemed instead to be the defrosted packet version, which are very soft, less flavourful and in a lot of juice. To me, this is a bit of a cop out when discussing a berry cheesecake. They could have made the berries into some sort of jam or coulis for a better texture and to make the dish more cohesive.
Perhaps something like the jellied layer that I made on mine at home would have been a good idea. Or even just having some of the berries through the cashew mix itself.
I did like the addition of the micro-greens or herbs on top, but I think the idea to include them was better than the execution. They had a peppery bitter taste to them that I didn’t much like on a cheesecake.
I’d expect that the decision not to put the flavour through the cake is so that the non-vegan version (coconut and honey raw cheesecake) can be made in the same way, dotted afterwards with the topping ingredients.
It didn’t leave that heavy, over full feeling in my stomach after eating, which was a good thing after a sizable meal.
The cheese flavour itself was nice — but it needed a little bit more sweetness without any of the berry flavours throughout. The highlight was actually the base, which seemed to be raw compressed nuts. All in all, it was a bit of a let down after a lot of excitement over how it looked. Don’t judge a book and all that jazz.
Of everything, I probably enjoyed the company I was with most of all. It was a great lunch because of the chips and the conversation, but I was let down overall.
The price
It’s not cheap and sits in the mid to upper price range. It cost us around $60 or $70 for the two of us and that was without really having mains and sticking to appetisers and a shared dessert. I did have a glass of wine — the cheapest vegan option on the menu — which was pricey at $10. The shiraz itself is only $20-something a bottle.
I get that some of the dishes are more expensive because they use quality ingredients (I do know the shelf price of quinoa and raw cashews afterall), but even with that factored in I can’t justify the price.
At $11.50 for the cheesecake — I think I’ll stick to getting my desserts elsewhere. If I was paying half that price I might consider it again, but with so many good raw vegan desserts elsewhere for cheaper, I feel a bit ripped off.
You can see the whole menu here for pricing.
The ingredients
Mixed berries (frozen, possibly), micro greens, nuts: cashews, almonds and possibly coconut oil or milk.
The nutritional value
Raw, gluten free and vegan, it’s obviously mainly nut based. In small portions, I’d imagine this actually isn’t that unhealthy for you. It’s probably a lot better than my homemade cheesecake, but certainly not as tasty.
