DAY 1
Airport: Sydney Airport
“I brought my own food for my flights and had no issues bringing it through the airport.”
Airline: Qantas Airways
“I didn’t eat anything provided by the airline as I prefer eating my own food when traveling on planes. I was able to bring my own food and ice packs on board with no issues!”
Hotel: Oaks Melbourne at William Suites
“I stayed at the Oaks Melbourne on William Suites. I ensured I had a room which had a fully equipped kitchen so I was able to store and prepare food. My room had a stove top, microwave, fridge, freezer, dishwasher and more. I had a great stay here!”
Breakfast: Cafe Segovia
“For a drink, I ordered apple juice and after looking at their menu I decided to try to see if I could eat here as well. They had some flexible options on their menu of sourdough bread with your choice of add-ons. I opted for smashed avocado with my toast. I gave the staff my Equal Eats card and they confirmed that this dish would be suitable for me! It was all delicious!”
Lunch: Sushi Hub
“Safety ate some sushi here! I ordered the salmon nigiri box and mini avocado rolls which did not contain any egg. This is my go to safe order at sushi hub.”
Dinner and Drinks: Imperial Hotel
“I wasn’t planning on eating here but whenever I go to a venue I always just like to look at the menu to see what they have on offer. They had multiple dietary options on their menu such as vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegetarian dishes. There was a QR code to order food directly to your table and for each dish there was the option to ‘change it up’ where you could remove ingredients from the dish. For example, for the Nachos, there was an option to make the dish dairy-free by removing the cheese and cream! There was even a specific allergies field on the ordering form which I had never seen as an option before. This blew me away! It said for any extreme allergies to please speak to a manager however, for other allergies they have checkboxes to pick what you were allergic to. Seeing this I felt confident that they knew how to handle allergies and decided to speak to a manager to order something. I ended up ordering the Nachos and they confirmed they would be able to safely do this for me by making some changes. I showed them my Equal Eats card, which helped communicate my allergies and made it simple to show the chefs what to avoid. It was delicious and I was just so amazed by the procedures they had in place for food allergies from a QR code ordering method!”
Snack: EARL Canteen
“EARL Canteen has been my go-to food spot every time I have gone to Melbourne in the past, and they amazed me again this time. I still reached out to EARL Canteen in advance to notify them of my allergies in case there had been any changes to their menu or procedures. I was thrilled when they confirmed there had not been any changes so I could re-order my favorite meals again! They also attached their allergen guide as a reference and suggested some suitable options for me. Whilst in Melbourne, I safely ate at EARL Canteen a couple of times and had a great experience every time. Each time I ordered, I gave the staff my Equal Eats card to assist the chef with allergy management and cross contamination. I ordered the Toasted Turkish Roll with Pork Belly (omitted the coleslaw), Wholebowl with Pork Belly (omitted the coleslaw), and Crispy Fried Potato Gems. All of these dishes were amazing! My friends without any food allergies also loved the food here.”
Dessert: Piccolina
“With my dairy and nut allergies I have always avoided ice cream and gelato shops. However, I stumbled across Piccolina in Melbourne and safely ate my first-ever sorbet! When looking at the menu options at Piccolina I noticed quite a few dairy-free sorbet options listed. They also had an allergy notice on their menu to let their team know if you suffer from allergies so they can share an allergen table. I decided to speak to the staff to understand their allergy process and see if I would be comfortable to eat here! Their allergen menu was clearly labelled and there were a few sorbets that did not contain any of my allergies. They had a may contain traces label since there are gelatos in the kitchen that have dairy and nuts. However, they explained to me that for allergies they would use a brand new scoop to ensure it hadn’t touched the other tubs of ice cream. They also opened a brand new tub of sorbet to minimize the risks of cross-contamination!! The staff were really amazing and well-versed in allergies so I decided to try the Dark Chocolate Dairy-Free Sorbet, which was delicious! They have various Piccolina stores around Melbourne and during my stay, I visited two different ones. Both had the same allergy procedures in place and were able to use a new scoop and open a new tub for me.”
Sightseeing: Exploring Melbourne City and doing some shopping here!
Sightseeing: Walking around exploring Southbank along the water.
DAY 2
Breakfast: Boost Juice
“I first decided to try Boost Juice after researching their website. Their website says they take requests for allergens and dietary requirements very seriously and to advise the staff at Boost of your allergies so that they can ensure you are looked after and that extra care is taken. Their website also has a table that outlines all the allergen and nutritional information on their drink so you can easily cross-check the allergens applicable to you on each drink. The main allergen I was concerned about was dairy, but after going into the store and speaking with the staff, something that I discovered is that they have multiple vegan items on the menu. They even have a dedicated vegan blender so there is no dairy cross-contamination. They also have a variety of dairy-free milk alternatives such as soy milk instead of dairy milk and sorbet instead of ice cream. My go-to order is the Fresh Juices and then I am able to choose my own fruit bases. My favorite mix is apple, orange, pineapple and passionfruit!”
Lunch: Grill’d
“I looked at the allergen menu online and saw that the Grill’d Sweet Potato Chips were free of all my allergens! When ordering I gave the staff my Equal Eats card so they could double check if the sweet potato chips would be ok and they confirmed they were. These chips were so good and the allergen menu was so helpful in showing suitable options. It seems some other side dishes may be safe for me at Grill’d, so I am looking forward to trying these in the future.”
Dinner: Yakimono
“I was recommended Yakimono by some Melbourne locals as a must go to. So before my trip, I reached out to the restaurant via email explaining my allergies to see if they would be able to cater for me. They replied promptly confirming that they would have some suitable options for me and that they have added my allergies to my booking. When I arrived at the restaurant I was so amazed to see that they had already placed an annotated menu at my seat showing what I could eat and what could be adapted for my allergies. I was also thrilled to see numerous menu options for me. Having this annotated menu in front of me made it super clear and straightforward to decide what to order. My friends decided to order the dishes that I could eat so I could try multiple options! We safely ordered the following dishes: Charcoal Roasted Edamame, Karage Chicken (omitted the mayonnaise), Yaki Sashimi, Salmon Hako (omitted the mayonnaise), Negi Chicken, Wagyu Rump Cap, and steamed Japanese Rice.
It is fair to say that I was absolutely blown away!! The food was all so delicious and most importantly allergy friendly. If I had to pick a favorite dish, I would say the Negi Chicken Sticks. Every time the waiters brought out the dishes they confirmed that it was suitable for my allergies. Having this reassurance from the staff made me feel so comfortable and well-catered for. Seeing that the chefs/staff had taken the time to annotate a menu in advance for me was very comforting that they knew how to handle allergies. This is definitely one of the best dining out experiences I have ever had! Hopefully, they will open a Sydney restaurant soon.”
Drinks: Holey Moley
“Safely ordered a cider to drink here!”
Snack: Krispy Kreme
“Safely ate the Apple Custard Crumble Donut. This was so delicious!! This is their vegan donut so it does not contain dairy, eggs, nuts or sesame. It does, however, list peanut, hazelnut, sulphites, lupin, egg, and milk as may be present. The Krispy Kreme website explains that the vegan donuts are produced in the same factory and equipment which also creates the other donuts. However, steps have been taken to minimise cross-contamination risk. Vegan-friendly donuts are produced before the rest of the range and there is a full clean-down of equipment in between.”
Sightseeing: The Art Of The Brick Lego display at the Melbourne Showgrounds
Sightseeing: Exploring and shopping in Chadstone
Sightseeing: Hijinx Hotel
Sightseeing: Strike Bowling
DAY 3
Breakfast: Tropical Juice
“I ordered the Tropical Tango juice from Tropical Juice this way there was no cross-contamination with the smoothies. They also didn’t have any kiwi fruit on their menu so I didn’t need to worry about this fruit.”
Lunch: Farro Pizzeria
“I wasn’t expecting there to be much I could eat at these markets but the menu for Farro Pizzeria looked promising! They had vegetarian, vegan, vegan option and gluten-free options on their menu. They also had an option to make anything on their menu gluten-free! Their Garlic Foccacia bread was labelled as vegan so I thought I would try to order this. As always, I gave the staff my Equal Eats card and they checked with the chef if the focaccia would be ok for me and it was. The focaccia was delicious, I loved it! I also discovered that Farro Pizzeria have multiple restaurants around Melbourne so next time I am here I would be keen to try these out. I have also heard some amazing reviews from others with food allergies about their restaurants.”
Dinner: Chin Chin
“Chin Chin is another restaurant that I have heard such amazing reviews about in terms of their delicious food and their ability to cater for dietary requirements. As always, I reached out to the restaurant in advance to notify them of my allergies to check if they could cater. They let me know that their menu is flexible and that they would be able to cater to my allergies. An annotated menu showing which dishes could be catered for my allergies was also attached to the email. They also confirmed that they have procedures in place to avoid cross-contamination and to speak to my waiter on the night as they would be able to run through everything they can and cannot accommodate for me. On the night I gave my waiter my equaleats card to explain my allergies. I chose several dishes that they recommended when I reached out earlier and checked with my waiter that these would be ok. They took my Equal Eats card and my order to the chef to double-check everything and confirmed it was all doable with some adaptations! Here is what I safely ordered: 1. Pulled Pork Pancakes 2. Braised Wagyu Beef Pad Seuw Both of these dishes were delicious! I was impressed I was able to have the Pad Seuw as often these noodles are made with egg. However, these ones were rice-based so I was able to eat my first ever Pad Seuw and it was so yum. I had a wonderful dining experience at Chin Chin and having staff so well versed in food allergies was very reassuring. There is actually a Chin Chin restaurant in Sydney so I am keen to try this one out soon!”
Sightseeing: Queen Victoria Market
Sightseeing: Grazeland Food Markets
Sightseeing: Sense Spa
DAY 4
Breakfast: Australian Cookie Empire at the Vegan Markets
“Started our day walking through the Vegan Markets. I found my favorite cookie brand here, The Australia Cookie Empire. They are vegan, gluten-free, and nut-free! I had one of their cookies for breakfast.”
Lunch: EARL Canteen
Dinner: The Meat Wine and Co Southbank
“The Meat & Wine Co is one of my go-to restaurants in Sydney, so I decided to try their Melbourne location in Southbank, along the waterfront. The menu showed vegan and vegetarian options and they were also able to adapt some of their dishes to cater for my allergies. I showed my waiter my Equal Eats card and we discussed some possible dish options for me after they spoke to the chef. They advised that they would be able to cook the Monte Rump Eye without butter and that it could be pan-fried so it is cooked separately from the steaks with dairy. The fries are fried in the same fryer as other items that contain my allergies so there was a risk of cross-contamination here so they recommended I order a salad instead. Here is what I safely ordered: Sourdough Bread, extra virgin olive oil (omitted the cultured butter) and 200g Monte Rump Eye with Salad (omitted sauces). As always, I had such a great experience at The Meat & Wine Co and felt that my dietary requirements were being catered for.”
Sightseeing: Vegan Markets
Sightseeing: Watched the Sydney Swans play Hawthorn in AFL at the MCG
Airport: Melbourne Airport
“I brought my own food for my flights and had no issues bringing it through the airport.”
