• Kappaya

Abbotsford Convent
1 St Heliers Street
Abbotsford 3067
03 9416 0070

When the weather is fine, the convent is a relaxing place to hang out, eat and socialise.  With tourists over from Canada, my friend had organised for the convent to be part of the itinerary.

Rushing to get there, I immediately relaxed seeing others lying in the sun, sipping coffees and listening to the live music that was playing that afternoon.

Kappaya was the least busy of the few cafes in the convent.   With Japanese staff and the slogan of “Japanese soul food”, we were happy to try it.

The menu focused on bento in a pick-and-mix style.  I choose the only vegetarian options: tofu quiche, fried vegetable tempura, tofu miso onigiri and pickled vegetable onigiri.

The bentos took a while to arrive but were beautifully presented.  The onigiri rested on crisp seaweed, and the miso tofu one with eggplant was very tasty.   The pickled vegetable one was also appetising.  Both were done with wholesome brown rice.


The tempura vegetables were heavily fried and seemed to have been sitting around for a while, but the accompanying lightly pickled radish made it appealing.


The tofu quiche was less appetizing with little flavour.  There was also a cabbage salad in a salty dressing.



We enjoyed our meals.  The setting was casual and the food was decent.  It was an appropriate spot for the visitors to our lovely city, gardens and relaxed food – something for which Melbourne should be remembered.

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