The Flexible Plate: How Australian Cafés and Pubs Build Menus for Diners Who Eat Less Meat
We read the official menus of 50 well-known venues in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, and recorded every protein add-on, swap and price.
Photo: Nima Naseri / Unsplash
Australians are eating meat more selectively. In Food Frontier's 2024 consumer survey, "meat reducer" was the country's most popular diet, chosen by 21% of Australians, and 79% said they go meat-free at least one day a week.
Forecasters expect menus to follow. Technomic's 2026 global foodservice predictions name halloumi as a protein to watch: they expect it to "further cement a place" at chains in Australia, as burger patties, salad toppers and breaded nuggets.
So how do venues cater for diners who want meat some of the time, but not every time? Commercial Kitchen Store read the official online menus of 50 well-known cafés, restaurants and pubs across five cities to find out.
Finding 01Flexibility lives in cafés and pubs, not fine dining
Almost every café and pub menu we read let diners build their plate: "add chicken", "add halloumi", "beef or vegan patty". None of the restaurant menus did. Most of those restaurants serve set, tasting or chef-led menus, where the kitchen decides the plate.
Menus with a protein add-on or "choose your protein" option
Official menus read in full, by venue type (n = 38)
Meat is the default in these slots: every one offered at least one meat option, and 18 of the 22 offered bacon. Just over half (12 of 22) also offered a meat-free choice in the same slot.
Finding 02When there's a meat-free swap, it's usually halloumi
Halloumi was the meat-free option menus offered most often: it appeared on 8 of the 12 menus with a meat-free swap. Falafel and mushrooms (offered in place of meat) came next, on 3 menus each. Plant-based patties and mince, often seen as the default meat alternative, appeared on just 2.
Which meat-free options sit alongside meat?
Number of menus offering each option in a protein add-on or swap slot (of 12 menus with at least one meat-free option)
The wording shows how directly these options stand in for meat. A Brisbane café offered a "choice of carrot falafel, haloumi or beef bacon". A Sydney pub listed salad add-ons as "grilled chicken, fried prawns, grilled halloumi". An Adelaide café's extras list ran "tofu scramble, grilled halloumi, pancetta, chorizo".
Finding 03Meat-free swaps are priced like a protein, usually a little lower
Halloumi add-ons cost $5 to $8 across the eight venues that listed one as an extra, with a median of $6.50. On 7 of those 8 menus, halloumi cost the same as or less than the cheapest meat on the same add-on list.
Halloumi vs meat add-ons on the same list
Add-on prices (AUD) listed side by side on eight menus
Other swaps followed the same pattern. A Melbourne pub offered its cheeseburger with a beef or vegan patty at the same price, and two Sydney cafés charged the same whether diners chose bacon or mushrooms. The one exception: a Sydney café charged $7 to add halloumi to a salad, above bacon ($5) but below chicken ($8).
Finding 04Flexible menus share the grill
A build-your-own menu runs several proteins through the same station. Where menus said how halloumi was cooked, every one said "grilled" (6 of 6 venues), and two also offered it fried. In practice that means halloumi, bacon, chicken and patties often share a cooking surface during service.
Plan the cooking surface
Halloumi, bacon, eggs and patties are all seared on a flat plate or chargrill. A commercial griddle lets one cook run meat and meat-free proteins side by side through a busy service.
Keep a clean zone for meat-free orders
Diners who choose a meat-free swap may expect it not to touch meat. A marked section of the plate, or a quick scrape and wipe between items, helps venues keep that promise.
Benchmark your add-on prices
In our sample, halloumi add-ons cost $5–8 and usually matched or undercut the cheapest meat on the same list. That's a practical reference when setting modifier prices.
Label with care
Not all halloumi is made with vegetarian rennet, and plant-based "halloumi" also exists. Check with your supplier before labelling a dish, and say how it's cooked: "grilled halloumi" tells diners what to expect.
Finding 05Halloumi is the go-to swap, but not yet the star
Halloumi appeared on 10 of the 38 menus we read: 7 of 13 cafés, 2 of 13 pubs and 1 of 12 restaurants. On most of them it was something diners add, not the dish itself. Measured against the formats Technomic predicts, Australian menus are partly there.
| Technomic's predicted format | What we found (of 38 menus) |
|---|---|
| Halloumi burgers | 1 menu |
| Halloumi on salads (as an add-on) | 3 menus |
| Breaded halloumi nuggets | 0 menus |
| Halloumi as the centre of a main dish (burger, sandwich, brunch dish or bowl) | 4 menus |
| How halloumi is offered | Venues (of 10 with halloumi) |
|---|---|
| As an add-on to another dish | 8 |
| Only as an add-on | 3 |
| In a main dish | 4 |
| As a side or starter | 5 |
Venues can appear in more than one row. Seven venues spelled it "halloumi" and three "haloumi". One bowl that lists halloumi is labelled vegan on the menu; we counted it as printed and flagged it in our data.
A note on halloumi itself
Halloumi is a brined cheese traditionally made in Cyprus and known for holding its shape when grilled or pan-fried. In 2021, "Halloumi" was registered as a protected designation of origin in the European Union.
About this study
This menu study was designed and carried out by Commercial Kitchen Store using publicly available official menus only.
- Scope
- 50 venues across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide: 4 cafés, 3 restaurants and 3 pubs in each city.
- How venues were chosen
- Venues were taken in order from public "best of" lists for each city and venue type, before any menu was opened. Perth and Adelaide lists came from Broadsheet, Gourmet Traveller, Man of Many and Perth Is OK; Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane venues came from search-result summaries for the same queries. Closed venues were replaced with the next one listed.
- Sources
- Each venue's own website or official menu files: web pages, PDF menus, menu images and on-site ordering pages. Delivery apps, review sites and social media were not used.
- What we recorded
- Every halloumi listing with its price, role and stated cooking method, and every protein add-on or "choice of" protein with its price, meat and meat-free.
- Checking
- All menus were read on 9 October 2026, including image menus read visually, and re-opened the same day to check the result. A few prices were read from menu images only.
- Menus read in full
- 38 of 50. The other 12 had no website, no published dish list, or a site that was offline.
Venue names are not published here, to keep the focus on patterns rather than individual businesses. The venue-level data is available to journalists and researchers on request.
This is a snapshot of well-known venues on one date. It shows what menus offer, not what diners order, and city figures are too small to rank cities.
Frequently asked questions
Is halloumi trending in Australia?
Our study can't measure growth. It shows that, on the menus we read, halloumi was already the most common meat-free swap. Technomic forecasts a bigger role for halloumi in 2026, and Food Frontier's 2024 survey found "meat reducer" was Australia's most popular diet.
What is a flexitarian or "meat reducer" diet?
It describes people who still eat meat but choose to eat less of it, often by going meat-free on some days or at some meals. Food Frontier's 2024 survey found 21% of Australians identified as meat reducers.
How much do venues charge to add halloumi?
In our sample, $5 to $8 as an add-on (median $6.50 across eight venues). Prices are from official menus on 9 October 2026, excluding surcharges.
Is halloumi vegetarian?
Not always. Some halloumi is made with animal rennet. Venues should check with their supplier before labelling a halloumi dish as vegetarian.
Use this research
You're welcome to quote or share these findings. Please credit Commercial Kitchen Store and link to this page.
Suggested credit
Source: The Flexible Plate, a menu study by <a href="https://commercialkitchenstore.com.au/blogs/hospitality-business-guides/the-flexible-plate-australian-menu-study">Commercial Kitchen Store</a> (October 2026).
Journalists and researchers can request the venue-level data through the contact details on this site.
Sources
- Commercial Kitchen Store menu study: official menus of 50 venues in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, checked 9 October 2026.
- Food Frontier, "Survey reveals Australia's most popular diets in 2024", 5 September 2024.
- Technomic, 2026 Global Foodservice Trend Predictions.
- European Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/591, entering "Halloumi" in the register of protected designations of origin.
The header photo is an illustrative stock image used under the Unsplash License. It does not show a venue from the study.
