V Rating: Super V
Where: 115 - 117 King Street, Newtown.
When: Open 7 days for buffet dinner. Yum Cha Sat & Sun: 12.30pm - 3pm.
Tel: (02) 9519 5330.
Price: Entree: $2.80c - $12.80. Mains: $11.80 - $14.80.

Ever since I’ve been writing this blog I’ve had a niggling feeling of inadequacy. How can I claim any credibility as a Sydney vegetarian restaurant reviewer when there’s no mention of Green Gourmet on the site?

Green Gourmet has been around for years and is one of Sydney’s best known and most loved vegetarian restaurants. The Newtown restaurant was so successful that a small vegetarian grocery store was opened next door, and a second restaurant was opened in St Leonards.

Fortunately, the stormy weather on Saturday helped me convince our group of friends to swap yum cha at Bodhis for yum cha at the original Green Gourmet in Newtown (nb: love a city where there are multiple vegetarian yum cha options).

Green Gourmet is a novel dining experience. You can order off the extensive and highly recommended menu. Alternatively, there’s a big dinner buffet where you pay according to the weight of your meal. I love the endless plates of vegetarian stiry-frys, fried snacks, and vegetable dishes, but not the moment of reckoning when my plate consistently seems to be the heaviest of everyone in my group (I figure it’s the guilt weighing me down).

On the weekend Green Gourmet runs vegetarian yum cha. We arrived about half an hour after yum cha started and before the restaurant was full. While the staff were lovely, it was a slightly slow process with one or two dishes carried out on a tray at a time. This is no problem for a small table, but for our hungry group of six it meant taking whatever we were offered, rather than choosing from a selection.

The yum cha options were diverse - fresh rice paper rolls, fried spring rolls, sweet and sour fake pork, fried fake drumsticks and seafood rolls, green vegetables, dumplings and satay skewers. The choices were distinctly different from what I’ve had at Bodhis, which focuses more on steamed dumplings and steers clear of fake meat. This may just have been luck of the draw - the menu suggests that there is also a range of vegetable and steamed yum cha offerings.

I liked the fresh spring rolls the best out of the savoury dishes, but my favourite part of yum cha was dessert. What’s not to love about a lilac-coloured pudding?

Another highlight of Green Gourmet is the long and unusual tea menu.

Like many of Sydney’s vegetarian restaurants, Green Gourmet has a Buddhist ethic so there’s no garlic, onion or alcohol to be found on the premises.

Green Gourmet definitely rates as one of my favourite vegetarian places in Sydney - but I’d try the dinner / buffet option ahead of yum cha.

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