Archive for August, 2006
V rating: VV ‘Bare Pear’ opened three months ago near the corner of Queen and Bourke Streets. It has a short but carefully designed menu of sandwiches using organic meat and vegetables and cheeses, breakfast muesli and toasts and a lunch special of soup (generally something vegetarian - today’s were tomato and bean or pumpkin, broccoli, lentil and spice) and a slice of sourdough bread for $4.90. Sandwiches are in the range of $6-8, which is pretty standard in the CBD. They use Bonsoy, which is the best tasting soy milk around as well as being, you guessed it, organic. They also offer muffins and organic coffee which people actually seem to drink and like (I am no coffee aficionado but am a reasonably well, if self-taught, people watcher). One of the muffins they offer has no gluten or added sugar. It is apple and cinnamon. I tried it and it was somewhat mushy - I was not keen on the texture, but the concept is good! So if you are looking for a healthy alternative at a reasonable price in the city, try it out. I am giving it a VV rating.
V Rating: VVVVV Bamboo cafe in North Bondi makes me think of San Fransciso. It’s something to do with the friendly organic vegetarian cafe, wih yoga retreat sidline, perched on a sharply sloping street vibe.* The range was better than your average cafe - there were some exclusively vegan dishes, and they made an effort to use soy milk. However, I think yum cha makes a better vegan brunch in Sydney.
Yes, that is more than he can manage. The baby spinach leaves came in a walnut oil dressing. So my new favourite ingredient. Overall, the standard of food was good (the olive tapenade was my other highlight) but the organic food made breakfast an expensive affair. I won’t be making the trek to Bamboo every weekend, but a lovely place for a slow, quiet start to your day. *I’ve never been to San Franciso so the comparison could be bollocks.
V Rating: VV All Bar Nun is one of the few genuine pubs in Canberra, and is a bit of an inner-north institution. During university terms or over summer it will often be packed out during the evenings. It can be a very pleasant place to spend a lazy Canberra Sunday afternoon. Whenever there is a rugby match on TV it will be standing room only. But on the Wednesday winter night that I went there for dinner and drinks with a few friends, there were quite a few free seats inside even at 8pm, and only a few brave souls at the outside tables. Food-wise, as far as vegetarians are concerned, All Bar Nun serves snacks and light meals. Choices for snacks include garlic or herb bread ($3.50), beer battered chips served with sour cream and salsa ($6.00), bean nachos with sour cream and guacamole ($9.00), vegetarian spring rolls ($5.00) or dips and bread ($8.00). The snack menu also features a tapas plate (”that’s like mezze…”), and although the tapas includes some meaty ingredients, you can ask for a vegetarian version (which will involve spinach and feta triangles, falafel balls and vegetarian spring rolls). The mains for vegetarians are a vegetarian pizza with roast pumpkin, bocconcini, spinach, pesto and olives ($12.50), fried pumpkin risotto balls with salad ($8.00), a falafel burger with salad and chips ($10.00), the bean tortilla with salad, guacamole and sour cream ($8.00), or there is the “big salad” ($10.00), which I suspect is named purely for the now-dated Seinfeld reference, rather than because it is actually big in size. The “big salad” is described on the menu as containing “mixed leaves, tomato, cucumber, onion, olives, feta and a dressing of tomato and basil “. Previously when I have ordered this I have received a not-all-that-big salad containing some, but not all, of these ingredients. Still, on that occasion the salad was still quite enjoyable and tasty and allowed me to convince myself I was doing something healthy to counteract the however-many pints I had to accompany the salad. I have also previously had the vegetarian pizza, which was agreeable, if a bit greasy. This time I decided to order the risotto balls. The two balls were a little smaller than a tennis ball, and were served sliced in half and lying on a bed of salad. All of this had been drizzled in a mysterious white dressing - perhaps an aioli? Whatever it was, the dressing was a bit overpowering for my liking. The risotto balls themselves were, I have to say it, a disappointment. The balls had apparently been deep fried and contained visible chunks of pumpkin and feta (I think), and yet, they weren’t very flavoursome. The frying had also made them quite fatty. All Bar Nun scores a VV. There is quite a reasonable vegetarian choice: four mains - sorry, “light meals” - as well as a selection of snacks. The choices are ok as far as bar food goes, they just seem to have the common theme of “fried and fatty”. But hey, it’s a pub, and that sort of food goes well with beer. - AC Ed from Tomato has just published his updated list of the top food and wine bloggers in Australia based on Technorati ranking. After the dizzying heights of making no. 21 on the food bloggers list, I’ve slipped to 39 in the combined food and wine blogs. Gulp. I have a feeling that Ed did me a favour last time by including me because my ranking has improved since the last update. Also heartened to see that some of my other favourite food bloggers, like Anna from Morsels and Musings, Reb from Cucina Rebecca, ended up in similar territory so the ranking is pretty fair. I still seem to be the the only vegetarian blogger on the list… but that’s like saying Australia came first at the Olympics, on a per capita basis. Looking at the most popular blogs there seem to be three ways that I could improve my ranking:
OK, so I only have two ideas. Anyone else think of something?
V Rating: VVV Last Thursday I went to a degustation dinner at French restaurant, Balzac. I was nervous about the vegetarian fare. Most French restaurants struggle to produce a single vegetarian dish. How would Balzac go thinking up five of them? French, fine dining restaurant Balzac is an anomaly on Belmore road, more notable for its squashed, communal and mainly Asian eateries. The sense of disjuncture is symbolised by Balzac’s cheerfully awkward position on a thin peninsular of land jutting out between two bustling roads, where it perches like the Tardis having landed some place it oughtn’t. Entering the restaurant is like stepping through a door into a different dimension. Exposed sandstone walls, soft lighting and white tablecloths transport you to a romantic, semi-rural restaurant in the Loire Valley in France. Urban Randwick, not so much. But back to the food. I had no idea what dishes to expect because there were no vegetarian options written on the menu. Once the waiting staff heard that I was vegetarian they were very attentive and made sure that dishes met my dietary preferences. For example, I was told that the first dish was quail’s eggs and asked if that was OK. I said yes, a little apprehensively. Technically I eat eggs. Just not a lot, or by themselves, and not generally from quails. I was secretly relieved when the waiter reappeared with onions fried in spices and mixed with finely shredded brussel sprouts. For the next dish I was expecting gnocchi. What actually came out were four fried truffled quail eggs with celeriac and asparagus. I didn’t immediately realise this, however, and had a Julia Roberts moment when I first tried to pick up an egg and had it roll into my lap, then tried to poke it quickly and had the yolk splash up into my face. Hence the old saying, I guess.
My favourite dish was the sauté of potato gnocchi with roast jerusalem artichokes, portobello mushrooms and reggiano. The gnocchi was soft, and the large, carefully placed slices of mushroom added a hearty flavour. At this point in the dinner we were treated to a passionate speech about the recent RU486 debate in the Federal Parliament. It was inspiring to hear how women from different parties had joined together to convince the Government to allow a rare conscience vote on the issue, and then persuaded the Parliament to pass amending legislation placing the decision to approve RU486 in the hands of the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), rather than the Minister for Health. It was sobering, however, to hear that the situation arose because a number of fortunate coincidences, and that the fate of related issues, like the push to ensure transparent advertising in pregnancy counselling, was bleaker. After this food for though we returned to food for stomachs. The waiters served small glasses of ice cream, but thoughtfully offered to bring me a different dish because they assumed that I didn’t eat gelatine. Instead, I got dark cherries in sweet syrup with lemon sorbet. Lovely. For dessert, I had the chocolate fondant with thick chocolate sauce. This was a beautiful, rich pudding perfect for a cold winter’s night. I’m not sure that a vegetarian happening by Balzac would have such an easy time, because like most French restaurants the regular Balzac menu is squarely focussed on meat. However, my degustation experience at Balzac was great. The service was impressive and friendly, the company was stimulating, and the food was carefully prepared and conceived.
V Rating: VVV This post is all about celebration. On Monday August 8, we went to Longrain for the lovely K’s birthday. Coincidentally, Longrain had celebrated its sixth birthday two nights before. To top it off, this review marks the 100th post for Veggie Friendly. Here’s cheers. Longrain epitomises cool, minimalist design. The open plan, converted warehouse holds a cocktail bar at one end and a restaurant at the other. The polished wooden banquette conjures up Hollywood glam, while large flatscreen televisions with rotating images add a vaguely cyberpunk vibe.
We turned up at 8pm after I’d confidently predicted Longrain would be quiet and we wouldn’t have to wait for a table. Apparently inner-suburbanites didn’t get the memo about rising interest rates and petrol prices. Longrain was jumping and we had to cool our heels at the cocktail bar. Half an hour later a waiter fetched us for dinner. In keeping with the Asian focus, the restaurant has long, noisy communal tables evoking banquet style meals. We steadied ourselves on our high stools and deliberated over the vegetarian section of the menu.
One of the main reasons why we chose Longrain was their salt and pepper tofu. This is one of my favourite dishes and Longrain makes the best version I’ve ever tasted. The soft tofu is served in large cubes and absorbs the flavours of the light, slightly sticky salt and pepper batter. The amazing thing about this dish is that the batter is so light that it doesn’t taste oily or fried, but it still gives the tofu some structure - I’m convinced that this is only possible because chef Martin Boetz has struck a Faustian pact. We also tried the vegetarian eggnet with pomelo, bean sprouts, peanuts, coriander and sweet vinegar. This is a beautifully presented cold asian salad with a refreshing sweet dressing. Andrew could have eaten this whole dish by himself.
The remaining vegetarian dishes are stir fried Asian greens (good accompaniement) and a red curry with crisp fried tofu, baby corn, snow peas and Thai basil, which we didn’t try. Longrain is one of the few upmarket retaurants in Sydney that makes a real effort to cater for vegetarians. It gets a VVV rating on the basis that a party of 3 vegetarians could come here and enjoy a beautiful meal.
V Rating: V-ware On Wednesday night we went to Aussie Stadium to watch the Socceroos take on Kuwait in Asian Cup qualifier match.
I’ve never been to a The crowd was boisterous and comparatively witty compared to their cricket and AFL counterparts. Aussie Stadium was a great venue - small enough to offer a great view of the pitch without diminishing the feeling of being part of a crowd. The game was a bit scrappy, and the A-League Aussies gave us a bit of a scare by waiting until the 76th minute to score. However, they soon found the net again, downing Kuwait 2-0, much to the delight of the crowd. The only downside to the night was the food options for vegetarian. I don’t think it’s a good sign when your soccer team scores more goals that you have options to eat. I guess I shouldn’t complain. I know from painful experience that bastions of masculinity (aka sporting stadiums) are not vegetarian friendly places. Perhaps they think serving vegetarian food impairs the part of the brain that regulates beer snake construction, Mexican waving, and sledging. Still, it kind of sux when you line up for twenty minutes at ‘Stadium Food’ and your only choice of dinner is a $4.20 bucket of hot chips. I know hot dogs, meat pies, and beef burgers are de rigueur at the footy. I just question why the only sandwich choices are ‘chicken, beef or ham’ and the only soups are ‘chicken’ or ‘beef and vegetable.’ Looking forward to seeing the Socceroos take on Bahrain at Aussie Stadium in October, but will make sure to pack my own dinner. |
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