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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.
Comments:
4 Comments posted on "Longrain - Modern Thai, VVV, Surry Hills"
Jackie on August 21st, 2006 at 11:35 am #
I’m getting all hungry and envious just looking at the photos. That eggnet thing looks remarkable. Who wouldn’t sell their soul for delicious tofu?
Renai LeMay on August 21st, 2006 at 5:05 pm #
Damn you … stop posting such delicious-looking photos just when I’m trying to diet!! Renai
kpounder on August 23rd, 2006 at 11:18 am #
Cheers guys. It’s hard to go wrong at Longrain and, y’know, salad is a perfectly respectable diet food ….
Anna on August 23rd, 2006 at 11:05 pm #
jonas loves the vegetarian eggnet at longrain. i have to admit it’s the best salad i’ve ever eaten. it doesn’t even seem like it’s salad: strong flavours and hearty texture. we’ll have to go back to try the salt & pepper tofu since you’ve rated it so highly. longrain is pretty good and now that they’ve opened one in melbourne, the victorians can give it a try too. Post a comment
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