V-Rating: VV When I think of stalwarts of the Canberra restaurant scene, Chairman and Yip is one of the first that comes to mind. In many ways the restaurant typifies Canberra. Understated, smart, and subtly suggestive of politics and diplomacy, it’s a comfortable fit in the national capital. Chairman and Yip is not the kind of restaurant you visit every day. With most entrees above the $10 mark, and no mains below $25 it’d definitely a work function or special occasion place. Like many expensive restaurants, the ala carte menu is a little thin on the ground for vegetarians, although there they make a respectable attempt with two vegetarian entrees and mains.
My favourite dish at Chairman and Yip has to be the entree of char-grilled mushrooms with coriander and chilli pesto. I remembered it from a visit of five years ago, and five years on it still doesn’t disappoint. The mushrooms are large, juicy and smoky from the grill, while the pesto is soft and bright green. The flavours and texture feel more European than Chinese to me, although the coriander and chilli keeps the dish in tune with the rest of the food. The vegetarian bean curd pastry rolls were delicious and comparatively filling, making them good value as the only sub $10 entree on the menu. Thin sheets of tofu are wrapped around a soft vegetable filling then deep fried, giving the vegetables a crunchy and delicate casing.
The two vegetarian mains are eggplant and tofu in yellow sauce, and stir-fried pumpkin and cucumber with caramelised chilli. The words ‘eggplant’ and ‘tofu’ together on a menu induce a Pavlovian response from me where I have to order the dish, and this was my favourite of the two vegetarian choices. The yellow sauce is pleasantly savoury, and the eggplant is lusciously soft. The tofu comes as small, hard squares with a deep-fried outer crust. It does contrast with the eggplant’s texture, but it’s too dry for my taste.
The standard version of the pumpkin and cucumber dish comes with a fish sauce so make sure you ask the kitchen to leave this out if you’re a strict vegetarian. I was intrigued by the combination of cucumber and pumpkin, but the dish was very sweet due to the caramelised sauce, making it a less is more choice for me and not something I would order if there was a third vegetarian dish on offer. For a party of three, we ordered one of each of the vegetarian dishes. If you go in a bigger group try the excellent value dinner banquet ($37.50 per head) or the exquisite vegetarian degustation ($75 or $105 including 5 small glasses of matched wine). Ignore the standard menu listed on the website for the banquet - if you tell the restaurant the number of vegetarians in your party they’ll make sure to bring out the right number of vegetarian dishes. As an added bonus, they will usually make dishes that aren’t on the ala carte menu like salt and pepper tofu. My favourite Chairman and Yip experiences were the two evenings I tried the degustation menu. The restaurant will happily cater for special dietary needs, and on one occasion we had a party of four with two of us having a vegetarian version and two others also eating seafood dishes. The degustation is great value with or without the wine, and a lovely way to celebrate a special occasion over a long and relaxed meal. Post a comment
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