Archive for the ‘Chinese’ Category
V-Rating: VVVVV Whenever you return to an old stomping ground, there’s always some nervous anticipation as you find out which of your favourite places have survived your absence. Last time I lived in Canberra there were three vegetarian restaurants I went to regularly: Bernadette’s, Au Lac and Kingsland Vegetarian. Now just two remain. Funnily enough, the two that have survived are only metres from each other in Dickson, aka Canberra’s Chinatown. Kingsland Vegetarian is the elder of the two, a vegetarian old-timer that’s watched rivals come and go. Set in a quiet corner of the Dickson shops, the small shop front is modest although it has received a bright paint job and a touch of flair since my last visit.
Kingsland is not an “impress the pants off your date” type of restaurant, but it does have a lot of nice touches. For example, the menu offers a potted history of vegetarianism in China (tofu was invented during the Han Dynasty circa 206 BC to 220 AD, in case you were wondering) which is a little anti-social if you are in a couple, but still interesting nonetheless. You also realise immediately that this is a family restaurant, with all of the comfortable atmosphere that implies. Although Kingsland is best known for its fake meat dishes, we were in the mood for vegetables on the night we went.
Normally I’m not a noodle nest fan, but this version won me over because it used fried potatoes for the nest rather than crispy noodles. It made the nest slightly sweeter than usual, reminding me of delicate French Fries (but without the guilt because it’s not like I actually ordered hot chips).
I don’t think I’ve ever seen salt and pepper tofu on a menu and passed it up. It’s one of my all time favourite foods, and I like using it as a yardstick of a restaurant’s quality. The Kinglsland version definitely gets points for originality. It comes with freshly sliced chilli on top, and a savoury dipping sauce. I was disappointed to see that they make it in the hard outer coating style, rather than the gently fried and softly coated version ala Longrain and the dearly departed Purple Lotus, but that’s just a personal preference. Certainly, I couldn’t fault the flavour or the spiciness. I enjoyed the meal without having my socks knocked off - but that’s kind of how I’ve always thought of Kingsland. It doesn’t try to present gourmet meals, instead coming up with creative vegan food and an ever-changing line-up of faux meat specialities that never puts style ahead of comfort. While it’s not a first date restaurant, it is the kind of place you could happily eat at for the rest of your life.
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.
V Rating: VVV Hickson Road in Walsh Bay has morphed into a mini-theatre strip, with the Sydney Theatre Company and Bangara Dance Theatre calling it home. It’s the kind of area where you drop by before a show, looking for quick, cheap food, not demanding the best quality but needing to eat something to stave off hunger (and loud stomach noises) during the performance. But thanks to the area’s industrial past and knockout harbour views, quick, cheap food is not easy to find.
Fortunately, there is one restaurant that caters to the theatre crowd. Its name is the Walsh Bay Cafe. You probably wouldn’t guess this from the “Chinese Cuisine” sign hanging out the front. That’s why I’ve helpfully posted a photo here.
The small inside room is surprisingly cute and modern, with vibrant red tablecloths and bold Chinese character wallpaper. The restaurant is BYO, and you can scoot next door to a bottle shop if you’re after wine with your meal.
Walsh Bay Cafe offers 12 vegetarian choices, including Chinese classics like salt and pepper tofu, ma po tofu, garlic baby spinach and tofu and snowpeas in black bean sauce. We tried the stir-fry vegetables and noodles, along with a tofu and vegetable stir-fry. The dishes weren’t going to set the world on fire, but they came quickly and had a fresh, healthy flavour.
Afterwards we ambled across the road to the Bangara Theatre to see a Sydney Writers Festival event on China called “Is Communism All Bad?” The main speaker on the panel was Diane Wei Liang, a Chinese author now living in Europe who was a student activist in Beijing during the Tiananmen Square protests. There were some fairly sobering observations about the state of democracy and human rights in China, mixed with optimism for the future. Diane’s description of how Tiananmen Square unfolded inspired me to read her autobiography, The Lake With No Name. Having only seen Western reporting on Tiananmen, it was fascinating to read about it from the perspective of someone who was there. Wei describes how the protest grow from a spontaneous outburst, to a youth-fired mass movement, to a violent end when the army entered the Square. Definitely food for thought as we plan our trip there at the end of the year.
V Rating:VVV When I first moved to Sydney there were two Chinese restaurants that our friends consistently recommended: BBQ King and Golden Century. Part of their cult status came from their late night hours (the mercy of not having to eat McDonald’s after a night out!), but the food was also rated highly. BBQ King became a regular haunt of mine, but until last weekend I’d never been to Golden Century. Even though we were eating on a Sunday night, I’d taken the precaution of booking a table for our group of six. This meant we could glide elegantly up the escalators to the first floor restaurant and away from ground floor room with tanks of seafood hovering in the water, moments before death. The large upstairs room was packed. Big round tables of people were eating noisily. Battalions of staff patrolled the floor. Catching their eye was a challenge, but our table saw it as part of the experience and didn’t mind. Despite being a seafood restaurant, Golden Century still has 12 vegetarian mains (excluding dishes that come with oyster sauce or meat). We started with a vegetarian san choi bow, which wasn’t on the menu but the restaurant was happy to prepare it. The waiter who served this dish was impressive - he doled out six helpings of the filling in three seconds flat, and perfectly estimated the amount for each person.
For mains, we tried the salt and pepper tofu, which had more than a touch of chili.
I was fascinated by the king mushrooms with braised vegetables. These huge mushrooms were like flanks of meat served over the vegetables, and had a soft yet chewy texture. They didn’t have a strong flavour and absorbed the salty sauce well.
The heavenly braised 4 vegetables was the last dish to arrive, but worth the wait.
At the end of the meal we were served two complementary plates of sweet biscuits, nicely rounding off our eating experience. So did Golden Century live up to its hype? It’s a different experience to BBQ King - the surrounds are more plush for starters. I thought it had an interesting selection of vegetarian dishes that went beyond ‘mixed vegetables in x sauce’, ad infinitum, but it is a seafood and BBQ restaurant at heart (for example, our waiter questioned whether we meant to order two vegetable mains, assuming he’d misheard). You will find plenty of cheaper Chinese restaurants in this area, and probably won’t notice a great difference if you stick to vegetarian food rather than the signature seafood and BBQ dishes. That said, Golden Century was a fun experience and I would go back again.
V Rating: VVV BBQ King is not a obvious choice for vegetarians. First, there’s the name. Second, there’s the string of burnished red roast ducks hanging in the takeaway section of the restaurant. Third, there’s the automated 3D wall decoration where chefs with giant cleavers rhythmically pound the necks of poultry. But vegetarians shouldn’t be put off by this carnivorous exterior. Secure a seat in the meandering, two-storey restaurant, and you’ll see a healthy 13 vegetarian options on the menu (excluding vegetarian dishes with oyster sauce). The salt and pepper tofu rates amongst some of the best in Sydney - the salt and pepper coating is not too heavy, but still well-seasoned, and the tofu is soft enough to melt soon as it hits your mouth. The garlic baby spinach is not for the faint-hearted, but who’d have it any other way. When I went last week I tried the round, brown Chinese mushrooms and braised green vegetables for the first time, which I enjoyed Is BBQ King over-priced? Sure. Is the service bad? Laughably so. Is the decor old and faded? Of course. But this doesn’t mean you won’t have a good time. BBQ King is a Sydney institution. The food comes out fast, it’s open late at night, the location is ultra convenient and the meals taste good. The last two times I’ve been there I’ve seen this guy and then these guys looking right at home as they chowed down on a meal. It’s just that kind of place.
V Rating: Super V We only just found Baihe Vegetarian Restaurant. Like many good Beijing restaurants it is hidden down a hutong (alleyway). After our search on bicycles through the busy streets we were happily met by an oasis of calm, soothing background music and Buddhist literature. We walked through a sunny courtyard and dining room before settling in a comfortable corner in a room at the back of the restaurant. We perused the menu to find a range of beautifully presented Chinese dishes with faux-meat substitutes. The menu is all in mandarin but photos are provided. We weren’t always exactly sure what we were ordering but it was unfailingly tasty each time!
On our first trip to this restaurant we had a light lunch of fresh salad with cucumber, capsicum and mint with a sesame oil dressing and tasty smoked firm tofu served with a chilli and sesame sauce and brown rice noodles with a chilli oil dressing. The tofu dish was a little oily, but still a refreshing change from the usual heavy, oil ladened chinese food I had eaten so far. On subsequent visits we had more substantial meals with dishes such as faux-deep fried pork ribs (complete with pretend bone made of some soy product!) with a mushroom and pineapple sweet and sour sauce and stir fried pork sausage with fresh beans. One clear stand-out dish was the somewhat mysterious, but utterly delicious, dish of mushroom chunks with a sweet apple and chilli sauce presented on a hot plate with roasted peanuts, dried chillis and spicy peppercorns. The flavours were strong and contrasted excellently with the burnt taste of the chilli, the sweet sauce and the peppercorns. I am not sure what type of mushroom was used as our mandarin phrasebook stopped short at simply “mushroom”. However, it was a firm textured mushroom that gave the dish a real meaty feel. Baihe restaurant also serves freshly ground coffee and a large range of organic teas however these are relatively expensive from 20 yuan a cup. - Anth of Temporary Dwellings
V-Rating: super V The experience of eating out is never just about the food- a range of factors influence the pleasure of the whole experience and subsequently, the enjoyment of the food itself. So it was following the excitement-fuelled pre-wedding BBQ and the wedding banquet feasted upon by a room filled with guests riding a wave of celebratory joy, that the (slightly less populated) wedding party floated for a last hurrah and Sunday brunch yum cha at Bodhi’s Restaurant and Bar. We were a little weary but basking in the glow and warmth of the post-wedding delirium. For Bodhi’s this meant a large party of agreeable guests, whose first consideration with every mouthful was not to debate whether this restaurant was indeed the Best Vegetarian Yum Cha in Sydney (well, at least in the 15 kilometre radius of the CBD), but simply to enjoy, enjoy, enjoy. Bodhi’s is nestled between a pool and a cathedral in Cook & Phillip Park. In the middle of summer, Bodhi’s was outside dining only*. A large courtyard area has tables laid out under big umbrellas that proved to be excellent shelter (for nearly all of us) from both the sun and the brief shower that passed through while we were dining. Dining outside at Bodhi’s offers a view further down the hill and out to the gardens when (if?) you manage to lift your head to pause between mouthfuls. The table and seating is basic: square-seated wooden stools that fit into the long, low wooden-slatted tables that dominate the eating area (seating twelve). There are some potted miniature bushes between some of the side tables (for smaller two-to-four person parties) and a few large trees offering shade that manage to bring some of the nature of the nearby gardens up to the urban, concrete space we’re occupying. For a group as large as this, yum cha was the perfect solution for the final gathering. Being a post-wedding brunch guests were coming and going over the course of the two or so hours we spent at Bodhi’s, as long return journeys to far-away homes beckoned. While the numbers fluctuated, the food was nothing if not consistent. Although there was a little wait for the onslaught to begin, once the small plates of delicacies began to arrive they continued at a consistent pace for over an hour. So the yum cha experience: basically one of the small army of waiters would be dispatched to approach groups seated along the long tables with plates of savoury fragrant sticky rice in wanton skin (among a million other dishes) and we would say ‘ooh yes please’ and accept a plate to share, followed in quick succession by other dishes. The time it took for each plate to be cleared was the most effective measure of time passing, as the morning became afternoon there was a noticeable shift in pace, and even refusals to the offer of new dishes- as delicious as they looked. The food, on the whole, was excellent. Yum cha is a wonderful way to experience many different dishes and to ensure everyone will find something they really enjoy. A quick survey of fellow diners saw a range of dishes nominated as the most memorable: from vegetable curry puffs to cream corn crispy wanton to steamed BBQ buns to a brown rice & seaweed stuffed fried tofu pocket. In the small white ceramic bowls, eating with disposable wooden chopsticks, we sampled many delights. There were some dishes that were shared rather than single portions on a plate, including stir fried noodles with seasonal vegetables- a delicate, sticky rice noodle and vegetable mix, more noodle than vegetable with a sweet, delicate soy-based sauce. Many dishes were variations on a theme- so, for instance, there were steamed lotus seed buns and steamed mung bean buns and steamed peanut buns. There were fried wantons with all sorts of fillings. There was gow (a tightly wrapped, rice paper/noodle parcel presented in a bamboo steaming dish) of many varieties including an enoki & field mushroom gow that offered a burst of the pungent smell and flavour of rich mushroom. The fresh rice noodle folds with mixed vegetables were a hit- while the rice was the usual slippery test for the chop-stick-challenged it was a rewarding mouthful of vegetables and what seemed to be egg wrapped into the long rectangular parcels, with a burst of fresh coriander to make it a much cleaner taste sensation. One of our diners was limited to foods that met her current health-related diet restrictions (not particularly yum cha friendly) but bent the rules just a little to sample the satay salad of fresh spouts, thai mint and basil in a (fried) tofu pocket, with the satay dribbled across the top. These were a fresh and crispy mouthful- and worth bending the rules for! The blanched fresh Chinese green kale was also a hit- the simplicity of steamed greens is always cleansing when eating Chines foods that include lots of glutinous rice dishes accompanied by rich sauces (although, of course, a special sauce did accompany the kale for those who wanted to drizzle it across their serving). A big hit was the early arrival of bowls of fresh fruits- mainly melon fruit (watermelon, honey dew and cantaloupe) with some green grapes- that also allowed for some fresh, clean flavours. After a brief Sydney downpour the day become decidedly more humid and fresh fruit was more than welcome and continued to be available throughout the meal. While the entrée and main course dishes are barely distinguishable when dining yum cha-style, the gear shift when desserts begin to arrive is noticeable. This is partly due to dessert-lovers beginning to groan and wish aloud that they had saved more room for dessert and also because Chinese-style desserts are so eye-catching, they look so interesting- the agar jellies, the chilled fruit (mango, lychee) puddings, the crispy coconut balls. A good friend recommended some special white coconut balls covered in desiccated coconut filled with crushed peanuts, palm sugar, salt and a few other specialities. She had been addicted to something very similar during her time in Cambodia and despite being a long way from Phnom Penh was very pleased with the Bodhi’s version. The groom himself sampled the coconut milk agar jelly- looking stunning, with the clear agar agar jelly on the bottom and a thick white jelly on top- his pleasure was evident in the way it quickly disappeared from the plate. Like all good things, however, the yum cha and the wedding celebrations had to come to an end. Once our dearest friends and the wedding couple had left, our appetites also disappeared. Bodhi’s served quite a feast that was clearly enjoyed by all present. There were a few hiccups along the way- there was difficulty in accessing water to drink and eventually it came out in plastic water bottles where large jugs of iced tap water would have sufficed. In fact drinks, on the whole, were a little slow to arrive. It seemed the well-oiled yum cha machine can accommodate special requests but not always expediently. However, such issues are not major criticisms. The food itself was fresh and delicious and enjoyed greatly by all- not only because we were all so happy to be there. A veritable vegetarian feast. *There were no tables to be seen inside, and the space inside seemed much smaller than the front courtyard, however I assume that during winter the focus no doubt shifts to indoor dining. |
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