Archive for the ‘Glebe’ Category
V Rating: Super V Iku is a successful chain of healthy vegetarian takeaway restaurants. It’s like the Sydney vegetarian equivalent of McDonald’s. Only better.
I recently hopped in the buzzing queue in the food court in the MLC Centre at Martin Place. Laid out in front of me in all of its macrobiotic, organic, gluten-free options glory, were salads, rice balls, wraps, soup, hot casseroles, pasta dishes, and dessert. I felt healthy and virtuous just looking at the food. Despite the myriad temptations, I couldn’t go past the takeaway mixed salad for $8.50. There were ginger noodles, steamed vegetables, white beans with mixed seeds, beetroot and cabbage in a vinegar dressing, and sesame brown rice, topped off with the house specialty creamy tahini dressing. The salad looked and tasted spectacular, and although it was a filling meal it didn’t leave me with a sleepy carbohydrate low come 3pm. The Iku menu changes weekly, though you’re always guaranteed of finding favourites like black rice pudding. Most stores open from lunch until dinner, but the central city outlets servicing the white collar crowd shut by 4pm. The size of the resturants (and opportuniy for eating in) varies. The Darlinghurst store is very big, Glebe has a peaceful courtyard, while the MLC Centre is just a counter operation within a busy food court. Iku also has a catering business, and distributes a range of food (including the aforementioned creamy tahini dressing) throughout health food shops. Iku doesn’t flaunt its vegetarian credentials, selling itself on the health benefits of its food, rather than its meatless menu. It’s a godsend for vegos and vegans who want a quick, tasty and stress-free lunch, and proves once and for all that vegetarian food can be sexy.
V Rating: Super V Badde Manors is a much-loved vegetarian cafe at the Sydney University end of Glebe Point Road. Arranged on an acute corner, it’s hard to miss with windows and walls flying out in all directions, and a shop sign featuring a large bronze sculpture of two cherubs proudly flanking a coffee machine. Inside, there are deep red walls, old fashioned wooden chairs, and tables with peeling paint. The cafe is brimming with nooks and crannies to lose yourself in. Combined with the art deco light fittings, mirrors and hexagonal tables, grainy black and white and sepia photos, and precarious stacks of second hand books, you almost feel like you’ve stepped into the parlour of an eccentric aunt or an artlessly bohemian university pad. The patrons are equally eclectic. On Saturdays it’s over-flowing with people, perhaps because it’s just over the road from the fabulous and busy Glebe markets. There are students, academics, goths, artists and Glebe locals. It’s the kind of place that provokes right-wing columnists to sneer about green-voting, latte-sipping inner west types, which is just another reason to love it. Badde Manors is a cafe rather than restaurant. The house specialities are European cakes, home made gelati and sorbet, and some unusual hot drinks (I have it on good authority that the sahlep is highly memorable). I like the fact that it doesn’t make a big deal about being vegetarian, or rely on this as it’s only selling point. There are also unpretentious light snacks and more substantial dishes, for example foccacia and Turkish bread sandwiches, ‘authentic’ bagels, daily soup, pasta and mains specials. It is vegetarian, but makes an effort to include some vegan choices. Although I liked the sound of the bagel with mushroom pate, grilled haloumi, fresh tomatoes and spinach, but chose to have the chef’s special salad of the day. It came with iceberg lettuce, corn, cucumber, tempeh and tomato. It wasn’t an exciting dish, but it made a healthy, satisfying lunch. Badde Manors has been a Glebe fixture for over twenty years. It has a strong sense of community, and is famous as the birthplace of the Cafe of the Gate of Salvation, Sydney’s popular non-denominational gospel choir. A great place to savour cakes, coffee, and conversation, any visit to Badde Manors is usually memorable.
V Rating: VVV I didn’t have to be asked twice when some friends asked if we’d be interested in an Indian meal on Saturday night at Darbar on Glebe Point Road. However, I kept my excitement in check because Indian restaurants in Sydney have been one of the great disappointments of living here. I’m sure great places exist, but to date I’ve largely encountered places that have great food and no atmosphere, or lovely decor and unispiring food. That doesn’t stop me hoping to find Indian nirvana but after 3 plus years in sin city I prepare myself for disappointment before trying somewhere new. Despite my pessisism, my first impression of Darbar was positive. The restaurant has exposed sandstone walls and glass partitions, which evokes a sense of history without the dark, squashed interiors of many older buildings. At the sight of the menu, my lips began to smack. There are 13 vegetarian entrees (and the rest of the entree section which follows is just called ‘non-veg’), and nine vegetarian mains. Our friends were seasoned Indian travellers and so we took their advice when ordering. We ended up with a family-sized masala dosa for entree.
For mains, we had the Aloo Ghobi Methi Ka Tuk, Palak Paneer, Darbar Tadhka Daal, and the Gutti Vankai. We also ordered the Darbar Chaat, which is an entree, to accompany the mains. I judge all Indian restaurants by their palak paneer, and on this count Darbar stacked up. The spinach sauce was quite light, and the chunks of paneer were large and tasted fresh. The slices of fresh ginger as a garnish was a nice touch.
What made Darbar stand out from other Indian restuarants I’ve been to in Sydney is that they offer more than the standard Indian fare. I loved being able to have the masala dosa for entree, and the chaat, in addition the standard Indian curries.
Darbar isn’t quite Indian nirvana, but the food and atmosphere are a cut above the average Indian restaurant in Sydney. |
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