Archive for the ‘Newtown’ Category
V Rating: VVVVV At a time when vegetarian restaurants like Vegal Kitchen and Celestial Palace are closing down, it’s great to discover a new kid on the block. Thien is a Vietnamese vegetarian restaurant just down the road from @newtown RSL and the Enmore Theatre. Tres convenient! I think its origins are Buddhist, but it allows BYO. I ate there a couple of weeks ago when Andy took part in the 20th anniversary performance of his old gospel choir, Cafe of the Gate of Salvation (COTGOS). Unfortunately we were running late for the performance, so didn’t have time to relax and appreciate Thien. However, I liked what I saw (and ate) and will definitely head back there next time go to see a performance on Enmore Road.
Thien’s menu offers a good choice of food, much of which uses fake meat and (quite imaginative) seafood. There are 12 entrees and 48 mains. We tried the soy prawn rice paper rolls, the tofu lemongrass and a stir-fry. The huge spring rolls were lovely and fresh. The rice paper skin was cool, setting off the fresh herbs in the filling. I haven’t tried fake prawns before, but they added slightly firmer texture to the filling without overpowering the other ingredients.
The tofu lemongrass was spicy and juicy, and gave off a beautiful lemongrass aroma. We chose the stiry-fry to get a dose of green vegetables, and to compensate for the oiliness of the tofu lemongrass dish. As you can see in the photo, the vegetables in the stir-fry were cooked just right, so that they didn’t lose their colour or flavour. We ended up over-ordering (especially seeing as we were in rush) and had to take a couple of rice paper rolls away in a doggie bag. Fortunately, they survived the trip and still tasted good the next day! While we didn’t have time to try them, Thien also seemed to have a delicious range of desserts with some cakes supplied by a local bakery. I gather Thien is only a few months old. The staff were lovely and very eager to assist, despite the small restaurants quickly filling up with walk-ins. While occasionally the staff were a little flustered, I have my fingers crossed that in a couple of months they’ll be accustomed to success and Thien will have a long future. (Just for the record, COTGOS were amazing. I was blown away by the power of the voices, the beautiful arrangements, and the strong sense of love and community emanating from the choir. Happy 20th anniversary!)
V Rating: Super V Ever since I’ve been writing this blog I’ve had a niggling feeling of inadequacy. How can I claim any credibility as a Sydney vegetarian restaurant reviewer when there’s no mention of Green Gourmet on the site? Green Gourmet has been around for years and is one of Sydney’s best known and most loved vegetarian restaurants. The Newtown restaurant was so successful that a small vegetarian grocery store was opened next door, and a second restaurant was opened in St Leonards. Fortunately, the stormy weather on Saturday helped me convince our group of friends to swap yum cha at Bodhis for yum cha at the original Green Gourmet in Newtown (nb: love a city where there are multiple vegetarian yum cha options).
Green Gourmet is a novel dining experience. You can order off the extensive and highly recommended menu. Alternatively, there’s a big dinner buffet where you pay according to the weight of your meal. I love the endless plates of vegetarian stiry-frys, fried snacks, and vegetable dishes, but not the moment of reckoning when my plate consistently seems to be the heaviest of everyone in my group (I figure it’s the guilt weighing me down). On the weekend Green Gourmet runs vegetarian yum cha. We arrived about half an hour after yum cha started and before the restaurant was full. While the staff were lovely, it was a slightly slow process with one or two dishes carried out on a tray at a time. This is no problem for a small table, but for our hungry group of six it meant taking whatever we were offered, rather than choosing from a selection. The yum cha options were diverse - fresh rice paper rolls, fried spring rolls, sweet and sour fake pork, fried fake drumsticks and seafood rolls, green vegetables, dumplings and satay skewers. The choices were distinctly different from what I’ve had at Bodhis, which focuses more on steamed dumplings and steers clear of fake meat. This may just have been luck of the draw - the menu suggests that there is also a range of vegetable and steamed yum cha offerings.
Another highlight of Green Gourmet is the long and unusual tea menu. Like many of Sydney’s vegetarian restaurants, Green Gourmet has a Buddhist ethic so there’s no garlic, onion or alcohol to be found on the premises. Green Gourmet definitely rates as one of my favourite vegetarian places in Sydney - but I’d try the dinner / buffet option ahead of yum cha.
V Rating: VVVVV One of the embarrassing things about getting a Google map was that it proved how Eastern Suburbs centric my blog is. The really shameful thing is that I’m sure there are more vegetarian and vegetarian friendly restaurants in Sydney’s West.
Hungry and down at heel we wandered disconsolately down King Street, only to discover that the strip’s second vegetarian restaurant was doing a roaring trade (again, Inner West, very vegetarian friendly).
We hurriedly took our seat and scanned the menu. As we waited abut half an hour for our food to come we were struck by the amount of people who’d ordered a dish that came served in half a pineapple. For mains, we ordered the Pad Prik Heang, a soy-sauce stiry-fry with vegetarian chicken, capsicum, onion, carrot, stir-fried with dried chilli and cashew nuts. We choose this dish because I wanted something with vegetables after a weekend of not-so-healthy eating. I found the soy sauce a bit over-powering and so the dish wasn’t as refreshing as I’d hoped.
Green Palace is a Buddhist restaurant, like most vegetarian place in Sydney. However, the fact that it is run by Thai Buddhists, as opposed to the more usual Chinese or Vietnamese Buddhists restaurants, makes Green Palace unique and means that you can find food here that isn’t available elsewhere in Sydney. It was certainly a lovely change to be able to order Thai food without worrying about fish sauce. Also unusually for a Buddhist restaurant, Green Palace is BYO.
V Rating: VV I didn’t mean to eat at Jarrah’s Brasserie. Oh no, Andy and I were going to eat at a great vegetarian restaurant on King Street, then wander leisurely towards @Newtown to catch Bonnie Prince Billy. However, after running late, spending half an hour in the queue, and being told that Bonnie Prince Billy would be on a good hour and half before he finally showed, Andy and I decided to risk Jarrah’s Brasserie rather than miss out on part of the show. It turned out to be a reasonable experience. At first sight the menu looked like a vegetarian wasteland. The only options were chilli bean nachos and a wild mushroom and rocket risotto. Fortunately, three of the four specials were vegetarian. Andy chose the pumpkin, sage and goat’s cheese risotto and I had grilled veggie and haloumi skewers with a mint yoghurt dressing and lentil salad. My meal was lovely. The capsicum and red onion were bursting with sweetness and were complemented nicely by the saltiness of the haloumi. The fresh taste of the lentils and mint sauce also went well with the overall meal. Andy’s risotto was quite creamy but pleasant, with large pieces of pumpkin offsetting the base. It struck me as unusual that so many specials would be vegetarian when so few of the main items were. The (vegetarian) waitress helpfully explained that 2 - 3 of the 4 specials are always vegetarian to correct the balance. While the menu is initially daunting, the fact that Jarrah’s provides some interesting vegetarian alternatives through the specials menu lifts it to a VV rating. Jarrah’s will never be a first choice restaurant given the plethora of great Newtown eateries. However, it is a good option if you’re going to one of the great @Newtown gigs and want to be sure to score a good seat. |
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