Archive for the ‘VVVVV’ Category
V-Rating: VVVVV Not so long ago I was bemoaning the lack of good brunch venues in Canberra. Sure, cafes abound. But try finding a place that uses fresh, quality ingredients, has an interesting and tasty menu, and doesn’t have a price range in the double figures. After listening to my diatribe, a good friend recommended that I try Satis - a reasonably new cafe in the Watson shops.
One visit later I breathed a sigh of relief - Satis has all (or at least most of) the things I look for in a brunch spot: good coffee, a great, cheap menu, friendly staff, and a slightly alternative vibe. The fact it’s vegetarian is the icing on the cake. Satis clearly defines itself as a brunch spot - it doesn’t open before 8.30am and is closed by mid afternoon. The menu isn’t extensive or finicky, but everything on it is delicious and well-presented. The decor is friendly but funky - paintings and stencil art by local artists on the wall mixed with chunky, dark wood fittings. The breakfast menu has sweet and savoury options including banana bread with berries and baked ricotta, free range eggs on toast, and home made granola. Most of the standard items on the menu are not vegan but can easily be adapted - for example, Satis has one choice of vegan bread and can substitute scrambled tofu for eggs. The food is great value - of the nine choices, only one costs over $10.
One of my favourite choices is the big brekkie. It comes with an egg or scrambled tofu, toast, zucchini, tomatoes, mushrooms and spinach (basically, all the veggies I love in the morning). Yesterday ours came with mashed potato and feta as well. Yum!
Tempted as I was by the big brekkie, in the interests of this review I tried the wild rice porridge with compote and coconut milk.
I’ve never tried wild rice in porridge before, but it worked well. Andy said it reminded him of an Indonesian breakfast porridge of green beans and black rice porridge. I liked the slight crunchiness and savoury taste of the rice, and the coconut milk base was a nice, light accompaniement. The berry compote was the highlight of the dish - rich, a little sour and a little sweet and topped with toasted coconut. Satis also has a small menu of light meals and lunch foods, a very tasty looking selection of baked goods, and a good range of fair trade coffees and teas. The only real problem with Satis is its success. The cafe is squeezed into a narrow space better suited to a greasy fry takeaway joint. The tables jostle for space out the front and along the interior before spilliing out into a small, sunny courtyard. On my last visit at around 10am there were frequent lines to get in, although the wait was only 5 - 10 minutes. While the staff are very friendly and the service is quick when the cafe is not too busy, the service was slower and more haphazard on my last trip. We waited about twenty minutes for our coffees to come, and in the meantime watched bemused while people who arrived after us were served coffee and breakfast before any of our order arrived. Still, I’m always happy to see a vegetarian place thriving, and the occasional wait for service is a small price to pay for finally having a good brunch spot in Canberra.
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: VVVVV Norway is famous for fishing, fjords and vikings. Local delicacies include reindeer and elk. Cheese is sold in a tube in three flavours: bacon, prawn and ham. As vegetarians, we prepared for the worst.
Against this backdrop, we were surprised to hear about a vegetarian restaurant called the Vegeta Vertshaus in the University district of Oslo, about a five minute walk from the central square. Vegeta Versthaus has the impressive distinction of surviving in carnivorous Norway since 1938, making it one of Europe’s oldest vegetarian restaurants.
Vegeta is an unassuming, relaxed restaurant with friendly staff and pretty stained glass lights.There is a large buffet with a selection of salads, hot foods, pizza, fruit and fried patties. If you’re hungry, the small or large plate is a good option because you can help yourself to all of the buffet food, plus come back for fresh fruit. We had the large plate (just Kr10 more) and were very full at the end.
The salad buffet included beetroot and apple salad, potato salad, a cold lentil and tomato salad, hummus and avocado mousse. I kept up my daily potato quota by munching on potato patties and potato bake, but there were also mini samosas, noodle bake, a lentil curry, and ratatouille. Our local guide (Andy’s brother Tim) assured us that Kr130 (A$26) was very good value for a restaurant meal in Norway, where the average price is about A$60 per person. I’m still struggling with the concept. If you’re on a budget, Vegeta offers a good sized bowl of soup for Kr48 (A$9) or with bread for Kr54 (A$11), or a plate of mixed salads for between Kr50 - Kr80 (A$10 - $16). They also offer discounts for pensioners and students (10%) on part of the menu. All in all, a great refuge for hungry vegetarians in Norway.
V Rating: VVVVV Veggie Friendly’s intrepid foreign correspondent, Anth from Temporary Dwellings, recently came across a vegetarian haven in Iran. Ananda Veggie Restaurant and Coffee Shop is run by the Society of Iran’s Vegetarians and is a lovely and peaceful place to escape the traffic and din off Tehran. Tucked away down a small road in the north of Tehran the restaurant has a small outdoor terrace and a comfortable air-conditioned dining room indoors. The restaurant provides a range of pizzas, pasta and lasagna and also has a small offering of Iranian food. As tourists we decided to stick with the Iranian food and ordered a plate of soy kebabs and vegetable curry with rice. The food arrived promptly and looked delicious. The kebabs were chargrilled and had a great bbq “lamb” flavour. The dish looked great with the kebabs served on sesame and herb flat bread with pickle and rich, roasted tomatoes on the side.
Our other dish was a lovely tomato curry with vegatables and tasty cubes of panir cheese served on some of the best rice I have ever tasted - white grain rice cooked with chopped dill (this is a traditional Iranian dish called “pulau”) and to complete it a slice of deep fried panir on the side.
As an accompaniment we had some green olives (9,000IRR) which were served with grated lemon rind and sweet sultana chutney. Other side dishes include yoghurt. Unfortunately, we were in a bit of a rush and so we couldn’t sit back and enjoy any of the fresh smoothies, juices or deserts that are on the menu. - Anth, from Temporary Dwellings.
V Rating: Super V Still Thoughts is tucked away in a hutong down a hutong but is well worth the search. Run by Buddhists this restaurant serves excellent dishes with no meat, onion and garlic. A range of faux-meat dishes are on offer, and it is an excellent way for vegetarians to get a taste of traditional Chinese dishes without actually eating the meat versions. Our favourite dishes include entree serves of “pork” sausages (complete with fake fatty bits), which were described by my carnivorous dining partner as the meatiest non meat food he had ever eaten, and muslim style lamb shashliks deep fried and covered in cumin. For the mains we had a wonderful eggplant dish served on a sizzling plate stuffed with “mince meat” and “pork” bits and a dish of “beef” coated in cumin and sesame seeds deep fried and served on a cow shaped hot plate with fresh coriander. Still Thoughts is a newcomer to the Beijing Buddhist vegetarian scene and rated as one of my favourites. The staff were very helpful and the menu had both photos and english descriptions. A range of herbal teas are available very cheaply at 8 yuan a teapot. - Anth from Temporary Dwellings.
V Rating: VVVVV A block or so down from the famous cross street where the Summer of Love was said to have begun in 1967, Haight and Ashbury, we came upon the Peace Cafe at the Red Victorian, which identified itself as the international headquarters of a peace-building meeting place movement and offered a variety of unpretentious vegetarian and vegan café meals. After a 14 hour plane flight we were happy to sit down and take the weight off our feet and listen as a piano player in the back of the store tinkled out a few melancholic tunes including David Bowie’s Nature Boy. I ordered the mock chicken enpanada with side salad while Kate ate a savoury crepe. The empanada turned out to be a pastry filled with lightly spiced vegetable and “chicken” filling which was very pleasing. Kate’s crepe also made the grade. Both were tasty meals and just the right size and the staff lived up to the promise of being helpful and positive. KATE’s TWO CENTS: The Peace Cafe is part of the Red Victorian guest house, which prides itself on promoting Peaceful World Travel. Each room in the guest house is individually and brightly decorated according to a theme (for example the ’summer of love’ room). You can choose your own room online, and it’s worth a quick look to marvel at them. Nicest of all, every Sunday morning the Peace Cafe holds ‘breakfast conversations’. Anyone is welcome, and you sit at a table with 4 - 9 people and talk about big issues. A suggested topic card is on each table, but you’re welcome to suggest your own ideas. The purpose is to bring together a diverse group of strangers, including the guests that are staying at the Red Victorian, to talk about issues that matter. How neat! Proving that miracles can happen, the founder of a vegetarian, coop restaurant chain in Melbourne yesterday beat the entire town of Beaconsfield to become Australia’s Local Hero of the Year. Shanaka Fernando, founder of the Lentil as Anything restaurants received the award for his successful, socially inclusive restaurant concept, where there are no prices on the menu and people pay what they can or what they think the meal is worth. He was also recognised for his work with Melbourne’s refugee community, including using his restaurants to provide training and employment opportunities. Congratulations to Shanaka and the Lentil as Anything crew on such a fabulous initiative! |
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