Voucher for: Scrumptious 7 Course Chinese Vegetarian Banquet in the CBD - Just $39 for 2 People! Rated 82% on Urbanspoon!
What do you think when you consider vegetarian food? Salads? Lentils? A whole lot of yummy greenery but secretly you think you may still crave something mouth filling and dare I say it, meaty?
As an omnivore, my preferred form of protein is usually animal based - meat, eggs, cheese and fish, with a quick grab of nuts or kernels like almonds for snacking.
However, I and my SO (Significant Other) were intrigued to try out this seven course vegetarian banquet at Gong De Lin Restaurant, located on the third storey in the heart of Swanston St (entry through Noodle Kingdom).
The elevator is a bit ramshackle and with the ground floor entrance sporting a live cook making yummy noodles, you might not get very far if you're hungry, but have faith, the food awaiting you upstairs will be worth it.
Though I had requested a booth overlooking the street earlier in the week (great for people watching), the two male staff on the floor that night just shrugged when I queried my booking and said it was unavailable - hmmm... first come, first choice I suppose. We did manage to get a booth sans window, and this meant we could feast our eyes on the food.
Included in the banquet was a potpourri of tea choices or a jar of plum juice. My SO chose a Pu-er tea and also opted for a hot soy drink. Having never had it before, he found it surprisingly delicious - a warming Asian choice for a chilly Friday evening in Melbourne. I had chosen a flower tea that tasted lovely but visually was stuck in an upside down half bloom (you can kinda see it in the photo below).
We had some small bowls of soup to start - I think they were the bean sprouts in Sichuan Style Sauce? And hoo-ey were they spicy! (But delicious).
The vegetarian spring rolls soon arrived, accompanied by vegetable dumplings in a bamboo steamer (we both proceeded to dip the dumplings in some of the remaining hot sauce to enhance the steamed pillows.)
Then I think everything arrived at once - the sweet and sour vegetarian "pork" (they tasted just like the real thing!), the sauteed diced vegetarian "chicken", and two serves of baby corn soup, glutinous rice balls in sweet sauce, and sides of rice.
My SO found it all very tasty and most importantly filling, and announced that if this was what vegan and vegetarian food could be like all the time, where could he sign up?
I know mock meat is not to everyone's taste, after all, a lot of vegetarians have made their choice due to ethical reasons, but this is a great banquet option for dining out that should satisfy the taste buds of everyone who likes appetising Asian food in general.
Pros: tasty vegetarian/ vegan menu with lots of choices; central city location; competitive prices
Cons: quite popular, may have problems getting a table during peak eating times without a booking; staff service not overly friendly or patient
No comments:
Post a Comment
Any comments? Notes or opinions? Write on!