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2015: samantha eats her way through sydney, cities: sydney, cuisine: vietnamese, dietary: vegan, oceania: australia, photographer: david ma
Yes, “ubernoms” is totally a word–and also a totally apt term for the food at Golden Lotus, a Vietnamese vegan restaurant situated in the vegan-friendly (and gelato-studded) Newtown. I had the pleasure of hitting both the restaurant and a nearby gelateria with a group of vegan and omnomnivore friends in Sydney, including blogger and (superior) photographer David Ma, who has provided all the photos in this post.
Lillian here is pouring tea very gracefully.
We all flipped through the menu and chose a dish each to share, as you do. And what better than to start with some moreish rice paper tofu rolls ($5.80 each)?
Some lovely rice paper rolls.
Which was then followed by some chewy char-grilled vegan pork skewers, served with a delicious sauce ($9.80).
Vegan pork skewers that weren’t really porky, but still very yummy.
Jake wanted an entire dish to himself, and he certainly seemed to enjoy his vegan chicken with lemongrass ($14.80), which he polished off without a problem.
I’m sure it tastes like chicken!
And why not have more veggies with our soy “meat”? This vegan chicken stir fry with veggies and cashews ($15.80) certainly did the trick!
Yayayayay delicious veggies!
Avi, our resident vegan food expert (and the one who recommended Golden Lotus) got the combination hot pot ($15.80), which contained a mishmash of beautifully flavoured veggies.
Look at all those glorious colours!
Avi also suggested we get the sizzling Saigon pan cake ($15.80), which was a DIY dish containing several components, centred on the vegan omelette. Each bit was yummy by itself, but together, provided a wonderful combination of textures and flavours. It was a little messy to assemble and eat, but I’d definitely get this again!
All nice and intact before everyone dug into the vegan crepe.
But by far, my favourite dish of the evening was the fried vegan calamari with salt and chilli ($15.80). Goodness me, these tasted just like calamari, and were so amazing and aaaahhhhh I want some right now!
Looks like calamari, too!
And then we had a group shot taken, because David’s isn’t as single-minded as me, and photographs people as well as food. ;)
Happily fed–and our animal friends remain happy, too!
Bye bye, Golden Lotus!
Visited on: Monday, 21 September 2015. Dinner.
Spent: $163.80 for eight people, including some drinks and rice
Overall: I’ve only had vegan “meat” once before (in Canberra with Avi, incidentally), so I’m by no means an expert on the quality of the soy-based substitutes, and how the flavours compare to other vegan restaurants. However, as a omnomnivore, I very much enjoyed my meal, and was very pleased with how everything tasted. The service was also excellent, and the staff were particularly patient with our indecisiveness. If I had a restaurant like Golden Lotus where I live, I’d definitely visit occasionally, regardless of vegan company–and oh, that calamari! 8.5/10.
Golden Lotus
343 King St
Newtown NSW
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Thursday – Sunday: 12:00-15:00; Monday – Sunday: 17:30- 22:30