Vegan 10 course degustation at Shu Restaurant – A modern Sichuan restaurant in Melbourne
I recently had the pleasure of eating at Shu Restaurant in Melbourne which serves Modern Chinese cuisine inspired by the Sichuan flavours using local produce and small batches of handmade sauces. Shu restaurant may not be a vegan restaurant but it offers Vegan 10 course degustation and it’s only $55 per head! I must say…. WHAT A BARGAIN! Now, I know you must be thinking…Is it cheap and boring food? No! all of the dishes were creative, interesting and yummy so it’s definitely great value for money.
The 10 Course Vegan Degustation List!
Now let’s get into the food…
Dish 1
Raw and chilled dishes
- Daikon and shimeji Asian herbs garden, chilli soy sauce
- Silken tofu in hot beetroot juice, beetroot cashew cheese, pickles
- Pickled Cucumber with seaweed caviar, outback finger lime, green chilli
Starting from great looking raw and chilled dishes.
I must say all of them are bit salty for my liking especially pickled cucumber but perfect for those who drink (I don’t drink alcohol – just water... hehe)
My favourite dish from the chilled dish is Daikon dish because it’s jammed packed with lots of Japanese ingredients including daikon, takuan (Japanese daikon pickles) beetroot, shimeji, mushroom, carrot, wrapped with daikon and nori the Japanese seaweeds. I also loved the sauce, it was soy sauce base with house made sherry oil. Yum!
Definitely a gut friendly entree filled with pickles and raw veggies!
Dish 2
Handmade hometown memories
- Chinese cabbage roll, preserved mustard greens and peanuts
- Hot peanut smoked kohlrabi spring roll, Viet-gan fish sauce
- Potato pancake, grilled Asian mushrooms, burnt chilli mayo
Potato pancake is Shu Restaurant’s signature dish and yes, I totally understand why. So yummy! I love mushrooms and love mayo, pancake – it was the combination of basically everything I love and with a very well–balanced flavour. AMAZING!
I am not sure you can spot light green thing on top (not shallot), It’s puffed green tea rice.
The spring roll was not a typical thin outer layer. It was one thick but sweeter layer which I enjoyed.
The smoked kohlrabi was bit too bitter for my liking but still good and the I thought the combination of a cabbage roll was served with creamy rich sauce was great!
Dish 3
Salad
Cherry tomatoes edamame, spinach jelly and Sichuan pepper oil
Great salad! Nice dressing was full of texture and flavour. I really liked the sauce! Subtle spiciness, tangy, and mint and parsley leaves made this salad very refreshing.
Spinach jelly which are soft was served with lot of crunch with roasted soybeans and almonds. These roasted soybeans reminded me of Setsubun. In Japan, we eat roasted soybeans in special ritual called mamemaki “bean throwing” in Feburary during Setsubun – Setsubun is the day before the beginning of spring in Japan.
Dish 4
Traditional
Shiitake and sweet pea wontons, spicy tahini cream, chilli oil
Great texture! It felt like I was eating mince meat.
The shiitake has a spicy kick! I only saw a little bit of chili sauce it must have been super spicy. I see only a bit but really powerful ! Same sauce as Chinese cabbage roll which I loved.
Dish 5
Fusion: Organic charcoal noodles, spicy black sesame cream
Love this noodle. Nice tangy sweet creamy sauce. My hubby is not big fan of tanginess, so I ate most of his salad and this noodle.
Dish 6
Sweet: Avocado cheese cake
This avocado cheesecake was more like ice cream. Super rich from the healthy avocado fat making it a guilt free sweet!!
But what I am most delighted by is NOT ONLY the amazing food served at a reasonable price but I could see only 2 tables were non-vegan – everyone else was having all vegan food at a non- vegan restaurant! Basically more than 85% of diners were having a plant-based meal. How fabulous!
It’s funny how a non plant–based restaurant introduces a vegan course and all of a sudden its vegan course is takes over!
Inside Shu Restaurant!
If you are not good with spicy foods, maybe this restaurant is not for you because Sichuan foods are famous for its spiciness.
Otherwise, give this fabulous course a try!
Until next time,
Yoshiko XX
Shu Restaurant
147 Johnston St Collingwood, VIC 3066
10 Course Vegan Degustation – $55 per head!
http://shurestaurant.com/vegan-degustation-1
5 Course Vegan Degustation – Only $25!! If you are lucky to be able to visit there Tuesday
http://shurestaurant.com/25-experimental-vegan-tuesdays
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