Eating Out: Tea Master

Tea Master has been a Valley fixture for many years, and yet I had never been there. I was so busy going to my favourite Kuan Yin that I never quite had time for it. Even after Kuan Yin closed, I still didn't make it in there for ages. Until the end of last year. I was going to a cat comedy show with a work friend, and it all lined up for us to try it out. She is an omni who had never eaten mock meat or in a vegan restaurant before, but she was excited to try it out. The best attitude!

They have a large selection of exciting drinks at Tea Master, so I started with a Passionfruit Bubble Tea with added Lychee Jelly (as well as pearls, of course). The jelly was a bit off, it was in a large piece rather than in little bits, so I had to stab it a lot with the straw to break it up so I could drink it. But very refreshing!



We decided to share a bunch of dishes, which meant we got to sample a lot of entrees. Not everything there is vegan, but everything that is vegan is very clearly marked on the menu, so there is no confusion. Hannah jumped right into the mock meat world with some satay chicken skewers. We also got some spring rolls, and some steamed dumplings, because you should always get dumplings!







I was excited because they had two of my favourite things on the menu - radish cakes and beancurd rolls. Unfortunately, neither were what I was hoping. The radish cakes were small and weirdly fried. And the beancurd rolls were filled with some sort of mock stuff, and were small and hard and not saucy enough. Regular readers will know what I mean when they see them, given the number of times I have posted perfect beancurd rolls on here.





We also shared a main, the Roasted Duck Noodles. I am not normally one for vegan duck, I find it too oily, but this had come recommended by Jojo, and I trust her judgement. It didn't fail, being a tasty savoury dish. And yes, the duck was a bit too oily as I knew, but the flavours made up for it.



I ended sweetly with another drink, this time a Strawberry Bubble Tea, with pearls but no extra jelly.



I enjoyed the visit to a new to me restaurant, and I was happy that Hannah enjoyed her first vegan restaurant as well. Overall I am still a little mixed on Tea Master (the ruination of radish cakes and bean curd rolls sits heavy with me), though it definitely has some tasty dishes. I have been back a couple more times since then, and I will share those visits in due time.

Tea Master Vegetarian Cafe - Shop8/115 Wickham Street, Fortitude Valley - (07) 3257 0038

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



My sleepy miss had a check up last week to make sure her bloods were stable, and I am happy to report that they are. Her liver enzyme is still a little elevated, but the nature of her sort of inflammatory liver disease in older cats is that it is a chronic issue. As long as she is clinically well, which she is, that is the main thing.