Tuesday 23 July 2019

Eating Out: Taro's Vegan Ramen (and Taro's Ramen)

Taro's Ramen, as advertised, as a ramen place that has a few locations around Brisbane, only one of which had a vegan option (their South Brisbane restaurant). Then... a gift. Their inner city Taro's Express was rebranded and Taro's Vegan Ramen - with a full vegan menu of mains, desserts, and drinks. Hurrah! But, as things are given, so they are taken. A few months later, the building it was in closed for redevelopment and they closed. A crushing loss, as it was my favourite place in the city even though I'd only got to go there three times. Oh well, in memory, here is what I ate.

Of course I had to get the Vegan Ramen, because it was a ramen place! It comes in three levels of heat, and I clearly got the classic with zero chilli. This was really good, probably the best ramen I've had in Brisbane. The tofu in it was exceptional, so well seasoned and I could have just eaten a plate of it. With a side of seaweed salad because I love that stuff.

Classic Ramen and Seaweed Salad at Taro's Vegan Ramen


With heady plans of working my way through the menu (or at least, the non-spicy things on the menu), at visit two I moved down to the next item - the Cold Noodle Soup. This was a lovely soy-milk based broth, with a lot of five spice in it. There were some chilli things in it on the menu, so I got them to leave them out. This was lovely, but so filling! Also with some seaweed salad on the side.

Cold Noodle Soup at Taro's Vegan Ramen


I don't drink matcha often, because the caffeine in it makes me weird (I don't drink coffee or black tea either), but I couldn't say no to a matcha soy milkshake once I found out that they used soy ice cream.

Matcha Soy Milkshake at Taro's Vegan Ramen


Then, all plans were dashed when they announced that they were closing. Thankfully I was able to go one more time, on their last day. I debated whether I should try something new again on the menu, but at the end of the day I just had to go back for their classic ramen. Oh, what's that on the side? Might be some seaweed salad!

Classic Vegan Ramen from Taro's Vegan Ramen


I also got some dessert - a Strawberry & Cream Dora. Two dense little pancakes with sweet red beans, fresh strawberries, and soy ice cream.

Strawberries and Cream Dora from Taro's Vegan Ramen


So, RIP Taro's Vegan Ramen. But all is not lost. They have added their vegan ramen to their other city restaurant as well as continuing it in their South Brisbane one, but the Ascot store has nothing vegan. They also have opened up another restaurant in Stone's Corner that has the vegan ramen and one or two other vegan things, and they mentioned planning on possibly having a monthly vegan special at this store as well. Very handy as it is very close to where some friends live! While I wish they had opened this new location as another all vegan one (Taro's Vegan Ramen was packed out every time I went in there), at least I can still get delicious ramen! Which is what I did! Please enjoy yet another photo of the Vegan Classic Ramen. Plus some edamame this time. They didn't have any wakame salad, but they did have a different type of seaweed salad (I can't remember what it was called), but sadly it was not as good. Wakame seaweed salad forever!

Vegan Classic Ramen at Taro's Ramen


Taro's Ramen Stones Corner - 16 Old Cleveland Rd, Stones Corner, QLD

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

Dim Sim sleeping comfy


We were on the sofa watching Veronica Mars (got to be ready for when the new season drops on the weekend - so excite!), and Dim Sim was snoozing next to me on her pinkie. She did a little stretch, and then just continued sleeping with her head hanging over the side. Yep, looks super comfy to me! She had another bout of urinary issues over the weekend, but seems to have settled back to normal thanks to the wonderful healing powers of antibiotics.

14 comments:

  1. I'm so sorry to hear of that place closing--it looks amazing!

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    1. It really was. I will miss having all those options to try out.

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  2. The ramen looks so good!
    Oh, Dim Sim, how precious! Glad she is feeling better!

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  3. Ohhhh no!!! I'm so annoyed for you that they closed! How sad, vegan ramen is the freaking best, more places need to include options on their menus. All of the ramen that you got looks amazing but I'm so curious about the cold noodle soup! It sounds so good and unlike any ramen I've ever had. I'm sorry it closed but glad you got to enjoy it a few times at least! Sweet Dim Sim, such a beauty. I'm so glad she's feeling better, poor thing.

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    1. Thankfully we have quite a few places with vegan ramen here, but I also liked how this had other things on the menu as well.

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  4. That ramen looks so divine! I feel like when I make ramen it's always lacking somehow.
    I am so freaking glad Dim Sim is feeling better!!!!

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    1. Apparently there is a ramen recipe in Vegan Eats World that is meant to be legit amazing. I need to try it.

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  5. It's always so sad when great places are closing, especially when the food looks this amazing!

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    1. Especially given that it was just due to the location being renovated. There was no shortage of demand for the vegan food there, it was always packed.

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  6. Oh, what a loss - those look like such great dishes! I'll have to hunt around for the rare ones still available when I'm next in town.

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    1. There's definitely still some good choices for when you are here next!

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  7. Ah, it's so sad when restaurants you like close - especially when they're 100% vegan! Such a bummer. At least you have lots of pics of the ramen to remember it by. ;)

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  8. An all vegan ramen shop sounds glorious! Guess us vegans flew too close to the sun for it to last T_T

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