Eating In: Ramen, stir-fries, platters, bentos

I live! Thank you for your kind words pre-surgery. I was just in hospital for the morning, and have been spending my time since recovering at home. I had a laparoscopy, and my tummy has been a bit tender! But I am able to now sit at my desk for my laptop for a little bit now, hurrah! I had a lovely time catching up on everyone's blog posts, and now for a little blog post of my own.

In an effort to support local restaurants, we have been getting delivery once or twice a week for the last few months. Which is why these posts are all about eating in. Although restaurants are open with COVID safe plans in place, I still haven't been ready to eat out yet. Thankfully I have lots of deliveries to share with you in this spot over the coming weeks. I spent a lot of time searching around looking for places with vegan options to find some fun new places to add into our rotation. I find that searching for vegan doesn't bring up all the results, and if you search for vegan friendly a lot of the places have nothing at all vegan on offer! So checking out individual restaurants is time consuming, but has been rewarding.

Like finding a place with vegan ramen! Ramen Danbo offers a delicious vegan miso ramen option, as well as vegan gyoza.



I have posted a few times before about local restaurant Superoll, my favourite was the Tofu Hustle. Little did I know that this Tofu Hustle would be my last ever. They unexpectedly sold the business, and now it is a non-vegan Thai restaurant. They do have a vegetarian/vegan section of their menu but as they do not deliver I haven't tried anything. Plus I'm still heartbroken over the loss of Tofu Hustle and a totally vegetarian/vegan restaurant.



My parents enjoy ordering non-vegan dishes from local (as in right up the road from us) restaurant Michael's Oriental, and they started offering a vegan menu a while ago. I have posted about it previously. I am a bit ambivalent about ordering from here, they don't have any non-spicy tofu dishes for me to order and you know how much I just want to order tofu. But they have a few things that are OK. The Cashew Chicken is fairly basic, but it is nice enough.



Another new to me place was Pazar Grill, a Mediterranean restaurant. I got the Vegan Platter, that was meant to come with falafel, dolma, dip (I chose hummus), salad (I chose kale and cous cous), and a side (I chose chips because always choose potato). I realised when I got it that they had substituted the dolma for some sort of fritter, which I ate. But then I checked their website and realised that the fritters were vegetarian, not vegan! Eeep! I sent them a nice email just letting them know about it, and they responded to say that they were having issues with their dolma suppliers, but that they had made the fritters vegan for the vegan platter. So that was nice and good!



A lot of the places we order from only deliver through Uber Eats, which I know has some significant issues with it. But one place that orgasnises its own delivery is Kuan Yin Home Delivery. I've posted about it before, as well as the previous brick and mortar restaurant they had that I used to love so much. But I had sort of forgotten about the home delivery until it came to isolation time. I was thrilled when I googled to see that they were still running! Of course I got my favourite order for them for this first time - pan-fried dumplings (they do the best dumplings) and sweet and sour pork bento.





Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



As everyone knows, a good nurse is essential to recovery. Thankfully Dim Sim has been providing me with many gentle snuggles and hugs. She only stood on one of my incision sites once, and that was an accident. I am very lucky to be under such excellent care.

Midweek Munchies

More random things.

A while ago I spoke about how Cha Time, a bubble tea place, had soy milk options now. I had tried a strawberry milk tea with red beans, very nice. But my favourite flavour of bubble tea is taro milk tea with pearls. A lot of places have the taro already pre-mixed with cows milk, but Cha Time can mix it with the soy milk. I was excited. Then I was sad. I think maybe they didn't mix it well? It was very grainy and didn't have that wonderful cookie flavour that I associate with taro milk tea. In the future, I'll stick to my strawberry.



Popping back to those blessed frosty days of winter, oh how I miss them. And this lovely bowl of pumpkin soup topped with bacon bits.



When I am exhausted or sick or overwhelmed, instead of cooking I might get a delivery from my trusty nearby Superoll. As always, I get the Tofu Hustle, with tofu, mushrooms, and vegetables in a mushroom sauce. It never fails me.



Alpro yoghurt is here in Australia! And it isn't coconut! This is very exciting! I enjoyed this mango flavoured almond yoghurt, and they also have a strawberry almond yoghurt that was good.



Behold, this silly drink. I drank it when I was sick, a lot of the above photos were from one of the many times this year I have been sick. I had hoped it would heal me. It did not, but it was fun.



I think I've mentioned that I've been eating a lot of tofu scramble for lunch lately. This was some leftover scramble from a previous dinner, mixed with cheese sauce and served with toasted olive and thyme sourdough and avocado.



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Poor Dim Sim, it is still often too hot and/or there is too much smoke haze (because Australia is on fire at the moment) for her to be out in the cat max as often as she'd like. But here is a photo from one of the times she has been able to go out and enjoy the sun.

Eating Out: Superoll (and a KOALA!)

A few months ago I went and saw the new version of The Lion King with my friend Amy. It was awesome and I loved it and I cried a bunch. I thought they did such an amazing job with the animation. I still love the original as well, of course. But what does all this have to do with food? Well, we saw it at a cinema that is right across the road from Superoll, an Asian vegetarian place with many vegan options. I've posted about this place before, and I have also had several deliveries from here. It is my favourite place to get delivered if I am too tired to cook.

We shared an entree (that's appetizer, for my US friends... what you call entrees we call mains) of their amazing Plum Char Siu. This is so delicious and tender, you can't go wrong with it.



Amy ordered the Crouching Ginger Hidden Basil, which was king oyster mushrooms and vegetables with ginger, Thai basil, and a special sauce. I tried a bit and it was lovely.



And I ordered the Tofu Hustle, my favourite. This has appeared on the menu under a few different names over the years, but is always the same deliciousness that I order almost every time. Braised tofu with four different kinds of mushrooms, carrots, zucchini, and a mushroom sauce. If only it also had broccoli, this would be the perfect dish. In my heart, I am a very basic sort of vegan.



Superoll - Shop 22a, 342 McCullough St, Sunnybank, Queensland

I won't deprive you of a kitty photo of the post, but I did want to share a very special experience with you. This happened not long after I went to see The Lion King! Despite living in Brisbane, I have never seen a koala in the wild. Sadly, their habitats have been destroyed by developments and they are harder and harder to find. But I have a friend who is very good and knowing where to go and find koalas, so she met up with me one morning for a koala spotting bush walk. And we saw one right away! The photos aren't great, because I only had my phone camera with me and they were way up in a tree. But crappy photos don't take away the magic of actually seeing a koala friend! Enjoy. (You may want to click on the photos so you can see them a bit bigger than how they appear on the blog.)





Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Speaking of adorably fuzzy friends up trees, here is a flashback photo to when Dim Sim was four years old (that was 15 years ago!) and was hanging out in a tree in our front yard in Sydney. What a perfect little poser!

Eating Out: Loving Hut, Superoll, and MisoHapi

This post is a mish mash of a few individual little meals I have had out at a few different places on my own, so I thought I would just share them together.

Loving Hut Brisbane:

Loving Hut is a stalwart of the vegan Brisbane scene. I used to go there so much, I have eaten almost the entire menu. I don't go there that often anymore, or if I do it is often to get an old favourite for takeaway. But one day I stopped in for lunch and saw that they had something new on their very slowly changing special board. These Hokkien Noodles were delicious and savoury. Also very oily, I could have cut back on that a bit, but it was a nice lunch. (See other visits to Loving Hut here.)



Superoll:

Despite being very close to me, I haven't eaten at Superoll all that often. But I have ordered delivery from them loads of times. My usual go to is a dish of tofu, mushrooms, and zucchini (wish it was broccoli) in a savoury sauce. One day after being at an event around the corner, I decided to stop in for a quick dinner. I got the Char Siu bowl, which has their delicious char siu, some rice, bok choy, corn, and roasted peanuts. I also had a Jo Melon drink, which was watermelon, soy milk, and ice. It was sweet and refreshing. (See previous Superoll visits and deliveries here.)





MisoHapi:

I love this Japanese restaurant in West End that has vegan options. I popped in for lunch one day and finally had a whole bowl of their vegan shoyu ramen all to myself. While their miso ramen is also delicious, I think this one is my favourite. I also finally had some Tofu Croquette Agedashi. Every other time I'd been in they had been out of the croquettes. While the croquettes themselves were good, and the agedashi broth was amazing, together they just created a bowl of mush. (See previous visits here.)





Loving Hut - Shop 2/1420 Logan Road, Mount Gravatt, Queensland

Superoll - Shop 22a, 342 McCullough St, Sunnybank, Queensland

MisoHapi - 124 Boundary St, West End, Queensland

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



A perfect little cat on my lap.

VeganMoFo 2018 #27: Netflix and UberEats (and a pizza)

27th: TV Trays – A sit-down meal might be nice, but sometimes getting cosy with food and netflix is also needed. What’s your TV dinner?

In all honestly, unless we are having a special family dinner like some of the ones I have mentioned this month, we eat pretty much everything in front of the TV. We live together, we talk about our days as they happen (or have a brief catch up when I get home from work), and sitting and watching TV while having dinner is an excellent way to spend most evenings.

So let's go even easier. When for some reason, on the odd occasion, I don't have time to cook or energy to cook, we order delivery. Unlike some lucky areas, there are only a few places with vegan options that will deliver to my house. These are their stories. Plus a bonus pizza.

Superoll

Superoll is my go to, and for a while was the only real vegan option on UberEats. My favourite thing to get these days is the Master Tofu, which is tofu, mushrooms, and vegetables in a dark mushroom sauce. So good! But they have lots of other things, and I have eaten there as well. You can see some of my other orders and visits to Superoll here.



Bun

Located in the Westfield Garden City 8 Street Food Court, Bun added some vegan options to their menu a while ago. They have vegan pho, vermicelli salad, rice bowls, rice paper rolls, and fried tofu. The salads, bowls, and rolls have either lemongrass tofu or avocado as the option. I've had both the rice bowl and the vermicelli salad, both with lemongrass tofu, as well as the avocado rice paper rolls (with peanut hoisin sauce, of course!). It is a really nice, fresh option for when you want something a bit lighter.





VeriVego

VeriVego is basically just the veg*n arm of Getta Burger, but they are separated out on UberEats (though you can order vegan burgers off the regular Getta Burger menu now as well). I got the cheeseburger, which had a beefy patty (I think the Fry's patties), cheese (biocheese I am pretty sure), pickles, onions, mustard, and BBQ sauce on an oat bun. I asked for mine without the onion... and it came with no onion but also no pickles. WHAT? I WANT ALL THE PICKLES. I luckily had some pickles in my fridge that I sliced and added. The burger was fine, but really nothing special, especially for what you pay. My mum had one of their vegetarian burgers and was also pretty 'meh'. The chips were better. Sweet potato fries were good, but the potato curls were so delicious! With some tomato relish.





Michael's Oriental

For as long as I can remember, Michael's Oriental has been basically just up the road from my house. A couple of months ago, they introduced a vegan menu, that is now also available on UberEats. I ordered a selection for the family - cashew chicken, chinese greens, mongolian chicken, and fried rice. It was really nice and satisfying. The mongolian chicken was a little on the spicy side for me, but OK when mixed with the other things. A lot of their menu looks too spicy for me, but I am keen to try out some of their noodle dishes and they sweet corn soup at some point.



Domino's

I didn't UberEats this, I didn't even get it delivered. I picked it up on the way to watch a movie at a friend's house, but I think it still counts. Domino's is the latest pizza chain to introduce vegan cheese, and the one I am most excited about. I've posted before about Crust and Pizza Caper's vegan pizza, but they use Biocheese which is very heavy on the coconut oil for me. Domino's uses Follow Your Heart, which is my very favourite vegan cheese for pizza! Yay! In fact, when they first announced vegan cheese, they sold out in about two seconds and had to spend a month working out exactly how much vegan cheese they need. So I was excited to finally get to try it. The Vegan Cheesy Bread is like a garlic bread with cheese and is SO GOOD and why am I not eating it right now? They also have three vegan pizzas, though none of them really spoke to me. So we got the Vegetarian Pizza, minus the feta and capsicum, added pineapple and olives, and using vegan cheese. It was a really good pizza. This will be my go to vegan pizza delivery/pick up for sure.





Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



No washing up needed when Gizmo and Sahara are on the case! They will lick your bowls super clean.

Eating Out: Superoll

I got back from my Melbourne trip a couple of days ago, which was great and involved far too much delicious food. I still need to organise all my photos and write posts, so in the mean time enjoy this post about eating out (or, more often, in) at Superoll, a local vegan-friendly vegetarian restaurant that is very close to my house!

The first time we got takeaway. This was shortly after they first opened, and since then they have changed their menu a bit, and given everything on the menu cute names.

The corn soup is huge for only $5, and very satisfying. I have had this soup a number of times when I have been down in spirits or health. Once home, I normally mix in a bit of nooch for a cheesy corn soup.



Deep Fried Tofu with Special Sauce. This is no longer on the snack section of the menu, instead it has been moved to the mains section under the name The Fifth Element (it is a five spice sauce).



My dad ordered the Green Beans and Chicken Strips, which was a bit bland. A similar version is now on the menu with the name Mr Bean.



And my first order was the Deep Fried Tofu and Vegetables with Mushroom Extract Sauce (now called Master Tofu). I really love this one.



One time, we actually went to the restaurant to eat! And I ordered a yummy Fruit Master iced tea with lots of fresh fruit in it.



We split a couple of starters. First up, the Forever Original Super Roll, which is basically a large, pleasant spring roll filled with shredded cabbage, carrot and mushrooms.



We also got the Char Siu, which is exceptionally delicious! You can also get this as a meal with rice and vegetables if you want.



I ordered the Happy Farm, which just beats out the Master Tofu as my favourite. It has yuba, broccoli, cabbage, carrot and different types of mushrooms in a yummy savoury sauce. Also some skanky capsicum, which was immediately picked out.



Mum ordered the Purple Soldier, which is eggplant braised in soy sauce. (They also have a spicy version of this called the Black Swan).



Dad ordered the vegan option of the Master Fried Rice



We have since had takeaway a bunch of times. I normally get the Happy Farm, or sometimes Master Tofu, though my dad often tries something different.

We did try the Asparagus Fresh Superoll once, which was fine but a bit bland.



And the Yojiimball, which are described as crispy konjac balls with sweet soy sauce, but are actually kind of chewy seafood balls. So not a fan.



Dad got the Legendary Udon, which is topped with deep fried beancurd and more konjac balls. There are noodles and veggies underneath in a soy sauce.



He also tried the Papas Curry, which is a fairly hot potato curry topped with things. It is too spicy for me, but he likes it.



Given that Superoll is only five minutes away from my house, and provides tasty vegan food, you can imagine that we will be repeat customers! One day I might even go and eat in the restaurant again... or I can just order takeaway. If only I could get delivery, I would never be stopped!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Winter is here... Dim Sim has no issues with hogging the heater to herself!