Eating Out: Easy House Vegetarian

Back in May (I know, so far behind) I went with my parents down to Easy House for a mother's day yum cha. We are serious yum cha eaters! Plus, three people is the optimum number for eating the most things at yum cha. Here's what happened.

Pan-Fried Noodles with XO Sauce.



BBQ Pork Buns.



Rice Paper Rolls.



More Pan-fried Noodles in XO Sauce. They are Mum's favourite.



Pumpkin Dumplings.



Chicken and Bok Choy Dumplings.



Eggplant with Black Bean Sauce.



Steamed BBQ Buns.



Beancurd Rolls.



Satay Chicken Skewers.



Pan-Fried Dumplings. I love the vinegary sauce these come with.



Radish Cake. My loves!



Pan-Fried Vegetable Buns. These were a special for the weekend.



Mango Pudding. My favourite way to finish yum cha.



It was a pretty grand effort! And we were very full for the drive home from the coast. On the way home, we stopped into All-Time Coffee Co to pick up some Notella doughnuts we had pre-ordered.



Easy House Vegetarian Restaurant - 8/90 Markeri St, Mermaid Waters, QLD - (07) 5572 8808

All Time Coffee Co - 1/2478 Gold Coast Highway, Mermaid Beach, QLD

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Continuing my series of Dim Sim lying on her back in my lap posts, here is a close-up of her face. Not impressed. Not amused. But she didn't run away!

Eating Out: Easy House Vegetarian (Christmas Day edition!)

Hello friends, and welcome to the new year. I hope the last week and a bit has been good for you, however you celebrated or didn't. My Christmas Day started as per usual, with a 7.30 bikram yoga class followed by a fruit platter at the studio. It was a fun class, and watermelon never tastes as good as when you have just done 90 minutes of yoga in a hot and sweaty room!

Normally we do a Christmas lunch at home, but this year we decided to buck tradition and had a reservation for lunch at Easy House Vegetarian. Regular readers will know that I love Easy House, and have enjoyed yum cha there many times. They are always open on Christmas Day, so why not?

It was me and my parents, so that made for three. Three is the perfect number of yum cha, as almost every little plate comes has three on it. So we were able to eat a lot! Starting with these Pan Fried Dumplings and Radish Cakes (I love radish cakes!).



Food comes out fast at yum cha, and soon we had a full table. Another two of my favourites are the BBQ pork buns and the bean curd rolls, seen here with the satay skewers and black bean eggplant.



Rice Paper rolls are always lovely and refreshing, and we also had some broccoli dumplings. Somehow we only had one plate of steamed dumplings during this visit, normally I get a few varieties.





They had a few specials for Christmas Day, including some lovely cabbage rolls with glass noodles and some steamed wontons.





I also tried another dish I hadn't seen there before, bean curd skin. Simply a roll of sliced bean curd skin in a delicious sauce. So good! I love yuba. Mum and Dad also shared some XO noodles, which I skipped as they are too spicy for me. I didn't get a photo of those because they fell on them before I could! In their defence, I may have been distracted by my bean curd skin.



We finished up with a few sweet treats. The steamed custard buns, and the mango pudding. I love the buns, but the mango pudding is my absolutely favourite. It is cold and sweet and the perfect way to end a whole lot of eating.





It was an amazing lunch, and we were full for ages afterwards. The only downside was the driving. On the way down, there was a lot of congestion due to some previous accidents, so it took almost two hours! The way back was the usual 55 minutes of clear sailing, though I wanted to fall asleep thanks to all that delicious food I ate!

I have a bunch more Christmas, New Years, and wrap up posts in the works, so get ready for a lot of food!

Easy House Vegetarian Restaurant - 8/90 Markeri St, Mermaid Waters, QLD - (07) 5572 8808

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Meowy Catmas!

Eating Out: Easy House and Flour Of Life (Thursday Cheap Day edition)

I know, I know. My last post was about yum cha as well. But last Thursday I did it all again with my friend Amy and her husband Cam. We both took the day off work to head on down. On Thursdays, Easy House has their cheap day - all yum cha plates are $5.50! We had been wanting to go down on a Thursday for a while, and it finally happened. Plus we were a party of three - the optimum number for a yum cha date. Of course, we had to stop off at Flour Of Life on the way home.

We started with some Radish Buns and BBQ Buns, both of which are encased with a delicious, flaky pasty. Don't worry, the steamed buns are coming!



Then onto some pan-fried dumplings, sesame prawn rolls, and deep-friend wontons. I'm not a huge fan of the wontons, they are far too deep fried, but I didn't object to nibbling one with some sweet sour sauce. The sesame prawn rolls actually don't taste at all like fake prawn, which I normally hate, so I was pleasantly surprised! And the dumplings are a favourite of mine.





We also got some original-style Noodles in XO Sauce (as opposed to the special chili-free ones in my last post). This time the chili level was appropriate, still just pushing my boundaries, but didn't make me cry.



Coriander Dumplings and Mushroom Dumplings.



BBQ Steamed Buns and Steamed Dim Sims. Again, people ordering food named after my cat!





And of course, my favourites! Steamed Beancurd Rolls and Radish Cakes.





We were pretty happy with our efforts!!

Then it was a stop by Flour of Life on the way home. Of course I got my favourite strawberry flan, but I also got a berry crumble (which was really nice warmed up with some So Delicious Creamy Cashew ice cream) and a mini custard doughnut. Yum!



I promise my next post will be something other than yum cha!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



A couple of Burmese brothers.

Eating Out: Easy House Vegetarian

Yum cha has always been one of my favourite things, I used to go with my family frequently from the time I was quite young. Once I became vegan, yum cha at regular places became off limits, as even the items that look vegetarian are likely to have sneaky oyster sauce or chicken stock hidden somewhere in them. When I lived in Sydney, there were a few vegan yum cha places that I used to enjoy, but when I moved back to Brisbane things looked bleak. Thankfully for the past several years there has been Easy House Vegetarian, which does a daily lunch time yum cha. As long as you are willing to drive down to the Gold Coast (a bit under an hour from my place)... and believe me, you will be willing. It used to be that everything was vegan except for the egg custard tarts, but I haven't seen them offered at my last several visits, so unless they make a return then everything is vegan.

For my non-Australian friends, yum cha is known as dim sum in other places.

A little while ago, I went down to the Gold Coast with my friend Amy for a day of eating. And Easy House was out first stop for a yummy yum cha lunch. They have a large selection of yummy things - lots of steamed dumplings, steamed buns, small plates and deep-fried food. I don't like to eat much deep fried, and there is always plenty for me to choose from! While three is the optimum number for yum cha (because most plates have three pieces), Amy and I still did a pretty good job between the two of us! No prices, because I don't know what was what. They just bring it out and we say yes and they mark it on the sheet!

Sesame pork buns.



Bok choy and chicken dumplings.



Satay skewers.



Beancurd rolls. My favourite!



Steamed BBQ pork buns.



Pan-fried rice noodles with XO Sauce.



Radish cakes. My love!



Coriander dumplings.



It was pretty great! We had a couple more food adventures during the day, so stay tuned for those!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



This is one of Amy's kitties. His name is Neil de Cat Tyson. He came to the clinic a while ago so I could give him his vaccinations, and he thought that he would also make an excellent vet.

Eating Out: Easy House Vegetarian (birthday edition, with cheesecake)

Last week was my birthday, I'm 38 years old now. My birthday was on Thursday, which happens to be cheap plate yum cha day ($5.90 per plate every Thursday) at Easy House Vegetarian. The law dictated that I must go and have yum cha for lunch, so I went down with my parents (three is the magic number for yum cha participants) and we ate a glorious amount! Because there weren't many people when we got there, they weren't bringing trays around. A bit sad, because I love that part of yum cha. But we just ordered off the yum cha list, and they made things fresh for us. Everything was delicious, as always. Regular reading friends will know that this is one of my favourite places, and you can see some of my previous visits here.

BBQ pork is a big theme, with some beloved Steamed BBQ Pork Buns. We also got some Roasted Pork Buns, which is the same BBQ pork but wrapped in a flaky pastry.





My mum's favourite is Noodles in XO Sauce, which tends to be a bit spicy for me. But my parents enjoyed it! I nibbled some of the noodles on the end that didn't have the hot sauce on them, I love how thick they are.



Dumplings are a must! We had a variety - Chicken & Bok Choy, Mushroom, and Coriander.



And of course, my favourite beloved - Radish Cakes and Steamed Beancurd Rolls. We got two plates of each! I just love these so much.





Of course, birthdays need cakes. I ordered an Apple Crumble Cheesecake from local vegan cake maker The Little Vegan & Co, and it was glorious.



Easy House Vegetarian Restaurant - 8/90 Markeri St, Mermaid Waters, QLD - (07) 5572 8808

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



For my birthday, my mother commissioned this wonderful portrait of Dim Sim. It is stunning and I love it! It is done by a wonderful local artist, and you can see more of her work on her Instagram page.