Ren Dao

November 17, 2012

Last weekend nosotros drew inspiration from Brianna's Southside staples article inwards the Enlightened Cuisine".

It gear upward a promising musical note amongst smiling, attentive staff, padded seating in addition to - happy sigh - gentle, non-fluorescent lighting. The length in addition to multifariousness of the carte du jour besides equals (and in all likelihood betters) the Enlightened Cuisine benchmark: at that topographic point are a dozen entrees in addition to one-half every bit many soups, mock meats inwards myriad preparations, tofu in addition to vegetables, noodles, roti in addition to rice. Vegan, gluten-free in addition to spicy-hot dishes are well-marked in addition to abundant (and include some g-f mock meat!). The mains hover some $20 each in addition to nosotros wondered whether they'd earn those extra twosome of bucks on their rivals.

The five Spice Loh-Bak Rolls ($7.50) finally showed me how bean curd wrapping is supposed to piece of employment out - light, flaky in addition to a lilliputian sweet. Instead of pork these were materials amongst dense, starchy taro.

The Kung Po Chicken ($19.50) was a mighty bowl (not done judge inwards this photo) of mock meat, vegetables in addition to roasted cashews coated inwards a thick, hot in addition to sweetness sauce. The capsicum, zucchini in addition to celery did direct keep a pleasing crispness to them in addition to the 'chicken' was genuinely a medley of tofu strips, to a greater extent than textured tofu squares in addition to chewy fried tofu puffs.

The Nasi Lemak ($12.80) made operate of the glutenous mock chicken chunks we're used to inwards its xanthous curry, along amongst to a greater extent than tofu in addition to some melt-in-the-mouth potatoes. The surprise imitator inwards this dish is the mushroom-based, particularly imported mound of mock anchovies!

Ren Dao's dishes for sure lived upward to their bespeak cost inwards both portioning in addition to quality. If exclusively we'd been heading immediately home, they would direct keep boxed upward the lastly of our Kung Po to direct keep amongst us. Actually, I wishing nosotros could box upward Ren Dao in addition to direct keep them habitation amongst us! They charge per unit of measurement highly across all my criteria: the kind of their menu, their fresh vegetables in addition to restrained deep-frying, extensive options for exceptional diets, comfortable surrounds in addition to lovely, unhurried service. On these counts they in all likelihood direct keep to a greater extent than inwards mutual amongst Veggie Kitchen than Enlightened Cuisine or White Lotus.

Actually, I intend Ren Dao is carving a niche all its ain inwards Elsternwick. We were heartened to come across it bustling in addition to boasting a demographic dissimilar to the inner north's veg*n hang-outs.

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So far Ren Dao seems exclusively to direct keep received a refer on Bait For Bookworms.

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Ren Dao Vegetarian Restaurant
275 Glenhuntly Rd, Elsternwick
9523 0150
veg entrees $6.50-9.80, veg mains $12.50-23.90

Accessibility: The restaurant's entry is quite apartment in addition to wide, tables within are moderately spaced. We received amount tabular array service. The toilets are unisex but located upward a narrow, bending staircase.

Ren Dao Ii

August 22, 2014

We've been making a practiced instruct of the Melbourne Writers Festival, starting out alongside a Book Club taping over inwards Elsternwick. It was a lot of fun, together with a swell excuse to revisit Ren Dao for a slowly dinner. They agreed to serve us later 9pm on a weeknight without a hint of annoyance, together with a few to a greater extent than Book Clubbers trickled inwards later us to brand it worth their while.

We did our best to hold upwardly decisive, inwards spite of the 70 (!) items on offer, together with our nutrient was served inwards practiced time. The Assam Pedas ($23.90) was a picayune sour together with a picayune spicy, alongside enough of zucchini, carrot, capsicum together with celery adding diversity to some slightly homogeneous mock fish strips... together with a canned pineapple telephone on top. While nosotros gladly polished off the lot, it didn't convey quite the panache of their Kung Po Chicken.

Roti ($4) arrived also hot to grip together with thicker unopen to the edges than nosotros prefer, but it was swell for mopping upwardly the Assam Pedas sauce.

The night's victor was the Hainanese Roasted Chicken Rice ($12.80). Michael was utterly enamoured of the sparse together with crispy edible bean curd peel 'chicken' strips, together with the back-of-the-tongue rut of the chilli sauce took us both yesteryear surprise. The rice mound had a overnice whiff of galangal virtually it, too.

While nosotros finished upwardly together with paid the bill, our waiter shyly recommended a few of her favourites for side yesteryear side fourth dimension (watch out, roast duck together with kokosnoot butter chicken!). It was a overnice gesture that reflects the understated, welcoming atmosphere of Ren Dao together with it had us looking frontwards to a hereafter see earlier we'd fifty-fifty finished this one.

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Our showtime see to Ren Dao is blogged here. It turned upwardly on Veganise This! shortly later but doesn't seem to convey scored whatever recent spider web log attention.

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Ren Dao
275 Glenhuntly Rd, Elsternwick
9523 0150
menu: one, two

Accessibility: The restaurant's entry is quite apartment together with wide, tables within are moderately spaced. We received sum tabular array service. The toilets are unisex but located upwardly a narrow, bending staircase.