Edit 25/04/2017: Enlightened Cuisine is now rebranded as Vegie Kitchen.
Mike and Jo typically share each other's meals whenever they eat out but negotiations became far more complex (albeit more polite) when they joined Michael and I for dinner at Enlightened Cuisine. Each individually wanting to try as many dishes as possible, our best strategy had to be a group ordering consensus. We eventually got there, with the help of a pot of tea and some patient wait staff.
Mike and Jo typically share each other's meals whenever they eat out but negotiations became far more complex (albeit more polite) when they joined Michael and I for dinner at Enlightened Cuisine. Each individually wanting to try as many dishes as possible, our best strategy had to be a group ordering consensus. We eventually got there, with the help of a pot of tea and some patient wait staff.
The first dish to arrive was sweet corn soup for Jo ($5.50). Carrying tiny tofu cubes and shredded mock chicken, she was quite happy with this one and the rest of us enjoyed a taste too.
Lettuce cups ($4.50 each) offered some nice crunch, though the flavour was weak and salty.
Mike's curry puffs ($4.50 for two) weren't quite what he'd hoped, either. Though he was expecting puffy Indian-style samosas, these turned out to be small but dense triangles of filo-style pastry. They at least had a pleasantly spicy vegetable filling.
When it came to mains, Michael was most adamant that we would have Kung Po Fish ($16.90). The faux fish (Lamyong-style pieces) were accompanied by plenty of cheery vegetable chunks and almost as many whole dried chillis! Michael's convictions were well-founded, with this dish being one of the night's best.
The plum sauce duck ($16.90) was popular too, maintaining its crispness under a light but syrupy sweet sauce.
Jo and I agreed that some nostalgic lemon chicken ($16.90) was a must. The sauce was impressively acidic and naturally hued; unfortunately the chicken was stodgy, almost gluey in a too-thick batter.
Our last main was the spicy eggplant ($16), recommended by Lisa. It did indeed have a nice kick to it, and the eggplant was at optimum melt-in-the-mouth texture. Also along for the ride were tofu chunks and more mock meat.
Though Jo had staked a claim on deep-fried ice-cream early in the evening, none of us could cope with the thought of it after such a feast. Even sharing amongst a group, it seems impossible to sample the Enlightened Cuisine menu to full satisfaction!
Ooh, that duck looks delicious!
ReplyDeleteWelcome to Melbourne, Steph! It's all yours. :-)
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