June 20, 2010: Yong Green Food III

Update 04/01/2023: Yong Green Food is now permanently closed.

We returned to Yong Green Food for lunch on a wet Sunday while Liz was in town. With seven of us 'round the table, it was a good opportunity to order broadly from the menu.

K and I shared a pot of pomegranate honey tea ($4.50/jug), which we both loved. It seems we're equal suckers for these syrupy sweet fruity concoctions.

These kim chi gyoza ($9.50) are a winter special. The menu promises an explosive filling of kim chi, tofu, mushrooms, onion, garlic and spring onion, though it actually reminded me more of mock meat. These are well worth a try, though not quite as special as we'd all hoped they'd be.

Michael kindly permitted me a taste of the Korean kim chi pancake ($9.50) he shared with Toby. In contrast to the dumplings this exceeded my expectations with its complex savoury flavour.

Michael and Toby also shared the teriyaki chicken ($13.50); another winner and perfect for winter with its thick sauce and brown rice.

Meanwhile I dug into the grilled chicken burger ($8.50). Between the Turkish-style bun and gluten-based patty this is a huge portion of wheaty carbohydrates. Thankfully it comes with a decent helping of flavour too - the 'skin' on the 'chicken' is quite phenomenal and the satay and sweet chilli sauces suited better than I thought they would. My only gripe is that the chicken's quite uneven, a too-rich inch thick in the centre and petering out to nothing towards the edges.

Another winter special is the raw pecan pie ($7.50). In my opinion it's not a patch on the raw chocolate cheesecake but there was sufficient enthusiasm for it amongst my friends that this slice disappeared quickly and entirely.

Though there were a couple of mild disappointments on this visit, Yong is much more hit than miss and a worthy competitor to the enormously successful and variable Vegie Bar across the street. We'll be back for more, for sure.

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You can read about our previous meals at Yong here and here.