Thursday, March 26, 2015

Maha II

March 6, 2015


We first visited Maha a few years ago and had a good, but not amazing meal. Since then, seemingly every vegan we know has raved non-stop about how well they're catered for at Maha. So when friends organised a big group vegan feast there we joined in to see if it measured up. Everything was pre-arranged - we booked in for a five-course vegan degustation ($95 a head) and turned up with nothing to decide except what to drink. I sampled various wines ordered by more focussed dining companions, while Cindy dived into the cocktails with a very satisfactory Amman Sash (Ketel One Citron, cointreau, vanilla syrup, Kinnie and a red liquorice garnish). Also pictured below are our first couple of shared plates - some lightly spiced chickpea chips and a plate of young carrots simply dressed with oil and lemon.


After the table demolished the shared dishes, we moved onto a few individual plates - firstly the excellently crunchy zucchini felafel with pumpkin puree, tomatoes and a crisp of za'atar and sesame bread.


Everything kicked up a notch with the next dish: Char-grilled baby corn with enoki mushrooms, hazelnuts and a cauliflower and saffron purée. This dish got overlooked when we reflected on our favourite dishes at the end of the night, but it was exceptional - a brilliant combination of flavours and textures.


Then came probably the most well-received dish of the evening: a truffled fava puree topped with asparagus, walnut crumbs and chilli oil. Everything about this was perfect - the rich truffley puree, lightly roasted asparagus and lots of crunchy goodness from the walnuts. The chilli oil was mild but cut through the richness. This was sublime.


While everyone recovered from those two wonderful dishes, another round of share plates came out: a sumac fattoush that fell just the right side of being too salty, a brown rice pilaf with pumpkin seeds, a combination of ras-el-hanout spiced pumpkin, almonds, mint and radish that I loved and my favourite dish of the night: red lentil manti with aleppo pepper dressing and carrot puree.


We were all a bit blown away by the savoury dishes, so were happy to have a brief pause before the dessert came out. We also got to have a quick chat with Shane Delia, Maha's head chef, who seemed super enthused about putting together vegan menus (I guess he wasn't going to be too negative with a table of 16 wildly enthused veg*ns in staring adoringly up at him).

The dessert course was a vanilla vegan sponge with rose water and watermelon ice, pineapple gel, micro basil and coconut sorbet. This was sharp and refreshing, but not quite the indulgent finish we felt our incredible meal deserved.


So we ordered a bonus round of Turkish delight doughnuts (5 for $15), which were deliciously puffy little balls of fried sweetness.


Maha really exceeded our expectations on this visit - the five course meal gets you something like 10 different dishes, all of which were great and a handful of which were truly incredible. The service was superb, the booze flowed liberally and the atmosphere was buzzing without being deafening.


We staggered out happy after a night of wonderful company and superb food. Maha really deliver for vegans - it's a fine dining place where the vegan dishes feel like they've been given as much thought as the non-vegan options. Add it to your list!

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Read about our first visit to Maha here. Quinces and Kale has already blogged this dinner plus an earlier visit to Maha. Carla at easy as vegan pie wasn't quite as enthusiastic with her vegan experience a few years back.


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Maha
21 Bond St, Melbourne
9629 5900
http://www.mahabg.com.au/

Accessibility: Maha has reasonably spaced tables, is a little dim and loud, and has full table service. The toilets are highly accessible and there's a lift next to the staircase entry to the building.

6 comments:

  1. It's on my wishlist - your meal sounds great - not that I get out for such fancy meals but maybe one day! I love how you finished it off perfectly with the doughnuts - sorbet really isn't what you need at the end of a fancy meal

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    1. Hi Johanna! When we calculated that the doughnuts would only be $3 extra each, it was a no-brainer. :-)

      Maha also offer good value lunches, if that proves to suit you better.

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  2. I think this has decided where I will have my next major dinner.

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    1. I hope you're as impressed as we were, New Epicurean!

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  3. gosh that looks fantastic. I really must start going along to the fancier places!

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    1. Hi Veganopoulous! They're a lot of fun, on occasion. The lunch here is great too, (and cheaper!) so I hear.

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