Shimbashi Soba III

February 20, 2025

   

We've been eating in at the Carlton outlet of Shimbashi Soba semi-regularly over the past two years, but we tend to order the same dishes over and over. A newly printed menu inspired us to mix it up on our last visit! The business remains entirely gluten-free, with spicy and vegan dishes clearly marked.

   

I ordered two smaller dishes and called it a meal. The agadashi tofu ($14) was lightly battered and delicate to handle, sitting in a pool of thin tempura sauce. I loved the crispy lotus root garnish.

   

By contrast, the vegan sushi roll ($18) was substantial, colourful and stuffed with contrasting flavours. Within the rice was zucchini, avocado and a juicy, heavily seasoned soy meat, and it was all topped with paprika mayonnaise, more lotus chips, pickled radish and spring onions.

   

Michael deviated from his favourite Vegan Red Dragon for the tofu curry rice ($31), and regretted nothing. The accompanying miso soup was welcome, but he most appreciated the heartiness of the thick curry gravy and multigrain rice, and happily picked through the fried tofu chunks, veges and pickles.

We're still going to feel the pull back towards our original favourite Shimbashi dishes, but it's no surprise that everything they prepare is the best version of itself.

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You can read about one, two of our previous visits to Shimbashi.

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Shimbashi 

344 Rathdowne St, Carlton North 

8060 6595 

tapas; dinner roll; warm soba; chilled soba; bento; rice bowl; dessert & coffee; Japanese tea & soft drink 

https://www.shimbashisobamelbourne.com/ 

Accessibility: Shimbashi has a flat entry. Furniture is a mixture of high benches and regular height tables, all with hard wooden backs and densely packed. We ordered at our table and paid at a high counter. There is a very narrow passage to the toilet, which is one non-gendered cubicle.

Elektra II

February 15, 2025

   

It's hard to believe that Elektra is well over five years old! I've popped in again a few times since our first visit and blog post, though not as often as they deserve. It was the perfect spot for a long catch-up weekend brunch with a friend, colourful and cosy, and we arrived early enough to nab a booth. I tried the Namaste porridge (~$22) for the first time - it features the tender bite of black rice (plus quinoa), it's creamy with coconut milk, there's abundant fruitiness and colour from rhubarb, poached pear and pomegranate, and it's finished off with the nuttiness of toasted coconut, slivered almonds and pepitas. It's comforting, yet not too heavy for summer.

Elektra are proud of their chai options and I would have been remiss not to order the Himalayan sticky chai (~$6) - it was a lovely as always, and well insulated for slow sipping throughout my visit.

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You can read about our first visit to Elektra here. There are past positive reviews for Elektra on THEYCALLMEMAGGIE, Suzie Scribbles and Gastrology, though one is self-reported as a freebie and I suspect all three might be.

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Elektra 

268 Brunswick St, Fitzroy 

9417 4255 

https://elektrafitzroy.com.au/

Accessibility: Furniture is densely arranged! There are stools out front and mostly chairs with backs inside. We ordered at our table and paid at a regular-height counter. We didn't visit the toilets.

Chào Bạn @ Henry Sugar

February 6, 2025

   

Since celebrating my birthday there late last year, Henry Sugar have clearly put me on their email list. Late in January they announced that they'd be hosting a pop-up on Wednesday and Thursday nights throughout February called Chào Bạn. They'd be serving meaty and veg-friendly xôi xéo (sticky rice) plates with a few add-ons and drinks while the sun shone on Henry Sugar's street-side deck. We stopped by for dinner after a book launch at Readings.

   

We really did hit golden hour on that deck! The light, the drinks and the fluffy turmeric sticky rice were gold, gold, gold. Michael went for beer ($10), while I had a big, icy cup of peach and ginger iced tea ($6). The rice ($22) was topped with a tumble of starchy shaved mung bean, caramel tofu, vegan nước chấm, crispy shallots and fried garlic, pickled cucumber and roasted peanuts; every mouthful a different proportion of the components and every mouthful wholly delicious. We missed out on the battered eggs ($3.50 each) and didn't have room to try the lemongrass bánh bò (honeycomb cake, $7).

This Chào Bạn event was fleeting and fun, a perfect late-summer weeknight out. We'll keep an eye out for when they next pop up!

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Chào Bạn @ Henry Sugar 

296-298 Rathdowne St, Carlton 

9448 8196 

menu 

instagram profile 

Accessibility: This pop-up was hosted in the outdoor seating, with tables at both street height and several steps up on a wooden deck. Furniture is densely spaced, with a mixture of backed benches and backed chairs. We ordered and paid at a high bar just inside the door (accessed by shallow ramp). We didn't visit the toilets.

Chanhouse

January 31, 2025

   

We enthusiastically accepted our friend Nat's invitation to join her and Ben at Chanhouse to try their special yum cha menu in celebration of Lunar New Year ($48 per person). Chanhouse was barely on our radar; it's a vegan, allium-free and alcohol-free Chinese restaurant in a modest shopping strip within residential Doncaster. Inside it's cute and comfortable, and we were happy to put ourselves in their hands with the set menu.

   

The staff rapidly served a first pot of Chinese tea and kept it replenished throughout the meal. Shark fin-style soup followed soon after, gently salty and flecked with tofu threads.

   

Then came plump crystal dumplings and steamed siu mai stuffed with mock pork, both tender and savoury.

   

I think I clapped my hands at the arrival of the turnip cake, with its thin crisp char on the outside and soft, velvety centre - this one included a bit of mock ham.

   

The fried dumpling was my favourite dish of the night - the golden-fried exterior gave way to a thick rice dough layer with a real chew to it, then a molten mock meat centre. It had a surprising sweetness to it!

   

The sweet & sour fried gluten was a novel rendition for us - the gluten was very soft, airy and absorbent, the least dense mock meat I've ever encountered. It had soaked up much of the sauce, which was translucent and brightly tangy.

   

The salad prawn rolls were crunchy-battered, Nat's favourite of the night as they brought her back to the seafood sticks she enjoyed as a youngster.

   

I was more fond of the fried taro dumplings with their delicate, lacy shell and sweet starchy centre.

   

By this time I was very satisfied, and it was difficult for me to imagine digging into the rice rolls. These tender layered pillows went down surprisingly easy thanks to a dark, mushroomy sauce and we cleared the plate.

   

The finishig jellyish ginger cake was more texture than flavour, and a little fruit was the best possible way to cap off an incredible feast. We were all delighted by this meal and the friendly, well-coordinated service we received. I'm looking forward to any opportunity we get to try Chanhouse's standard a la carte menu.

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Chan House

21 Rosella St, Doncaster East

8806 9056

Lunar New Year menu

https://chanhouse.tuckerfox.com.au/

Accessibility: Chanhouse has a narrow, shallow ramp on entry. Furniture is regular height with backed chairs with a mixture of dense and generous spacing throughout. We ordered at the table and paid at a high counter. We didn't visit the toilets.

Tofu Shoten

January 18, 2025

   

I've been following Tofu Shoten on instagram since they were based in West Melbourne and I'm embarrassed about just how long it's taken us to visit. In the end we found the ideal time for it: a sunny Saturday, peckish for an early lunch, with bags and list ready for some grocery shopping.

   

As their website so succinctly puts it, there's "tofu for home and snacks for now". Making great tofu is where it all starts, then that process generates soy milk, which might be flavoured with red sugar, black sesame or matcha, and okara, which is mixed into biscuit sandos in a rotation of flavours. Tofu is packed up for sale at varying densities; sometimes smoked, fried or formed into savoury balls. Soft tofu is made into desserts and the scraps are transformed into tofu donuts. Everything is connected and everything is tofu! Many, but not all, things are vegan and gluten-free and the labelling is pretty clear.

   

While Tofu Shoten doesn't offer any seating, those of us ordering snacks for now can ferry them just a few steps north to the public seating along the side of the Brunswick Library. Our two hot parcels of tofu nuggets ($10 each) had us both ecstatic - the nuggets are soft-centred (but not entirely silken), golden-fried on the outside, and generously dusted in the most exquisite, gently-spicy seasoning. The accompanying vegan tartare sauce I chose ranks among my all-time best tartare experiences; Michael's mango sweet & sour sauce was also excellent. The nuggets' one challenge is that they're a bit too large and hot to eat in a single bite, and a bit too delicate and hot to bite through and hold half of.

   

For dessert, Michael had eyes only for the donuts ($5 each) and chose black sesame over kinako (roasted soybean powder). He described the donut as dense, filling and only subtly sweet (all intended as compliments).

   

I took my time over a hojicha tiramisu ($9) which layered chocolate sponge and chocolate soy milk mousse. The infusing hojicha (roasted green tea) was pretty subtle but I was delighted by the neat layers of contrasting texture and clean, true flavours.

   

We packed tofu balls ($4 each) and some jiggly smoked tofu ($11) into our bags and they later made their way into a huge batch of vegan char kway teow.

We love the Tofu Shoten ethos and we love their variety of foods! They'll definitely become a feature of our weekend errand runs.

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Tofu Shoten

6b Saxon St, Brunswick

https://tofushoten.square.site/

Accessibility: There's a narrow, flat entry and moderately narrow, flat interior bordered by display cabinets. All food and menus are visible from standing waist height. We ordered, paid and picked up our food from a low counter. We didn't seek out toilets.