After a few bad experiences ending in allergic reactions, I've become rather sceptical of thai restaurants claiming that their dishes are or can be made vegetarian. I've been places where I have explained my allergies and ordered dishes based on the kitchen staffs assurances that a dish is vegan and shellfish free, only to have an allergic reaction a couple of bites in because there is a shellfish paste in the sauce or tiny bits of dried fishy things sprinkled on top as a garnish. Sadly after a couple of bad experiences, I was convinced I couldn't eat at a thai restaurant.
When I was invited to meet friends for dinner at one of the thai restaurants in Yarraville, I was very wary but agreed to go along, resigning myself to ordering rice. My friend had chosen Jasmine Inn which they advised me was the best of the thai places in Yarraville, for the restaurants atmosphere, the service quality and for the food itself.
When the wait staff came to hand out menus, I explained my allergy and asked if they could point out any vegan dishes. I was pleasantly surprised when they handed me a special A4 sheet sized menu, listing all vegan entrees, mains and sides. Turning the menu over, it had a list of all gluten free dishes too. They were both decent sized lists for a non veg, non GF restaurant. That they had enough awareness to create a specific menu for vegan customers had me starting to feel reassured that I could order safely.
We skipped entrees and went straight to mains. Unfortunately I only got 1 photo of food on the night, which was of the Salt and Pepper tofu main I ordered. I know, salt and pepper tofu is probably the safest thing I could have ordered with no sauce to hide fishy bits in, but it was what I felt like at the time and I was not disappointed. This dish was more tofu than I could manage to eat so my friends helped me out by trying some. The flavour was great, up there as one of the best salt and pepper tofu dishes I have had. The batter was perfectly crisp with the silky tofu inside.
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| Crispy fried salt and pepper tofu |
As none of our meals really came with much in the way of vegetables, we also ordered a plate of stir fried mixed vegetables to share which was very nice, along with roti and coconut rice as sides.
I have to say I am loving the increasing awareness of vegetarian, vegan and gluten free dining I am seeing in Yarraville and Seddon area recently.
Jasmine Inn
03 9689 8899
16 Anderson Street
Yarraville.
Yarraville.
Urban Spoon Rocks
Ohh this might be a good option when eating with my brother. Do you remember if there was much options which were both gluten free and vegan?
ReplyDeleteThere are a few cross overs - mixed veg and tofu with garlic sauce and cashews, several veg noodle dishes ordered with rice noodles, veg special fried rice without egg, and I think one of the tofu dishes.
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