Nut Meat

There is tiny vegetarian Thai place on King St in Newtown (it's actually just called Vegetarian Thai) that sells really tasty vegetarian rice paper rolls for $5 - possibly the cheapest healthy feed on King St. The most amazing thing about the rolls is this ingredient they have inside which tastes like chicken. Curious as to what it was, Claire asked the people behind the counter and turns out it's something called nut meat, sold in cans at supermarkets.

I happened to be at Woolies later that night, and decided to get one to try. Wasn't easy - I walked the floor of the entire Woolies with no luck, the guy I asked had no idea what it even was and had to ask his supervisor who pointed me to the health food aisle. After scouring the entire aisle back and forth for a good 10 minutes I found it hiding in a corner on the top shelf. It's that same feeling of extreme accomplishment as when you finally find all the characters in a particularly difficult Where's Wally.



As you can see, when I tipped it out it was more like brown spam than the tasty chicken-y thing in the rice paper rolls. I tried a little bit of it raw straight out of the can, and it tasted like peanuts. Figures, right?

The instructions on the can said to grate the glob and mix it with some garlic and what not to make patties, but I'm quite lazy when it comes to cooking, and so I decided to just cut some up into patty shapes and fry them with chopped garlic and onion. You can never go wrong with garlic, onion and salt when you're frying things, I've learnt.



Turns out though, just because you can never go wrong with those three doesn't mean it will always taste good. Unfortunately because I just cut them up into thick slices, the patties still tasted heavily of peanuts in the middle where the garlic, onion and salt couldn't reach. It wasn't horrible, but it just makes for a really strange combination of tastes - initially you get the familiar crispy, salty taste of fried food on the outside, but then you bite in and BAM! PEANUT BUTTER! Takes a lot of getting used to.

This first attempt at cooking nut meat wasn't quite a success, but I guess it was my fault for being lazy and not preparing it properly. There is still some in the fridge right now (although not sure how long these things can keep once opened) which I will try to make again, properly.

Nourishing Quarter

So with the organic and vegetarian obsessions happening in our house, how could we not try this out?

Even from the street, this warmly lit cozy little eatery immediately looks like it's in a world of its own, standing out from the grubby pubs, dark doorways and relentless traffic of Cleveland Street. Inside is a mish mash of mismatched (try that for a tongue twister!) furniture, bearing more resemblance to an old granny's living room than a restaurant, and definitely cottoning on to the retro trend.




Ordering was surprisingly difficult, firstly because we wanted to try everything on the menu (the fact that nearly every second item contained quinoa was enough to send Claire into ecstasy), and secondly because the Italian waiter, who was trying to be helpful, made us aware of how customisable the menu was when it came to sizes and combinations. After a very confusing 10 minutes during which Claire nearly set the menu on fire, the feat was finally managed. And in contrast to the time it took to order, the dishes came pretty quickly, which is always a plus in my books.

First were the rice paper rolls, two of each type which we split between the four of us. The filling was completely different to what you would find elsewhere, but somehow still retained their familiar tastes. From what I remember, the pointy rolls were more flavoursome than the cylindrical ones which were slightly bland, but luckily, the sauce more than makes up for any lack of flavour. Actually, I would say the sauce was the best part of the dish, and we kept it on our table even after we finished the rolls.



Next were the dumplings; and again, the filling was quite unique, but slightly bland and heavily relied on the sauce. There could also have been a little more filling, and a few more dumplings on the plate too. Maybe it's just what I grew up with, but for me dumplings are supposed to be more like a complete dish in a mouthful - properly seasoned, a variety of textures, and more importantly, hearty and satisfying - rather than a delicacy. Just like you wouldn't serve four raviolis or four perogies on a plate in a delicate puddle of sauce. Actually, I think this was supposed to be an entree; if so, an odd choice to include in the entree menu.


Third dish was these tarlets, which I don't really remember the details of - although I do remember they were again a little under-seasoned, but not too bad.


Lastly was this noodle salad which in my opinion was the best, and something I would consider coming back for. Although at over $20 (if my memory serves), it's on the pricey side for noodles. Again, the dressing/sauce made the dish. Vinegar and sesame are always a winning combination for me when it comes to cold Asian dishes. There was also a really familiar taste in the seasoning that I couldn't quite pinpoint, but was really perfect with the noodles.



So that was the four dishes we picked. We deliberated for a while whether to get a slice of their everything-free cheesecakes, but in the end the hefty price convinced us to go home to our chocolate instead.



All in all, it was a good meal. For me, it's an admirable concept that is well embodied in the ambience, but unfortunately the dishes - which for me, are more important - did not meet expectations. Nourishing Quarter, the name gave me the impression of healthy, hearty, satisfying, home cooked meals, but apart from the noodle salad, they were all a bit lacking when it came to flavours and portions. (Although I guess I can't blame them for the portions because the first three were probably entrees. Correct me if I'm wrong Nina?) It wasn't a terrible meal or anything, on the contrary, it was very interesting to see all these new ingredients and new combinations. But for all the uniqueness of the elements, the finished products just seemed a bit... boring. However, I can't say the same for Claire, Nina and Sarah who all seemed to really enjoy it - maybe I just have queer taste in foods.