Tuesday 27 July 2010

nyonya noms lotus sri melaka vegetarian restaurant, northbridge

I got off the plane, collected my luggage and my mother, and the first thing we did after leaving Perth Domestic Airport was head in to Northbridge and be Very Chinese.

We went to visit the aunties* at the Chinese grocers along William Street, where I had to say hello and 你好吗** and yes Melbourne is good and 四日***. I eyed off the Mister Potato Crisps and the mooncakes, but decided I could wait until I got back to Melbourne. I also wandered up and down the aisles whilst my mother did some shopping, lamenting the loss (to me) of my favourite Chinese-Malaysian grocer. As I have well documented, I have yet to find every Malaysian thing that I require from Melbourne.

We then moved on to be more Chinese-Malaysian, with lunch at Lotus.

Oh Lotus. I have loved you frequently and loved you long, as the only provider of vegan Nyonya noms in Perth (aside from my mum). I remain so sad that there is no equivalent to you in Melbourne. I used to visit you several times a month, to eat the comfort food I love; your 'beef' rendang and your laksa and your kapitan and your char kuay teow and your deliciousness. Oh yeah.

Danni's mum joined us, and we had a bit of a noodle extravaganza.

My mother went for the Penang Laksa (please forgive the overexposed shot).

overexposed laksa at lotus

This was very rich, as always, and filled with lots of beans, tofu, and mock char siu, and my mum had it with beehoon (rice) noodles. It was good, but not super spicy, and she didn't finish it all.

hokkien mee at lotus

Danni's mum went for the Hokkien Mee. Hokkien mee is one of my favourite things to cook, it is quick and easy and delicious, and so must this one have been because she ate it all up (and did a stellar job with her chopsticks). This was filled with lots of vegies, which is just the way it is best.

What is with all this single dishes? perhaps you are asking. Well, it is my fault, because I knew exactly what I wanted, and what I wanted was the wonton mee. Whilst I had a perfectly reasonable wonton noodles at Tinh Tam Chay in St Albans, it was not perfect, and what I really wanted, above all else, was the wonton mee soup at Lotus. It's not on the menu, but you can ask for it and oh yeah. Oh yeah.

wontonmee at lotus

LOOK AT THAT OIL. I drank that all up. Delicious. I picked this over all my other favourite dishes at Lotus, and it was totally worth it.

Finally, we ordered a kapitan + three roti to share.

roti + kapitan at lotus

The kapitan ('chicken' curry) was super spicy. My nose started running and my tongue was burning, but OH WOW. DELCIOUSNESS. Totally perfect, oh how I have missed it.

Oh Lotus. If only you were open on Mondays, I would have had lunch at you again yesterday. And I would have eaten the satay. And the fried wontons. And the Assam fish. And the char kuay teow. And and and.





Lotus Sri Melaka Vegetarian Restaurant
Unit 1, 220 James St
Northbridge

not open Mondays
GF dubiously available (need advance notice and have to order off menu)


*'auntie' here means, 'older Chinese lady who scolds but is not related to me.'
** sup?
*** 4 days

9 comments:

Vicki said...

Yum - I only went to Lotus once but it was delicious!

Toby said...

I miss a good Wonton Mee too!

steph said...

@Vicki I love it!

@Toby maybe we should start a wonton mee mission in the suburbs of Melbourne?

Eloise said...

Good things about Lotus: It's BYO, and the woman there is very nice
Bad things about Lotus: The food/everything else! :P

I've only been twice (once to try it, and the second time to be completely sure it wasn't just a bad first experience!)

But then, I'm not known for my love of mock meat ;)

steph said...

@eloise nooooo it's the best! It's a shame you didn't like it, but it is pretty specifically Nyonya, so if you don't like that style of food (which is often very heavy and spicy) then it cannot be helped! :oP

nixwilliams said...

oh mannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn i want to go there! maybe one day if i am in perth i will go.

Anonymous said...

hi :) dont think i have left a comment on your blog before...but i really do love it!

I'm so glad your back in Perth because it reminded me of Lotus! I went for my first time tonight with my dad and my nan!! I loved it, nan liked it...my dad wasnt too fussed.

We got : entrees: crispy wontons (YUM!) and springrolls.
Mains: lamb rendang (so good! ) , tofu clay pot( great sauce!) and gado gado :)

steph said...

@nixwilliams you should totally go!

@mindintheclouds hello! thanks for commenting! i'm glad my post inspired you to go, and that you liked it! the gado gado is pretty good there, i agree! and i LOVE the crispy wontons. try the chicken satay next time, it's also pretty good!

Johanna GGG said...

that wanton mee soup looks delicious - and I am excited I actually now know that mee means there are noodles in it - thanks to you! It must make you feel home to go shopping with your mum :-)