tchaylovski

5.8 Average

Food  5      Ambience  8      Service  6      Value  4     

My visit was with a group of friends, including a vegetarian from out of town whom we wanted to make welcome - so a vegetarian place seemed to be the right choice.

I've eaten at a few vegetarian eateries before, and so often they've been disappointing, particularly when it came to value for money. Just because food doesn't contain meat, doesn't mean it has to be swimming in fat, or stodgy, or tasteless, or spartan, or just plain out-of-date cuisinewise.

Yulli's is most of the way towards improving on this cliche. It has a fun selection of beers and ciders, and a great ambience that's halfway between a bistro and a bar. It's obviously popular, and has regulars who come back over and over again.

However, there's a couple of things that made our visit not what it could be.

* the number of guests at our table changed, as we ran into people we knew. Although the service staff noticed, we never received new plates or utensils, leading to us having to share.

* the set degustation-style menu is $35 a head - my partner and I decided to order a la carte instead, sharing an entree shared plate, two mains and a shared dessert, and spent less money but had remarkably more food than the rest of our table who opted for the set. We were very pleased with our decision as we watched our tablemates get one single morsel of each dish after another.

* the okonomiyaki main let the whole experience down. Being the most substantial-sounding dish, we went for it, but the serving of a Japanese bitter melon pancake with Thai penang curry was just as confusing on the palate as it sounds. Furthermore, the entire thing was just about inedible, as the okonomiyaki itself was so badly burnt (charred black) that the bitterness overwhelmed everything. Being with people we didn't know very well, we didn't send it back. Also, the lighting was so dim in there, it took a while to realise the severity of the charring! But in a fully-lit kitchen, it would've been very obvious to the chef, who piled the curry over the top regardless. Disappointing.

The rest of the food ranged from quite nice (salt and pepper tofu, with a delicious accompanying green papaya salad) to very good (the porcini and rocket pizza). The sticky date pudding is beautifully matched with coconut ice cream - so well that I can't believe I haven't tasted that combo before!

But ultimately, having such an obviously burnt main, not enough cutlery or room for enough plates on the table, did put a dampener on my enjoyment. A patchy experience.

Sep 26, 2011

5.8 Average

Food  5      Ambience  8      Service  6      Value  4     

My visit was with a group of friends, including a vegetarian from out of town whom we wanted to make welcome - so a vegetarian place seemed to be the right choice.

I've eaten at a few vegetarian eateries before, and so often they've been disappointing, particularly when it came to value for money. Just because food doesn't contain meat, doesn't mean it has to be swimming in fat, or stodgy, or tasteless, or spartan, or just plain out-of-date cuisinewise.

Yulli's is most of the way towards improving on this cliche. It has a fun selection of beers and ciders, and a great ambience that's halfway between a bistro and a bar. It's obviously popular, and has regulars who come back over and over again.

However, there's a couple of things that made our visit not what it could be.

* the number of guests at our table changed, as we ran into people we knew. Although the service staff noticed, we never received new plates or utensils, leading to us having to share.

* the set degustation-style menu is $35 a head - my partner and I decided to order a la carte instead, sharing an entree shared plate, two mains and a shared dessert, and spent less money but had remarkably more food than the rest of our table who opted for the set. We were very pleased with our decision as we watched our tablemates get one single morsel of each dish after another.

* the okonomiyaki main let the whole experience down. Being the most substantial-sounding dish, we went for it, but the serving of a Japanese bitter melon pancake with Thai penang curry was just as confusing on the palate as it sounds. Furthermore, the entire thing was just about inedible, as the okonomiyaki itself was so badly burnt (charred black) that the bitterness overwhelmed everything. Being with people we didn't know very well, we didn't send it back. Also, the lighting was so dim in there, it took a while to realise the severity of the charring! But in a fully-lit kitchen, it would've been very obvious to the chef, who piled the curry over the top regardless. Disappointing.

The rest of the food ranged from quite nice (salt and pepper tofu, with a delicious accompanying green papaya salad) to very good (the porcini and rocket pizza). The sticky date pudding is beautifully matched with coconut ice cream - so well that I can't believe I haven't tasted that combo before!

But ultimately, having such an obviously burnt main, not enough cutlery or room for enough plates on the table, did put a dampener on my enjoyment. A patchy experience.

Sep 26, 2011