Shakahari Vegetarian Restaurant
201-203 Faraday St, Carlton Vic.
This is an entirely vegetarian and largely vegan restaurant where the dishes seem to have been invented by the cooks, who also have a knack of giving their creations funky names. For starters there is the wonderfully crunchy and tasty Scent of a Green Papaya in which the signature fruit is joined by sprouts, cashews and seaweed, or you can try the Avocado Magic, in which avocado, red capsicum and aubergine come fried in pastry wrappers with a coriander sauce…it’s a great idea, but I’m not sure that cooking delicately flavoured avocado really works. For a main meal, how about the luscious and thoroughly satisfying Green Green Laksa of noodles, coconut milk, sprouts, mushrooms, tofu, seitan and greens, or perhaps the nicely textured Croquettes de Chine of yams, macadamia nuts and potatoes, with accompanying veggies. We drank strawberry lassi and a dark grape juice so thick it needed a glass of water to wash it down. This is genuinely creative cooking, and it’s great fun seeing how the cooks combine familiar ingredients in completely unexpected ways. More of a place for a special outing than everyday eating, the Shakahari is most definitely worth a visit.
