November 17, 2013

shu restaurant – vegan degustation

Wednesday night is Vegan Degustation night at Shu Restaurant in Collingwood.

Ten courses of vegan sichuan inspired food for $40. The website says 12 courses, and I know that others have been served 13. I think we got 10 courses and I am in no way complaining. This has got to be the world’s greatest bargain. Perhaps this variation in numbers of courses is just a quirk of the chef cooking what is available and in season. There is no guarantee that a dish will be available next time you go. There is no menu, the food just arrives. I may be wrong about the ingredients in the some of the descriptions, they are my best guesses based on tasting. I wasn’t always paying attention to what the waiter was saying, especially as the evening wore on.

I was skeptical that the food could possibly be this good at the price, but other food bloggers including Where’s the Beef? and Vegan About Town have thought very highly of it. So off we went, a group of 20 vegan foodies, friends and acquaintances to sample and enjoy. Here’s the report. I should note that the decor is very hip and includes constantly changing light colours, so some of the shots are bathed in red or purple light! I also apologise if some are a bit unfocussed, but frankly I was a bit unfocussed myself after a few glasses of wine. I’m not going to comment on the food other than to say it was delicious. ALL OF IT. The chilli, the mouth-numbing strange pleasure of sichuan pepper and the sometimes beautiful presentation made the food sing. The standout dishes for me, if I were forced to choose, were the wontons, the eggplant, the cucumber and the noodles. I’d be back here in a heartbeat.

Enjoy the photos, do yourself a favour and just go!

daikon radish roll, enoki mushroom, hot mint