May 2, 2013
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The Tofu Shop
One of my friends posted a photo on Facebook of her meal at the Tofu Shop (78 Bridge Road, Richmond) and commented on how wonderfully delicious it was. I LOVE trying out different Vegetarian restaurants- even though I am not a Vegetarian myself, perhaps after 2 years dating a strict Vegetarian has had a rub on effect on me. It’s also a fun way to engage with one of my friends who IS a vegetarian and I always feel bad when we go out to eat that she gets either the customary salad or cannelloni (boring!)
So off we went to discover this “not so new” eatery, apparently it’s been around FOREVER, just that we’ve never discovered it before. The Tofu shop is located closer to Punt Road end of Bridge Road then Church street. They operate between 12pm-8pm. So if you have all good intentions to get there for dinner, then it’s obviously an early dinner.
Most of the food is pre-prepared, when we came in, some were in bambourines, others in large bowls where you had 2 choices: Take away or Dine In. There are also 3 serving sizes: small, medium or LARGE (for 2 at $24). We opted for a Large plate to share and you basically get to choose whatever they have and cram it on the plate as much as possible.
We choose a variety of things: cous cous as a base (which was a terrible mistake on both our parts, my friend now has a Gluten Free diet- yes, a Vegetarian on a Gluten Free Diet who also doesn’t consume Dairy much.. not exactly sure what’s left for her to eat. Cous Cous has wheat for those who don’t know).
And we got a combination of chickpeas, roasted potatoes, some curry… well the photo explains itself:
I have to say, the food was very tasty, not that salty and we managed to most of it. Unfortunately the serving was too big for us. My favourite out of everything was the sauces that were on top and how tasty the pumpkin was.
We also had dessert- I know, we couldn’t finish our mains.. but you know there’s always room for dessert. My friend played the safe card and got the soy vanilla ice-cream. I have to say.. I AM NOT A FAN. It had this awful rubbery taste, if that’s even possible. And the icecream was more like a really cold slurpee than a proper ice cream itself.- pretty disappointing.
If you’re after a full sit down waiter service, then this isn’t your place. It’s more of your typical take away outlet where there’s stools lined up and you’re facing a mirrored wall/or street facing window and having your meal- you go to the counter, pick what you want and pay. There are some outside tables to eat but we’re currently heading into winter and on the night we visited- it was just too cold
I’ve also read on urbanspoon that the service is pretty bad, where there’s one particular rude staff member however on the night we went, we were treated pretty well. We must have had “newbies” written on our faces or this place really knows their regulars as the girl who served us explained quite thoroughly on how their system worked: pick a size (whether dine in or take out) and pick your dishes. There are “little” cards that tell you what they are and there’s a numbering system with it as well. If you have a Gluten free diet then for us, anything with a number “3″ on the card was a no no. I know- shame about the cous cous.
Oh and before I forget- this place is a CASH only place- seriously they need to get into the 21st century and accept cards… because if you’re like me who prefers not to carry around cash, it would be a bother.
Anyyyyyway- overall, we did enjoy the experience. However, as we’ve been to so many Vegetarian eateries, it doesn’t stack up as high on the “let’s go back” list… especially when parking wasn’t the easiest to find in the area. We both agreed, if we were in the area shopping on the now almost vacant Bridge Road, this would have been our first choice.
