TaxiBoat: Northcote restaurant

Back in December my book group read The Dressmaker and organised a group trip to see the movie at the Westgarth Cinema (formerly the Valhalla) followed by a banquet at TaxiBoat.  I had been wary of a banquet with a group of omnivores but I was impressed at how the restaurant dealt with my order for a vegetarian option.

First up was the Tofu San Choi Bao (everyone else had chicken).  We were all given an individual serving.  This was a fresh and light start to the meal but very tasty.  The filling included tofu, mushrooms, carrots and spring onions.

The second part of the entree was the Dim Sum which came in bamboo steamers to hand around, with the staff noting which had the vegetarian options.  These dumplings were delicious with I think two different vegetarian fillings.  I am sure one was Mushroom but cannot remember the other.  According to the menu they are homemade at TaxiBoat and indeed they tasted superior to the run-of-the-mill dumplings.

Next came a series of main course dishes that were served in large sharing bowls alongside big bowls of jasmine rice.  Above is the Green Curry.  It was packed with grilled tofu, potato, grilled eggplant, mushroom, bok choy.  The curried coconut sauce was tasty but not too spicy with some basil and mint garnish.  I enjoyed the generous amount of sauce over the rice.

The Fried Tofu with Mixed Greens in Oyster Sauce was a nice simple dish.  I am not sure if there was a vegetarian oyster sauce in my option but it was rather light.  The fried tofu, wilted greens and lots of grated carrot and bean sprouts were very welcome with the other dishes of rich creamy sauce and nutty noodles.

My favourite dish was the Pad Thai.  It is a dish that I love but don't eat often enough.  The noodles were great with tofu, bok choy, bean sprouts, egg and peanuts.  I would have loved more peanuts but I guess that uneven distribution is one of the downsides of sharing dishes.  On the upside, I really enjoying being able to share dishes with the group who were happy to eat a mixture of meat and vegetarian dishes.

At the end of the night I felt that I had been served a delicious meal that was in no way inferior to the meat dishes.  One of the group was gluten free and was also happy with her meal.  The banquet cost $38 per head and was very good value.  The service was prompt and pleasant and we all left in good spirits.

TaxiBoat
94 High Street, Northcote
03 94827882
Open Tues - Sun: 5.30pm - late
http://taxiboat.com.au/