Yuni's Kitchen: Northcote Indonesian restaurant

Yesterday we were in Northcote for the Melbourne Ukulele Festival and had arranged to meet some friends for lunch.  The warm spring day was perfect for alfresco dining.  Last year we had been to the courtyard outside Yuni's Kitchen.  It was a pleasant place to while away time with a cool drink.  I had wondered what the food was like.

This is the sort of place I usually struggle to find anything for Sylvia to eat except rice.  Lately we have been working on extending the meals she will eat.  I convinced her to try spring rolls and mie goreng.  After all, crispy pastry and noodles doesn't sound so difficult.

Too often at a cafe when we order spring rolls as an entree, they are skinny parcels with not a lot of filling.  Part of me was impressed at how much vegetable filling there was in the fat crispy spring rolls and part of me despaired of convincing Sylvia to eat all the vegetables.  And so it was.  She pushed most of the vegies out but was able to accept a few left in the casing.

My friend Heather ordered the Bakwan Jagung (corn fritters) and Tahu Isi Sayur (tofu stuffed with vegies and deep fried).  I tasted some.  The corn fritters were really lovely and light.  The stuffed tofu came in three surprisingly large deep fried mounds.  Inside was the same carrot and cabbage mixture as in the spring rolls.  It was nice with crispy exteriors but needed the sweet chilli sauce to give it enough flavour to satisfy.

Sylvia and I also shared the Mie Goreng.  The menu says that the stir fried egg noodles are served with vegetables and egg.  I asked for tofu instead of the egg.  The tofu was well cooked and almost meaty.  We both enjoyed it.  And we also loved the noodles that were long and well seasoned with a sauce that seemed heavy on the soy sauce.  Neither of us liked the rice crisps which seemed slightly overdone.  I wasn't overly enthused by the selection of vegies (carrot, capsicum and bean sprouts) but was pleased there was quite a few of them. 

Best not to mention Sylvia's disdain of the vegies and just get on with the dessert.  When we asked about ice cream for her dessert, the waiter asked if we wanted vanilla or home made banana and tutti fruitti.  Sylvia wanted chocolate but was very happy with vanilla and some chocolate sauce.  I was grateful that we were offered one scoop of ice cream rather than the three suggested on the menu.

I enjoyed my meal at Yuni's, Heather enjoyed hers, but E was less impressed and I forgot to check with my other friends but they seemed content.  They were happy to get a high chair for their toddler.  The courtyard was really loved on a warm afternoon and I could have stayed there longer just whiling the hours away in the shade of the sailcloth.

If you see the sandwich board advertising Yuni's Kitchen outside the Uniting Church on the High Street, it is a pleasant place to get away from the High Street bustle and enjoy a bit of piece and quiet with some nice food.

Meanwhile, in other matters, this is my last post for October.  Next month I will be participating in Vegan MoFo.  I am a little nervous at how I will go with finding time but I am excited to be sharing lots of great vegan food (no eggs or dairy next month on this blog).  I will not start until 2 November because as always on this blog, 1 November is for family.  I look forward to seeing you then.

Yuni's Kitchen
251 High Street, Northcote
0455 337 666
Open Wednesday to Sunday for lunch and dinner