food porn.

My name is Isabel Inkster and I have a problem. And this problem is taking over my life, my bank account, and damaging relationships. I am addicted to cookbooks. New ones, old ones, fat ones, skinny ones, all sexy and sleek and prettily printed and beautifully bound. I spend far too many hours stalking the cookbook section of various bookstores. It takes time to find what I, specifically, above all, covet. You see it is a wee bit difficult to find a vegetarian cookbook that's not a 'vegetarian cookbook'...if you know what I mean. I have more than enough variations on 'substantial salads' and a squillion types of 'satisfying soups'!

This particular morning, looking offensively scruffy in a rather stuffy Claremont bookstore, I was eventually aided by one poor staff member (who probably drew the short straw to serve ‘that dykish teen without sufficient funds to actually make a purchase’). At the end of turning inside out a number of tomes, I went with the recommended ‘Plenty’ by Yotam Ottolenghi.

I scurried home with this adulterously expensive little piece and hid between the covers. Oh sweet centre folds of freekeh pilaf! Oh sealed section on the hidden delights of the aubergine! Since this scandalous purchase, I have concocted a plethora of tasty pickings from within. Thus far I've only got a sneaky snap of the green cous-cous. But by golly, there will be more. If a whole week of new meals, an engorged belly, and perhaps a daunting grocery bill are the worst side effects of this addiction...I really don’t think I’ll quit.

SLR's: making cheap food look noms since 1952

[vegetarian tempura with udon noodles, ~$5.70]

A long long time ago, when I began this blog with bold intentions and then let it self-consciously gather dust, I posted about Taka's Kitchen (freo, barrack st, shafto lane). I posted sans photo because, well, I was mostly there to grab cheap eats before getting crunk on gunch (def:Gunch, abbr; goon-punch) in the heady days of highschool friday nights, and I wouldn't dare bring my precious camera along.

[somewhat NON-vegetarian chicken katsu that 'the boys' always get, plus green tea...which is totes free]

These days eating cheap food is not only a precursor to a dirty night, it is a neccesity when you work full time at a restaurant for laughable wages ($12.84 an hour kids...) Hence, lots of Taka's, and as such, the belated Taka's photos. If you want to read the "review" (and I use that term very, very loosely), scroll down through my archives. It's so old it's vintage, and thus it is hip. Enjoy.

[vego sushi....essentially just avocado and rice...]

Monk-ey Magic

Any ‘Famous’ or ‘New Weekly’ diet section will tell you to avoid processed carbs, always carry a bottle of water, and, above all, whatever you do, AVOID BUFFETS.

And I would agree. If not for the health detriments of stuffing your face with seconds, thirds, fourths, etc, because ‘you need to get your money’s worth’, then to avoid the images that the word ‘buffet’ conjure; a giant plastic Sizzler sign, greedy grubby children with chocolate & bacteria covered faces, and putting those tiny marshmallows on everything.

I would say that’s the kind of buffet those trash magazines are talking about. At least, I hope they are. Because ain’t no glossy cover going to discourage me from taking advantage of the buffet provided by the gentle, generous, Hare Krishna caterers of Perth. You know, I’ll agree attentively with those rags on all other topics, like the state of Ashton Kutcher’s butt hair or how to get married, but there is a limit! ... I digress...

My history of Hare Krishna food involves stingy donations at Anna Lakshme on Barrack St (which I feel genuinely bad about, my friend claims ‘student discount!’), or going three days exclusively eating from the Hare Krishna stall at music festivals. Lunch at Govinda’s on William St felt comparatively classy.

First of all, it’s a set price. $10, those bastards! (or $8 concession, but I didn’t have the heart to try and wheedle the $2’s difference). Second, there is a constant stream of official looking productive persons (you know, people with proper jobs who don’t just scab the central heating from restaurants/bookstores/cafe’s all day) taking advantage of the $4 take-away special.

[delectable halva....and i don't even really dig desserts!]

So, this slightly upper-crust version of Hare Krishna servings is a little skewed compared to my hazy memories of stall-food at Southbound. Nonetheless, you’ve got the key elements - spicy fried potato in a mild gravy, pepper water, an overly yoghurt-y strawberry lasi, poppadums and halva in custard sauce. And you can shove as much of this down your monk-lovin’ gob as you can, just like ‘New Weekly’ told you not to. With certainly more flavour and variety than your average HK buffet, I don’t even care that the pakora is a dollar extra, this is good value.

The only thing this buffet is missing is mini marshmallows.

Rating: 5 chickpeas outta 5. Look, it’s not that hard for a strictly vegetarian place to cater to vegetarians, hence it’s a lot easier to give this rating out. Plus it’s cheap n’ tasty. I really can’t knock off anything.

The Deets: 194 William St, Northbridge