Sichuan House.

I was going to a friend's birthday dinner (a fiercely meat-loving omni) and was afraid. Got told it was 7pm at Sichuan House and looked at the website - even more afraid. Only two vego options and $24 a serve... I was already planning my "quick bathroom break" to the dumpling place down the road the second I got a chance. It was confusing too because some vegan friends had booked the venue...

THEN THINGS GOT AMAZING. Upon arrival I noticed there were actually heaps of vegan options and they were around $10 cheaper per dish than the website stated. Win and win. There were four of us down the vegan end of the table and we ordered a spicy sichuan tofu dish for around $9.95. These spicy, smokey and AMAZING tofu shreds were like nothing I'd ever tasted before. A new world of coriander-topped delicious. So good that we ate the whole thing and ordered another plate even before the other dishes had arrived (the second dish wasn't even touched after we devoured everything else - leftover lunch WIN).

Chinese broccoli (I think around $10) only came with oyster sauce on the menu but we asked for garlic sauce and after a few moments of serious communication failure - we got there. And it was amazing.

Now the menu and website both mention the Yu Xiang eggplant as being a favourite. The fact that the title involved "fish fragrant" worried me. Again, a few moments with the wait staff and they assured it was fully vegetarian. This dish was $14.90 or so and must have involved about 7 eggplants - the serve was HUGE. By the time I snapped a pic the pile was already cut in half and still enormous. I'm not normally an eggplant fan but wow - this was something special. Eggplant logs that were deep-fried and crisp then coated in a sweet chilli and sour garlic sauce. Kind of made you go silent for a moment then immediately fall into a state of bliss.

Before the meal was over (and food coma had begun) we were already planning a visit for the following weekend with EVERY vegan we know on the guest list.

Go there, now.