Vegetarianism and veganism have surged in popularity over the years and the demand for more vegetarian and vegan dining options isn’t going away any time soon. There are many benefits to a meatless diet, from the cost to the environmental impact, sustainability and everything in between. But giving up meat for good is a tough decision, a decision that Canberra’s Monster Kitchen & Bar has embraced as they embark on offering a vegetarian and vegan menu to diners for 356 days.
Ovolo Hotels’ ‘Year Of The Veg’ initiative, means they are the first hotel group in the world to go vegetarian and all Ovolo restaurants and bars across Australia and Hong Kong will go vegetarian for 365 days. The leap to go green in the kitchen will also see them growing their own produce and focusing on food preservation.
Monster Kitchen & Bar welcomes Executive Chef, Paul Wilson, to take charge of the kitchen and lead the initiative in Canberra. Paul has previously worked for two and half years as Sous Chef at Denmark’s acclaimed Geranium, a three Michelin-starred restaurant and ranked number 5 in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2019.
He has created a refined menu driven by responsibility, sustained by seasonality and inspired by regionality.
We were one of the first diners to check it out and think all meat and non-meat eaters are going to be impressed by the interesting and exciting new menu. There’s nothing boring about it and each dish we tried was packed with flavour.
The menu is small but mighty with a selection of small plates, large plates, sides and desserts on offer. Another benefit of the exclusion of meat on a menu is the price. In this case, nothing on the menu is over $32. Prices like this are uncommon at a restaurant of Monster’s calibre.
We start with the parmesan churros (nut free), wild mushroom karaage (vegan, gluten free and nut free) and the hay smoked beetroot tartare (vegan and gluten free).
The parmesan churros with ‘truff’ and cheddar fondue are moreish, crunchy on the outside and light and cheesy inside. They’re a must try if you’re a cheese lover! We’ll be back for more…
The earthiness of the beetroot with the creamy horseradish emulsion was fresh and flavoursome. The addition of the tapioca cracker added a nice layer of texture. It’s equally delicious as their iconic beef tartare but completely different, for obvious reasons.
The wild mushroom karaage was lightly battered and subtly flavoured. I expected whole mushrooms but the inside is a mushroom mix so the texture was different than I expected. It was the addition of the smoked tomato relish that made these mushroom bites sing for me.
Up next were the larger dishes. We settled on the grilled head of cauliflower (vegan and gluten free), hand crafted spaetzle (nut free) and the ancient grains ragu (nut free and dairy free). Chips are a simple side but I do love potatoes and it’s always interesting to see different takes on the humble potato chips. So we decided to add the monster chips with sriracha maple kewpie. The chips were extra crunchy and soft in the middle, two things you would expect from a perfect chip.
The cauliflower is served with Monster’s macadamia satay, kaffir jasmine rice and a fermented chilli sambal. If you’re not a fan of cauliflower, I can guarantee this dish will convert you. Each component complemented the other but for me, the star was the fermented chilli sambal. It’s cleverly served on the side so each diner can add as little or as much as they want. The addition of the sambal tied everything together and if it was available to purchase by the jar, I would buy 10!
Next up was the ancient grains ragu, another favourite dish of the evening. The kombu dashi gives this dish a rich umami flavour and the depth of flavours in this dish with the variety of textures from the grains was impressive.
The hand crafted spaetzle (German egg noodles) was my least favourite dish of the night. It wasn’t bad but the other dishes set the bar high. They were lighter but the spaetzle was a little heavier than I expected. It was mixed with mushrooms, gruyere, soubise, mushrooms, baby spinach and truffle and topped with a 63° egg. Mr Eat Canberra loved it but it wasn’t my favourite dish of the night.
There’s always room for dessert and if there isn’t, you need to make some. For a lighter option, Chef recommended the popcorn parfait (gluten free and nut free) and our waitress recommended the blueberry cheesecake (vegan) so we had to try both.
One of the things I enjoy most about vegan desserts is they’re usually not sickly sweet. At least, that’s what I’ve previously experienced and the blueberry cheesecake aligned with my expectations. The coconut sorbet was silky smooth and creamy, the blueberry component was subtle and the coconut meringue added a little sweetness and texture to make it a nicely balanced dessert.
The popcorn parfait was sweeter but light with raspberry, candied corn and salted caramel. The addition of the beurre noisette sable added a welcome savoury element to the dish, a nice touch to balance with the sweet components.
We enjoyed a selection of local beer and wine with our dinner, as well as a selection of recommended wines from Italy and France. A selection of seasonal cocktails are also available. We’ve selected a few to try on our next visit because we’ll definitely be returning to reorder some of the dishes we ate and try some of the dishes we didn’t.
The atmosphere was intimate, the surroundings were stylish and the service was impeccable. All things to be expected, based on our previous dining experiences at Monster.
Congratulations to Chef Paul Wilson and the team at Monster Kitchen & Bar for executing a successful menu and transitioning to 365 days of vegetarian dishes. It’s official, you can say good-bye to meat at Monster because Monster is now a herbivore and we’re not mad about it.
DETAILS
Address: Ovolo Nishi, 25 Edinburgh Ave, Canberra
Website: monsterkitchen.com.au/dining/
Check out the new menu: MENU
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/monsterkitchenbar/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/monsterkitchenbar
Photos by Amelia Bidgood.
Amelia Bidgood
Amelia is the Founder and Editor of Eat Canberra and the Founder and Managing Director of Eat Canberra Food Tours. She's a qualified journalist, presenter, freelance writer and also runs a boutique communications agency working with small business owners on all things social media, content creation and marketing. She's taught cheesemaking classes, judged hospitality and tourism awards, completed the WSET Level 1 Award In Wines, loves to cook and has travelled to 23 countries. She's also passionate about mental health and has recently started studying to become a Counsellor.