**Edited to add: I re-visited Bonsai recently & was told that the Tempura is NOT vegan. I don't know if the recipe has changed or if I was misinformed when I visited for this review**
I'd read about bonsai on fellow PPKer & MoFoer Rachel's blog Thistle and Yellow Rose and decided we should head there for dinner.
We'd checked out the menu online & found quite a few options that sounded as if they'd be vegan & after a chat with the lovely waitress we discovered that everything we thought looked exciting was indeed vegan - no modifications needed! Of course we did what any good travelling vegan would do & ordered all if it! Here there are the yakisoba noodles, agadashi tofu & inari nigiri sushi.
The agadashi tofu was firm silken tofu which had been breaded in panko breadcrumbs & fried, it came in a soy & ginger broth with spring onions. This wasn't what we were expecting but it was super yummy albeit challenging to eat with chopsticks! The inari nigiri sushi was great & made us wish we'd ordered a plate of it each - Nick'd never tried sushi before & he loved it.
We also ordered the vegetable tempura.
The batter was perfectly crisp & their were pieces of aubergine, sweet potato & red & green peppers. I loved this & the aubergine & sweet potato pieces were my favourites. I think I've only ever had tempura once before & this has made me determined to make it at home. Excitingly today in John Lewis we found & purchased a cheap (£40 but we paid £20 in real money as we had £20 of vouchers left from our wedding gifts!) mini deep fat frier, I can't wait to get home & start frying stuff! I have plans to deep fry a Go Max Go Twilight bar as deep fried Mars bars are a Scottish delicacy, what else would you suggest I try frying?
Location:Edinburgh
I'd love to go to that place! The food looks amazing, especially the tempura. A deep fryer is great!
ReplyDeleteHey! I ate there when we went to Edinburgh. I didn't know they had vegan agadashi. 99.9% of the time the broth has bonito or fish sauce in it. Figures.
ReplyDeletePERFECT! This is a godsend because I'm going to Edinburgh TOMORROW and didn't know where to go for dindins. Thanks for the tip!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a huge fan of Japanese food but breaded tofu in a soy and ginger broth sounds amazing !!
ReplyDelete...aaaaaaaannnddd coming over for deep fry party + found candy floss machine afters.
ReplyDeleteI've had a strict No Deep Fryers policy for my kitchen, only because I know I'll want to fry EVERYTHING! I look forward to the results of your frying, though, even if it makes me consider buying a fryer after all. ;)
ReplyDeletePS. Love veggie tempura!
If you're doing the go max bars, you might consider deep frying oreos. It is a fair thing here in America. I'd also do okra fries and a beer battered seitan. I will be there soon for the deep fryer party.
ReplyDeletei would have ordered as many vegan options as i could eat as well. you've just gotta when presented with that many vegan dishes. yay! deep frying some go max go bars sounds glorious - and homemade tempura?! i think i'd eat some every day. this makes me want to hunt down our deep fryer (it's somewhere buried in the craziness that is our attic. ah ha ha!). you should totally make lots of corndogs, hushpuppies, funnel cakes, and fried avocado slices. mmmmmmmmm! he possibilities are endless (and delicious)!
ReplyDeleteOooh ooh ooh you have to make onion rings in your fryer - there's the most awesome recipe over on my blog that is PERFECT!
ReplyDeleteAND DOUGHNUTS!!!
You can't beat a fried doughnut.
I've been after a mini deep fat fryer for ages.
*sigh*
Agh, we almost went there when we were up during the festival. Instead ended up having worst meal ever, mine tasted reallyreally fishy even though was told was safe. Wish we'd gone here, looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteDo battered sausages!
Oh, that looks awesome!
ReplyDeletePS- I have access to really cheap canned pumpkin here (per your comment on my blog). If you're interested in a US/UK swap I'd be happy to send you some goodies, and lots of canned pumpkin. Let me know. :)
MMM I love agadashi tofu
ReplyDeleteWow! Everything looks amazing!
ReplyDeleteI want a deep fried Twilight bar! Yum :)
ReplyDeleteVegan Monte Cristo! Sometimes it's pan-fried, but it's basically a double decker grilled cheese with ham and white cheese on one layer, ham and yellow cheese on another, dipped in batter, fried, sprinkled with powdered sugar, then served with raspberry jam or maple syrup. I had it a few times before I went vegan. A veganized version would be awesome!
ReplyDeleteI love inari! I always check to make sure any sushi restaurant we go to has it. Yum!
Your blog makes me hungry!
ReplyDeleteHave you ever deep fried rice noodles, you put them in dry and then poof up and go crispy, very yummy!
Everything from this place looks super yummy! I'd love to go there as well.
ReplyDeleteVegetable tempura?! I'm so jealous!
ReplyDeleteGood choice! That is my fave Japanese restaurant EVER. Their roasted red pepper and avocado maki is *almost* as good as the inari, and that's saying something ;) They also do excellent teriyaki tofu steaks... but the agedashi is to die for :D
ReplyDelete