Tofu Shop

78 Bridge Rd 
Richmond, VIC

I could never be a vegetarian. That said though, I do enjoy my vegetarian food. You’d think being a food blogger would be all about indulgence, and you would be right, but there’s a lot of joy to be found in the humblest of meals too (no, really!). Being along the tram line that I take every day to work, Tofu Shop’s neon signage is no new sight for me.

For the longest time, I couldn’t decide if it was just a run-of-the-mill health restaurant, or if it was something more. But we don’t live in the 21^st century for nothing, so when I finally got around to googling it, I found out that it is actually a very highly rated vegetarian restaurant that has occupied the premise for over 20 years. There isn’t very much to the place – the interior is as humble as the house-made tofu, but they do have dinosaurs. 

Small Bowl ($11.5)

Whilst we spent our time humming and hawing over the half a dozen dishes of the day, the girl behind the counter helpfully suggested that we do what everyone else does – get a bit of everything. So for $11.5, we each got a Small Bowl of everything on offer, with the only difference being that I said yes to the optional pickled ginger on top. 

Small Bowl ($11.5)

Small Bowl ($11.5)

And then we dug into our bowl of vegetarian goodness. There was ginger tofu, curry tofu, soft tofu, hard tofu, and of course a good selection of veggies – raw, roasted, blanched, marinated – piled on top of a bed of brown rice mixed with dahl. Bonus points to the fluffy piece of deep-fried tempeh on the side. It was every vegetable and soy product served every way imaginable, and I have to admit that the result was wholesome and tasty.

I can see how Tofu Shop got the reputation it has. There’s a great variety of vegetarian dishes that all managed to be tasty in their own right, and I imagine finding an interesting and healthy meal as a vegetarian can be an uphill battle sometimes, so Tofu Shop must be very welcome indeed. But as an omnomnomnivore, I left Tofu Shop feeling a little empty, partially due to the small portions, and partially due to the lack of protein. $11.5 for a small-ish bowl of veggies? Pass the steak thanks.

Rating: 11.5/20 – omnomnomnivore.

This rating reflects my personal experience at the time of visit.