SHU — Restaurant in Melbourne

Came as a couple on a Thursday night at 6pm for the Shu Lanka Tasting menu. The following review just reflects my opinions and our experience. We're both vegan and have enjoyed a lot of the vegan dining experiences in Melbourne. Shu didn't impress me, but it has enough potential to warrant revisiting, as long as the menu was exciting enough.

We paid $162 for 2 five course tasting menus and 2 mocktails. Value for money wise I think there are better vegan dining options just by going a la carte.

Decor and vibes are great, maximilist, lots of details, effort gone into everything. Some parts are tacky like the plastic coat hanger ceiling installation and the painted 'lipstick' on the glasses, but overall I rather a effort made than no effort effort at all.

Music was disappointing, a mix of nightclub level EDM and much more enjoyable house. At the worst of times the music was distracting and disruptive to our experience. Half way through our meal I discovered the dining room in the back playing awesome jazz music. If you're keen for more of a dining vibe, I'd highly recommend asking to sit in this section. Staff should definitely make it known to diners that the back is an option.

Staff were friendly, but I think they were understaffed, as wait times and attentiveness were effected. The wait between each course doubled for us, and between 3 and 4 we were waiting 20 minutes easily.

Bathrooms are great, they have style and good quality products. ✔️

Drinks were great, we ordered the non alcoholic bloody Martini (not at all like a martini but it is nice, pink and tart) and the Yuzu spritz (too much salt on the rim for my liking but it was a nice balance of bitter and zesty)

First course was the soup rasam which was delicious. Like a Dahl with crunchy croutons. Can recommend.

Second was a pancake taco with mustard greens. This was way, way too salty. I actually regret finishing it.

Third was the twice deep fried eggplant. This eggplant was not enjoyable. The double deep fry leaves it oily with overcooked batter. The Sichuan "chili jam" had no acidity or sweetness to balance the moorishness of the batter and eggplant. We did not finish this course.

All 3 dishes so far have been spicy, but in fairness it's a Sichuan and Sri Lankan menu. I just would have liked some variety.

Fourth course was very tasty. What was essentially stuffed capsicum with fried rice. It was served on the chilli jam that seemed to be missing from the eggplant, and I wanted to see the 'purple rice' that was on the menu but not in the dish. If I'm being honest give me a plate of that fried rice and I'd be having a good time, but you can go to any vegan Chinese restaurant for that 😅

Dessert was delicious! Avocado cheesecake with rhubarb, highly recommend. I don't normally like cheesecake but I liked the avocado flavour of this and thought it was great.

Overall impressions are that there is a lot of potential here, they've clearly invested in the space itself, now they just need the menu and enough staff to make it sing. If the chef can make dishes that bring a balance of dynamic flavours, instead on leaning hard on one, they'd have a really interesting experience...

✔️ Brown Rice Cracker, Thai Basil, Pine nuts. ➖ Beetroot, Macadamia, Finger Lime, ✖️ Nashi Pear, Turmeric, Toasted Almonds, ✔️ Hazelnuts, Preserved Kale, Soy Bean Paste ✔️ Pickled Cabbage in Sichuan Chilli Oil, Betel Leaf, Wombok ➖ Pot Plant from Year 2012, Black Tahini Cream ✔️ Preserved Mustard Leaves, Green Daikon, Chinese Donut, Stir Fried Potatoes ➖ Kohlrabi Pocket, Pulled Shitake, Grilled Corn, Pickled Chilli ➖ 5 Spice Braised Bean Curd, Fried Rice, Plant Prawns ✔️ Steamed Hairy Melon, Plant Mince, Okra, Black Bean Soy Sauce ➖ Oolong Boba Tea Pudding, Black Sugar Syrup

Shu is a 100% Vegan restaurant located on Johnston St, Collingwood. It is named after its owner, Shu Liu, a dinner party host and fashion designer, who opened the restaurant in 2012.

When you walk in it’s hard not to be impressed by its quirky, eccentric design and decor. Neon lights, funky music and just an amazing, inclusive vibe.

We visited for their signature experience, the 10 Course Vegan Degustation ($85), inspired by Sichuan cuisine. They are also currently running a Shu-Lanka 5 course fusion banquet ($65pp) combining Sri Lankan and Sichuan cuisines, as well as Unlimited Yum Cha Saturdays and Sundays ($55pp).

The whole seating ran for 3 hours, quite lengthy and slow assuming to enjoy each dish properly. The cocktails were amazing! My favourite dishes were the first few starters. Some of the courses were spicy AF!

The overall theme to the night was that we had no idea what we were actually eating. I didn’t hate it, I didn’t love it, but I definitely appreciated everything, its inventiveness and how exciting it was to try something so unique. I would love to hear the perspective from someone who is actually vegan. I would come back to try their...

I would be hard pressed to be more disappointed with my experience today at Shu.

A couple of weeks ago, we booked for the '$55 all-you-can-eat yum cha'. We were having trouble booking through the Facebook ad, so we called and booked over the phone with Shu, using credit card.

We arrived today for lunch, and were let down by the food, service and we were shocked at the hidden fees and dishonest conduct. Every dish was overly sweet, or overly flavoured with Sichuan pepper. We were not given enough opportunity to eat during our 2 hour window, with long wait times for food. None of us were full by the end, and we're not big eaters. There was also no tea available, despite yum cha translating to 'drink tea', and traditionally being consumed with hot tea.

The worst part came when we were heading to leave and one of the waitresses met us at the front of the restaurant and asked us to pay a further $27.50 as a 'weekend surcharge'. This extra 10% surcharge was not disclosed to us when we tried booking through the Facebook ad, nor when we called up to book over the phone. The waitress then called Shu when we mentioned we weren't informed, and Shu did not acknowledge that we weren't told beforehand, and said that we should have seen it on the website, despite knowing we booked over the phone. We were forced to pay the extra, and no responsibility was taken by the restaurant. This is really dishonest, disappointing and unlawful conduct, and this extra surcharge should have been charged when we made the original booking, or at the very least we should have been informed of it beforehand. We won't...