The vegan movement aims to substitute meat with vegetarian alternatives, such as soy products. Advocates of vegan diet innovate their recipes with fusion cuisine. Natural ingredients are combined with traditional Chinese dishes. I visited five such restaurants in Sunnyvale. I found their dishes to be unique, promising a blend of flavors aimed at providing a healthier alternative and a greener diet.
Green Café Vegan Cuisine
190 Ranch Drive
Milpitas, CA 95035-5101
408-263-8098
http://www.greencafevegan.com/
This restaurant opened about a year ago in November 2010 by friends Heirn Do, Peter Le, and Lynn Huynh all sharing the same vision of using only organic vegetable products in their dishes. Owner Heirn explains how she came up with the recipes for her specialty soups, sandwiches, and gourmet entrees such as “Spicy Mongolian Delight” cooked with soy protein, and “Orange Nuggets Wonder” make from soy protein in orange sauce. Today their menu features over 75 dishes made with tofu and without hormone fed animal products. Their featured desserts are the vegan cheese cake and orange cake. I had the pleasure of enjoying the vegan burger made with oatmeal, soy protein, tofu, and mashed vegetable patty, served with fries for $6.95. It was the best tasting burger I’ve ever had! The fries were golden, light, and crispy. I did not smell any lard oil or animal fat that usually accompanies fried foods. Green Cafe wants to introduce an alternative lifestyle, a different way of thinking about our diets by making us really understand our choices, so stop by and try one of their delicious “Meals For Under $10″.
The Merit Vegan Restaurant
548 Lawrence Expy
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
408-245-8988
www.MeritVegetarian.com
I stopped for lunch at The Merit Vegan Restaurant where I sampled the Caramelized Chicken which is “soy chicken” sautéed in special sweet chili soy sauce with lettuce, cucumber and tomato for $11. Surprisingly, soy as substitute for chicken formed a unique blend of flavors. All dishes here are prepared without eggs, MSG, or animal products. The service here is friendly, and I found the dining experience quite pleasing.
Great Vegi Land
562 Murphy Ave
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
408-735-8040
At the Great Vegi Land, I sampled the Hot & Sour soup (for $6.98) with General’s Chicken for $6.95. This place is a traditional Chinese Vegetarian restaurant that won’t use garlic, onion, milk, cheese, egg, and canned foods. Incidentally, this was the best Hot & Sour soup I’ve had on this side of the Bay! The General’s chicken was a fried crispy vegetarian chicken sautéed with pepper and carrots in spicy sweet and sour sauce. The meat substitute actually enhanced the flavor of this dish, again to my surprise! The service here is very friendly, and the atmosphere is calm and peaceful.
Garden Fresh Restaurant
1245 El Camino
Mountain View, CA 94040
http://www.gardenfresh.us/
Garden Fresh offers traditional Chinese vegetarian recipes from centuries-old . The owners Alice and Robert Lang took great care with Chefs Robert Liang and Paul Hsueh to create and refine a unique menu without dairy, eggs, or animal products. I tried the crispy fried tofu for lunch for $7.95. The taste is very fresh and gentle to my digestive system. Lunchtime becomes crowded quickly so try to arrive a little early here.
Sogo Tofu
1610 De Anza Blvd
San Jose, CA 95106
408-517-8958
Sogo Tofu has a casual dining atmosphere and is primarily a take out restaurant with Chinese style deli. A small shop also sells soy and vegetarian products. Prices are very reasonable here and all dishes are prepared without MSG. I tried a variety of their daily special soups here for less than $10 total.
Most of these vegan restaurants are family owned whose aim it is to provide healthier alternatives to eating meat. They take pride in using all natural ingredients and want to inform consumers about where our food comes from and what choices are available. Whether you are tired of the usual processed foods, and are looking for alternatives, explore one of these unique restaurants.