Tofu cuisine is a thing in Japan; there are even high-end restaurants serving tofu-based course meals. While exploring Ningyocho I came across a shop and restaurant specializing in tofu that I decided to try: Tofu no Futaba (豆腐の双葉) on Amazake Yokocho street. Contrary to what you might find online, the restaurant is no longer open for dinner, it only serves set lunch menus from Monday to Saturday.
The visit
I knew the restaurant was upstairs and initially I headed to the main shop on Amazake street. But it is the wrong entrance for the restaurant.
The shop keeper assigned her six year old son to escort me to the right entrance on a side street around the corner.
Actually, I later realized they had a sign explaining where to go in front of the shop, but it was all in Japanese.
It was a Saturday and there were a lot of customers in the dining room dominated by a long communal table where I sat.
No English menu, but ordering was simple since they had a nice picture menu and you can order only set menus that start at 1,000 yen. I went for the most expensive deluxe set.
The order was taken by a lovely old lady that was literally running the all place by herself. After taking the order and going into the kitchen, she ran out and from the other side of the room she asked “Ponzu ok?”. Hell, yes, it was ok, I love ponzu, a citrus-based vinegar sauce. I guess she must have had trouble with some other foreign customers so she asked. She was adorable.
Soon the lunch set I ordered arrived in all its splendor. There were three different tofu dishes, in addition to a large miso soup, rice, cabbage, and pickles.
The tofu was prepared in different styles and combined with different vegetables. I found all dishes delicious even if I might have not understood all the details.
I have filed this restaurant under “vegetarian”, but you know that in Japanese cuisine they use a lot of stocks made our from meat, so I cannot guarantee that it is really vegetarian.
I went to Suan Dok Temple in Chiang Mai attracted by their restaurant called Pun Pun Vegetarian Slow Food. To find the restaurant you will need to go inside the Temple’s grounds. If you enter the Temple from the main gate, you have to walk to the back. When I got there with Grab Car I was left near a back entrance that was next to the restaurant.
The visit
The restaurant is located in a shack with a very large open kitchen and spartan wooden furniture. They have an English menu with an extensive selection of vegetarian dishes.
From the daily specials, I had the homemade fermented mushroom sausage. It was slightly sour and something different. I liked it.
I ordered a classic massamsan (musaman on the menu) curry with tofu, mushroom, and potatoes. The curry was a bit bland for my taste.
There was an intriguing list of “special dishes” and I chose one called Dtow hoo pad pong garee in the transliteration. It had stir fried eggs, tofu, mushroom, onion, all on a yellow curry and roasted chili paste base. Ok, there was an egg so it was a bit cheating, but this dish was fantastic. Every bite brought up new delicious flavors.
It came with a portion of excellent brown rice.
The check
The three dishes and a drink cost me 215 THB (7 USD). And this was a big feast, two dishes would have been more than enough. Difficult to beat this kind of value.
Bonus: after your meal you can have a look around the temple:
Where in Chiang Mai: 139 Suthep Rd, ตำบล สุเทพ Amphoe Mueang Chiang Mai, Chang Wat Chiang Mai Tip: have a look at their Facebook page that they keep up to date with announcements about closures.
Jujube Tree (枣子树) – Vegetarian Lifestyle is a chain of vegetarian restaurants with several outlets in Shanghai, two in Ningbo, and one in Chengdu. I think that good vegetarian cuisine is a must-do food experience in China.
The visit
I went to the newly-opened (January 2019) outlet in Ningbo neart the Moon Lake park.
It is a relatively small restaurant. On a random weekday, it was half full by the time I left at around 7pm. The venue has some nice tables for groups:
The menu was available on a tablet device and every dish was pictured and the name was provided both in Chinese and English (with quality translations). I ordered and the first three dishes arrived after a couple of minutes including complimentary nibbles (pictured above). I guess they were “ready-made” in the kitchen.
This is one of those vegetarian restaurants with dishes resembling meat. One of the first dishes I got was a “vegetarian sausage”. It was really close to a real sausage both in terms of look and texture. It was good.
Another dish was tangerine-flavored king oyster mushrooms. I did not know this kind of mushroom and I did not like it because it was too gummy.
The third “appetizer” was mashed Chinese yam with green pea paste on top. The texture resembled mashed potatoes and the combination between yam and green peas was quite good.
A very good dish was skewers of deep-fried lion’s mane mushrooms with hot peppers. It was a nicely spicy dish, that reminded lamb skewers. (Four pieces pictured, but it was five.)
I also had a double-boiled matsutake soup with bamboo fungus. Despite being one of the most expensive dishes of my dinner, it was quite bland and I could not distinguish the matsutake flavor.
The check
Total check was 214 RMB or 32 USD (prices on the menu were net, with no service charge). Most dishes that I had were suitable for sharing between two people.
While not cheap by Chinese standards, I would classify the restaurant as mid-range, as opposed to fine vegetarian dining like Wujie and Fu He Hui.
My impression on the dishes I had was mixed, but they have a very extensive menu and I would not mind trying more.
Where in Ningbo: 1F, block A, Xinhuitiandi, 568 Zheming Road, Haishu district In Chinese: 宁波市海曙区镇明路568号新荟天地A座1楼(星巴克旁) Check their website for a list of locations: http://www.jujubetree.com/shop.aspx
The Shanghai Michelin Guide Scramble continued and I visited with two friends one of the two vegetarians restaurants listed in the 2019 edition of the Guide with one star: Fu he Hui (I already had visited the other).
Fu He Hui is part of the Fu Group that runs three other restaurants in the same Changning District: Fu 1015, Fu 1039 and Fu 1088 (the number coming from the address).
The restaurant is located in three-storey town house on Yuyuan road in a street dotted by trees (and coffee shops) in the typical fashion of the former French Concession. The ground floor hosts the reception and cashier, while each floor above has both private dining rooms and a common area.
I made my reservation through Chope where only bookings for 2 or more people where accepted. Given the large location, I think you can find a table even without a reservation most of the times (but do not quote me on this).
Above pictured an example of seating in the common dining area on the second floor.
We were greeted by an English-speaking waitress that explained us the basics: the restaurant only offers set menus (she did not specify this, but I believe the same set menu must be ordered for all guests sitting at the same table). She also removed from the room a shopping bag that I had because she spotted inside something that could contain meat (no meat allowed in the dining room apparently).
We chose the introductory menu for 580 RMB (net). They had two chef recommended menus for 780 and 880 RMB (with the possibility to add a tea pairing for an additional 288 RMB; the tea pairing was not available for the 580 RMB menu). In the past they also had a 300 RMB (or so) menu that is no longer offered.
We also ordered a pot of tea that was non cheap.
The initial amouse bouche selection included some salty crisps shaped as maple leaves (hidden among real leaves that we were recommended not to eat), some crackers with egg plant puree, and a beetroot roll with a chickpea filling. The latter appetizer was really good and could have been a stand-alone dish.
The first dish of the menu was avocado mixed with mango and tomatoes in a nori (seaweed) waffle cone. The taste of truffle oil used to amalgamate the ingredients was very clear.
We all enjoyed the next dish: lotus fungus with some baby corn and clack medlar with a mushroom based broth that came in its own bottle. The mushroom flavor of the broth was unmistakable.
Next, we got two bites of eggplant filled with crunchy lotus root, sprinkled with sesame in teriyaki sauce, and some gorgon fruit (an aquatic plant actually).
The fourth dish was a combination of white and purple yam paste (yin and yang?) surmounted by termite mushrooms (I guess a type of termitomyces) in a housemade soy sauce. I did not know the yam could be so good.
Then we got another type of fungus: morels on a melon squash made with Jiang Bing melon (a Chinese variety).
The sixth dish was a fairly conventional carrot puree (I could not identify the flavor of the potato and bamboo shoots indicated in the menu) made more interesting by the addition of balsamic vinegar pearls. The pearls were really powerful and mixed in the puree conferred an interesting counterbalance.
The second last dish was called a “spring pancake”: on a nori base with a line of soy paste there was cocumber, crisp tofu skin and a bai ling mushroom. We were instructed to roll the seaweed and eat it with our hands.
The last dish was a green bean dessert with green tea and mint oil. It was served chilled and I could not expect that green peas could be such a tasty base for a dessert. It came with a mini mooncake filled with bean paste.
Some extra sweet treat: walnut cakes (right), panna cotta in transparent edible paper (homage to White Rabbit candies), and sweet chocolate balls.
The check
The set menu was 580 RMB per person, but after adding the tea pot (and the wet towels! I cannot believe that they charged the wet towels) the individual cost per person rose to 681 RMB, basically 100 USD.
The 580 RMB menu is very similar to the previous 380 RMB menu offered before the Michelin Guide’s mention (and for a while after), so it looks that they decided to raise their price point over the past year.
The comparison with the other Michelin-starred vegetarian restaurant in Shanghai, Wujie, seems mandatory: I found the same level of quality and creativity in the Wujie’s introductory tasting menu, at a more affordable price, in a more casual environment with staff non speaking English (but super friendly). Wujie also used some cheese, Fu He Hui seems to be strictly vegan.
I and my friends truly enjoyed the experience. Apart from being overcharged for the tea, the service, the creativity and quality of the food was excellent. Even more interesting dishes can be found in the higher price set menus that I might try one day.
Where in Shanghai: 1037 Yuyuan Lu In Chinese: 愚园路1037号 Nearest metro station: Jiangsu Road Station (line 2), exit 6 or 4 (if you are adventurous, the 20 bus from the Bund stops nearby as well).
I am not really a fan of vegetarian cuisine, but the Michelin Guide for Shanghai lists two vegetarian restaurants. As I am trying to visit ALL Michelin-starred restaurants in Shanghai, I had a good excuse to try one. I must say that I was not disappointed.
The restaurant is called Wujie. It has three locations in Shanghai, but only the one on the Bund is starred (one star). It is located on the fourth floor of Bund 22 (in the Southern part of the Bund). It is a very prestigious location shared with wedding venues and some other popular restaurants like El Willy.
I found my way easily, but oddly there were no indications outside the elevators. Go on the left inside.
The young staff, all dressed in immaculate linen uniforms, did not speak much English but was super nice and accommodated my quirks.
It was possible to order from the menu on a ipad or one of their set menus. Eventually I opted for one of their set menus called Timeless (the most affordable by the way).
Before getting started with the selection I was offered an amuse bouche: beetroot, some green beans and what looked like corn flakes. Probably the least interesting dish, but definitely what followed was worth the visit.
The first dish of the set menu was a splendid composition of contrasting flavors dominated by the cream cheese. It was fun to play with the ingredients.
Next was a delicate soup with a piece of bamboo fungus.
Next was a bar of tofu stuffed with pistachio and porcini mushrooms.
More zucchini and porcini in a South Asian inspired soup mildly spicy and tomato flavored.
The main dish was lion’s mane (a meaty mushroom) and a lily bulb on a zucchini mash. This was quite a filling dish with some strong flavors.
Before the dessert, a final substantial dish was served: hand made spinach noodles in a spicy soup. The noodles really reminded me of Italian tagliatelle. It was a good injection of starch and helped to fill full by the end of the dinner.
The chilled chocolate was delicious and was made more velvety by the addition of tofu.
The check
In the end, the set meny cost me 439 CNY (or 64 USD). Taking into account location and creativity in the preparation of the dishes, I can accept this price. If you order two or three dishes from the menu, probably you can dine with less than 300 CNY per person.
Trying this vegetarian restaurant was a refreshing experience. Actually, I would like to go back for more (they have a vegetarian tonkatsu that is now on my wish list). Overall, I would recommend this experience both to vegetarians and omnivorous.
Where in Shanghai: Fourth Floor, Bund 22, Zhongshan Dong Er Lu, near Xinyongan Lu Address in Chinese: 黄浦区中山东二路外滩22号4楼 Booking with Chope.
Update 2020: The Bund location is closed, pending renovations. It might re-open in 2021. However the restaurant has other locations. I would recommend the location in Xujiahui district that I have tested and serves the tasting menus. There is another location at Shanghai Tower (not tested) and one in Suzhou inside Eslite megastore (no tasting menus).
Address of Xujiahui location: 天平路392号(近肇嘉浜路) – 392 Tianping Rd near Zhaojiabang Rd (徐汇区 Xujiahui District).
