Another vegan encounter: Greenology

On another quest for meatless-ness in Shanghai, we found ourselves in Greenology, a multi-story vegetarian restaurant with a gourmet edge; a perfect first date spot for all the foodie Buddhists of Shanghai. They prepare a different menu for each floor, we ate on the Forest floor. We were put in a private room and supplied with endless amounts of tea, both the classic green as well as a more adventurous saffron and cinnamon blend. Click on the images below to view a slideshow of the intricate (and surprisingly meaty) dishes we had the pleasure of eating:

The set menu for the ‘Forest’ level of the restaurant

The first course: It was recommended to eat from right to left

First fresh fruit jelly, to cleanse the palate

Then braised stuffed lotus root with sweet and sour sauce, which tasted like a rib

And finally, aniseed silverweed tubers and zucchini, the strongest flavour on the plate. It’s amazing how something so abstract could taste so meaty, a second helping definitely wouldn’t have gone amiss!

The next course was burdock barley quinoa soup, which had a very deep flavour (surprising for broth) as well as a few surprise berries at the bottom

Another trio of goodness: Stir-fried Chinese kale and lilium bulb, homemade organic non-GMO tofu stuffed with golden oyster mushrooms and an oatmeal crusted orange carrot patty

The oatmeal crusted orange carrot patty was light and, dare I say it, moist

The homemade organic non-GMO tofu stuffed with golden oyster mushrooms had an unexpected spicy kick to it, but there was no sign of any mushroom stuffing!

I had never had lilium bulb before this and it was a nice crisp sweet accompaniment to the course

Though the name ‘Brown Rice and Plum Vinegar’ is slightly offputting, this looked like champagne and tasted even better. Imagine Werther’s Original melted down into liquid, heaven.

The lion’s mane mushroom with black pepper sauce was the best part of the meal. Again, I was amazed there could be such a meaty taste and texture from something so un-meaty!

It was so filling as well, not at all like just eating some mushrooms

Also, I had no idea what ocra was, but I am a fan. Cold kidney beans on the other hand, were not so breathtaking

It wouldn’t be a meal in China without a bit of fried rice, but this had truffles in it, which gave it an extra tasty edge

If it hadn’t said this sorbet was made of organic tofu and brown rice on the menu I wouldn’t have believed it!

The organic tofu brown rice sorbet was incredibly sweet (especially considering the ingredients) and much creamier than the regular fruit sorbets I am used to

And if all that food just wasn’t enough, they let you keep your chopsticks as a souvenir!

Meatless Mondays: A Vegetarian Lifestyle

Meatless Monday is here again and this week we’ve gone international! Got Meat. have popped over to China to check out Shanghai’s well-established vegan restaurant: Vegetarian Lifestyle.

The restaurant wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, it didn’t stink of hemp-flavoured incense, it wasn’t filled with dreadlocked hippies, it was indistinguishable from any meat-serving restaurant, even when it came to the food.

The meal was delicious, you heard the man, and it did not feel like anything was missing even though we were aware of the lack of meat. It begs the question, if avoiding eating meat was always this easy, would more people do it?

The world’s population is getting more and more conscious of the damage meat production is doing to the planet they live on, so why hasn’t there been more of a reaction? People don’t buy hybrid cars because they look cool, or install solar panels because they add to the décor of their roof; they do it because they feel a responsibility to the planet they live off. So regardless of how delicious bacon is, wouldn’t more people give it up if going vegan was as easy to do as buying a bag-for-life?

What do you think?

Related articles

• Make Mondays Lack Meat, Not Flavor (gluttonyandglutes.com)
• Macca’s Meatless Monday: It’s so easy to be part of the solution to climate change (dailykos.com)
• To meat or not to meat? The lowdown on meat substitutes (gotmeat.wordpress.com)