When I lived in Toronto, I was always a bit reticent to go to Asian joints that were branded as vegetarian or vegan because of the amount of imitation meat products.
I was vegetarian/vegan for over 30 years of my life – and more flexitarian in the past few years (I eat some seafood) – and I remember the first time I went to one of those restaurants (Simon’s Wok in East Chinatown, Toronto), I must have been in my mid-20’s, and I saw “Vegetarian Duck” on the menu. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, and I remember asking if the duck were vegetarian?
The server laughed and said “No, this is Buddha food – all vegetarian.”
I tried it, but didn’t like it much, as most of those meat substitutes in Asian cooking is wheat gluten. It’s kind of chewy and … kind of like meat?
I preferred going to typical Chinese or Vietnamese places and ordering the vegetarian options – usually tofu and veggies, salad rolls, or just straight up gai lan (Chinese broccoli) in a wok with garlic; nothing too fancy.
This weekend, the world of in-door dining opened back up in BC, so without flinching, my partner had reserved a table at Chi Vegan.
My inside voice was thinking “I’d rather just go to a regular Vietnamese joint and order from a limited menu,” but when we arrived and I saw the menu, my mind changed.
Interestingly, Chi wasn’t always a vegan resto – this is a recent advent since the start of COVID-19.
Right off the bat, the service was excellent – we were attended by two servers, as well as the chef-owner, Chi Le, herself. It couldn’t have been a nicer experience. The servers were very nice and Chi was exceptionally engaging; she spent a lot of time with us chatting about food, drink, and Vietnam.
Incidentally, Chef Chi was a runner up on Master Chef Vietnam.
On the drink side, what was of interest to us was the sake selection. Like our recent visit to Ugly Dumpling, we were impressed by the offering. We noticed that they had Dassai 45, however, not the sparkling version. We ordered the Dassai 45 Nigori, which is a beautiful, unfiltered sake, dry, crisp, with just right amount of fruit on the nose and palate.
Chi chatted with us quite a bit about the sake, and we could tell that she was passionate about it.
I had the Saigon lager, which was very tasty, and incidentally, made by Kronenbourg. Which makes sense considering that Vietnam was a French colony at one time.
So far, drinks and service were looking good!
Because we were unsure of what to order, we chose three appetizers, rapid fire, to give us some time to figure out our main options.
The mixed veggie rolls were super-cool, as it was a crispy, traditional spring roll wrapped in rice paper. It was very delicious and light.
The roasted eggplant was thin, grilled (or barbecued) and served with scallions, shallots, and peanuts. It was just as I like it; smoky with a melt-in-your mouth texture. It very well could have been a dish in a middle eastern joint.
The third option was a truffle mushroom wonton that had a “shrimp” label on it. Whatever made it “shrimp,” I don’t know … but what I do know is that this dish was another home run. Delicious and light. The combination of soy, chili, garlic, and truffle was well-curated and assembled. I typically keep chili and truffle apart, but Chi made it work … in addition to all of the other flavours.
For the mains, we shared the Bun Cha and the Tofu Bowl.
The Bun Cha was interesting, as it was like a lettuce roll station. Take a leaf, add your rice noodles, veggie “beef” and sauce and you’re off to the races. The other option was to eat it the way you want … picking at the options with your chopstick and enjoying it
The Tofu Bowl was also great – crispy cubes of tofu, noodles, greens, pickles, garlic sauce, and peanuts.
One of the interesting topics of discussion with Chi was an extension of a conversation my partner and I had before we arrived, and that was “are there many vegetarians in Vietnam? My thought was that because of the high Buddhist population, there would be. But, you wouldn’t know it from the amount of beef and pork in the restaurants.”
Chi confirmed that there are a lot of people at the Buddhist kitchens, and thus, many vegetarians.
Also – I happen to have a friend from Vietnam who is vegetarian, and while he may be an anomaly, he mentioned a bunch of veggie-friendly places for me to eat in Saigon.
Overall, I was very pleased with the experience.
I’m not sure I’ll try any of the “Impossible” products they have on the menu when I return, but there’s a bunch of items that I’d love to try next round (Morell Pierogi, Kabocha Croquette, Lemongrass Seitan, and the Banh Mi).
Return: Yes. Chi knows how to engage her customers and she’s one heck of a chef!
Rating: 8/10
Vikas Sharma 
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