[VeganMoFo] Day 17: Chinese buffet - this time with photos!

My dad and I sing together in a choir which rehearses on Tuesday evenings. Before rehearsal, we go out to dinner together. My dad is not a vegan at all, so until recently, we always chose restaurants that had both vegan and non-vegan menu options. But about 2 weeks ago, I was talking to him about the vegan Chinese buffet that I love so much, Su Tao Cafe, and he agreed to give it a try. Well, now he loves the place and we eat there every week!

Here are some of the things we ate:

clockwise from top: sauteed green beans, curried chickpeas, edamame, pepper "steak"

clockwise from top: lo mein with broccoli and mushrooms, chile garlic noodles, General Tso's "chicken", phoenix "chicken" with lemon sauce

things we also ate, not pictured:
spring rolls
avocado sushi
broccoli fritters
"chicken" and potato curry
gingery-garlicky kale salad
adzuki bean salad
brown rice

[VeganMoFo] Day 14: Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival

It's VeganMoFo! What's VeganMoFo? Find out at http://www.veganmofo.com

Today my friend came to visit me and we went to the Mid-Autumn Festival Special Buffet at Su Tao Cafe. Su Tao is a vegan Chinese restaurant in Malvern, PA, about 12 minutes from where I live. They have a regular buffet every day, $9.95 for lunch and $12.95 for dinner. For holidays, they have Special Buffet, $20 a pop, featuring many fancier dishes in addition to their usual fare, and ice cream is included in the meal (normally you pay extra for ice cream).

I did not get any photos, because I was too busy paying attention to my friend and my food, and by the time we'd finished eating, most of the food was all gone. But you don't need to see pictures of it to know that it was AMAZING. Here are some of the things I ate:

garlicky sauteed bok choy
deep fried daikon puffs
gingery-garlic raw kale salad
golden eggplant triangles
giant puff dumplings with seitan and veggies inside
zucchini pancakes
spicy lemon "chicken"
crunchy shiitake mushrooms in sesame sauce

For dessert, we shared a dish each of butter pecan and cream'n'cookies ice cream, though we had to do some serious negotiating with our bodies to find room for any more food. My friend and I have both been vegans a long time, so perhaps we have evolved extra stomachs ;-)

I eat here pretty often, so next time I'll try to remember to get some photos!

[VeganMoFo!] Day 5: Dim Sum!

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Last night I met up with my friends Amy and Ronald, who I know from the Post Punk Kitchen message boards. Both are visiting from overseas, so it was great to get to hang out with them in person! I've met both of them before, but not in a long while. We had dinner at New Harmony, a Kosher Chinese restaurant in Philadelphia with an all-vegan menu. New Harmony's specialty is the "all-you-can-eat dim sum". They have a menu of options, so you can select your favorites, but I usually just tell the server to "bring us whatever's good" and let them work their magic. 

We each started with a bowl of wonton soup.

Then the dim sum fest began!

vegetable pancakes! These are fried and served with a mayonaissey sauce.

spring rolls and scallion pancakes!

stir-fry! tofu, broccoli, bok choy, carrots, and zucchini in a gingery-garlicky sauce!

taro cakes! Taro is a sticky root vegetable and it's one of my absolute favorite treats.

bao! These are doughy dumplings stuffed with vegan pork.

dumplings! I don't remember what was in them, but it was tasty.

There was also another dish of little round dumplings in assorted colors and configurations, but I seem to have not taken a photo of it.

dessert! The fried coconut triangles are simply to die for!!!