Flavor Boulevard

We Asians like to talk food.
Subscribe

Garden Fresh

December 01, 2008 By: Mai Truong Category: California - The Bay Area, Chinese, Comfort food, Vegan


My mother keeps a strict Buddhist habit of eating vegan twice a month, once on new moon day and once on full moon day. It’s a good way of practicing self control, especially when those vegan days fall on party days. Such as Thanksgiving dinner. While everyone was feasting away at the fat 20lb turkey, my mom watched the Dallas Cowboys and the Seahawks with a bowl of vegan instant pho.


I thought of a PhD comic in which Tajel and Cecilia prepared “tofurkey” for Thanksgiving and wondered if she would have preferred that to the pho. Then over the phone Mudpie brought up the likelihood of being a complete vegan in the future, possibly due to californianization. So I was reminded of a place we ate in Mountain View. A vegan place, surprised, no?

How about some (tofu) crab soup for starter?


I’m never a soup fan, first it’s too hot then it gets cold quickly, it’s like hot pocket without the pocket. But this one was baby bear’s soup. It was just the right amount, too. Tofu cubes, sweet corn, diced carrots, cilantro, and perhaps a little flour to thicken the broth? Very heart warming.


Scallion pancake: just simple fried batter with scallion, I suppose. But scallion is the hit. It smells good. Its flavor dominates and instead of blanddom you get all time favorite snack. Pickled carrots and green beans soften the greasy effect.


Do they look like drumsticks to you? Maybe. But not chicken legs. They didn’t taste like dark meat either. But they definitely were worth the bite. Crunchy and fun to eat. I like these. The only thing I would miss from a real chicken drumstick is the cartilage and the bone marrow (ok, that were two things), but if they’re deep fried there’s little chance any bone marrow would survive the fire anyway. Now onto the main course.


What is the classic dish every American would get at a Chinese restaurant (that is not sweet-n-sour chicken)? Orange Chicken! Our friendly hostess recommended it to us tonight. Presumably you can never go wrong with a chinese chicken, even if it’s not a real chicken. Tofu clumps of various shapes pretended to be oddly cut chicken pieces, browned (not oranged) in sugar and soy sauce and many other ingredients I can’t dissect. They might have been too flavorful by themselves, but were great with fried rice, just like a good chicken always is.


What is the one Chinese dish every American, including my Greek professor who has lived in America for a long time, knows the name of? Peking Duck, you got it! This is no Peking duck, just duck. In fact, it’s no duck, just a bundle of different kinds of tofu, but close enough. It looked just like the real duck, with skin, bone, fat and everything. I felt there were strands of “meat” when I ate this. The only difference is we could eat the bone, which makes it better than real duck. It’s been too long to remember if it was sweet or salty or what, but the stew sauce was arguably the best part of the dish. It shows seasoning is the key to make something taste good, not the stuff being seasoned.


We probably would have gone for dessert to complete a three-course supper, had the restaurant any dessert. But thank God they didn’t, we were so full by the time we said goodbye to the friendly hostess. For only $36.15, we had enough leftovers for another lunch. Excellent service. Take a look at the menu. (It grew since last time we were there.)

Address: Garden Fresh Vegetarian Restaurant
1245 West El Camino Real
Mountain View, CA 94040
(650) 254-1688

0 Comments to “Garden Fresh”


  1. Hi there, simply changed into alert to your blog thru Google, and found that it is truly informative. I’m gonna watch out for brussels. I’ll be grateful should you continue this in future. Lots of folks can be benefited out of your writing. Cheers!

    1
  2. Thanx for the effort, keep up the good work Great work, I am going to start a small Blog Engine course work using your site I hope you enjoy blogging with the popular BlogEngine.net.Thethoughts you express are really awesome. Hope you will right some more posts.

    2
  3. I’m really enjoying the theme/design of your weblog. Do you ever run into any internet browser compatibility problems? A small number of my blog audience have complained about my site not working correctly in Explorer but looks great in Firefox. Do you have any solutions to help fix this issue?

    3
  4. Fantastic post but I was wondering if you could write a litte more on this topic? I’d be very thankful if you could elaborate a little bit more. Thanks!

    4
  5. What’s Happening i am new to this, I stumbled upon this I have discovered It positively helpful and it has aided me out loads. I am hoping to contribute & help different users like its aided me. Great job.

    5
  6. I have been exploring for a little for any high-quality articles or blog posts in this sort of area . Exploring in Yahoo I at last stumbled upon this website. Reading this info So i am happy to exhibit that I’ve a very excellent uncanny feeling I discovered just what I needed. I so much no doubt will make sure to don’t overlook this site and give it a look regularly.

    6
  7. Aavant produces the best photography, event and theatre backdrops in the world and works for almost all the biggest players in the world. Being in backdrops industry for last two decades it is the largest player in the world, providing highest quality backdrops to every buyer from USA to Australia.

    7
  8. I like this website very much, Its a rattling nice spot to read and find information. “There is no human problem which could not be solved if people would simply do as I advise.” by Gore Vidal.

    8
  9. Hi there just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let you know a few of the pictures aren’t loading properly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different web browsers and both show the same results.

    9
  10. Precisely what I was searching for, thankyou for putting up.

    10
  11. I consider something genuinely special in this site.

    11
  12. My wife and i were fulfilled that Emmanuel managed to conclude his researching while using the precious recommendations he gained from your very own web pages. It’s not at all simplistic to just be giving freely facts which a number of people could have been making money from. And now we discover we now have the writer to be grateful to for that. The explanations you have made, the simple site navigation, the friendships you can aid to instill – it is all fantastic, and it’s really letting our son and our family know that this content is exciting, which is certainly very mandatory. Thank you for all!

    12
  13. Hey very cool web site!! Man .. Beautiful .. Amazing .. I’ll bookmark your blog and take the feeds also…I’m happy to find a lot of useful information here in the post, we need work out more techniques in this regard, thanks for sharing. . . . . .

    13
  14. This is a topic close to my heart cheers, where are your contact details though?

    14
  15. Pretty! This was a really wonderful post. Thank you for your provided information.

    15
  16. This is the right blog for anyone who wants to find out about this topic. You realize so much its almost hard to argue with you (not that I actually would want…HaHa). You definitely put a new spin on a topic thats been written about for years. Great stuff, just great!

    16
  17. Hello! I know this is kinda off topic but I was wondering if you knew where I could locate a captcha plugin for my comment form? I’m using the same blog platform as yours and I’m having trouble finding one? Thanks a lot!

    17
  18. Thanks for any other wonderful article. The place else could anyone get that type of info in such an ideal means of writing? I’ve a presentation next week, and I’m on the search for such information.

    18
  19. whoah this blog is great i really like reading your articles. Stay up the great paintings! You realize, many individuals are searching round for this info, you could aid them greatly.

    19
  20. Thank you for another great article. Where else could anybody get that kind of information in such an ideal way of writing? I’ve a presentation next week, and I am on the look for such info.

    20
  21. Thanks for every other excellent post. The place else could anyone get that type of info in such an ideal way of writing? I have a presentation next week, and I’m on the search for such info.

    21
  22. I’ve learn some just right stuff here. Definitely value bookmarking for revisiting. I surprise how a lot effort you place to create this type of excellent informative site.

    22
  23. Everything is very open and very clear explanation of issues. was truly information. Your website is very useful. Thanks for sharing.

    23
  24. I have learn some good stuff here. Certainly price bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how so much attempt you put to create such a great informative website.

    24
  25. I actually wanted to compose a brief message to thank you for the amazing points you are giving out at this website. My considerable internet lookup has finally been compensated with good quality know-how to exchange with my company. I ‘d say that we site visitors actually are undeniably endowed to exist in a decent website with many brilliant professionals with useful secrets. I feel very blessed to have come across the website page and look forward to many more amazing minutes reading here. Thank you once more for all the details.

    25
  26. you have a great blog here! would you like to make some invite posts on my blog?

    26
  27. Thanks a lot for providing individuals with an extremely remarkable possiblity to discover important secrets from here. It’s always very enjoyable and as well , full of a lot of fun for me and my office friends to search your website at minimum thrice in 7 days to read through the fresh issues you have. And definitely, I am just certainly amazed considering the very good methods you serve. Some 1 areas in this posting are clearly the finest I’ve ever had.

    27
  28. Howdy! Do you know if they make any plugins to help with SEO? I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good success. If you know of any please share. Thank you!

    28
  29. Yeah bookmaking this wasn’t a risky conclusion outstanding post! .

    29
  30. I have recently started a blog, the info you offer on this site has helped me greatly. Thank you for all of your time & work.

    30
  31. Perfect piece of work you have done, this internet site is really cool with good info .

    31
  32. It’s actually a cool and useful piece of information. I am glad that you just shared this helpful information with us. Please stay us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.

    32
  33. This web site is really a walk-through for all of the info you wanted about this and didn’t know who to ask. Glimpse here, and you’ll definitely discover it.

    33
  34. I have to voice my affection for your generosity supporting persons that should have assistance with in this concept. Your personal dedication to getting the solution all-around appears to be quite effective and has in every case encouraged folks much like me to arrive at their dreams. The important hints and tips entails much to me and much more to my mates. Thanks a lot; from each one of us.

    34
  35. You could certainly see your expertise in the work you write. The world hopes for even more passionate writers like you who aren’t afraid to say how they believe. Always go after your heart.

    36
  36. you’ve got an awesome blog right here! would you wish to make some invite posts on my weblog?

    38
  37. We’re a group of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community. Your site provided us with valuable information to work on. You’ve done a formidable job and our entire community will be thankful to you.

    39
  38. You could certainly see your expertise in the work you write. The world hopes for more passionate writers like you who aren’t afraid to say how they believe. Always follow your heart.

    40
  39. I just wanted to send a quick comment to be able to express gratitude to you for those fabulous facts you are giving at this site. My time-consuming internet look up has now been honored with brilliant content to share with my family. I would express that most of us website visitors actually are quite lucky to be in a superb website with so many marvellous professionals with great advice. I feel very fortunate to have used the site and look forward to many more exciting times reading here. Thanks a lot again for a lot of things.

    41
  40. This site is my intake, real excellent layout and perfect subject material.

    42
  41. I like what you guys are up also. Such intelligent work and reporting! Keep up the superb works guys I have incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it will improve the value of my web site 🙂

    43
  42. Hello my loved one! I wish to say that this post is amazing, great written and include almost all significant infos. I would like to peer more posts like this .

    44
  43. You can certainly see your skills within the work you write. The world hopes for more passionate writers such as you who aren’t afraid to mention how they believe. Always follow your heart.

    45
  44. I think you have observed some very interesting points, appreciate it for the post.

    46
  45. Heya i’m for the first time here. I found this board and I to find It really useful & it helped me out a lot. I am hoping to offer one thing again and help others such as you aided me.

    47
  46. I’ve been absent for some time, but now I remember why I used to love this site. Thanks, I will try and check back more often. How frequently you update your website?

    49
  47. Would love to always get updated outstanding weblog! .

    50


Leave a Reply