Vu Lan season, go to Michelin-praised restaurant as vegetarian paradise

Experience menu: Taro mushroom salad with passion fruit sauce, five-spice grilled skewers, Sichuan tofu, Southern sour soup - Photo: TO CUONG

On the occasion of Vu Lan festival, join Tuoi Tre Online to visit a vegetarian restaurant awarded the Bib Gourmand title by the Michelin Guide, which has traditional dishes such as salad and grilled meat with unique and eye-catching variations.

The menu of Chay Garden restaurant is diverse, from European to Asian, from traditional Vietnamese dishes to uniquely transformed dishes.

Vegetarian flavors are both traditional and new

The appetizer chosen was taro mushroom salad with passion fruit sauce , one of the restaurant's cover faces.

The vegetarian shrimp cracker layer wraps the salad like a giant clam shell, inside are colorful ingredients such as crispy fried taro, cucumber, carrot, enoki mushroom, needle mushroom and straw mushroom.

The strongest point of the salad is that you can still feel each layer of ingredients clearly when eating, the taro is crispy and has a sweet aftertaste, the mushrooms are soft, fatty, and sweet, neutralized by the sour taste of the passion fruit sauce.

Taro mushroom salad with passion fruit sauce was chosen by Michelin culinary expert as the restaurant's signature dish, priced at 145,000 VND - Photo: TO CUONG

Passion fruit sauce is also the star of this dish, with a mild sour taste that does not overpower the flavor of other ingredients such as vinegar, and makes the salad unforgettable.

The next dish is grilled vegetarian garden skewers with five spices . As the name suggests, the dish looks like a skewer of grilled meat, with layers of fat clearly visible, looking delicious. It is served with mashed potatoes mixed with carrots.

The five-spice grilled skewer costs 95,000 VND. Although the flavor is not really special, it is well-prepared and has the full structure of a real piece of meat - Photo: TO CUONG

Those who regularly eat vegetarian food will probably recognize that this dish is very similar to fried vegetarian ribs on skewers. Taking a bite, you will see that the texture is similar to real pork, you can feel each layer of "skin" and the fatty, greasy "fat".

The meat is seasoned with five-spice powder and is a bit salty for the taste. At that time, we can scoop up a spoonful of mashed potatoes to let the fatty taste of the potatoes soften the salty taste of the spices.

Sour soup is still the best

For the main course, Tuoi Tre Online chose a special dish of Asian cuisine, Sichuan tofu rice . The sauce has an eye-catching red color, a liquid texture, not as thick as if cornstarch was added.

Scooping a spoonful of rice with tofu and sauce, the aroma of satay immediately hits the nose, when put in the mouth, the tofu immediately melts on the tip of the tongue, awakening all the senses.

Sichuan tofu costs 125,000 VND, with a stimulating spicy taste, making you eat a lot of rice - Photo: TO CUONG

Finally, the characteristic spicy taste spreads throughout the palate. Although it is spicy and hot, once you start eating, you will not be able to stop because of the body's instinctive stimulation.

The meal ends with a signature dish of Southern cuisine, sour soup, which is elegantly presented but also reminds us of the rustic origins of this traditional dish.

Chay Garden also keeps the ingredients that make the sour soup famous such as mint, tomato, okra, tamarind... without any other variations.

Taking a spoonful of the soup, a wonderful sour taste immediately enveloped the taste buds, paving the way for a series of other flavors to follow. Even without meat or fish, the broth still had an indescribable sweetness, and finally a light spiciness, just enough to make the tip of the tongue feel subtly stimulated.

The soup here has a very special sour taste, which makes the other flavors of the soup bowl also be elevated to a new level - Photo: TO CUONG

All the essence of the sour soup is still stored in each piece of tofu, mint or mushroom. With a light bite, these flavors will burst out again and again, like repeated explosions in the mouth of the person enjoying it.

The first impression when entering Chay Garden restaurant (Thao Dien, District 2, Thu Duc City) is the space that Michelin likened to a "vegetarian paradise", with an airy garden, designed around trees and wood, and the house has a pleasant scent of cinnamon and anise.

Many people may be a bit hesitant when hearing the Michelin title, thinking that they cannot afford an expensive luxury meal, however, the price for a family meal at Chay Garden only ranges from 500,000 - 700,000 VND.

To get the Bib Gourmand title, a restaurant must not only have delicious food and beautiful decoration, but also have prices that are "affordable" to the majority of customers.

Interior space of Chay Garden (Thao Dien branch) - Photo: TO CUONG

Diners can also choose hot pot or buffet programs at the restaurant, these are two much more economical options for customers who want to have a budget-friendly experience with their family during Vu Lan season.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/mua-vu-lan-den-quan-an-michelin-khen-la-thien-duong-an-chay-20240818103019028.htm