Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to find myself dining at a Chinese vegetarian all you can eat buffet, but that was the case today at Sweet Veggie in El Monte, which replaces Regal Buffet after less than two years. This is the offshoot of the Sweet Veggie restaurant in Diamond Bar, and I believe branches formerly City of Industry, and the AYCE hotpot in Walnut. They’ve only been open for two weeks and so far it’s been a rollicking success as indicated by the fact that most of the shopping center parking lot is off limits to Sweet Veggie customers. This is a self-serve operation with no tipping because there is no staff to show you to your table or take your plates away. Rather, when you pay for your meal upon entrance you are assigned a table and instructed to bus your plates and utensils to a collection in back. Interesting combination of mock meats, such as shrimp rolls, popcorn chicken, chicken wings, sushi filling, and taco filling; straight vegetable dishes; vegetarian varieties of regular dishes like vegetable XLB; and other non-meat dishes such as noodles and tofu. Some of the stuff isn’t very good while other dishes are quite tasty, but hey, this is a buffet.
i must admit i’m curious to see how creative they are trying simulate fatty pork broth in an XLB. ditto on vegetarian sushi. i expect the popcorn chicken/chicken mcnugget emulation to be credible.
there was an AYCE vegetarian place on valley about a block west of new (it’s a long block) about 25 years ago that did great mock fried oysters.
at the risk of hijacking the thread, i’ll mention i finally tried the AYCE vegetarian buffet at hsi lai temple in hacienda heights last month. the tempura style squash was my favorite,
More recently Happy Family had an AYCE vegetarian deal, though not a buffet, where you could keep ordering off the menu after you finished your previous dish.
i’ve tried that. IIRC happy family’s AYCE doesn’t include all the menu items. and also limits the mock fried squab in lettuce to one order per person AYCE.
but if eating meat is somehow immoral, why would one want to simulate the experience?
Other vegetarians may have different answers to that, but my answer is somewhat complicated so bear with me. I have moral/ethical reasons for not eating meat. However, speaking specifically about vegetarian Vietnamese or Chinese food- I spent the first 17ish years of my life eating my family’s amazing homemade Vietnamese food, and eating Vietnamese/Chinese food at every family gathering, wedding, and holiday, etc. I think a lot of us know how important cooking for your family and eating that food is in Asian immigrant families.
When I decided to be a vegetarian in high school, part of me was a little sad about feeling unable to participate in this aspect of my culture and family, but of course that is the choice I made. My parents were mildly annoyed about it, but Vietnamese Buddhism has a tradition of vegetarian eating so the idea wasn’t completely new to them. I don’t ever crave the actual taste/texture/smell of meat, but what I do miss is the feeling of being a part of something that feels bigger than myself-- my extended family and Vietnamese culture. Being 2nd generation Vietnamese-American with shaky fluency in the Vietnamese language ties into that sense of loss as well. So I will happily go to veggie Vietnamese or Chinese restaurants and order vegetarian versions of the dishes I grew up eating, to feel a little closer to my heritage. Also, my family has come around and my mom and aunts will make veggie versions of food for me at family parties, so I don’t get left out.
i will try to answer your question even though i am not a vegetarian. despite this, most of the meals i eat are vegetarian or vegan. many people, vegetarians or not, share their meals with people who don’t share their eating habits. (i.e. my daughter will happily eat meat, AND she will, just as happily eat phoney meat). a restaurant that serves vegetarian food that includes phoney meat makes it easy for both of us to share a meal with each other.
perhaps the context is not clear; i was commenting on how a AYCE lunch served at a BUDDHIST temple offered something simulating the appearance and texture of bacon; i understand that various establishments may have their own agenda in terms of target clientele who will in turn have their own individual agendas. i mean, there are days when my meals at home are completely vegetarian. but in this case, my companion and i were probably the only two who didn’t stop and bow/genuflect to the buddha image in the room every time they passed it on their way to the buffet line.
My (veeeeeeeery limited) understanding of Buddhist banquet cuisine is that it evolved to suit the needs of those visiting the temple. For the most part, monks not only eat vegetarian (basically vegan) but also quite modestly. Basic grains and vegetables are the primary diet (though there are of course exceptions).
This issue is when dignitaries or patrons would visit, they would have different expectations for the fineness of the food they were served. What they expected was banquet food, not the basic sustenance that a monk would eat. So a tradition of extravagant and varied dishes evolved, with many of those dishes simulating meat.
What I think, though, you’re getting at is that you see a disconnect between practicing Buddhists avoidance of meat and their simultaneous enjoyment of foods simulating meat. There are some logical somersaults in that line of thinking. But more to the point, I don’t think there is a history of that kind of thinking. Buddhist banquet cuisine is vegetarian, so whether or not meat is simulated is beside the point. No lives were harmed.
My Mom is a huge fan of the weekend Buddhist temple vegetarian food options. It’s a way to get parishioners to stay and mingle. All the large ones in the Westminster/Garden Grove area serve food on the weekends starting in the morning…the best selection is available in the morning. Popular dishes are the “beef” jerky and bun rieu. There’s also a rendition of bi…Vietnamese shredded pork and chicharron that my sister enjoys. The next generation of Buddhist parishioners are volunteers and even monks and nuns now, so it’s pretty easy to have someone who can explain the items in English.
