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Published on October 10, 2007

The Chinese vegetarian festival starts tomorrow, and restaurants around the country are busily preparing delicious jae food.

In Bangkok, the traditional place for crowds and celebrations is Yaowarat where hundreds of food stalls line the street. In its market and Chinese restaurants, those abstaining from the taste of flesh will find all the sustenance they need for the next 10 days.

And the battle to provide vegetarian food that appeals to all palates extends to Chinese restaurants all over town. But among the hordes of Chinese and Thai kitchens vying for your custom, there are some unusually atmospheric eateries serving stand-out meat-free food. Some of their special menus are only available during the festival but many run through to the end of October.

The restaurants of Siam City Hotel on Sri Ayutthaya Road are overflowing with vegetarian fare from different cultures. The Spice and Rice Thai Restaurant has a big range of choices, including spicy fruit salad, stir-fried glass noodles in tamarind sauce and lots more, from tomorrow through October 19.

The hotel's Japanese restaurant Kamon offers vegetarian varieties, with a tempting array of steamed, simmered and spicy cuisine until the end of this month. Sliced jelly yam served with sour miso dressing, steamed taro with soy sauce, and boiled spinach with sesame-seed sauce are just a sample.

Lin-Fa Chinese restaurant offers balanced dishes without compromising flavour and taste until October 20. The animal-free dishes include Szechuan soup braised with fake abalone, black mushrooms, noodles and vegetables.

The Landmark Hotel offers a hearty selection of tasty dishes at its Atrium buffet, Sui Sian Chinese or Greenhouse restaurants. Whether you like set meals, a la carte or all-you-can-eat style, you will get what you're looking for here. On the menu are vegetarian congee Hong Kong style, bead curd specialities, vegetable stew Hai-Lam style, vegetarian dim sum and much more.

Bug & Bee cafe supports the festival by serving healthy dishes under the banner "Natural Living", creating a fusion of vegan cuisine and Chinese traditions, and throwing in the Cowslip Creeper flower, or dok khajorn, an important ingredient in a lot of classical dishes. The new menu includes deep-fried dok khajorn with spicy kiwi salad and dok khajorn soba Italian style - a colourful noodle dish with olives, carrots, snow peas and fresh mint. It's available through October 30 at Bug & Bee's Silom and Siam Paragon branches.

Master chef Mo Kam Kwong of the Shang Palace Chinese restaurant at Shangri-La Hotel is celebrating the festival with an original menu featuring Cantonese-style recipes. More than 30 tastebud-teasing veggie dishes are available daily for lunch and dinner though till the end of the month. The chef's recommendations are braised mixed vegetables with sea-moss, deep-fried taro with sweet and sour sauce, "Lo-Han monk jumped over the wall", braised glass noodles with vegetable in clay pot, and pan-fried assorted nuts and green asparagus.

Loong Foong Chinese restaurant at Swissotel Le Concorde Bangkok features menus for the festival from tomorrow through October 19. Among the many delicacies offered for lunch and dinner here are the crispy vegetarian platter, water chestnut soup, Chinese and Enoki mushroom soup, wok-fried seasonal vegetables with ginko nut in soy sauce and glass noodles.

For those who've had their fill of Chinese cuisine, The Dusit Thani Hotels is offering vegetarian dishes in its Vietnamese and French restaurants. At Thien Duong, you can smack your lips to Vietnamese cuisine like turmeric-flavoured crispy crepes filled with young corn, carrot and bean sprouts, and steamed Vietnamese ravioli filled with minced vegetables, then wash it all down with a Vegetable Medley, a refreshing blend of carrot, green apple and cucumber. D'Sens French restaurant has a sophisticated take on the annual bean feast, with a four-course set meal for Bt1,500.

Juthamas Cholthavornpong

 The Nation