The annual Vegetarian Festival, which this year runs fro Oct 6-13, seems to have arrived in a timely fashion as many Bangkok gourmands during the past five weeks since the resumption of dine-in service have overindulged themselves with meat-packed buffets to make up for their previous gastronomic restrictions.
Now it's an opportunity to take a pause. And while we are letting our digestion work easier, we can also make the world a better place by saving lives.
To make a meat-free diet easier for those who don't want to roam the vegetarian food streets in Chinatown, the Parq Life, a new lifestyle retail space in the middle of Bangkok on Rama IV Road, is offering an exclusive collection of plant-based dishes of various cuisine styles.
The Parq Life is a 20-billion-baht project comprising innovative office spaces, retail shops, restaurants and on-site wellness facilities, all under the concept of "life well balanced".
There are more than 30 eateries in the building, ranging from time-honoured homegrown restaurants and health-centric contemporary cafes to world-famous bakery brands and popular fast food chains.
The vegetarian offerings -- the subjects of this review -- are offered at Cheat Day by Modish healthy cafe; Shari Shari sushi burrito brand; Sukiya Japanese rice bowl restaurant; and Sanyod Wok, a Thai-Chinese eatery.
Of them, the dishes are prepared according to a religious "jay" culinary practice. No animal meat and animal byproducts nor certain varieties of strong-odoured vegetables such as garlic, leeks, onions and shallots are used in the cooking.
From Cheat Day (call 085-518-1451), I had grilled mushroom and tofu salad (155 baht) and khao khlook mai kapi (145 baht), a vegan rendition of local favourite khao khlook kapi (fried rice with shrimp paste).
Cheat Day positions itself as a trendy restaurant that offers a very healthy, highly nutritious menu designed by a team of nutritionists.
I was impressed by the grilled mushroom salad's wholesome presentation and palatable quality. It featured grilled expansive slices of king trumpet mushrooms together with shimeji mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms and tempeh (fermented soybean cake) on a bed of fresh green salad leaves. Adding more energising colours, tastes and textures to the combination were diced pumpkin, sweet purple potatoes, cherry tomatoes, sunflower sprouts and apple cider vinaigrette dressing.
The khao khlook mai kapi fried rice was also delightful. This meat-free dish that substitutes high-sodium shrimp paste with sweet chickpea puree is actually the restaurant's all-time best seller. However, to cater to diners practising the jay diet, shallots and saw-tooth coriander are omitted. There you will have the rice, lightly flavoured with savoury sweet chickpea sauce, accompanied by fine strips of radish, carrot and green beans together with fresh chilies, tempeh sauteed shiitake mushrooms. With a touch of fresh-squeezed lime juice, which was also provided, the dish proved refreshing and flavoursome.
From Shari Shari (call 064-997-9425), which specialises in healthy grab-and-go cuisine, was a sushi burrito with vegan filling (180 baht).
This hybrid of the chubby Cal-Mex wrap and Japanese sushi ingredients featured an extra large rice roll stuffed with crispy tofu skin, pickled shiitake mushroom, braised soy meat, edamame beans, fresh vegetables and roasted sesame-peanut dressing.
The scrumptious burrito is served the sushi way in bite-sized cuts, rather than a hefty roll sandwich, and with shoyu soy sauce and wasabi.
There are three meat-free options on offer from Sukiya, a gyudon (Japanese beef bowl) speciality restaurant with more than 2,000 outlets across Asia.
Featured options during the vegetarian festival include soy meat and mushroom rice bowl; soy meat & mushroom noodles in seaweed soup; and sweet and sour soy meat karage bowl.
The latter (99 baht), which I had, featured a bowl of Japanese rice topped with deep-fried dry-battered mock chicken meat, carrots, baby corns, morning glory and a sweet orange-ginger dressing.
Should you be in a mood for local-styled comfort food, I recommend sen yai rad nah or fried flat noodles with Hong Kong kale in brown gravy (150 baht) and sen mee phad kra-ched or stir-fried rice vermicelli with water mimosa and fresh chillies (140 baht) from Sanyod Wok restaurant (call 098-818-1399).
The first is prepared to the 59-year-old Sanyod restaurant's Cantonese recipe. With tofu and shiitake mushrooms being substituted for choices of meat, the dish exhibited the soft rice noodles professionally wok-tossed over high flame to develop a slight wok-charred fragrance complemented by the mild-tasting gravy.
The stir-fried vermicelli with water mimosa, aka phak kra-ched, is guaranteed to delight if you like the pungent scent of the vegetable as well as some fire from the chillies.
Helping to wash the food down were a very aromatic peach tea with konjac pearls (95 baht) and brown sugar bubbles with organic soy milk (95 baht) from 722 Organic Milk Tea shop (call 095-846-2505).
All the dishes I had came in the form of takeout. Delivery service is operated by third-party service providers and can be arranged with the restaurant directly.
From now until Oct 14, a minimum spend of 500 baht is eligible for a 100 baht cash coupon that can be used for your next purchase at The Parq Life until the end of the month.
The Parq Life is located at the intersection of Rama IV and Ratchadaphisek roads. For more information, visit theparq.com/highlights or Facebook page: theparqbkk.
