Vegetarian restaurant has always been the sort of ignored places as I find it largely ironic that these restaurants serve dishes made of vegetable to resemble or taste like poultry. I am puzzled whether people who do not want to eat meat due to religious belief or to end animal cruelty wants to actually get a taste of it? For now I will just leave it at that but being it from Secret Recipe I was curious to find out what is actually being served?
The restaurant has a relaxing feel to it mostly due to it's lighting placement with dark ceiling for a chill hangout plus the night we arrived there was only two tables occupied which was surprising considering most new restaurant is swarm with people. We were served immediately with a green menu, there is a selection of dishes that could be found from the original Secret Recipe however those dishes with meat or prawn are being substitute with vegetables. Things that I found interesting are the variety of appetizers like mushroom done in different style and sauces, yam basket, spring rolls and there is a slew of choices for fried rice and noodles cooked with some different kind of vegetables. Then there is also the dessert which I find pleasing apart from their cakes (most are not found at Secret Recipe) are the new addition of cendol or shaved ice and sago.
We made our orders and less than fifteen minutes the foods are out.
The Snow Mountain which cendol shaved ice looks good but unfortunately lacks the taste, it taste pretty watered out as they used too little condensed milk.
Mushroom is the new meat
Kueh teow with bitter gourd, as the name would suggest is quite bitter which came in a large bowl with black sauce that tasted a bit herbal but I couldn't make out what it was. A very large potion with lots of mushroom however overall I do not find the look or smell too appetizing.
Tom yum without the prawn
Tom yum soup noodle, Secret Recipe has the same dish however they sub the prawn with mushrooms (mushroom is the new meat here). It lacks flavor due the missing prawn and cuttlefish usually used to give an overall sweet flavor.
No lion mane was harm in making this dish
Lion mane mushroom, although no resemblance of a lion however it was the highlight of the night. It has the curry flavor yet sweet smell and taste which is mouth watering. To be honest it really taste like meat maybe that is the reason I enjoy it.
Healthiest meal we had...really?
Overall I do like the place and Beyond Veggie has set itself apart from the tiring western food restaurant in Bintulu. There is a lot of choices that I look forward in trying in the future. Stay tune for future updates.
Lion Mane Mushroom - RM19.90
Kuey Teow Bitter Gourd - RM15.90
Tom Yum Soup Noodle - RM15.90
Snow Mountain - RM7.50
Quickfix - RM8.90
