The Best Vegetarian Dishes in Salt Lake City from Three Top Asian Restaurants

Salt Lake City is quite vegetarian friendly, and not just very recently as in some other cities. I have lived here for 18 years, and in all that time, there have been various strictly vegetarian restaurants and many vegetarian-oriented and organically-inclined ones; some dating back for decades.

So, it's no trick for vegetarians or vegans to find a great restaurant here; there's the fabulous Sage's Café (for breakfast, don't miss 'the mountain') Oasis, One World Café, Long Life Vegi House, and many others.

But, for those looking specifically for vegetarian Asian food, and wanting specific recommendations therein, there are several dishes and choices that are guaranteed pleasers.

Vegetarian Massaman Curry
Thai Curry Puff
Sawadee Thai Restaurant
754 East South Temple
www.sawadee1.com

This dish is simply unbelievable. A couple years ago, my sister and son took me here for Mother's Day, and I made a fool out of myself upon taking the first bite of this dish. Sawadee's Vegetarian Massaman Curry is a peanut-coconut milk sauce with deep-fried tofu, potato chunks, carrots served over white rice. While massaman curry is usually a good bet at any thai restaurant, Sawasdee's is otherworldly. The sauce seems absolutely injected with flavor, and there is a perfect balance of sweet, spice, salt and sour that I have never found in any other dish anywhere. The potatoes, carrots and tofu are cooked to perfect texture and density; absolutely everything about this dish is perfect.

Also, for an appetizer, don't miss the Thai Curry Puffs off the vegetarian menu. Puff pastries with potato, onion and curry are deep fried and served with a sublime sweet-sour cucumber sauce. Everything I have ever tried at Sawadee has been outstanding, and everything has a very unique flavor; this restaurant is highly recommended for vegetarians and everyone who enjoys Thai food.

Tofu Lemongrass
General Tao's Vegetarian Chicken
Shanghai Café
145 East 1300 South

This place is notorious in Salt Lake City for it's high quality, insanely inexpensive vegetarian Vietnamese-Chinese cuisine, its gigantic 212-item menu--and it's pretty 'ambivalent' servers. Yes, the waitress will slop water all over the table when hastily refilling your glasses-but just ignore it, the food is worth it. The Tofu Lemongrass dish is probably the most unique Asian dish I have ever had anywhere. The deep-fried tofu chunks are graced with a lemongrass sauce that is so delicate yet pungent it defies description. It's what you would imagine food in heaven would taste like-and I always feel like I would actually lick my plate clean of the sauce if no one else was in the restaurant.

The General Tao's Chicken is amazing also. Shanghai's imitation chicken is deep fried--and because of it is essentially wheat gluten-it morphs into this fried dumpling/chicken concoction that you have to taste to believe. It's so satisfying and good-and within the garlicky, gingery sweet and sour schezwan-style sauce, it is the most perfect vegetarian version of this dish I have ever had.

Treasure of Eight
Steamed Potstickers
Long Life Vegi House
1353 East 3300 South

Long Life Vegi House has been around forever; what would we do without it? This restaurant's name may sound familiar to anyone who has spent time in Berkely, California; these are 'sister restaurants.' The ambiance couldn't be more stereotypically wonderful; a small, cozy dark space with Chinese screens, gold dragons, cheap garish lanterns and Chinese horoscope paper placemats. More importantly, however, the cuisine really delivers. Although there is a seafood menu, all other dishes are vegetarian-made with Long Life's glorious meat substitutes that are the best anywhere. The chicken and pork dishes are especially good, and the Cashew Chicken is a notable and popular chicken dish.

However, Vegi House's Treasure of Eight is truly in its own category. The small-cubed brown tofu is perfectly chewy yet soft, the vegetables including squash, and two kinds of mushrooms, are complimented by peanuts in a smoky plum sauce that is fantastic. For an appetizers, the steamed (or fried) dumplings are a great choice-even if it's just to get the dipping sauce that comes with them. It's a soy sauce, vinegar and garlic sweet and sour concoction that is unmatched.