The month of October ushers in one of the most important sacred events in our lifestyle calendar — the Vegetarian Festival. With the majority of Thai population being of Chinese decent, the meat-and-dairy-free event sees all the food courts and dining spots sporting the yellow and red flags.
Keeping up with the Jay Vegetarian Festival is never easy. With a set of dietary restrictions including no consumption of meat, seafood, animal byproducts, alcohol, garlic and pungent herbs or vegetables, the Jay Vegetarian practitioners are left with just merely vegetables, beans, tofu, synthetic proteins plus a lot of carbs and fat to ensure you’re feeling full even with an absence of meat protein. We know that doesn’t sound like something people would want to go through for 10 days. And we know it’s all about abstinence. It’s about redemption and cleansing. But we are pretty sure what you’re abstaining from is basically taking life for consumption, and NOT eating good, delicious food. Well, we’re saying that you can keep up with your sacred practice and yet, enjoying tasty dishes at the same time. At least, that’s what Gaysorn Village wants you to know!
Gaysorn Village, Bangkok’s Urban Lifestyle Village, is teaming up with some of its popular dining spots to welcome this time-honoured eating tradition with a range of Vegetarian menus that sacrifice neither health benefits nor great taste. Prestige tastes some of the most delicious dishes that will satisfy both your palate and your soul!
Refreshing Morning Coffee at SNAP
Our favourite boutique coffee shop makes sure your dose of daily caffeine-with-milk intake remains sumptuous in this vegan version. Their Tofu Coffee comes with ground taro, espresso, tofu and tofu skin. Red Bean Coffee is a low-calorie nitro brew delight with soy milk topped with red bean. For non-coffee alternatives, try Cocoa, a mix-and-match of cocoa power and soy milk with red bean, tofu and tofu skin for a limited time only.
Fulfilling Single Dishes & Classic Favourites at KUB KAO’ KUB PLA
The creative minds behind Iberry comes up with a combination of their staples in a Vegetarian version and a few new Vegetarian additions for a limited time. If you’re going for a full-blown healthy eating, try Lon Tofu — a spin on traditional fresh vegetables with crab dip which now comes in silky tofu in coconut cream. Another recommended menu is Vegetarian Fried Mushrooms with Tamarind Sauce, a delicious mix of different mushrooms along with chilli, tamarind and kaffir lime. It’s a twist of salty, sour, sweet and spicy flavours all in one plate. Its strong flavour is meant to be eaten with rice.
Healthy Japanese Delight at SUSHI MORI
We always adore Sushi Mori. A chic Japanese dining joint designed for people who want to bond over food and good drinks, its regular offerings include premium sushi, a la carte menu and Omakase options, cooked with love and creative spin. What’s more? The people at Sushi Mori are adamant they create dishes for the Vegetarian season using the fresh ingredients they already have in stock for their regular menu. And they’re totally against synthetic Vegetarian ingredients.
Such grand scheme and determination is executed with great success. Using mainly vegetables, home-made tofu, seaweeds, avocado and sesame, dishes such as Hiyashi Tofu with white sesame sauce and avocado, Yasai Chirashi with tofu, mushrooms and wakame seaweed with Sushi Mori sauce are sumptuous treats that will be a regular hit even outside of Vegetarian season. Their signature, Yasai Tama Roll, wraps shitake mushrooms and tofu tempura together with avocado and sesame, then served with pickled vegetables and Mori special sauce.
More on Bangkok’s dining hot spots here.
In the Mood for Vegetarian, but not Jay, at 1823 TEA LOUNGE BY RONNEFELDT
There’re times when you just want to get into the Vegetarian Festival mood and yet, you’re not quite into the idea of going dairy free. Visit 1823 Tea Lounge by Ronnefeldt to get a taste of no meat diet with a special lunch set for your detox day. Kick-start your feast with tomato basil soup and enjoy “Tofu Filet with Fricassée of Mushrooms” — a fried tofu filet topped with seared mushrooms and a savoury Oolong tea sauce. Another choice for main dish is “Vegetarian Meli Melo” made from sweet Japanese pumpkin served with carrot puree and pine nuts. For dessert, enjoy a “Jasmine Tea infused Tofu cream with Raspberry coulis.”
A Full-blown Traditional Treat at PROVENCE
Known for its rich taste and a large selection of rare, regional dishes, Provence celebrate the Vegetarian Festival with a Vegetarian Kanom Jeen Nam Ya (fresh rice noodles with vegetarian curry) and Vegetarian Kao Soi (crispy noodles and vegetarian coconut curry). For more robust flavours, the Vegetarian Nam Prik Kaeng Ped (vegetarian red curry chili paste) is served with fresh vegetables to round out a spectacular vegetarian meal.
“Gaysorn Village Vegetarian Festival 2018” starts from 5-20 October.
For more information, please visit www.facebook.com/gaysornvillage and www.gaysornvillage.com.
