Sun Tong Luck Asian Cuisine

Sun Tong Luck is a gem of a restaurant settled into a strip mall on Bethel Road. The modest decor belies the high quality vegetarian and vegan fare served there.

Owner and chef Frank Louie has been a fixture in Chinese food in Central Ohio since 1982. His wife is a gracious host who effortlessly recalls the ordering specifications of regular customers.

Service is quick. While Sun Tong Luck is geared toward take-out, there is seating for about 20 inside. Prices are reasonable.

Sun Tong Luck focuses on healthy ingredients. They use separate vegetarian equipment in the kitchen. The staff capably addresses all requests for vegan food.

The spring rolls are fried. The vegan dumplings taste great with hot mustard or soy sauce.

Tofu dishes can be prepared with the bean curd boiled or fried. There are 13 vegetarian or vegan entrees on the menu.

The General Tso's tofu was delightfully spiced. The house made sauce is slightly less sweet than the goopy mess that dresses this dish at lesser establishments. The version at Sun Tong Luck is excellent.

The black bean tofu is prepared in a traditional sauce with broccoli, carrots and water chestnuts adding texture. It was well prepared.

Overall, Sun Tong Luck offers great choices for vegetarians. It isn't the flashiest, but it packs a lot of punch for the price.

Sogo Asian Bistro

Sogo Asian Bistro is a modern sushi joint in Grove City on Stringtown Road. The menu is mostly a list of the usual suspects for vegetarians that is expected from a place focused on sushi.

Sogo has seating for nearly 100. There is a sushi bar that seats about 10 as well as seating at the booze bar.

The menu offers Chinese and Japanese fare which includes a vegetarian starter, three vegetarian entrees and a couple of vegetarian sushi rolls.

The edamame was a nice portion. The soybeans were unevenly salted, and the dish suffered greatly from this flaw.

The home style tofu is a traditional preparation with broccoli, carrots, white onions, baby corn, green peppers and water chestnuts in a brown sauce. This dish might have benefited from more spice, but was otherwise well constructed.

Sushi options for vegetarians include an avocado roll, a cucumber roll, a mixed veggie roll with avocado, burdock root, cucumber, pickled oshinko, kanpyo squash and sesame seeds in a soy wrapper, and yubuchobap, which are seasoned tofu skins stuffed with rice.

The sushi was prepared to a much higher standard than the hot dishes. The veggie rolls had a great crunch, and the flavor was bright with underlying earthy contrasts. The bright color of the rolls was appealing. The tofu pockets were also excellent.

Service at Sogo was even. Overall, it is a restaurant geared towards seafood eaters that makes vegetarian fare that is hardly worth going out of the way to eat.

Red Hot Food Truck

Red Hot Food Truck was featured last Monday at St. James' Mobile Mondays. The retro trailer makes tacos, quesadillas and various other Mexican sides.

There are vegetarian tacos and a few quesadillas on the menu. Some ingredients and menu items change seasonally.

The vegetarian tacos were made in soft corn tortillas with black beans, lettuce and salsa. It came with lime and a side of crema.

The quesadillas were excellent. Both were served with crema and salsa. The bean and cheese quesadilla was remarkably filling with a smoky flavor. The goat cheese, pumpkin and asparagus quesadilla was spicy and delightfully tangy.

Like other mobile food vendors, Red Hot can be tracked on Twitter, Facebook and Hungerly.

Sidebar 122

Sidebar 122 is a tapas bar in Downtown Columbus. It offers Mediterranean and South American small plates alongside an impressive array of artful mixed drinks.

The restaurant makes great use of the old Brownstone on Main space. There is ample bar seating in addition to the tables in the dining room.

The menu at Sidebar has limited vegetarian options. The kitchen will, however, omit meat from selected dishes to expand vegetarian choices.

The hummus with pita triangles that is served as a bread course is good enough to eat by the truckload. The pitas are warm and scoop up the perfectly seasoned dip so well that it seems to almost disappear.

The goat cheese salad saw the cheese baked on bread rounds rather than crumbled on the salad in the traditional way. Raspberries add a sweet, bright flavor and walnuts bring a nice crunch to the greens.

The vegetarian fettucini is served in a mushroom sauce with roasted portabella, peppers, spinach and artichokes with parmesan cheese. Ultimately, it's a dressed-up steakhouse pasta primavera.

The vegetarian menu at Sidebar 122 is a little bit formulaic considering the possibilities available when fusing cuisines with flavorful vegetarian fare. It is nowhere near as exciting as the cocktail menu.

Drinks at Sidebar 122 are fantastic. There are classics like the French 75, a Manhattan and an Old Fashioned as well as house original drinks made with great ingredients. The staff easily navigated the large list of drinks to find what drinks suit which tastes.

Till Dynamic Fare

Till Dynamic Fare is the latest project from Magdiale Wolmark and Cristin Austin. Dragonfly, their last endeavor in this space, was one of the country's most heralded vegan fine dining establishments.

The menu at Till is about fifty percent vegetarian and vegan, unlike its predecessor. The focus is on fresh local ingredients.

The menu changes regularly. Specials are written on a chalkboard behind the long bar.

Starters include vegan poutine, cheese puffs, salads and sometimes the soup of the day.

The vegan poutine is shoestring French fries soaking up mushroom gravy with "cheese" curds of the house made tofu. The flavor is deep and addictive. The tofu was the weak link when eaten alone, but it picked up the proper balance when combined with the fries and gravy.

The cheese puffs were made with gruyere and cheddar. They were light, airy and had a long, subtle flavor.

The vegan black bean soup was drizzled with a mildly seasoned "crema." Layers of smoke explode in each bite supported garlic and chili peppers.

The Ohio goat cheese mac and cheese was tart, rich and delicious. The apples provided a nice sweet contrast to the dish.

Entrees included tofu and festival rice, the vegan meatball smash and tempeh fricasse. The vegan sandwich made appearances at On the Fly, as well as at Dragonfly's ComFest booth during the summer.

The tempeh had a great texture. It was served with creamy mashed potatoes, green beans and carrots. While the dish was well prepared, the sauce was too similar to the poutine gravy, making the dish's flavor seem repetitive when following the poutine.

Dessert options included vegan parfait and vegan gelato sandwiches.

Cocktails were excellent. Ingredients like caramelized lemon peel and chamomile tincture add interesting flavors to gin and whiskey. The bar also serves cask wine and six draft beers. Selections included Elevator Three Frogs IPA, Stoudt's pilsner, Great Divide porter, Schneider Aventinus dopplebock, and Belgian amber and sour ales.

The weekend brunch menus, which for now are available on Saturday and Sunday, also have vegan and vegetarian options. Coffee is from Clintonville roaster Thunderkiss Coffee.

The interior is white with dark wood accents and equally dark lighting. Music volume was loud enough to make conversations challenging.

Overall, Till looks like it should continue to provide high quality vegan dining in the fashion that Dragonfly did. The only standout negative was that the server seemed to be slightly unfamiliar with everything on the menu, and sometimes seemed out of place during service. The visit was during a soft opening period, and hopefully this can be chalked up to trial-run jitters.

Pitabilities

Pitabilities is a food truck that specializes (obviously) in pita sandwiches. While there is only one vegetarian pita on the menu, there are different side dishes that allow for varied accompaniments.

Like most food trucks, Pitabilities can be tracked down via Twitter and Facebook. Interestingly enough, regular followers of Pitabilities' social media can score special discounts by picking up on the secret word, which changes daily.

The veggie pita is served on a warm, thick pita. It is dressed with garlic hummus. There is an amazing range of vegetables available that allows for a fantastic degree of customization for each sandwich. Options included bell peppers, hot peppers, mushrooms, sprouts, cucumbers, black olives and tomatoes.

The shoestring fries are thin yellow fried potatoes like those found in typical take-out establishments. They were fairly uninspiring.

Other vegetarian options on the menu include a side salad, a Greek salad and garlic hummus with pita chips.

Section 8 Yakitorium

Section 8 Yakitorium is another concept from Kenny Kim and Misaka Ohba, the folks who brought you Fresh Street. It is the kitchen of a Brewery District bar called Double Happiness, and although the focus of the restaurant is grilled meat skewers, Section 8 Yakitorium has great options for vegans and vegetarians alike.

Skewers are grilled over a special Japanese charcoal. Vegetarian skewers include green onions, okra, tomatoes and enoki mushrooms.

The green onions had a fresh, sweet flavor. The okra picks up layers of nuanced smoke, and the grill eliminates any slimy characteristics that sometimes plague the vegetable.

The mushrooms have a subtle flavor. They ended up crispy on the corners and soft and moist in the middle.

The cabbage pancakes, called okonokiyaki, can be prepared for vegetarians, but it must be requested this way as they traditionally contain fish sauce. This was easily the best thing I tasted. The texture was perfectly crunchy, and the sweet soy marinade shines on this delicious dish.

The pickled vegetable rice dish was a nice winter warmer. This was a special item, and seasonal menu choices could change regularly.

There is an understated decor at Double Happiness. The bar serves a limited selection of drafts and about 20 bottled beers, sake and sake cocktails, and liquor, including cool labels like the Suntory Yamazaki 12 year Japanese whisky.

The staff did a great job with vegan and vegetarian concerns. Section 8 Yakitorium is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 6:30 p.m. to 1:30 or 2 a.m.

Fresh 50

Fresh 50 is a new fast-casual Asian spot Downtown in the the recently vacated Spinelli's Deli location. It offers build-your-own rice and noodle dishes as well as salads and wraps with a variety of sauces and dressings.

The interior of Fresh 50 is mostly unchanged from the layout at Spinelli's. Orders take less than 10 minutes to prepare.

Vegetarian dishes are essentially veggie stir fries with the exception of the salad and sandwich. It might be nice to offer a vegetarian protein like tofu, which would pair nicely with Asian sauces.

The choice of vegetables includes traditional salad and sandwich standards, as well as cooked zucchini and squash or broccoli and mushrooms. Sauces include a sweet soy, teriyaki and salad dressings like ranch and Asian balsamic vinaigrette.

Portions are fairly priced. Everything is less than $7. Sauces can be applied individually or combined to make interesting hybrids.

The concept of fast-casual Asian for lunch is strong. Additional tweaks to service combined with a vegetarian protein source would give Fresh 50 some staying power.

Hot Pita!

Hot Pita! Mediterranean Street Food is a food truck that whips up fresh Middle Eastern fare. The menu proudly announces that they use no frozen ingredients, and fans of falafel and hummus will find something to like from this vendor.

Like other mobile food operations, Hot Pita is easy to track on Facebook, Twitter and mobile apps like Hungerly. I caught Hot Pita at the Holiday Fair at Columbus Commons this past weekend.

The rolled falafel sandwich puts small falafel disks into a warm pita with chopped romaine, tomato, house made pickles and tahini. I develop a favorite Columbus falafel crush on a regular basis, and this is a great candidate to claim this prestigious mantle created in my mind.

The hummus from Hot Pita comes in three flavors: traditional, roasted red pepper and jalepeño. It is served with a choice of pita triangles or pita chips. The jalepeño hummus had just enough punch to make the spiciness linger. Portions are big enough to share.

The lentil soup with lemon is also vegetarian.

The photos of Hot Pita catering looked delicious. This is definitely an operation worth keeping on the vegetarian radar.

Chocolaterie Stam

Chocolaterie Stam is the new sweet stop in Uptown Westerville. It is one of three domestic locations for the Dutch chocolatier.

In addition to truffles and assorted candies, Stam also makes gelato. Flavors included chocolate, chocolate hazelnut, blackberry, raspberry, eggnog and peppermint. Flavors rotate with the season. Candies, syrups and fruit are hand stirred into the dense dessert.

The chocolate hazelnut gelato, called Donatella, was delightful. It was tan rather than the customary brown color of most chocolate ice cream. Ribbons of hazelnut add a rich layers of flavor to an Italian classic.

The milk chocolate at Stam is sweet and creamy. The dark chocolate has subtle roasted bitterness that marries nicely with nuts.

Stam also makes sugar free chocolate bars and candies, including toffee.

Although there is already a Graeter's in Uptown Westerville and Schneider's, the 24-hour donut shop, Chocolaterie Stam's candies gives greater variety for Westerville residents with a sweet tooth.