Jie's Good Tasting

Jie's Good Tasting is tucked into a shopping plaza on Grandview Avenue. The space briefly housed a few other restaurants. The unassuming restaurant turns out formidable house-made dumplings that are a can't-miss attraction.  

The small kitchen produces a large number of vegetarian dishes. While the entrees are mostly standard issue (the vegetarian ma po tofu and Sichuan tofu are standouts from a list that for the most part can be found at almost every other restaurant in the country), the appetizers more than make up for the shortcomings of some of the main courses.

The tender veggie dumplings contain a delicious filling, and they soak up any sauce introduced to them. The filling was Chinese cabbage, mushroom and tofu with delicate seasonings influenced by cilantro. An order of 16 can feed a small army. 

Pulled from the inauthentic West Coast United States Polynesian vault, the tofu rangoon is still a sinfully addictive bite. The sweet and sour sauce had visible pieces of orange peel in it, and the creamy center fleshed out the citrus base of the dip.

The ma po tofu was golden fried, and served in a brown sauce with a slow-burning spice. The carrots and pea added little to the dish.

Service in the dining room can be uneven at times. There is no alcohol license. Take-out runs smoothly. Prices are inexpensive.

Nong's Hunan Express

Nong's Hunan Express is a Chinese/Thai spot that serves dishes that are much more exciting than its utilitarian setting. There is seating for about 12 inside the restaurant, which shares a plaza with a medical practice. The majority of business seems to be take-out, though there is typically a small but regular crowd eating in the restaurant.

The menu has a huge cache of Chinese and Thai vegetarian dishes made with a nice variety of fresh vegetables. Both cuisines are prepared in an authentic manner.

The vegatable egg roll, spring roll and fried tofu are meatless starters. The eggroll is stuffed with cabbage, carrots and mushrooms, and green onions, and it had a nice peppery essence. 

The Thai vegetarian dishes are all made without fish sauce. There are a variety of curries and different noodle entrees. Chinese items include the typical Sichuan, garlic and kung pao tofu preparations, as well as other stir fried vegetable classics.

There was a panoply of veggies in the phad pedt tofu. Fried cubes of tofu sit in a coconut hot yellow curry with basil, water chestnuts, carrots, baby corn, mushrooms, green and white onions, carrots, celery and green peppers. It is a collection of crunchy texture and spicy citrus flavors that marry perfectly on the plate.

With so many vegetarian options, diners could mix it up at Nong's and never order the same thing twice. It's a nice option that neighbors shouldn't just drive past. 

Vegetarian in Vegas

Las Vegas is a city where money can by just about any pleasure that a person can imagine. The food, in particular, is an extraordinary array of international flavors prepared by some of the world's most talented chefs. Vegetarian dining, though, can sometimes be a little tougher than average when considering the hedonistic reputation of Sin City.

Luckily, when you know where to look, vegetarian and vegan diners can find meatless breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks that can easily fuel whatever type of bender is underway (check out other Las Vegas reviews here). While most places will be able to cater to dietary restrictions, these places go above and beyond with their fare, or are just too good to otherwise pass by.

Breakfast - hands down, the one place that vegetarian diners must stop is 
Ronald's Donuts. The small doughnut shop tucked into Chinatown makes delicious fried breakfast pastries, two-thirds of which are vegan.  

Most of the non-cake doughnuts are vegan, including the heralded apple fritter. A dozen costs $7.50. Save money on the Strip resort breakfast and eat vegan doughnuts for a few mornings. 

Chinatown is a great area for vegetarians who are adventurous eaters. There is a wide range of Asian cuisines in the neighborhood, and some places are exclusively vegetarian.

In Chinatown, the other most famous item is the house-made tofu at Raku. It was on an episode of the Food Network's Best Thing I Ever Ate. Every visiting chef talks about it. It is part of why Raku is one of the most talked about restaurants in Las Vegas.

The tofu is set in a round basket, and it carries visible basket ridges on its faces. Diners should be careful because some of the dishes are prepared with bonito fish flakes.

Lotus of Siam is one of the nation's premiere Thai restaurants. Its flavors are deeply authentic, and they take care with vegetarian dining requests.

Chef/owner Saipin Chutima prepares traditional recipes that have been passed down in her family for 100 years. It is a worthwhile stop for lunch or dinner seven days a week.

Go Raw Cafe is Las Vegas' resident old-fashioned hippie vegan restaurant. It has two locations, and offers raw, vegan fare.

Luv-It Frozen Custard is not vegan-friendly, but it is a good old-fashioned way to cool yourself in the hot desert sun. The favorite sundae is the Western, topped with hot fudge, caramel, pecans and a cherry. It is located North of the Stratosphere near The Strip.

I also had a great experience at Ferraro's, an Italian restaurant on the city's East Side. It was a great environment and the staff took great care of a large party. It offers pretty traditional Italian vegetarian options, but it's fresh and carefully prepared. The Italian singers are an added bonus.

Those that want to make their meat-eating friends jealous can also get a grilled cheese from In-N-Out Burger. This is the West Coast retro burger operation with a rabid fan base. The menu is minimal, augmented by a secret menu that allows for full order customization.

The grilled cheese is essentially a cheeseburger without the burger. Accompanied by greasy animal fries, thin fries topped with melted cheese, grilled onions and Thousand Island dressing. If it is washed down by a milkshake, a vegetarian diner can be provided with a vegetarian (in the loosest sense of the word) artery-stopping unhealthy calorie bomb from 10 in the morning until after midnight.

Market District Foodie Truck

The Market District Foodie Truck was my first experience with a mobile food vendor with big-time corporate backing. The menu is Asian influenced, and they operate most days during the week.

The menu at Foodie Truck has stayed consistently the same. Their most common location is the Giant Eagle Market District in Upper Arlington, but the truck can be found around central Ohio.

The vegetarian items on the menu are Indian and Chinese. The truck also makes dishes from Vietnam and Singapore.

The samosa is stuffed with potatoes, peas and onions. The shell was perfectly crisp, but the samosa's flavor might benefit from mint chutney rather than the mango chutney that was served with it.

The vegetable jalfrezi is prepared with carrots, peas, green peppers and cauliflower in a tomato sauce with garam masala and ginger. It is served with naan, Basmati rice and mango chutney. The dish does not taste particularly authentic. The curry flavor needed additional cooking, and the tomato was flat and unappealing.

The truck has potential, but the menu could use a revamp. It's hard to recommend the place when there are so many excellent Indian restaurants in central Ohio.

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.

Eastern Wok

Eastern Wok is an inexpensive Chinese take-out on Columbus' far south side. It is a fast food operation with prices reflecting its quality.

There is a limited vegetarian menu at Eastern Wok. The diner is limited to entrees, which come in small and large sizes. Nothing is more than $6.25.

The five vegetarian entrees are sauteed broccoli, mixed vegetables, home style bean curd, Szechuan bean curd and broccoli with garlic sauce. The small portion is reasonable, while the large is absolutely massive.

The tofu in the Szechuan bean curd was cut into long, thick chunks. It was soft, and it soaked up the mildly spicy brown sauce. The carrots and peas added nice color and starchiness to the dish. Overall, it is competently prepared take-out at a reasonable price.

The restaurant has seating for less than 20. Orders are prepared quickly. Eastern Wok is geared toward nearby workers and locals.

Eastern Wok

Stix

Stix is a small Pan-Asian chain in Alabama. There are five or six locations in the state. I visited the Stix in Spanish Fort.

The menu at Stix focuses on sushi and a combination of Japanese and Chinese appetizers, stir fries and noodle dishes.

The veggie sushi platter was overflowing with maki rolls. The roll in the center of the platter was prepared with asparagus, pickled squash, carrot and green bean. The avocado rolls were flecked with black and white sesame seeds. The sushi was visually appealing, even though some of the longer vegetable cuts were less than elegant.

The Szechuan tofu had an aggressive spice that the bean curd drank up. The peapods, carrots and onions were cooked crispy enough to retain the freshness of these vegetables. Stir fries are served with choice of white or brown rice.

Although the server was being trained during my visit, she delivered capable and friendly service. The bar has a full selection of beer, wine and faux-tini cocktails.

Stix

Loving Hut

Loving Hut, a large vegan restaurant chain, opened its first Central Ohio location in Reynoldsburg today. The menu is being finalized, and a grand opening is scheduled sometime in the next month.

Upon first examination, Loving Hut's affiliation with spirituality made me a bit apprehensive. It is part of the Ching Hai empire, and she is called the Supreme Master.

When I think of the master, I was somewhat certain that "Bruce" Leroy Green was the master, and he proved this by taking down Sho'nuff, the Shogun of Harlem near the end of Last Dragon.

Luckily enough, the Loving Hut Supreme Master was not obtrusive (unlike Sho'nuff in the video link in the last paragraph). Sure, Supreme Master TV was playing on the flat screen (it is channel 8067 on DirecTV, I would imagine). From the parts of the programming I caught, the Supreme Master is a big fan of Andrew Lloyd Webber-style love ballads, many of which she wrote herself. When the barely noticeable proselytizing was combined with my not-so-secret devotion to show tunes, it all made the experience interesting yet inoffensive.

The decor at Loving Hut highlights vegetarians in history and pop culture. Vegetarian cookbooks fill the dining rooms. The restaurant is much bigger than it appears from the parking lot with two rooms folded into an L-shaped portion of Blacklick Plaza in Reynoldsburg.

While the menu is still rounding into shape, it will feature Pan-Asian dishes as well as American comfort food classics like the veggie burger and a BBQ sandwich. Many items on the menu are made with TVP or other kinds of faux meat products. There are salads and other items made without these ingredients for diners filled with veggie meat trepidation. I possess little fear of TVP.

Prices at Loving Hut are fairly inexpensive. $10 is probably an average order. $15 means you're taking food home.

What I ate: The spring rolls were stuffed with cabbage, carrots and mushrooms, fried crispy and served with sweet and sour sauce. Cilantro adds a fresh touch to this take-out staple.

The pho was a great veggie approximation of the Vietnamese wintertime staple. A mushroom broth is flecked with green onions, cilantro and basil as well as a heaping helping of textured protein, noodles and bean sprouts. The citrus garnish is textbook, and the vegan pho should be a great relief for cold weather as long as it lasts this year.

The BBQ sandwich was awesome. The creamy coleslaw was a great foil to the sweet sauce-covered TVP. The fries were thick and of passable quality.

The smoothies are thick. The blueberry banana smoothie was redolent of both fruits. Loving Hut serves smoothies, teas, coffee, water and no alcoholic beverages.

Loving Hut adds an interesting option to East and Southeast side residents that don't have a go-to vegan or vegetarian restaurant that comes to mind. Residents of other parts of the city will have to visit the international vegan fast casual restaurant on a destination trip or while passing through town.

Loving Hut

Royal Ginger Asian Fusion Bistro

Royal Ginger is a sushi-centric Asian fusion spot located in the old Wolfgang Puck's in Upper Arlington. It is a similar concept to its relative Blue Ginger, another place I enjoyed on separate visits.

The restaurant interior is stylish with modern accents and a lot of dark wood. Service was efficient, and the server was able to address any and all vegetarian concerns.

The menu at Royal Ginger features numerous vegetarian options. There are multiple sushi choices and stir fried dishes without seafood and meat. Vegetarian spring rolls, edamame, peanut noodles and a few salads are available as starters.

There is a lunch special with a choice of vegetarian soup or salad and an entree for about $9. The salad was made with multicolored greens, onions and daikon in a fruity vinaigrette. It had soft and crispy textural accents that made the salad delightful to eat.

The vegetarian sushi at Royal Ginger is excellent. The vegetarian sushi combo is very similar to the one at Blue Ginger. The artful nigiri are topped with carrots, squash, asparagus and various other ingredients (vegan or ovo-vegetarian warning: the platter also has tomago, a nigiri egg roll. It may be omitted on request). The combo also comes with a few maki rolls containing avocado, asparagus and Japanese squash.

I ordered the veggie roll, which also is available with special lunch pricing. The uramaki veggie rolls were the aforementioned ones with the squash, asparagus and avocado. The menu at Royal Ginger features many other vegetarian options, including interesting options like peanut avocado and fried bean curd skin.

The black bean tofu was stir fried with long beans, red onions and shiitake mushrooms in a spicy Szechuan base. The earthy, spicy dish has a great flavor, and the serving size is fair. It comes with a choice of white or brown rice.

Royal Ginger has a decent list of beer, wine, sake and designer faux-tinis. The parking lot is small and poorly designed, so parking can sometimes be an issue.

Royal Ginger

Rice Bowl

Rice Bowl is a long-tenured Chinese restaurant in Columbus' Scioto Southland. It produces relatively characterless Chinese fare at extremely reasonable prices.

Like most Chinese restaurants, Rice Bowl offers a small selection of meatless offerings on its menu. The most troubling part of the vegetarian choices on Rice Bowl's menu is that there is a lack of vegetarian protein on the lunch menu. There is a stir fried bean curd on the dinner menu, but the lunch options consist mainly of vegetables without tofu.

The vegetable spring roll is made in the traditional Chinese deep fried style. It is stuffed with an abundance of cabbage and shredded carrots, and served with sweet and sour sauce and hot mustard.

The Buddhist Delight is thin Chinese pasta tossed with mushrooms, water chestnuts, bean sprouts, baby corn and pea pods. For the most part, the dish is fairly bland with very few redeeming characteristics.

The Szechwan vegetables have a deeper, spicier flavor. Green peppers, mushrooms, onions, water chestnuts, peapods and carrots are coated in a thick, brown Szechwan base. Though it is a superior dish when compared to the Buddhist Delight, the flavor profile is still somewhat one dimensional.

There is limited dine-in space at Rice Bowl. Take-out orders are prepared rapidly. I was easily able to transport it home and serve the food at a hot temperature.

Overall, Rice Bowl offers fairly pedestrian Chinese food. Since the South Side of Columbus is somewhat lacking in meatless dining options, Rice Bowl will do in a pinch.

Rice Bowl

Lai Lai

Lai Lai is a slightly upscale Chinese restaurant located in a nondescript strip mall in Blacklick. After selling previous suburban restaurants with the same name (now closed) and staying out of the restaurant business for a decade, owner James Miao opened a new Lai Lai on the far East side.

Lai Lai is an authentic Chinese eatery with classic dishes. Although the decor and plating suggest a top shelf experience, prices are reasonable with nothing more than $15 and most priced around $10.

The menu at Lai Lai is not exceptionally vegetarian friendly, although like most Chinese restaurants, there are about five or six vegetarian entrees and three vegetarian appetizers available. The only dish that puts up warning flags for vegetarians is the ma po tofu, a traditional Szechuan tofu dish that is prepared with pork.

Vegetarian starters are a fried vegetable spring roll, a breaded tofu dish with peanut dipping sauce and sesame noodles. The spring roll was crisp and artfully presented. The accompanying condiments were a nice touch, especially the hot mustard, which provided an explosive accent to the dish.

Vegetarian entrees are usually made with tofu. The Chinese eggplant is one of the non-tofu main courses, while choices like kung pao tofu and Szechuan black bean tofu occupy the other side of the spectrum at Lai Lai.

The black bean tofu is prepared with blocks of tofu, bok choy, pea pods and sauteed mushrooms. The black bean sauce is somewhat mild at Lai Lai considering the dish is traditionally very spicy. While I would have preferred it to be spicier, the earthy flavor added by the tender mushroom caps still adds a nice touch to the dish.

Service at Lai Lai was prompt, friendly and capable. The staff on hand was unable to answer my questions about vegan dishes, so vegan diners might want to call ahead before visiting.

Lai Lai

Bahn Thai Bistro

Bahn Thai Bistro is a small restaurant hidden in an Upper Arlington strip mall. Despite its low-key appearance and its Siamese provenance, the place churns out tons of delicious vegetarian fare.

While most Thai restaurants find sneaky ways of feeding diners animal parts (hello, fish sauce), Bahn Thai is able to prepare almost every dish on the menu in a vegetarian fashion. The staff was also fully knowledgeable about vegan dining concerns, and although vegan options are less plentiful than their vegetarian counterparts, vegan diners can easily be accommodated.

The majority of Bahn's business appears to be take-out. The decor is colorful, and there is a substantial amount of patio seating (for summer diners) and about 12 seats inside.

Vegetarian appetizers include veggie spring rolls, edamame, and deep fried tofu served with either sweet and sour peanut sauce or cucumber sauce and a peanut/coconut milk sauce. The spring rolls, which are prepared with egg, are crispy rounds stuffed with cabbage, carrots and mushrooms. It is served with house-made sour sauce and chile puree.

The fried tofu is perfectly breaded. The presentation is simple yet refined.

Meatless entrees include a variety of classic Thai dishes, including Pad Thai, drunken noodles and the rainbow of curry dishes. The red curry was a spicy preparation of bamboo shoots, bell pepper, eggplant and sauteed tofu garnished with Thai basil. It had layers of intense flavor.

One of the other interesting options is the wrap sandwiches. Vegetarian choices are basil and garlic.

Bahn Thai Bistro

Joey Chang's

Joey Chang's is a Chinese/Thai restaurant in Hilliard. It shares ownership with Chi Thai, an upscale fusion bistro on the Northeast side, and Joey Chang's prepares many of the same dishes as its sibling in smaller portions with a somewhat less formal atmosphere.

The menu at Joey Chang's offers five vegetarian appetizers and nearly 10 vegetarian entrees. Veggie appetizers include tofu vegetable soup, hot sesame noodles, veggie spring rolls and vegetable dumplings.

The sesame noodles are warm pasta drowned in hot peanut sauce with thinly sliced cucumber. The appetizer is big enough to serve two but delicious enough to keep all to yourself.

The veggie dumplings are stuffed with spinach and served with a soy ginger sauce. They are a boiled dumpling, and offer a wide range of pleasant flavors and textures.

My favorite dish at Chi Thai is the spicy pot of gold, and it remains strong at Joey Chang's. The presentation in Hilliard is a little more restrained, but the concept is the same. Unbreaded fried tofu triangles are combined with scallions and other greens, floating in a classic spicy Szechuan black bean sauce. It is sweet, smoky and spicy.

Other vegetarian entrees include spicy eggplant, ma la string beans, and Thai curries with tofu. Thai dishes can be prepared without fish sauce upon request.

The interior at Joey Chang's is a combination of kitschy Asian decor contrasted by modern flair. There is a full bar with beer, wine and cocktails. Happy hour during the week runs from 4-7. Prices for food and drinks are reasonably inexpensive. Service is brisk, and Joey Chang's also does a decent take-out business.

Joey Chang's

Yuen's Restaurant

Yuen's Restaurant is a Vietnamese/Chinese restaurant in the Columbus Square plaza. The menu seems to offer a couple of vegetarian options, but upon further examination, Yuen's is actually a vegetarian wasteland.

Certain cuisines are famous for being less than vegetarian-friendly. Some of the most notable nations for ignoring veggies are Brazil, Argentina and Vietnam. Yuen's being a Vietnamese restaurant, keeps the tradition going (as a side note, Lac Viet in the North Market has a vegetarian banh mi sandwich; they are at least extending an olive branch to meatless eaters).

The menu is split into Chinese and Vegetarian choices. There are a number of tofu dishes. Since one is ma po tofu, a dish noted for combining tofu and pork, I asked what a vegetarian could order from the menu. I was given one option: vegetable tofu, an item that isn't listed on the menu.

While the vegetable tofu was competently prepared, it was hardly spectacular. Overall, it didn't make me long to return.

Luckily for diners, there are plenty of vegetarian options in the Columbus Square plaza as well as along 161 and Cleveland. While Yuen's is not recommended for vegetarians, there are plenty of vegan and vegetarian options in the area (Solay Bistro, Nazareth Deli, et al.) that can serve as a suitable replacement.

Yuen's Restaurant

Windchimes Chinese

Windchimes is an inexpensive Chinese restaurant in an unassuming Dublin strip mall. I loved Yu's Fusion Bistro in Lewis Center (now closed), which shared the same ownership as Windchimes. Windchimes prepares more everyday Chinese fare than Yu's, which was a little more adventurous (and priced accordingly).

Windchimes features a decent array of vegetarian options. The kitchen is able to prepare vegan dishes upon request.

The only vegetarian appetizer is the fried spring roll, which is stuffed with cabbage, carrots and mushrooms, and served with house-made sides of hot mustard and sweet and sour sauce.

Vegetarian entrees include many tofu dishes like Buddhist's delight, a house tofu dish, popcorn tofu, ma la string beans, vegetarian spicy ribs, vegetable pad Thai and sauteed bok choy. Lunch portions, while cheap, are small. I would recommend eating two entrees and a spring roll, which would cost about than $12. Dinner portions are larger than lunch portions.

The spicy family style bean curd is tofu triangles prepared with a Szechaun brown sauce as well as onion, pea pods, button mushrooms, bamboo shoots and carrots. The Szechaun pepper adds spice to the dish. It is served with a side of steamed rice.

Service at Windchimes is brisk and capable. The restaurant seems to do a decent carry-out business. There is a full bar with a better-than-mediocre sake list.

Windchimes

NYTimes op-ed: Eat more dog (or less pig)

A New York Times op-ed piece examined the logical problems of Westerners viewing some animals as food while viewing others as pets. The article hardly figures the whole tangled mess out (the author ends up eating a dog, so don't say I didn't warn you). However, it is one of those puzzles that makes you think.

Read more

China Dynasty

China Dynasty is a Columbus institution that has been serving Chinese food since 1990 (1987 even, for the Upper Arlington location, which I did not visit). You only need to watch local broadcast TV at or around midnight to see a China Dynasty commercial, after which you will inevitably get the China Dynasty theme song stuck in your head ("China Dynasty...the home of the Happy Buddha,"...damn it, I'm going to be singing that song for the next week now!).

China Dynasty prepares inexpensive food that is better than its price range would indicate. It's hardly the top tier of Asian food available in the Capital City. However, the food is good quality considering its price point. There are a number of vegetarian entrees on the menu.

I started with a vegetarian spring roll. It is a Chinese-style spring roll, deep fried and filled with Napa cabbage, bamboo and mushrooms. It is somewhat bland, but the flavor is kicked up a notch by Chinese hot mustard.

The spicy bean curd is essentially a version of the classic ma po tofu (vegetarian note: ma po tofu is often made with shredded pork. At China Dynasty, it is recommended that you ask for the spicy bean curd without pork). Piles of tofu are pan fried in a spicy brown sauce with green onions and red peppers. China Dynasty does a solid job with a Szechuan standard.

China Dynasty has a full bar. The decor in the large restaurant is tasteful. The aim of the staff is to get a quick turnover at most tables.

China Dynasty makes solid if unspectacular food. Since it has a decent amount of vegetarian options that can be prepared quickly for a low price, China Dynasty is a good quality, inexpensive option for lunch. While you could definitely do better than China Dynasty, you could also do far worse.

China Dynasty

Hunan Lion

Hunan Lion is always included as part of the upper echelon of restaurants around Columbus (see: Dispatch). The combination of tasteful decor with tasty Chinese and Thai dishes garners a lot of praise for this establishment. All the acclaim is deserved based upon my experience.

The restaurant is stylishly appointed. The service is courteous. Hunan Lion offers both dine-in and take-out options. The restaurant belies its strip mall exterior with detailed wood accents, dark colors, white table cloth and Asian light fixtures alongside a photogenic fish tank.

The server informed me that all menu items that did not list meat as an ingredient in the description were in fact vegetarian. There are many vegetarian appetizers in addition to the Thai and Chinese main courses on the menu.

The sesame noodles were delicious. Hunan Lion prepares the peanut dish hot with thick noodles, cucumbers and scallions. It is rich, mildly seasoned and deeply satisfying.

My main course was the Siam tofu. It was pan fried cubes of tofu in a brown Thai chili sauce with asparagus, red peppers, green beans, onions and baby corn. The tofu was crispy and not at all greasy. The sauce is a flavorful of green herbs, hot peppers and savory balance. The vegetables were a great blend. They demonstrated a focus on flavor more than a blind adherence to tradition a la the neighborhood take-out establishment.

Hunan Lion is more expensive than the typical neighborhood Chinese joint based upon the level of service, the decor and the quality of food. It is worth the price of admission.

Hunan Lion

Blue Ginger

Blue Ginger is the latest pan-Asian hot spot to spring up in Columbus during the last year. Blue Ginger features a multinational menu that jumps all over the Asian continent. There are Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai dishes on the menu.

The restaurant decor is modern and relatively formal. Blue Ginger serves beer, wine and sake. They have a liquor license pending. The mango saketini was delicious, making me not miss the hard liquor license at all.

I tried the edamame as an appetizer. The simple soybean becomes an addictive treat when it's boiled in sea salt. They call edamame Japanese peanuts for a reason. They are really that good and really that addictive.

The vegetarian sushi plate is one of the best I've ever had. There are a wide variety of different vegetable combinations wrapped with rice and seaweed. There were avocado rolls, carrot rolls, a number of rolls made with pickled vegetables, as well as a lightly fried rice dumpling and a mountain of ginger and wasabi. The presentation made the rolls almost too beautiful to eat. Luckily I closed my eyes, and they went down just fine (picture me smiling, fat and sarcastic).

There are also a number of noodle dishes that can be made with tofu on the menu. Overall, Blue Ginger has a wide variety of vegetarian options, and the food, service and experience are excellent.

Blue Ginger

Ho-Toy

Ho-Toy is a Thai/Chinese restaurant in the heart of Downtown Columbus. The place makes its name with inexpensive take-out that it fires out with rapid precision. There is a deceptively large dining room on two floors; the swarm of worker bees in the area takes ample advantage of the to-go menu.

The menu at Ho-Toy is very vegetarian friendly. There are almost 20 different vegetarian entrees in addition to a few vegetarian appetizers. Entrees are available in small and large sizes. The decor is plain and unspectacular.

I started with the vegetable egg roll. It was deep fried crispy brown with a cabbage, carrot, and onion filling drowned in a sea of hot mustard.

My entree was a basil curry tofu. Pan fried cubes of tofu were tossed in an earthy sauce with hints of citrus, green herbs and red pepper. There are onions, water chestnuts, green peppers, mushrooms and carrots in the dish. You can specify a heat level (I always go hot!). The small portion is less than $6. My total bill was less than $9 with a drink.

The quality of Ho-Toy is decent. This isn't the kind of place you go for the high-class experience. Rather, Ho-Toy features tasty food for fair prices, and they can get diners in and out in a rapid fire manner.

Ho Toy