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2014-03-14
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Recently the book Eat and Run by Scott Jurek has piqued my interest in vegetarian meals, and because I am a big burger fan, the Lentil Burger grabbed my imagination first. My search for a Lentil Burger in Hong Kong led me to the popular vegetarian destination, Veggie SF.I learned that SF stood for San Francisco, and the decor showed its roots: the whole restaurant was dimly lit and dotted with vintage 50's American memorabilia. The ceiling was low and the memorabilia were literally everywhere, c
I learned that SF stood for San Francisco, and the decor showed its roots: the whole restaurant was dimly lit and dotted with vintage 50's American memorabilia. The ceiling was low and the memorabilia were literally everywhere, combined that it was a busy night, the place seemed noisy and cramped. But my friend made reservations so we were seated right away.
There were three of us, and each of us ordered a different burger, essentially trying all the burger choices. You had the option of adding extra condiments to your burger, $10 or $20 depending on the item. But my preferred avocado or salsa were both out of stock that night. I picked pineapple and added $56 to make a combo, which was a drink and either a soup or a dessert. The daily soup was Tomato and Lemongrass Soup, which was characteristically tomato but lacked the lemongrass flavors as promised by the name. The consistency was similar to a thin potato soup and there was undoubtedly fresh ingredient in the soup as I kept biting into grains of tomato seeds, a thumbs up for that. A very simple homemade dish. No surprises here.
My Lentil Burger with Pineapple ($138+$10) arrived shortly after the soup, with a small salad, pumpkin and potato wedges on the side. The lentil patty was not what I expected, it was not a firm patty actually - it was a puree of lentils packed together but without any binding - a lentil version of mushed peas perhaps, they did call it pate after all. I took a first bite and this 'filling' oozed out the other end. The flavor was nutty but very mute, I could hardly taste it over the juicy and sweet pineapple. The sides were not very substantial either, more like a garnish composed of three fries and one pumpkin wedge. The pumpkin wedge was seared and lightly salted, quite delicious but I would have appreciated more than one stick. The meal was good and I enjoyed it, but it was a bit light for me; perhaps I had a large appetite, but it felt as if I had hardly eaten anything.
One of us opted for dessert over the soup, and the Egg-free Truffle Chocolate Cake was a nice end to the meal. The chocolate cake was not intense, but quite buttery and smooth. The small piece of chocolate with the almond attached was divine, dark chocolate and almonds! I wanted more! So dessert was a good portion, but this time around i was being greedy!
My friends enjoyed their Soy Burger and Portabello burger, but we all shared the same thoughts: the portions of the meal did not leave us feeling full. The bill came to $230 each and we went for more food afterwards. I could get a Classic burger at Burgerroom for $88, and that would actually fill me up. I couldn't help but think, it must be quite hard being a vegan/vegetarian in this city, when veggie places charge a high price for such undersized proportions. Or are these people very rich and have small appetites? ::||Good For||::
You guessed it, a light vegetarian/vegan meal
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