Tomorrow we're having a staff lunch at Chin Chin (Chinese). I did a Google search to see what vegan options came up and I found nothing. So I called up the Brentwood location and spoke with a very nice guy named Fidel. I expected to be given very few options, but instead he read off such a long list I couldn't write it all down! So, they're very accommodating. You can make almost any dish vegan.
Here are some things I managed to write down:
- Vegetable pot-stickers
- Jade salad (no shrimp)
- Szechwan string beans
- Spicy garlic eggplant
- Tofu in place of any meat in any entrée, but make sure the sauce is vegan
- Peanut noodles
I'll let you know how it goes...
- Vegetable mushu (no egg)
Speaking of Chinese, I was traumatized when I was invited for a dinner at a friends, who ordered Panda Express. I figured any of the vegetables or tofu dishes would be vegan, but I later discovered they were not even vegetarian. Apparently they put meat products in practically all their dishes! I was so disgusted, because I ate a fried tofu dish and eggplant.
Here's a good summary of their non-vegan options: "Unfortunately, Panda Express is not able to offer customers the option of vegan dining. Virtually every item on the Panda Express menu in some way contains meat, egg or dairy products. The only item that might possibly fit into the vegan diet is the steamed rice, but even this might not be an accepted item in the vegan diet. We apologize that we are not able to meet the needs of those that maintain a vegan diet."
UPDATE: We had the lunch and it was pretty good. I had the Vegetable Potstickers and the Curry with Soft Tofu. The best part was that the label on my food actually said "vegan", so I felt very comfortable eating it.