Vegetarian Paradise 2 (VP2), West Village, NYC

Variety
Quality

VP2 is all vegetarian Chinese restaurant on the lively McDougal street in West Village. Veggie lovers have waxed eloquent about this restaurant along with it's neighbor - Red Bamboo. Both restaurants have a heavy asian tilt and feature numerous faux-meat dishes.

This was my second visit to VP2. The menu is laden with faux-meat options and I remember having tried the shrimp noodles and peking duck back in 2007. As I mention often, it's difficult to pull off a dish with a huge faux-meat component. The peking duck was average and so were the "shrimp" in the shrimp noodles.

However, that could've been because both Aparna and I were floored by the sugarcane drumstick chicken. This is a deepfriend piece of tofu-chicken set on a piece of sugarcane stick. The chicken was juicy, the tofu textured to mimic the chicken fibres. I've since held it as the gold standard for faux meat. I stopped by VP2 just to get this one dish.

One must try the very reasonably priced fresh juices - my favorite being the carrot/beet/cucumber juice.

Good vegetarian food? Yup .. it's possible

The point of this blog is that one can avoid meat and still eat a fulfilling meal home or away. I feel it is in everyone's best interest to avoid eating meat more often than not. Beyond that, while I'm fully aware of the environmental and ethical benefits/arguments behind being vegetarian, I'm not interested in touting them in this blog. Fact is, vegetarian food can be enjoyed for what it is - good food just like any other! Burdening it with ethical baggage takes attention away from that simple fact and is likely to rile and turn away potential neophytes.

This blog will therefore be about the giddy joys of eating, first and foremost - however it comes my way: at home or away from home; dine-in or take-out; at a friends place or at the beach - if I taste it and feel strongly about it, I plan to write about it.

Having traveled a lot the last few years, the majority of the entries will be about restaurants. Finding vegetarian food away from home has been an adventure and I've been in the thick of it for three years now during numerous trips to Chile, Colombia and the US. It's been a thoroughly rewarding experience.

Since I'll be foisting my personal views about food on this blog, I feel its a perfect excuse to indulge myself further and explain my likes and dislikes when it comes to the subject.

Born and raised in India, I lean towards bold flavors, well cooked food and generally prefer things on the spicier side. I don't consider a salad a meal in itself. I only eat a salad if it comes as a side .. gratis. If a waiter says 'salad' when you say 'vegetarian', good luck with that restaurant - I've been to a few. While I enjoy fine food, I'm no gourmand. I love good food and I love it even more when it comes cheap and sans pretensions.

I am a dessert nut - and having recently diagnosed diabetic parents hasn't slowed me down one bit. I plan to carry on till something gives. That said, I refuse to eat or endorse any chocolate that has less than 53% cocoa content. I prefer it when sugar comes my way as a supporting act for a chocolate or fruit flavor.

I don't drink except for the occasional glass of wine when I feel like it and usually when I don't pay for it. I don't know anything about wine pairings so I will stay away from that aspect.

If I've helped you or someone you know find and enjoy a meat-free meal, I'll consider this a worthy effort. Buen provecho!