Cucumber leaf tips and sweet corn soup, Vegan Restaurant, Chengdu

Weigen Vegan Restaurant, Chengdu, dinner

ByQin Xie 06/09/201418/03/2016

Menu from a banquet dinner at the Tibetan Buddhism themed vegan restaurant Weigen Vegan Restaurant (维根素食) in Chengdu, Sichuan:

Cucumber salad

Spicy broad beans

Lettuce leaves with satay dip

Okra in vinegar

Soft tofu with chilli

Stuffed, fried aubergines with pea sauce

Cucumber leaf tips and sweet corn soup

Spicy tofu

Seasonal greens with ginko beans

Creamy mushroom soup

Fried tofu

Almond coated sweet potatoes

Tofu and seaweed “fish”

Wonton in enoki soup

Spicy bamboo tips

Cucumber salad, Vegan Restaurant, Chengdu

Spicy broad beans, Vegan Restaurant, Chengdu

Lettuce leaves with satay dip, Vegan Restaurant, Chengdu

Okra in vinegar, Vegan Restaurant, Chengdu

Soft tofu with chilli, Vegan Restaurant, Chengdu

Stuffed, fried aubergines with pea sauce, Vegan Restaurant, Chengdu

Seasonal greens with ginko beans, Vegan Restaurant, Chengdu

Creamy mushroom soup, Vegan Restaurant, Chengdu

Almond coated sweet potatoes, Vegan Restaurant, Chengdu

Tofu and seaweed "fish", Vegan Restaurant, Chengdu

Wonton in enoki soup, Vegan Restaurant, Chengdu

Spicy bamboo tips, Vegan Restaurant, Chengdu

I’m no fan of vegetarian food but I was really impressed with the offering at Weigen, which was a vegan restaurant.

The chef was surprisingly inventive with ways to make tofu look like fish and give bamboo shoots the texture of tripe.

Qin Xie

Qin Xie is a London based food, wine and travel journalist and trained chef.

When not infiltrating Michelin restaurants as a kitchen tourist, she writes about food, drink and travel. Her work has appeared on Yahoo, FT, The Times and CNN.

Her first cookbook, co-authored with YS Peng at Hunan Restaurant, is out March 2014.

According to friends, her watch is always set to UTC -- ready for the next big adventure. In reality, she is happiest at the dinner table or by the sea.