Veggie Gourmet San Mateo
"Vegetarian Gourmet" - not simply the style of cooking (that would be "Chinese Restaurant") but also the name of the restaurant.

There's six of us in total and as we go for the door it looks to be closed. No one is inside that we can see, but the door opens and we're greeted with a smile. The place smells new and looks it too. New chairs, new tables, new wall decorations, and a new style of layout that can easily accomodate a group of 10 or more without much need for table shuffling.
We sit down to order from our one-sided menus - I like that - too many choices usually makes it harder to decide. The menu is limited to "Lunch Special" and includes soup and steamed rice. As we pour over the menu our hot and sour soup arrives and while I typically decline soup, I thought to give this one a try. Shortly after, I look around and note we've all quickly polished off the soup and are drinking mightly from glasses of ice water. The soup was spicy, had a thick consistency, shitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and other assorted vegetables. Did I mention it was spicy?

After finishing our soup we agreed on a variety of dishes; Kung Pao Vegetarian Chicken, Shredded Vegetarian Chicken with Spicy Garlic Sauce, Mongolian Vegetarian Beef, Shredded Vegetarian Pork with Spicy Garlic Sauce, Mao Po Tofu, and Spinach Chow Mein. There were no typos or akward translations on the menu and prices for all dishes were either $5.95 or $6.95.

Our meals arrived shortly after - staggered according to difficulty - Shredded Pork first, Tofu second, Chicken third, etc. and each dish included generous portions of vegetables, brown rice, and sauce. Initially, we'd decided to share, then went back to ordering our own meals but in the end settled once more on sharing - a wise choice. Just 5 minutes into our collective meals and you began hearing a chorus of "oh", and "mmmm..." and "wow, this is great!".

Kiya described the Seitan Shredded Pork with Spicy Garlic Sauce as "delectably flavorous", while Sue stated "it's a mouth watering ride you won't soon forget." J.C. elaborated - "I thought I'd been transported to an ancient isle of veggie food and savvy faire and the lingering sense that no animals were slayed to create this cuisine left my conscience smiling all afternoon." Ann remarked that her meal was "so great I almost turned vegatarian!" while George chimed in stating "great vegetarian Chinese food."

Between the six of us there were no agreements as to the best dish - my personal favorites would have to be the Vegetarian Chicken, Mongolian Beef, and Ma Po Tofu - but collectively we agreed the food was delicious.

Our hostess was polite, attentive and the entire restaurant was spotless. As a treat, we were served Chinese Pancakes (usually reserved for dinner guests only) and fortune cookies arrived with our bill. Bonus points for having the cookies in sealed bags and actually tasting decent.

If you're looking for a great alternative to local chinese food I highly recommend stopping by Vegetarian Gourmet - even if like myself, you balk at the thought of skipping meat for lunch.

Vegetarian Gourmet is located just south of San Mateo's main downtown area on 637 South B Street. Their lunch hours are 11-3pm, and they are open seven days a week. Dinner hours are 5-9:30pm Sunday through Thursday, and 5-10pm Fridays and Saturday.

Vegetarian Gourmet -
Reviewed by Shimone Samuel and Kiya Babzani