The Vegetarian Feast-Train

Continuing her hunt for the best vegetarian restaurants, our resident food lover is drawn to Staines

Review by Sophie Aghdami

“I just love Chinese food. My favourite dish is number 27.”

– Clement Atlee, former British Prime Minister

I’m continuing my search for the best vegetarian food in London with a visit to WGT Vegetarian Fine Dining in the hope of also extinguishing some of the stigmas attached to Chinese cuisine in the UK.

 

History of Chinese food
“Anything that walks, swims, crawls, or flies with its back to heaven is edible.” (Chinese proverb)

Not quite the most relevant proverb to begin this review with considering that WGT Vegetarian Fine Dining is a restaurant that emulates what its name suggests but, regardless of that small fact, it’s all part of setting the scene.

Chinese cuisine is seen to represent one of the most diverse – and sometimes ruthless – culinary cultures in the world. The ‘waste not, want not’ ethos of using every part of an animal or plant can often conjure up mixed reactions ranging from horrified shrieks to coos of joy, however the main undisputable fact is that the food is certainly distinctive.

Having never visited China (although it’s high on the list), I often find myself wandering through the streets of London’s Chinatown immersing myself in the smells, sounds and sights of the hectic yet fascinating world of Chinese food. From whole, plucked and roasted ducks hanging from meat hooks to freshly made dumplings being sold from food carts - the variety on offer is almost overwhelming. Despite having an excitable urge to sink my teeth into juicy crispy duck, I am still on a quest to discover the most interesting and delicious vegetarian food that London has to offer so when I’m invited, by owner Frankie, to experience her purely vegetarian Chinese restaurant in Staines (of all places), I’m intrigued and jump at the chance to head over.

 

About WGT
WGT Vegetarian Fine Dining, as suggested by the name, steps away from ‘the norm’ of the Western understanding that Chinese food is based around butchering and using every part of an animal and instead focuses purely on vegetarian ingredients. With half of my family firmly grounded on the green side of the farmer’s fence when it comes to diet, I am delighted to try and hopefully remember some dishes that I can pull out of the bag next time I cook for them.

Frankie’s ethos for the restaurant is simple: great food comes from the soul. She believes that it’s also not just a love of producing the best in vegetarian cooking but also a passion for encouraging a healthy, fulfilling lifestyle ensuring that only the finest, freshest ingredients from local suppliers are used: ultimately making people smile from what they eat. As I like smiling from what I eat, I hotfoot it over to the restaurant, vegetarian Mother in tow to act as secondary critic.

First impressions
Not being someone who often frequents Staines I wasn’t sure what to expect, however with a large glass windowed front the restaurant itself is beautiful inside. A large square room, it’s been designed well with lots of dark wood and simple decor giving it a sleek and modern look.

 

Food
Food is a triumph and luckily so, as it seems to be appearing from the kitchen in a never-ending parade of plates, bowls and trays: it’s as if Chinese New Year has come early. We start with the ‘seasonal special’ that includes a generous selection of dishes including shredded green beans with mushrooms, mashed mixed greens, okra in curry sauce, home pickled radish, ‘Lucky’ roll, juicy tomato with hibiscus sauce, mixed grain rice, tea stained egg and baked potato. All delicious, the winning element was definitely the potato: sleeping cozily in its little foil boat with a texture and flavour not dissimilar to the Western fondant spud, the potato is rich, moreish and simply divine. I order another, gleefully slicing Mr. Potato with my chopstick like a hot knife through huángyóu.

The feast-train continuous: steamed Chinese buns impress with a soft, light texture and great flavour (I could’ve eaten more!); dry-fried cauliflower and spicy tofu both work well as side dishes. ‘Curry treasure house’, a rich sauce with vegetables housed in a hollowed bread bowl, is interesting albeit it a bit gimmicky for me; and braised double mushrooms, a mixture of shitake and chestnuts, is deliciously salty and meaty.

Not being familiar with Chinese dessert traditions we try the Lotus root coconut pudding, which isn’t quite for me (rice pudding never has been) but Mother polishes hers (and mine) off.

The selection of teas and soft drinks is excellent ranging from monk fruit with goji berry to sugar cane and arrowroot infused with carrot water. Alcohol isn’t sold here however BYOB is possible at a small corkage charge.

 

Summary
The food and ambience at WGT are clearly well thought out and executed at WGT. Being finicky, the location isn’t brilliant although well worth the trip, and I wouldn’t really expect to see the photographs of the dishes on the menus given the words ‘Fine Dining’ are in the restaurant name. I do, however, think that Frankie and her team execute the company ethos perfectly, which is demonstrated primarily by our grins as we plunge our chopsticks into each dish. In a time where we are more conscious than ever about health, diet and what we eat, WGT Vegetarian Fine Dining is definitely on trend with its offering.

I’ll ganbei to that! riddle_stop 2

 

Enquiries: WGT Vegetarian Fine Dining 21 High Street, Staines TW18 4QY / 01784 454 401 / [email protected] / http://www.wgtveggie.com/