Po Kong Vegetarian Restaurant

I have lately sort of drifted away from my intention to eat more responsibly for our planet and my health. It's for sure, not something that I can blame on COVID 19. It has just been laziness and maybe a bit of greediness on my part. That drift has led me to be feeling a bit out of shape and (non COVID related) tired and lazy. I intend to right the ship again by upping my activity and eating better. 

BTW, a little depressing news (in case you need more); if you have been thinking that the one good thing about the pandemic is that since we are doing less, driving less, manufacturing less, then at least we are belching fewer greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere then you are correct. However, the drop seems to be about 8% (according to Skeptics Guide to the Universe podcast) which just means we are slowing our race towards irreversible climate change and not reversing it. And of course, once we get back to normal (if we do) that 8% reduction will most certainly disappear. The time has passed when individual choices alone (like driving an electric car or eating vegetarian) could make all the difference ( I am not saying that you shouldn't make those choices). The responsibility now lands firmly on industry and government. to make real change. Since the fossil fuel industry is in the hands of science-denying greedheads, who have no intention of endangering their cash flow, we are fully screwed. Our one hope, it seems to me, is that technology may come up with a solution. If not, I would like to apologize on behalf of my short-sighted and greedy generation to the youngsters that will bear the real brunt of irreversible climate change. 

But what's to eat?

Po Kong Vegetarian Restaurant is on a stretch of Kingsway where there seems to be a nest of places that offer non-carnivorous options, near Knight Street. 

They offer dim sum until 1:30 pm and that's what we were interested in. It should be noted that they have an extensive full-day menu with combinations for larger groups. One problem is that the dim sum menu on their web site is fairly illegible. We solved this by seeking out the menu on Yelp and hoping that the selections and pricing hadn't changed too much (they hadn't).

So we phoned in our order, picked it up and drove home. I try to order these days keeping in mind that there will be travel involved and surprisingly, even the delicate items made it home, starting with Deep Fried Radish Cake. These were flaky and tasty. Rather than the 'cake' that I expected, the filling was more of a finely shredded mixture of radish, mushroom and whatever else. Not what I would call overly seasoned (some of the dishes were somewhat bland but shone when we added the accompanying sauces) but of lovely texture and we enjoyed them.

We tried their Barbecue Buns. They were on the fluffy side and not overly dense. The filling was a tasty mixture of I'm not sure what but almost certainly including bamboo shoot which lent its slightly crunchy texture.

The peanut dumplings were decent also. Not loaded with peanuts but just enough and again a mixed vegetable filling. The wrapping was maybe a bit on the thick side but not enough to be a problem.

Deep-fried Taro Dumplings is always one of our favourites. These can be quite dense at times but we were pleasantly surprised that the filling included not just the usual taro but a vegetable and mushroom mixtures lending a little needed lightness. Very nice!

Lo Hon Rice Roll was next and we always order rice roll with our dim sum. In keeping with the theme, these had what was now a familiar mixture of the enoki mushrooms etc. They came with the usual dipping sauces one peanut and one sweeter.

Finally, we had the Beancurd Skin Rolls with Black Bean Sauce. Pictured on their website, we could hardly resist and it did not disappoint. Pleasantly chewy rolls were paired with a tasty black bean sauce and a few bell peppers and mushrooms, this was the plate that we polished off first. This is another, must order dish.

Another pleasant dining room that we would like to visit someday. A common them that we are finding with the people who provide us with our food is the old positive attitude and hope that if we all hang in there a little longer, and even stay the course when things return to semi-normal, then we will be OK. Remember that even as BC has done very well under the calm direction of Dr. Bonnie Henry, and we gradually open up, there is the very real probability of a second wave. So let's not get stupid.

For what it's worth, we give Po Kong 4 out of 5.