Chi Szechuan Vegetarian Restaurant (Szechuan Vegetarian Restaurant)

Member Name: Andwynn

Product:	Szechuan Vegetarian Restaurant
Date:	05/10/01 (343 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: delicious, friendly, healthy

Disadvantages: hard to find, not overly cheap, downstairs, so no wheelchair access

It's not very often that I can convince someone to go with
me to a vegetarian restaurant, so to convince a whole group
of 10 people from work to accompany me to try out a new
restaurant I had found on the web was a bit traumatic. Of
the 10, only 1 other was a long-term veggie, and 1 (his wife)
was a new convert.

The place was -very- difficult to find. Off Brompton Road,
between Knightsbridge and South Kensington, near to Harrods.
The road itself runs parallel to Brompton Rd, and looks like
a dead side street full of warehouses! Hidden in the depths
of this wilderness is Chi! (At least, that's what we think
it is called - that isn't the name on the website, and even
after eating there, we were still unsure)

Nervously sitting around the table, with the bar/snack menu,
we finally managed to get full menu copies from the waiting
staff, who unfortunately seem to speak very little English,
but ordering by point and smile method seemed to work quite
well.

As a vegetarian that really misses eating meat, the menu was
a heaven to behold. Duck, chicken drumsticks, beef and
broccoli, even squid - and all the meals are not just veggie,
but vegan! The joy of not having to scan the menu for the
tiny handful of vegetarian-friendly meals was unbelievable.

Between the 10 people, we ordered and shared the following
items:
seaweed, spring rolls, dimsum, drumsticks, duck and pancakes,
soup (hot and sour, wonton, chicken and sweetcorn), beef and
broccoli, mange tout and chicken, singapore noodles, special
fried rice. Plus 5 bottles of wine and various beers.

Our total bill came to 240.40, exc service

Astoundingly, not a single complaint came from the normally
meat-eating group once the food arrived. Special mention
should be given to the rice, which was absolutely delicious.

They have a fully licensed ba
r, and a good range of cocktails
on the drinks menu (which we didn't try out) - maybe next
time. Our visit was on a Thursday, and the place was only
half full, presumably because of the somewhat out-of-the-way
location.

Their website is at the following address, and a sample of
their menu is available:

http://www.veganvillage.co.uk/vegchinese/index .htm

Summary: