Staycation in Central

Yesterday John and I pre-celebrated our first wedding anniversary at the luxurious Mandarin Oriental Hotel. We had 3 very different but delicious meals in Central.

After the efficient check in at the MO, we went to Pop Vegan on Elgin Street for late lunch. Pop Vegan is a hidden gem in Central. The entrance of the restaurant is not obvious. You have to ring the doorbell first before entering and walking up to the 1/F (no lift) where you'll will see the restaurant. The decor itself is modern with minimal exposed concrete.

Although it was quite full, we were seated right away. The server that took care of us seemed to be a newly hired without any experience. She was not sure with the food and English seems to be a language barrier. I immediately switched to Cantonese to avoid any confusion.

The menu is quite extensive and unique, and mostly plant-based whole food. There is only 1 dish with Beyond Meat. We ordered the Peking duck pizza, which is wheat gluten with thin crispy Yuba sheet, cucumber and salads as toppings, and a "Chicken burger" which the patty is battered and deep fried Hedgehog mushroom. Both dishes are huge and super delicious. It is definitely a place where we would go back again for their other dishes.

With the staycation package, the dinner is included at the Cafe Causette of Mandarin Oriental. The service was phenomenal at the restaurant. The server was very attentive but not overbearing, and the food was simple yet delicious. The dinner set menu includes both vegetarian and vegan options. The package also includes breakfast, but their vegan options are quite limited.

It was a nice gesture from the hotel to give us a bottle of wine for our anniversary.

On the day we checked out, we went to Tempeh Burger on Li Yuen Street East to get takeout for lunch. Tempeh Burger only offers takeout, and it is well known for its home-made tempeh dishes. Pretty much all dishes have tempeh, and they offer tempeh burger with 4 different flavors, pizza, and Chinese dishes. The owner was originally a chef from Chicago, and he decided to use his savings to open up this shop and offer low cost but healthy lunch options. He also wanted to introduce Tempeh to the local people, and also let them know it can easily replace meat with this natural fermented soy bean patty. When I said low cost, most of the dishes are under HK$50. My sweet and sour tempeh with rice was only HK38, and John had the tempeh burger set lunch (includes a salad and soup) at HK48. Although the price was low, the portion was still big. No wonder the line was always long! I also love to support this shop as I know they are losing money every month with this price (as shown in the Chinese news article). If you get a chance to go to Central at lunch time, check out this place! Remember to check their opening hours before you go.