Veg-Jing Out: Dicos Faux-Eggs, Vegan Pop-up at Mona Bar

Original Drew Pittock theBeijinger

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Veg-Jing Out: Your semi-regular guide to a guilt-free lifestyle in the capital.

Dicos announces plans to replace egg dishes with vegan alternative

Last Tuesday, the domestic fast-food chain and KFC rival Dicos announced plans to add a vegan egg option to their menu at more than 500 stores across China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Liaoning and Shandong provinces. The news comes a mere three months after the fast-food joint added a plant-based chicken burger to all of their 2,600 locations on the mainland.

While it seems as though every fast food juggernaut and it’s fast food mother is adding plant-based options to their menus, what makes Dicos’ news somewhat remarkable is that instead of simply adding the egg alternative alongside normal egg options, they’re going so far as to fully swap the one for the other in as many as seven meals. According to Caixin Global, “Dicos…will replace the conventional egg patty in seven dishes including its breakfast burgers and bagel sandwiches.”

Just Egg will soon be replacing conventional egg on seven of Dicos' menu items

Dicos will be partnering with Eat Just, a plant-based food start-up out of San Francisco, CA, whose Just Egg product – made from mung beans – has already garnered a stellar reputation in China, having entered the market in 2019 through both online and brick-and-mortar retailers. According to Dicos Chief Marketing Officer, Xie Yahui, “The introduction of Just Egg at Dicos is a product and brand upgrade based on consumers' increasing interest in nutrition, healthier diets, and environmental awareness."

At the moment, Dicos has not announced an official rollout date for the new menu items, nor which locations in Beijing will be serving them, however, they have promised a robust marketing campaign in the lead up to the release on WeChat (ID: dicoschina) and Weibo as well as streaming platforms Douyin and Kuaishou

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Take Your Veggie, a new plant-based pop-up opens in Longfusi

Meanwhile, in mom-and-pop news, last Tuesday also saw the grand opening of Take Your Veggie, “Beijing’s first all-vegan casual dining” joint by local chefs Enlin Zhou, who cut his teeth at some of the finest vegan restaurants around Europe, and Le-Cordon-Bleu trained Lesley Gao. Right now, the menu consists of five (extremely colorful) burgers – all of which cost RMB 38 – as well as a few sides, drinks, and dessert. The offerings are nothing if not inspired, with such visionary creations as the Samurai Burdock Burger featuring an umami burdock patty with vegan sunny-side-up egg and teriyaki sauce and the Tom Yum Tofu Burger, a slab of crispy fried tofu topped with house-made tom yum sauce. Sides include Hand-made Meatless Balls (RMB 22), Finger-licking Nuggets (RMB 20), and Juicy Veggie-stuffed Balls (RMB 20).

The Jackfruit Burger featuring a sweet and spicy jackfruit patty in special sauce, topped with a pineapple slice

Given that it’s a pop-up, the menu is admittedly limited, however, Zhou tells the Beijinger that the pair have plans to change the menu every month and that they’re currently working on recipes that “rejuvenate and veganize our childhood street food.” Likewise, Zhou says that “Our plan is to change the menu every month, but if inspiration pops up, or if any customer asks for specific items, we might just add them in as well,” adding, “We wanted to keep the menu vibrant and make our guests feel excited about our new offers every time they visit.”

If you want to get your mouth watering before a visit to Take Your Veggie, then check out Zhou and Gao’s YouTube channel, The Tofu Chef, where they share all sorts of recipes, tips, and tricks from the “heart of the Tofuland.”

Take Your Veggie is located inside Mona Bar’s Longfu location, and open Tuesday-Friday, 5.30-8.30pm and Saturday-Sunday from 11.30am-1.30pm and 5.30-8.30pm.

Check out this comprehensive list of Beijing’s plant-based restaurants

Lastly, an exhaustive list of Beijing’s vegan and vegetarian restaurants, by district, was floating around WeChat last week and can be found here. We would be remiss if we didn't tell you that the list was compiled back in 2016 by the folks at 云想天地 Yún xiǎng tiāndì (WeChat ID: thinkcloudearth), but that doesn’t mean it isn’t still extremely helpful. We just suggest that if there's any doubt, you call ahead to ensure the places are still open, but a cursory look suggests that most of them are. Either way, what a resource!