Veg-Jing Out: Beijing's Newest Vegan Options

Original Drew Pittock theBeijinger

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

Take Your Veggie

After a wildly successful pop-up take over at Longfusi’s Mona Bar earlier this year, the colorful culinary artists from vegan showstopper Take Your Veggie (TYV) are back with their second pop-up installment, this time at Peiping Machine’s Sour Tower in Fangjia Courtyard 46. Local chefs Enlin Zhou and Lesley Gao decided to reprise a couple of fan favorites from Mona, however, most of the menu is brand new. On the burger front, you’ve got a BBQ Beefy Burger (pictured at top) stacked with vegan “beefsteak” strips slathered in American BBQ sauce as well as the Vegan Salmon Burger featuring a slice of vegan salmon, seaweed sauce, and shredded nori.

Meanwhile, TYV has teamed up with OmniPork to create two wholly unique and inspired options: the Vegan Meat & Omelette Open Sandwich (OmniPork luncheon meat, vegan cheddar cheese, and a vegan omelet, topped with avocado sauce, salsa, and lettuce on a slice of vegan toast) and the Vegan Meat Pita (vegan pita bread, OmniPork luncheon meat, vegan cheddar cheese, and vegan scrambled egg, topped with chipotle sauce, salsa, and lettuce). All of the new menu items run RMB 58, while the Nyonya Tempeh Burger and Samurai Burdock Burger from the previous menu are RMB 48. TYV at Sour Tower is open Tuesday through Friday 5.30-8.30pm, Saturday and Sunday 11.30am-1.30pm and 5.30-8.30pm.

Vegan pies at The Pizza Show

Despite being one of the newest pizza kids on the block, The Pizza Show is quickly carving out a niche as one of the city’s best, and only, spots with a vegan cheese option. In fact, aside from Gung Ho!, Arrow Factory, and a couple of others, lactose and dairy-averse Beijingers are hard up for options. Nevertheless, after experimenting with a few different in-house recipes last month, The Pizza Show recently unveiled 100% plant-based options, and the results are absolutely stunning. Whereas some cheese alternatives fail to melt in any sort of convincing way and end up tasting a bit (or a lot) chalky, The Pizza Show has opted for a tofu-based cheese akin to ricotta in texture. As for the taste, it’s savory, subtle, and altogether divine. There are currently four vegan pizza options including Artichoke Olive (RMB 68), the Veganism with zucchini, eggplant, bell pepper, capers, and onions (RMB 78), an Avocado Pizza (RMB 73) which, despite our skepticism, was surprisingly on point, and the Mushroom Spinach (RMB 63).

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Decadent desserts at nugget café

Now that you’ve had your pizza and burgers for dinner, it’s time to think about dessert! Thankfully, the über cozy Beiluoguxiang-adjacent café, bar, and livehouse, nugget café is freshly stocked with some brand new wares from vegan sweets purveyor, Cake Republic. Choose from the handmade white chocolate raspberry ice pop or mango passionfruit mousse, both of which also happen to be gluten-free and processed sugar-free, a point of pride for these innovative plant-based bakers. Hot damn!

Oatly Ice Cream

Another new addition to Beijing’s vegan sweets scene moved into the sixth floor of Chaoyang Joy City earlier this year and serves as a dedicated retail space for plant-based milk manufacturer Oatly, however, somewhat curiously, the spot is not owned or operated by Oatly. At any rate, we’re not complaining, because while the shelves are lined with the company’s signature alternative milk products, the real highlight is their fresh, vegan ice cream selection featuring exquisite flavors such as the Berry Whisky, Osmanthus Wine, Oriental Brandy, and Mango Passionfruit. Unfortunately, the store’s ice cream cones are not vegan.