Vegetarian restaurants offer alternative food

T. Sima Gunawan, Contributor, Jakarta

It may be called spicy duck or fried chicken, but there is no fowl in the food. The sauteed beef, the fried tuna fish and the shark fin soup are also meat free.

They are vegetarian dishes, made from the basic ingredients -- beans, flour and mushrooms.

Take the shark's-fin soup, for example, served in the vegetarian restaurant here. It consists of creamed corn and seaweed to replace the shark's-fins and "chicken" which is made from soy beans, shredded carrots, mushrooms and celery. It tastes sweet, almost like the famous Chinese chicken and corn soup.

The spicy duck is mainly made from soy beans. It is served with chili sauce. While fried Gohiong, which looks similar to sausage, is made from strips of dried tofu filled with mushrooms and other ingredients.

Vegetarian restaurants are growing in number. They can be found at locations around the city - mostly in West and North Jakarta. Among them are Padmanadi, near Pasar Ikan in North Jakarta; Cita Rasa in Pluit, North Jakarta; Selera in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta; and Mudita on Jl. Batu Ceper, Central Jakarta. A number of vegetarian fast food outlets -- like YummyBean and Love Power -- have also hit the market here in the past few years.

A few vegetarian restaurants use eggs and dairy products, but most are vegan. Many do not even use onions, because according to some Buddhist teachings, eating onions may have a negative emotional impact.

One of the oldest restaurants in town is Padmanadi Restaurant, which opened 18 years ago in Pluit Plaza, North Jakarta. A few years later it moved across the street to open a branch in Mega Mall Pluit. Early in the 1990s a third restaurant was opened at the nearby Kompleks Mitra Bahari.

Arianto, the restaurant manager, said that there is also a branch in Canada, which opened just last year.

The food is priced at between Rp 25,000 and Rp 30,000 for a small portion, while the large portion costs double. Every first and 15th day of the month (according to the Chinese calendar) the restaurant offers a buffet that costs Rp 30,000 per person.

"Our place is always full at that time, because on those days there are many people who eat vegetarian food," Arianto said.

He explained that besides vegetarians -- including Buddhists who are vegetarians -- there are others who eat vegetarian food only on certain days. For example, only on the Chinese calendar's first and 15th day of the month. Others eat vegetarian food only on certain days of the week.

He said that in the beginning his family, who are vegetarians, started the business to serve vegan Buddhists.

But now, many are vegetarians for the sake of their health.

Willy Wibisono, operational manager of Mudita Restaurant, said he also provides a catering services for white collar employees in Central Jakarta, who find it difficult to obtain vegetarian food near their work place.

The food served at vegetarian restaurants may of course differ, depending on the ingredients and method of preparation. The dishes may include monosodium glutamate, but they do not use chemical flavoring essences.

"Do you know that burned kemiri (candlenut) smells like fried chicken?" said Willy, 27, who started eating vegetarian food regularly about three years ago but decided to be a pure vegetarian only last year.

The restaurant, which also sells vegetarian "instant" meals, offers hot food priced at between Rp 9,000 and Rp 20,000 for a small portion.

Mudita restaurant, established in 1992, has old-fashioned Chinese decor, with small Buddhist statues and candles.

It is located on the first floor of a building across from Gajah Mada Plaza, while on the second floor there is a billiard center, which serves cheap alcoholic drinks and vegetarian meals.

Vegetarian food can also be obtained at fast food outlets like Yummy Bean, which only started operations two years ago but already has at least 10 outlets in Jakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar, Semarang, Batam, Jambi and even Malaysia and Singapore.

T. Sudarman, the franchise holder, is convinced that his business has a bright future.

"More and more people are aware of the importance of a healthy lifestyle and our food is loved by children," he said.

Among the most popular meals are the burger, which costs Rp 12,000 and the nuggets at Rp 6,000. "Our burger is made from soy beans, mushrooms and sea weed," he said.

Most of the ingredients used in these restaurants are locally produced but some are imported from China and Singapore.