When my girlfriend took me here twelve years ago, on our first date, I didn’t understand what she was doing. We’d been going out for several months and I knew that she was a strict vegan, but now... More

When my girlfriend took me here twelve years ago, on our first date, I didn’t understand what she was doing. We’d been going out for several months and I knew that she was a strict vegan, but now she was sitting with me in a Chinese restaurant flip-flopping between the Sweet and Sour Chicken and the Chicken Chow Mein, adding that we should also get Chicken Fried Rice. If I hadn’t known her better, I would have thought she was one of those vegetarians who don’t think birds and fish are animals—but, no, she was a vegan. I had seen her examine cartons of margarine for whey and pass up soy cheese containing casein. It wasn’t until she said, "Ooo—Curry Beef" that I finally just said, "Look—what are you doing?" She closed her own menu and pointed to the front, where it said in small letters, "All ‘meat,’ ‘poultry,’ and ‘seafood’ menu items are made from vegetable protein products and 100% vegetable oil. . . . Only the fortune cookies contain eggs." Now I wondered how many vegetarians had walked out without seeing this, and I only hoped the staff was prepared to stop them because they would have missed the meal of a vegetarian lifetime. Only strict vegans and vegetarians can know that, while their meal choices at home are almost infinite, restaurant meals are ridiculously limited. Because vegetables are often prepared with butter, salad dressings made with eggs or milk, soups with beef or chicken stock, and sandwiches with cheese or at least mayonnaise, vegans are often stuck with different forms of fried potatoes (French fries, hash browns, potato chips)—as long as they’re fried in vegetable oil. For many vegans, a meal at the Bamboo Garden will be an undreamed of pleasure.
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I don’t even like Chinese food, but if I could choose any meal on any day, I would pick menu item #86 at the Bamboo Garden: curried chicken and potatoes. Soy chicken, that is—everything here is... More

I don’t even like Chinese food, but if I could choose any meal on any day, I would pick menu item #86 at the Bamboo Garden: curried chicken and potatoes. Soy chicken, that is—everything here is vegan except for the fortune cookies, which contain eggs. This is the official restaurant of my family’s six vegetarians. Add an order of gourmet fried rice (with soy chicken, beef, and sausage), an appetizer of spring rolls, and a pot of tea, and you have a perfect meal for four dainty people or two ravenous ones.
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If you're in the mood for something good and hot and satisfying, nothing beats Bamboo Garden. This Chinese restaurant has masterfully created delicious vegetarian dishes that feel solid and... More

If you're in the mood for something good and hot and satisfying, nothing beats Bamboo Garden. This Chinese restaurant has masterfully created delicious vegetarian dishes that feel solid and substantial. If you're the kind of vegetarian who sometimes misses meat, the "fake meat" at Bamboo is a wonderful way to feed that need without compromising your decision to be meat-free. Also a great place to bring meat-eaters... many will be convinced that the sweet and sour "chicken" must be real!
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yes, sure, it's a vegetarian restaurant and it caters to vegetarians. but as an omnivore, i often like to eat veggie dishes - i don't want to only eat meat. but i won't eat the dishes at bamboo... More

yes, sure, it's a vegetarian restaurant and it caters to vegetarians. but as an omnivore, i often like to eat veggie dishes - i don't want to only eat meat. but i won't eat the dishes at bamboo garden. i find that their food is too often deep friend and with heavy sauces. that i can handle. what i can't handle is the odd aftertaste that i've experienced every time i've had food from bamboo garden. i don't know if it's the fake meats or the sauces, but it's consistent. i've eaten at many veggie places before so i know it's not all that common. too bad.
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I love every dish at Bamboo Garden, and they do a great job of creating dishes comparable to their meat counterparts. Even though they have a large menu with lots of dishes that appear scrumptious,... More

I love every dish at Bamboo Garden, and they do a great job of creating dishes comparable to their meat counterparts. Even though they have a large menu with lots of dishes that appear scrumptious, I've found that many of the dishes taste alike. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, though, because every dish is yummy.
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Popular restaurants come and go in my mind, but this place will always hold a special place in my gut. The first time I came here, I didn't even realize it was vegetarian! There are so many... More

Popular restaurants come and go in my mind, but this place will always hold a special place in my gut. The first time I came here, I didn't even realize it was vegetarian! There are so many options. I recommend the Sweet and Sour "Chicken" and Chow Mein. Bamboo Garden also has a great lunch special where you can combine certain dishes. They have such a large menu (with everything from "shark" to "pork"), even your meat eating friends will dig in- and love it. There is parking next door to the restaurant. Very friendly service.
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Bamboo Garden, at the base of Queen Anne, quite simply is amazing. You can get vegetarian beef, chicken, duck, or forget the fake meat and chose any traditional Chinese items from the extensive... More

Bamboo Garden, at the base of Queen Anne, quite simply is amazing. You can get vegetarian beef, chicken, duck, or forget the fake meat and chose any traditional Chinese items from the extensive menu. I highly recommend the tofu hot pots, which are huge (serve two) and delicious. A haven for vegetarians.
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I've been a vegetarian for 15 years now and I have a special place in my heart for vegetarian restaurants: I always feel like the owners must be good people who want to offer this wonderful thing to... More

I've been a vegetarian for 15 years now and I have a special place in my heart for vegetarian restaurants: I always feel like the owners must be good people who want to offer this wonderful thing to me, so you'd like I'd love this place. But although everything on the menu is meat free, it's also all kind of uniform in flavor so it's not that exciting. The interior is also a bit on the gloomy side. On the other hand, I have a friend from LA who insists on going there when she comes to visit because she loooooves it.
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Yeah, it was weird to go in there and see all the "meat" on the menu, even knowing that it was still all vegetarian. Still, it was quite tasty, and pretty amazing. The history behind that style... More

Yeah, it was weird to go in there and see all the "meat" on the menu, even knowing that it was still all vegetarian. Still, it was quite tasty, and pretty amazing. The history behind that style of cooking is neat, too. If you're looking for a Chinese restaurant that's out of the ordinary and has great food, this is the place for you.
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I recently ate here again for the first time in a couple years, and it was as good as ever. Everything they serve, even if it has a name in the menu that sounds like meat, is made with entirely... More

I recently ate here again for the first time in a couple years, and it was as good as ever. Everything they serve, even if it has a name in the menu that sounds like meat, is made with entirely vegetarian ingredients like bean curd and gluten. I ordered "smoked salmon" which was very good, although I have to admit that it didn't taste like salmon at all... It was good as it's own food, though!
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