My New Favorite Restaurant.

As a vegetarian, my preference when eating out is always a vegetarian or vegan restaurant. I know they share the same ethical beliefs that I do. And I don't have to ask all those annoying (to the server, not me) questions: is the soup broth vegetable based; does this dish have any gelatin; is there any meat in this dish at all - and, yes, seafood is meat.

There are a few fairly good vegetarian restaurants in the South Bay (Happy Bamboo, Garden Fresh), but after awhile, as with any restaurant, you get bored. Plus the ambiance in those restaurants is nothing to write home about. So we were happy to discover a new one right on Lawrence Expressway, with wonderful decor.

Like the other veggie restaurants in the area, Merit Vegetarian specializes in Asian cuisine, incorporating a lot of "fake meat" dishes. Unlike the other veggie restaurants in the area, this one rules the world.

Mr. Johnson and I took my brother and sister-in-law with us - neither of whom are vegetarian. A breakdown of what we ordered, and our critiques:

Appetizers
Fresh Spring Rolls: Okay, starting off really well. The rolls were extremely fresh, as well as the vegetables. The tofu was perfectly cooked. And the peanut dipping sauce was to die for. My sister-in-law doesn't care to much for tofu, so she picked hers out, but wouldn't give up the rest of it.

Salad
Lotus Salad: Yum. First all, they don't skimp on the lotus root. And I don't know what kind of dressing they put on it, but it may as well be called crack dressing. As my brother said, "best salad I've ever had".

Soup
Spicy Noodle Soup: Okay, normally I hate fake ham. I never even liked real ham. But whatever they got going on in this soup is the bomb-diggity. As my brother said, "best soup I've ever had".

Entrees
Sauteed Garlic "Beef": Definitely the best dish of the bunch. As I mentioned earlier, my sister-in-law doesn't care too much for tofu. But apparently she is a big fan yummy garlicky tofu morsels pretending to be beef. We had a chopstick sword fight going on as the morsels started to disappear.

Curry Vegetables: Although a little too gingery for my taste, yummy just the same. The vegetables were amazingly fresh.

Sesame Eggplant Tofu: I love me some tofu. And I love me some eggplant. Needless to say I love me me sesame eggplant tofu. The eggplant was cooked perfectly - a pet peeve of mine.

I should mention here the service - which was fantastic. Our waiter was extremely attentive, and our water glasses were never empty. We even met the executive chef, Sam, and gave him the big kudos he deserved. He said they have a location in Oakland, and so many South Bay heads we making the trip out there, they convinced them to open one up down here. We love you South Bay heads!

And for my favorite part of every meal...

Dessert
Vegan Carrot Cupcake: The executive chef mentioned that they make 90% of their dishes fresh to order. Pretty much the only food they do not prepare there is their desserts. Which is fine by me, because they get them from Black China Bakery in Santa Cruz. The frosting was amaaaaazing. Not a small feat!

I know, I know. We're piggies. And we did eat almost everything. The salad and the beef dish were by far the favorite of the entire table (licked those plates clean).

So if you're vegetarian (or even if you're not) and in the area (or even if you're not), you must treat yourself to the tasty morsels at Merit. I guarantee you will be a fan.

I want it now!

Merit Vegetarian
548 Lawrence Expressway #2
Sunnyvale, CA
408.245.8988
Open daily: 11am - 9pm