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On the Cutting Veg

Photo by Christopher Gardner

Magic Beans: Tofu turns into pork at Garden Fresh.

Even the pork is garden-fresh at this meatless eatery

By Judi Blackwell

The name says it all: Garden Fresh. Unlike other vegetarian restaurants that go for chemically enhanced veggie products, all menu items here are made entirely from fresh vegetables and bean curd. Housed in a small, slightly packed, no-frills space, the mom-and-pop shop concocts a wide variety of vegetarian entrees ranging from veggie burgers to sushi delights, stir-fried spinach linguine to curry vegetables. On a recent outing, I sampled the curry chicken ($5.25), lushly sautéed in a wicked sauce with potatoes and carrots, and generously accompanied by mounds of brown rice, fried jelly cakes and two taro spring rolls.

As a lifelong vegetarian, I can't compare faux meat with the real stuff, so my carnivorous lunch date assisted, declaring that the "chicken" tasted like tofu, but the sweet-and-sour vegetarian pork ($4.95) closely resembled the real thing. Beautifully served, within minutes, on a bed of crisp broccoli, the generous and fork-tender "pork" proved why the house is proud of its vegetarian offerings.

Unfortunately, the restaurant had run out of tofu walnut pudding pie and tofu pudding, so we sampled both the green tea and ginger ice cream ($2). The bland green tea ice cream didn't do much for me, but the ginger was surprisingly flavorful--not overpowering like ginger can be--and ended the meal on a flavorful note.

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Garden Fresh is located at 1245 W. El Camino Real, Mountain View, 415/961-7795. Open daily, 11am-10pm.

Send tips to Vegging Out at 550 S. First St., San Jose, 95113.


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