I DO my best to eat healthy but for someone who has no kitchen, I have to make do with whatever is available in the nearby eateries or restaurants.
However, the healthier dishes they serve can be boring if eaten everyday. As a foodie, I do enjoy some variety to what I eat in a day.
Also, most of the restaurants or cafes which offer a healthy or vegetarian menu tend to be far from where I work or I also find that some of their offerings tend to be too expensive.
Therefore, I got excited after finding out about Golden Vegetarian Eatery from Ian Garcia, founder of Wander Lust and columnist for the Mindanao Times. He talked about how the food they offer is affordable but at the same time vegetarian.
I have been planning to visit the eatery soon but it was only this week that I visited them.
They are within the compound of Wisons Shopping Center, located along Pichon St. However, to find the eatery enter at the Iñigo St. side. This is the parking area of the compound and you can find here other eateries as well.
The Golden Vegetarian Eatery is located at the very end, near the entrance to the building. You will spot it immediately because it is painted in green.
They serve a number of vegetarian dishes that are common to us in terms of taste. The food is nothing fancy. The food they offer are simple, affordable, and quite delicios.
For my recent visits here, I had the vegetarian curry, barbecued tofu, lumpia ubod, spicy tomato stew, and fried tofu.
The only tofu I eat is the silkened one that is used in taho. Tofu for regular meals, I am not a fan of. I just don’t like its taste. However, the barbecued tofu I had here was delicious! It was smokey and the sauce was great too. The sauce was sweet, salty, and had this nice hint of tomato flavor.
The fried tofu, on the other hand, was just okay. I wish they had seasoned the tofu more.
I also liked their vegetarian curry, which has carrots, potatoes, red bell pepper, and tofu.
The spicy tomato stew, which I had with the fried tofu, was delicious too. It was almost like a salsa sauce but you know it is not. It was bursting with umami flavor.
The lumpia ubod was also great too. I like that it was not very oily. The lumpia filling was well seasoned too.
I also ordered their Guyabano juice and Blue Ternate juice. Both were refreshingly good for lunch. I liked that the Blue Ternate had a subtle lemon flavor. Their juices are also not very sweet, which was nice.
After dining at the Golden Vegetarian Eatery, I hope more eateries around the city will offer more healthier options and not just the traditional stir fried vegetables, chop suey, pinakbet, and law-uy.