Curried, Battered And Chopsticked: Winter’s Best Vegetarian Dishes In Vancouver

While a heaping plate of saucy ribs, a properly roasted chicken, or a fish grilled whole with lemon and fresh herbs might sound like the stuff of wintry bliss to many Vancouverites, there’s plenty of vegetarian offerings that warm just as well, if not to much better effect overall. Here are our favourite five for your ranking consideration…

Beer Battered Halloumi | Acorn | 3995 Main St. | MOUNT PLEASANT | www.theacornrestaurant.ca
Most of our visits to The Acorn involve at least one order of crunchy, salty, wonderfully beer-battered halloumi cheese. Served atop a crispy zucchini pancake spread with bright green duvet of mashed peas, its squeaky, briny goodness hits all the right comforting notes on a winter’s night. $20

Golden Temple Soup | Chau Veggiexpress | 5052 Victoria Dr. | EAST VAN | www.chowatchau.ca
Large enough to feed two, this satisfying turmeric coconut curry soup (pictured above) is ladled on top of quinoa, rice, or noodles and then topped with tofu, yam, taro, broccoli and lots of kale. The soup base is totally versatile, and it’s thankfully available in take-out jars (our freezer is full of them). $11.75

Squash & Miso Ramen | Harvest | 243 Union St. | CHINATOWN | www.harvestunion.ca
Harvest Community Foods makes a restorative and delicious bowl of ramen with squash and miso broth. It’s finished with nori, scallions, radish and a sprinkling of sesame seeds. Quality noodles, too. Ask them to add on some of their house spicy oil to kick things up a notch. $12

Najib’s Special | Nuba | 207 West Hastings St. | GASTOWN | www.nuba.ca
One of our favourite items on Nuba’s Lebanese menu is the legendary Najib’s Special, which is basically deep fried cauliflower tossed with lemon and sea salt. Although it might not be as healthy as some of the others, it’s deliciously addictive, not to mention vegan-friendly and gluten-free. $8.50

Vegetable Korma | Shanti’s Curries | 4191 Main St. | MAIN STREET | www.shantiscurries.com
Built on a base of house-made vegetable stock and green korma paste and cashew cream, this mild curry is loaded with cauliflower, carrots, potatoes, peas, green beans, and shiitakes. It has all the impact of a winter stew, but five times the goodness and ten times the flavour. $13

Did we miss your favourite vegetarian dish? Let us know @scoutmagazine

OTHER POLLS OF CRITICAL IMPORTANCE

Reverence, Respect, and Realization: What The Acorn Taught Me

At 21 years old, I'm still just a kid and relatively new to working in restaurants, but I grew up umbilically tied to the hospitality industry. My father was a food writer, and my mother is a photographer. Their careers meant that most of my early years were spent in kitchens and dining rooms instead of on playgrounds and soccer fields; consequently, I learned my table manners before I could count past one hundred.