Nature's Vegetarian Restaurant, Bangsar Baru

Craving for dim sum after a hangover night or after a tiring day at work? The solution is Nature's Vegetarian at Bangsar! They open early at 8 a.m. on weekends and 9 a.m. on weekdays so you can plan your visit accordingly to avoid rush hour. They serve dim sum up to a certain time in the afternoon, so go early to prevent disappointment. Enjoy the dim sum with Pu'er tea (thick, dark and smokey-flavoured) to fully immerse yourself in the Chinese dim sum experience in fine dining style. 

Dim Sum 

1) Fried Yam Dumpling ("Wu-kok")

The yams are mashed and fried till golden brown giving a crispy, doughy texture.  This complements well with the fried char siew and thick dark sauce that is partially soaked but not fully into the yam, preventing the yam from getting too drenched from the sauce, and allowing the yam to retain its aroma and slightly sweet taste. Taste exactly like the real fried yam dumpling except that the interior is replaced with vegetarian pork fillet ("char siew"). Not to worry as I had carnivorous friends who thought they were eating the real "Wu-kok"! 

Rating: 10/10

2) Fried Pork Fillet ("Char Siew") with Cucumber in a stick 

This is my favourite dim sum dish by far! The char siew tasted really real to me - not too chewy, succulent as it is well soaked and seasoned with its brown sauce, and emits an aroma of real char siew with every bite! The cucumbers are fresh and juicy, enhancing the taste of the char siew and helps to prevent you from feeling "jelak" - a truly appetising combination. 

P/S: I love char siew. 

Rating: 10/10

3) Char Siew Buns 

Buns that are filled with fried char siew and thick dark sauce. Would even be better if there were more char siew fillings. 

Rating: 9/10

4) Porridge with sliced ginger, brown beans, cilantro and chicken pieces

only available on weekends 

ingredients are drenched in soy sauce and sesame oil dressing, served with "youtiao" as side dish 

Porridge is boiled long enough resulting in a creamy texture emitting a rice aroma that allow you to even eat it on this own. I tried this twice - the first time I stirred all the ingredients and sauce together with the porridge. This was a bad idea as the seasoning killed the natural taste of the porridge, and the taste of the sesame oil was too overbearing for me. The second time I tried this, I ate the ingredients separately with the porridge, and by far the best vegetarian porridge I've ever had. Dip the youtiao (deep fried and fresh) together with the porridge as you eat it! 

Rating: 10/10

5) Steamed rice rolls ("chee cheong fun")
served with char siew or prawns

The rice rolls are perfectly steamed - soft, and slightly chewy texture. Accompanied with light soy sauce (too light for me) and its interior char siew or prawns (insufficient amount for me). Suitable if you don't mind just eating rice rolls by itself. 

Rating: 6/10

6) Red Flower Dumpling (correct me if I'm wrong)

Dumplings filled with vegetables - flavourful, crunchy, juicy, and chewy on the outside! All you can ask for from a dumpling! A known favourite to the dumpling fans!

P/S: I'm not really a fan of dumplings so I am unable to rate this fairly. Try it for yourself! 

Rating: 7/10 

7) Fishballs (forgot the exact name for this)

Really bad attempt at making fishballs! There's 2 layers to this fishballs, the outside layer is rubbery and has a plastic taste. The inside is dry and every bite can only be slightly assisted with dippings of the dim sum brown sauce. Not juicy, too chewy and only gives a slight aroma of fishball. 

Rating: 2/10

8) Lo Mai Gai 

Sticky, flavourful glutinous rice served with their signature char siew and juicy mushrooms. Generous ingredients given compared to other places I've tried. 

Rating: 9/10

Ala Carte

1) Steamed fish with ginger

This is the best attempt at steamed fish with ginger I've ever tried! The fish is slightly chewy, slightly fragrant and well-complemented with a soft layer of fresh and fragrant tofu, soy sauce and ginger. This dish could be too light for the flavour-seeking. 

Best eaten with rice. 

Rating: 9/10

2) Butter mushroom snail 

I believe they use the ends of abalone mushrooms for this dish. The mushrooms are juicy and coated with a batter of buttermilk. The batter is too dry and crusty, and has only a light buttermilk flavour.  Can do much better!

Rating: 5/10

3) Yam Basket 

served with vegetables, nuts and ham

A fair attempt at making the yam basket. A very dry dish, despite its generosity with vegetables and ingredients on the inside of the yam basket. The ham taste bad to me as it emits a strong plastic aroma. The yam is good but the ingredients need to be well-drenched in sauce to bring out the flavours of the yam. The choice of vegetables such as corns, carrots and nuts do not assist in making this dish more juicy or flavourful in any way! 

Rating: 4/10

4) Special Fried Mee 

home-made

This is their signature fried noodle. Soft and chewy noodles, perfectly cooked with dark brown sauce (taste like the dark black sauce from hokkien mee but healthier as it is without pork fats!). Juicy and fragrant! I can have this on its own!

Rating: 10/10

Address: No. 24, Jalan Telawi 3, Bangsar Baru, 59100 KL

Contact: 03-2283 5523

Website: https://www.facebook.com/Natures-Vegetarian-Restaurant-Bangsar-240246113929/

Fan Cai Xiang Vegetarian Restaurant (Vegan)

I am writing this post specially for my friend's friend who will be travelling from India and would like to try authentic Chinese cuisine in Kuala Lumpur! Most of their workers are Chinese speaking, so I suggest showing the picture below or pointing the preferred dishes in the menu for ease of frustration! Overall, their food can be quite salty - request for a less salty option if you prefer!

1) Honey Barbeque Pork
partially eaten barbeque pork :D

This is their signature barbeque pork - the best vegetarian barbeque pork ("Char Siew") I've ever tried! Even the texture is similar to the real thing, crispy on the outside and slightly chewy on the inside. It has a slightly sweet taste as it is perfectly glazed with honey - perfect with a bowl of rice! 

Rating: 10/10

2) Pa Dong Curry 
served with potatoes, and awesome fried buns

I have no idea what is Pa Dong but I know it is another of their signature dish. The vege meat has a surprisingly sinewy texture to it, and the curry is thick, slightly spicy and salty and has a deep, earthy flavour to it.  Dip the fried buns (crispy and lightly buttered aroma on the outside, but soft on the inside) into the curry to fully immerse in the curry experience the Chinese way! 

Rating: 10/10

What is Chinese food without soup and rice? The soup of the day was white radish soup. The soup is perfectly boiled, giving a strong white radish flavour, slightly salty, yet healthy and nutritious. I recommend their brown rice as it is of good quality - soft, fragrant, and complements the dishes well. 

3) Fried Beancurd 

served with vegetables and homemade mayonnaise sauce 

I prefer fried beancurd without sauce as the aroma in the tofu is well coated in a brown crust. Dip in the mayonnaise sauce for extra flavour! 

Rating: 8/10

4) Preserved radish fried egg

I was really surprised as they did not use any eggs to cook this dish! Thin layers of firm tofu has been fried till brown.  It is fried with radish giving an eggy, slightly salty flavour. Want to know how real eggs taste like? Try this dish to find out! 

Rating: 9/10

5) Stir fried sweet potato leaves 

This is my favourite Chinese vegetable, and I personally like it stir fried as I appreciate the natural sweetness and flavour of the sweet potato leaves. As you can see from the colour of the greens, it is slightly discoloured and aged - giving off a slightly bitter taste and has a tough texture. Sweet potato leaves need to be dark green for optimum quality. 

Rating: 4/10

6) Marmite Lotus Root
sprinkled with oats

Deep fried lotus roots with marmite sauce, sprinkled with oats.  It is sticky and savoury with every bite, and the sweetness and the fragrant from the marmite and oat respectively turns the bland lotus root into a mouthwatering dish! The lotus root is slightly tough, but well-cooked and juicy enough to make you want more! 

Rating: 9/10

7) Pig intestine soup 
boiled with white peppers, only served on Sunday

This is a good attempt of replicating the pig intestine soup, but it is too peppery which I find it too overbearing and covers all other taste. Since it is vegetarian, they should put less pepper! 

Rating: 6/10

8) Water Cress Soup 

Perfectly boiled water cress soup! Nutritious soup to have with your dishes. It is sometimes too salty. 

Rating: 9/10

9) Organic wheatgrass juice 

I wanted a healthy drink one day and decided to order the above. It is overly sweet, and made using powder - avoid this at all cost! 

Rating: 2/10

Last but not least, this is a dish made from a special friend of mine for her friend.. isn't she sweet?! Scroll below to check out what it is!

Lo and behold - mixed rice ("chap fan") using the dishes above! Our friend loves mixed rice, so we made this specially for her in fine dining version! She truly enjoyed every bite of this! 

Rating: Infinite love/∞

Address: 35G Plaza Danau 2, Jalan 1/109F, Taman Danau Desa, 58100 KL
Contact: +603-7981 9812
Website: https://www.facebook.com/fancaixiang/