Tofu in paradise

This post is written by regular guest blogger Neela Bell.

So, I went out for a nice downtown lunch date with my girlfriend last week. We chose this really chic "Vegan" restaurant on 101st and 107th called Padmanadi. You just FEEL cool walking into this hip Indonesian restaurant. There is a massive Buddha (think Jabba the Hut, only lovely) along one wall, and truly the most inspired decorating I've ever seen at an Edmonton eatery. I felt like I was on holidays in Vancouver. I could have eaten lunch in the BATHROOM it was so nice. Ok, enough gushing.

I looked at the menu and did a quick scan. It soon came to my attention that there were quite a few meat dishes. I had prepared myself the whole drive over for what a "vegan restaurant" would be like. I imagined those mixed grain salads you get at Safeway, and maybe some of those weird bamboo shoot things like in hot and sour soup. I silently prayed they would have something like a stir fry.

"What's with the curried chicken??" I asked suspiciously, like my 5 year old does when she spots a flake of oregano on anything.

"It's ... tofu ... that tastes like chicken," my gf responded matter-of-factly. "If they do it right, you can't even tell the difference."

"Interesting." Is what I said out loud. What I was THINKING was more like ... oh grossss ... what do they cook it in to make it chicken flavoured?? and what the heck IS tofu?? Isn't it like soybeans??

Anyway, I'm a grown up and I did a process of elimination scan of the keywords along the menu ... eggplant? (nope) ... ginger beef?? (nix) ... mutton??? (good grief) and finally circled back to the curry vegetable dish which sounded very safe.

I ordered a coffee, which arrived with a little decanter of something that didn't quite look like milk. "Can I get some cream?" (to which the waitress patiently explained that cream comes from a COW ... )

I was reeling, but pulled it together and managed to have a very nice, albeit boundary expanding time at this new little outpost of hipness. We left with a pair of organic apples, and though the lunch was a bit of a trial for me, it felt good to do something completely new. How often do you get to do that?

Neela Bell is a teacher, aspiring writer and mother of two.