The Garden: Bringing vegetarian Chinese food to Windsor

Windsor is home to many excellent Chinese restaurants — but a new one on Wyandotte Street is particularly unique. Located near the University of Windsor, The Garden is completely vegetarian. In fact, it's one of the few vegetarian restaurants of any kind in Windsor-Essex.

Owned by a group of family and friends, the restaurant was opened out of frustration with the lack of Asian vegetarian options in Windsor-Essex. Tired of waiting for somebody to open such an establishment, they decided to take matters into their own hands. The restaurant took a year to develop.

What does a vegetarian Chinese food menu look like?

If you've been in a Chinese restaurant, you'll find a lot of familiar dishes: Kung Po chicken, shrimp fried rice hot and sour soup.

Except, instead of chicken, it's a chicken flavoured, soy-protein fritter that tastes remarkably similar to the real thing. Instead of shrimp, it's konnyaku, which is made from a type of yam. Also the soup doesn't contain meat, just locally-sourced tofu and vegetables.

According to co-owner Ketty Fang, using words like chicken and beef is a way of making non-vegetarians comfortable.

"It's like a beginning step of introducing vegetarian food to people. [When they eat our food] they'll think 'Okay, I've got enough protein, enough nutrition — and I even have the texture.' That's our way of showing people that [a vegetarian diet can be balanced]."

Some of the proteins used at The Garden are flavoured to be very similar to meat, while others simply take on the taste of whatever spices or sauce they're cooked in.

How are Windsorites responding?

Even though The Garden has only been open for a month, the response has taken the owners by surprise. Expecting that most of their clientele would come, at least initially, from Windsor's Asian community, co-owner Michael Lee said at half to two-thirds of their customers are non-Asian, and very diverse.

While many are vegetarian, others are full-fledged meat eaters who are simply looking for well prepared Chinese food. Ketty Fang said they've also attracted Jewish and Muslim customers who aren't able to dine at other Asian restaurants because they're not Kosher or Halal-certified.

Word is even spreading across the border. A number of Detroiters are making regular treks across the bridge and through the tunnel to the restaurant.

The Garden is located at 2156 Wyandotte St. W. in Windsor. They are open every day from 11:00am to 10:00pm.