Restaurant review: InnoVeggie, North Point - anything but bland
InnoVeggie opened a few months ago. It is spacious and has a minimalist design. We looked through the menu of international dishes while leisurely sipping our complimentary osmanthus oolong tea.
There were Asian favourites such as Thai hot-and-sour casserole with vermicelli (HK$83), and Fujian fried rice (HK$78), and European dishes of pizza, pasta and risotto (HK$78 to HK$88).
No MSG is used, and the pasta dishes are made with soya milk instead of cream. The soya bean-based products, including the creative watermelon soya milk (HK$25) and sesame and yam soya milk (HK$25), come from Jan Heung Yuen in Sai Wan Ho.
The deep-fried mixed vegetable tempura (HK$60 for two skewers) was not a pleasant start to our meal. The chunky pieces of boiled vegetables, which included carrot, sweet potato and mushroom, were wrapped in a thick and not very crispy batter.
Luckily, a simple dish of sautéed kale with vegetarian minced meat (HK$68) redeemed the situation. Thanks to the aromatic chilli sauce, the crunchy stalks of the vegetable and the mince were flavourful, and went deliciously with rice.
We also liked the stir-fried pad Thai with vegetarian beef loin and a light, tasty black bean sauce that coated the noodles. It was fun contemplating how fake meat can mimic the texture of the real thing.
My favourite dish was the Thai green curry with mixed vegetables (above, HK$98). Served with a piece of chewy naan, which was less oily than expected, it had a generous helping of chunky mushrooms, eggplant, and broccoli.
The sauce tasted quite sweet at the beginning, but there was a welcome spicy kick towards the end. Lab Made, the popular liquid nitrogen ice-cream chain, takes up one corner of the shop, ready for those who have room for dessert.
