From Chinese to Indian: where to eat yummy vegan food from across the globe in Hong Kong
- Restaurants like Arcane, Confusion Plant Based Kitchen and The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong’s Tin Lung Heen restaurant are serving up delicious vegetarian and plant-based dishes from different cuisines, from Indian to Mexican and Chinese
2019 will be the year veganism goes mainstream, The Economist predicted a few years ago. This was followed by Forbes declaring 2019 as the year when more people will “embrace a plant-based diet”.
And they were not far off the mark. If you look closely at many menus in mainstream restaurants now, you will find more vegan options than ever. Modern European fine-dining restaurant Arcane embraced Green Monday – a meatless day adopted by many restaurants around town – several years ago and more recently decided to offer vegan dishes, too.
As with anywhere in the world, we are becoming, as chefs and consumers, more educated about our eating habits, both in terms of the effect on our health as well as the environment. I believe we all have a responsibility to look at this and see what changes we can make personally and professionally
Arcane’s restaurateur and chef Shane Osborn says, “As with anywhere in the world, we are becoming, as chefs and consumers, more educated about our eating habits, both in terms of the effect on our health as well as the environment. I believe we all have a responsibility to look at this and see what changes we can make personally and professionally.”
People are becoming more aware of how personal choices are having an effect on the planet, especially when it comes to food. A survey done by Oxford Martin School, the research arm of the University of Oxford, stated, “If the world went vegan, it could save eight million human lives by 2050, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by two thirds and lead to health care-related savings and avoided climate damages of US$1.5 trillion.”
Lisa Terauchi-D’Rozario became a vegan three years ago after a health scare prompted her to look for ways to reverse disease with a more holistic approach.
“All the research I did pointed in the direction of the adage, ‘you are what you eat’,” says Terauchi-D’Rozario, who opened Confusion Plant Based Kitchen in Sheung Wan last year. “Con Fusion is from the Spanish ‘with fusion’ because I love to mix things up, spices, cultural influences, as I am from a mixed culture/race household,” she says. Her restaurant is packed every day of the week.
According to Google search, the vegan trend quadrupled in the five years between 2012 and 2017, and it was getting almost three times more hits than vegetarian and gluten-free searches.
The Economist also reported that a quarter of 25- to 34-year-old Americans say they are vegans or vegetarians. In Sweden alone, one in five people under the age of 30 is vegetarian or vegan.