[Shanghai] Dashu Wujie 大蔬无界
Dashu Wujie 大蔬无界 | Xujiahui Location | Bund Location
Address: 天平路392号(近肇嘉浜路) – 392 Tianping Rd near Zhaojiabang Rd (徐汇区 Xujiahui District) and 中山东二路外滩22号4楼 – 4F, 22 Zhongshan East No. 2 Rd (黄浦区 Huangpu District)
Date visited: 2013.12
Will return: Maybe
What to get:
– Crispy baked brown butter abalone mushrooms
– Deep-fried lion’s mane mushroom with sweet & sour sauce
– Grilled bailing mushrooms sushi
– Please note this was an invited tasting –
Dashu Wujie 大蔬无界, also known as Greenology, is a vegetarian restaurant with two branches in Xujiahui and on the Bund, and a third branch opening the last week of December at the SWFC. Dashu Wujie hosted a multi-course tasting for the media at the Xujiahui location where I got to try some dishes from the winter menu that was rolled out on December 1. Dashu Wujie’s menu changes every three months so the dishes below will be available through the winter. Dishes can be ordered a la carte or in 6-8 set course meals that are RMB¥288, RMB¥388, and RMB¥588.
As a devout carnivore with a lifelong affinity for meat, I will admit I found some of the dishes to be pretty good. Although I can’t say this is the first place that will pop into my head when I decide my next meal as meat is essential to my being (look at how much steak I eat), I will recommend this place to vegetarians and people who eat more vegetables than me. It is clean and healthy eats without sacrificing taste.
We started with some cold dishes including Chinese knotweed in chili soy sauce, turnip & tofu skin rolls with house grown sprout salad, cauliflower mushroom & daikon sashimi.
Chinese knotweed, walnut & longan soup
Recommend: no
I wasn’t too fond of the flavors in this soup but it did warm me up. The ingredients in this are good for hair growth.
Crispy baked brown butter abalone mushrooms
Recommend: yes
If I weren’t at a vegetarian restaurant, I would have thought there was meat in this. This was very hearty and filling. I could eat a plate of this.
Radish dumplings with bailing mushrooms & water chestnuts
Recommend: yes
Radish is always good in my book.
White radish soup
Recommend: yes
This radish soup topped with tofu skin may look simple but many vegetables went into making the soup base. Nice and warm for the cold weather.
Fried abalone mushroom rolls & zucchini
Recommend: yes
The sauce was a mix of sweet and spicy at the same time.
Morel mushrom & purple sweet potato puff pastry
Recommend: no
I thought the puff pastry portion was okay but not too memorable. I did Like the bit of purple potato mash on the side, which had a hint of wasabi flavor.
Crispy & creamy tofu tempura
Recommend: yes
I love tofu in general and this was a mix of both crispy tofu on the outside and soft tofu on the inside.
Stir-fried morel, bamboo shoots & seasonal vegetables
Recommend: yes
Very straight forward; if you like these ingredients, go for it.
Sauteed porcini, seasonal vegetables & tofu
Recommend: yes
Same story as above.
Deep-fried lion’s mane mushroom with sweet & sour sauce
Recommend: yes
One of my favorites for the night! This is batter-fried mushroom and dragon fruit in a sweet and sour sauce. Weirdly good like orange chicken but probably infinitely more healthy. The irony.
Grilled bailing mushroom sushi
Recommend: yes
Another well-received dish tonight was this mushroom nigiri, which was topped with a slightly sweet glaze and crispy flakes. Cute, too.
Glutinous rice balls Taiwan style
Recommend: no
Similar to a zongzi but with lotus filling inside. I still like my traditional zongzi with that savory pork fat flavor.
Crisp almond cake, purple cabbage taro sorbet, Hawthorn honey
Recommend: yes
We got to watch one of the chefs put our very vibrant dessert together, which was part almond cake and part purple taro mash.
Not your typical dessert but filled my sweet tooth nonetheless. The toasty almond cake was topped with a Chinese cabbage cream (O_o). The taro mash and candied Hawthorn berry worked well together. Overall, not too sweet but sweet enough.
