Monday, August 17, 2009

Manila: Corner Tree Cafe, best vegetarian restaurant in Makati

Corner Tree Cafe in Jupiter Street was an eye-opener for me to the world of vegetarian food. I've always thought vegetarian food was mostly composed of vegetables and everything bland. But that's changed going through their selection of vegetarian dishes.

For starters, I got the Corner Tree Starter Plate (1) which is basically dukka and white bean hummus, a personal favorite of mine. It's the first time I tried dukka, an Egyptian snack made of spices and ground nuts and served with extra virgin olive oil and chunks of whole wheat bread.

On their soup menu was something new, Spinach and Pechay Chowder (3) which is basically pureed leafy greens and potatoes with a dollop of organic yogurt on top. This was really good if I may say.

For my main course, I got two dishes. The first was North African Vegetable Stew (2) which is stew infused with saffron and Moroccan spices served over couscous topped with almonds and fresh coriander. On the side, they also serve some spicy harissa (the Moroccan version of hot sauce) and greens.

But my personal favorite is the Baked Tofu Walnut Burger, simply unbelievable! It's a burger patty made of baked tofu and walnuts of course, served in a whole wheat bun with mint yogurt sauce, with sweet potato fries and mayo on the side.

Although I wasn't able to try it, another best seller is the Kare-kareng Gulay which is served with organic red rice and you guessed it, vegetarian bagoong! Another must try is the Spaghettini with Brocolli and Pine Nuts. Vegans can omit parmesan cheese.

Corner Tree Café
150 Jupiter Street, Bel-Air Village, Makati
(02) 8970295 / (0917) 8481004

6 comments:

  1. Anonymous17.8.09

    Good on you for posting this...It's about time you post something animal endly...As a Vegan I find most of the Filipino Dishes you've been posting so animal rights unfriendly and have been wondering if there are any like minded "enlightened" Filipino Vegans in the Philippines...Keep up the good work..

    PS for us vegans a lechon is as appetising as a cannibal's feast thank you very much!

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  2. wow...it's so refreshing to know to that there is actually a vegetarian Cafe' along Jupiter St. very near my place!

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  3. hi ivan!
    this is a great post.
    please let us know if we can re-post on our multiply site, http://veggieboutique.multiply.com/. we have a lot of vegetarian contacts who always appreciate news of new places to eat. :)

    thanks and more power!

    peachy

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  4. jrivs11.1.10

    Just wondering why vegans have to touch on the argument re animal rights. Why, don't plants have rights too?

    I do understand the health value of being vegan. But don't use the argument about animal rights. In the Bible, all living things have souls. So that only means that plants have souls too.

    I guess the better angle is on health. In the end, I always believe in what the Bible says. Human beings are the masterpiece of God's creation. And God created the other things to support His masterpiece. If Jesus Christ ate fish, then I believe we too can.

    Just my opinion ... Thanks.

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  5. jrivs11.1.10

    I'm just wondering why some vegans still touch on the animal rights issue to justify being one.

    Don't get me wrong, I understand the health value of being a vegetarian. If you're concerned about animal rights, why not for plants/vegetable rights. It may sound funny but that is what this issue is being reduced to.

    In the Bible, all living things have souls. That means plants do too.

    If you are going to advocate vegetarianism, then just do it for health purposes.

    Man is God's masterpiece of His creation. He created the other things to support His masterpiece. And I'm not for environment destruction but that is the basic principle of it.

    If one believes in the Bible, then let's try to be Biblical in all things. Jesus Christ ate fish. Then why not us.

    Just my opinion... Thanks.

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  6. Chopgirl1313059.4.10

    Jrivs:
    1) plants don't feel pain and they don't have brains to know fear. Animals do.
    2) I am vegetarian for 3 reasons: for my health, the earth (factory farming is #1 or #2 contributor to global warming) and because it's hard to differentiate, at least for me why I would eat a pig but not my dog or my cat.
    3). During Jesus' time, we hadn't raped and pillaged the Earth yet and overfished her oceans so there was really no need to change tradition in terms of our palates and cuisines, there is a need now. I wonder what He would say today.
    I'm not saying everyone should be vegetarian... But it couldn't hurt to be mindful of your eating choices for other reasons besides health.

    ReplyDelete

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