My partner Donna and I finally got around to dining at Guilin after talking about it the few months since we got back to Tucson. As part of our celebration of Valentine's we decided to do dinner and a movie. Since Guilin is right across the street from The Loft, where "Little Voice" was playing, we had the perfect opportunity to try Chinese cuisine with a difference. Not only does Guilin offer a menu even more vegetarian-friendly than most usually affable Chinese restaurants, the dishes we enjoyed went a step further than most in attention to detail, adding little touches that were subtly noticed and savored.The dining area is tasteful and clean though perhaps a bit too austere and bright for an intimate Valentine's dinner, but the focus of creativity here is in the ingredients. Small treasures like the bean curd skin (Trust me, it tastes better than the name gives it credit for but, if you prefer, you may call it by it's Japanese name- yuba.) found in the "Buddha's Delight." Though the first section of the menu featured, for the most part, standard and, I'm sure, very good Chinese fair, Donna and I were interested in the last two sections of the menu- vegetarian dishes and vegan dishes featuring "vegi-meat." Both sections offered too many choices to make a quick decision, so we ordered the combination appetizer platter- battered and fried sweet potatoes and eggplant, egg-rolls, and small rolls with what seemed like a tasty, seasoned tofu mixture wrapped in nori seaweed. Served with sweet-and-sour sauce and a garlic-scallion seasoned shoyu-style soy sauce, the appetizers offered a nice diversion while we narrowed down the rest of the menu. I liked the combination of sweet potato with sweet-and-sour and the egg-roll with the soy sauce.
We decided to split orders of fried tofu, Buddha's Delight, and the vegan-version of Kung Pao Chicken featuring "vegi-meat," made from wheat gluten (the stretchy part of the wheat starch) seasoned to resemble the flavor of chicken. Though I liked the spiciness of the Kung Pao (it was too spicy for Donna) and the texture of the gluten (sometimes called, in the health food store or co-op, by it's Japanese name, seitan), there was a bit too much of the gluten and it began, towards the end, to taste too much like a "meat dish." I would think, though, for carnivores who are trying to cut back on meat or vegetarians who miss the taste of meat, this would easily satisfy the need for something chewy. Well-complimented with carrots, peas, baby corn, water chestnuts and bamboo shoots and garnished with peanuts, the dish was good and I enjoyed the spicyness. It wasn't, however, my favorite and I will likely try something else next time.
But the other two dishes balanced it out nicely with more vegetables and one of my favorites, done very well indeed- the fried tofu. The tofu was very fresh and light, almost puffy, with a light, crisp batter. Seasoned, again, with the soy sauce the tofu has a subtle richness that belies its undeserved reputation for blandness. I love tofu done this way, and Guilin does it very well! I will probably order this often. It made a delightful counterpoint to the vegi-meat and the "Buddha's Delight."
A tasty combination of carrots, broccoli, Chinese black mushrooms, snow peas, bean threads and little rolls of yuba in a rich sauce, it's easy to see why the Buddha would have been delighted with this dish! I've always liked yuba anyway and often use it at home. It works well as the skin on a vegetarian "turkey" at Thanksgiving but is especially delicious just cooked in a little toasted sesame oil and soy sauce. It was a real treat to find it in this dish. This, too, could become a staple.
The menu is quite extensive and there were several dishes we would like to have tried but we'll leave those for the next time, though I think we'll probably take the dishes home and enjoy them by candlelight listening to Django Reinhardt or, perhaps, Joni Mitchell's great new C.D., "Taming the Tiger." We skipped dessert (it changes often so ask what is available) in favor of popcorn with the movie, Little Voice, a painfully charming film about a girl (Jane Horrock) with an enormous talent, surviving in spite of manipulation by her sel-absorbed mother (Brenda Blethyn) and the mom's sleazy talent-agent boyfriend, Ray Say (Michael Caine). I just threw in the record and movie reviews as a bonus, but if you're looking for an exceptional Chinese restaurant or one that offers a variety of tasty vegetarian dishes, you should try Guilin.
Guilin is located at 3250 E. Speedway, across from The Loft. Call 320-7768 for daily specials or take-out.
Robert Oser is a local chef, teacher and author of "Flavors of the Southwest" and an upcoming vegetarian chili cookbook. He currently works at the Food Conspiracy Co-op.