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VEGETARIAN pork, beef and chicken - once you've got over the surprise and amusement, you will see this restaurant is offering something truly special.

My wife is a veggie - has been since she was 13 years old - and most Chinese restaurants in this country are out of bounds. She's not banned for being weird, but it is a self-imposed exile from fooderies offering little more than mushroom chow mein and neglecting to add much in the way of flavour to any veggie foods.

But the Pink Giraffe is different - it replicates everything on the meat menu using soya protein, so no longer do I have to have jealous eyes boring into the top of my guilty head as I tuck into crispy duck pancakes. Hurrah for edible equality!

The Pink Giraffe also gives you a potted history of vegetarian food and the use of soya in Chinese cooking so you can learn and eat (soya was used in cooking to provide the emperors with huge feasts even on days when they were not allowed to eat meat.) WHAT DID YOU CHOOSE?

The vegetarian crispy duck pancakes were a given - they simply had to be ordered, slurped and enjoyed in a messy orgy of tastiness, but we also ordered vegetarian tom yum soup to help our starters along.

For mains we plumped for sweet and sour prawns and vegetarian shredded Szechwan beef.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE?

The pancakes were good as the plum sauce was sticky and sweet, and the chef had made the veggie duck well enough to appease my meat-eater's palate. The tom yum soup was interesting - a clear broth with big chunks of mushroom, ginger and carrots but with a chilli kick strong enough to decapitate under-16s and the elderly.

It was very tasty and we soon learned not to inhale too close to it or it would send us into paroxysms of coughing. The main courses were slightly disappointing - the prawns' sauce was a bit cloying and the vegetarian beef tasted of little more than popcorn - but we still polished them off.

The rice was well cooked again. It sounds simple, but a good restaurant always finds a way to make rice really tasty but maintain a but of texture and prevent it from becoming greasy.

AND THE SERVICE?

Good. The food arrived promptly and we were cheerily greeted and waved off.

ANYTHING ELSE TO NOTE?

The ambience was welcoming and happy. St Clement's is a busy and thriving area and this was reflected in the restaurant.

But we did notice an incredible thirst the next day, despite the fact that I guzzled about three-quarters of a litre of water during the meal. My wife commented that she felt as though she had a hangover.

VERDICT: Pink Giraffe may wish to cut down on the salt or other thirst-making products. Still, it hasn't put us off - it offers a top night out for veggies and carnivores alike.

THE BILL Tom yum soup £3.50 Vegetarian duck pancakes £8.50 Sweet and sour prawns £7.50 Vegetarian Szechwan beef £6.50 Egg fried rice £2 Large bottle of sparkling water £3.50 Glass rosé wine £2.95 TOTAL: £34.45

2:42pm Thursday 27th March 2008

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