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3G Vegetarian Restaurant
Category: Restaurants Vegetarian Vegetarian [Edit]
3424 Cambie StVancouver, BC V5Z 2W8
Neighbourhoods: South Cambie, Riley Park
(604) 568-9008
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Has TV:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
25 reviews for 3G Vegetarian Restaurant
Review Highlights
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"...a little skeptical about fake meat, but this was incredible." In 6 reviews -
"...pumpkin coconut, and buckwheat soba noodles with spare ribs." In 3 reviews
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"They have a huge selection of dim sum." In 5 reviews
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25 reviews in English
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Review from Kathleen L.
Vancouver, BC
1/27/2012
I just went there for the first time last week and I was thrilled to be there. I'd been looking forward to checking it for a long long time now. I have to tell you, it did not let me down. I loved every dish we had pretty much. I went there for a birthday and so we were lucky enough to get to try over 7 dishes.
Highlights for me:
Fried Buckwheat noodles with soba (AMAZING!!)
Fried rice with olive, pine seed and taro
"chicken"drumsticks (ask for them spicy!)
The owners were super friendly and made me really want to go back every week and support them.
Happy all around! -
Review from Sarah R.
Vancouver, BC
5/6/2012
My favourite place for vegetarian Chinese food takeout! The sweet and sour pork and kung po chicken are my favourites! I'll be back regularly!
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Review from Malloreigh M.
Vancouver, BC
7/11/2011 2 Check-ins Here
Oh, I really like 3G. The staff is super nice, always eager to please, and the prices are pretty good. Everything I've eaten there has been well-prepared, which is not something I can say for all Chinese vegetarian places. I especially like their deep fried spicy eggplant - yum! Melt in your mouth nuggets of my favourite produce... so delicious.
They also serve all-day dim sum. At $3.50 per item, it can be either more or less expensive than dim sum elsewhere. Good.Listed in: Vegan Vancouver
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Review from Salsaboy S.
8/23/2011
This is decent vegetarian Chinese, perhaps even better by Vancouver standards. By New York and San Francisco measures, however, this is only average. The fake meats that the Yelpers here rave about are okay. I preferred the chicken to the beef, but neither was exceptional.
One thing I liked about 3G Vegetarian is that there is dim sum available all the time, allowing someone like myself to experience and sample a variety of different appetizers. Many of the items on the dim sum menu are also available on the regular menu, but in smaller portions and proportionally lower prices. There is an additional dim sum menu that is only available at lunch time. We ate there for dinner, so our dim sum selection was about half of what it would otherwise be.
We started with the veggie drumsticks, veggie egg rolls, a variety of dumplings (shrimp, veggie, spinach), and hot and sour soup. Nothing was exceptional. The dumplings were okay; the soup wasn't great. The drumsticks were perhaps my favorite, but Golden Lotus in Oakland traditionally has prepared drumsticks far superior (though I'm told they no longer serve them). For our entrees, we got the Kung Pao Chicken and the Black Pepper Beef. I preferred the kung pao. The sauce wasn't flavorful, but I liked the chicken. The Black Pepper Beef had a better sauce, but the beef was more like salisbury steak-ish, which I didn't like.
There were a lot of funky options to try, which I didn't want to attempt on my first (and only) visit: Veggie Mutton and Eggplant in a Coconut Cream (or something of the sort); Salted Fish and Chicken with eggplant and mushrooms (or a variation of the same); .etc.
I loved the service. The one and only server, Sookie, was more delicious than the food, and while her server skills could be more efficient, her energy and exuberance more than made up for any lack in attention.
Were I a resident of Vancouver, I would seek out other options. I'm not saying I wouldn't return -- as a vegetarian, how many options could I have? There's got to be better . . . or perhaps after studying the menu and sampling more dishes, I'd find what they do best. That said, between the two of us, we sampled quite a bit and nothing was a standout.
Should anyone reading this ever go to New York City, check out Wild Ginger (Black Pepper Seitan) or Franchia Cafe, which are galaxies beyond anything that came out of 3G's kitchen. In Oakland, there is Golden Lotus (in San Francisco, it's sister, Golden Era), and in Palo Alto/Mountain View there are the two Garden Fresh. All are better than 3G. If this is the best that Vancouver has to offer for vegetarian Asian, there is a lot of room for improvement. -
Review from Rheanna F.
Vancouver, BC
1/21/2011
Damn, i'm moving outta my Cambie hood in a few weeks, and i've officially decided that this will be the food joint i miss the most. The staff are so nice! The super sweet lady who usually waits tables has smiled and waved at me from the cash register when i've walked by outside the store!
Their fake meats are a monument to human possibility and achievement. You will never find anything closer to meat than actual meat. Hell, their fake meat products are probably closer to a cow that the crap you get at McDonald's! (I have a theory that all their fake meats actually come from one of those almost-an-animal plants like Audrey from Little Shop of Horrors.)
I've tried a lot of things on their menu, but nothing has come close to knocking my favorite dish, bean crud* roll with mushrooms and broccoli, off its ivory pillar. (*There's a typo on the menu so 'curd' is spelled crud. I'm totally comfortable with this.) For the best fake meat experience, i would order the pepper steak and veggies, or if you want your mind blown, the chicken drumsticks.
I am definitely going to find excuses to come to this place after moving to a new neighbourhood, and when i do come will probably buy lots of their food and freeze it. (I'm totally serious, it's that good!!) -
Review from Dru C.
2/17/2011
Delicious food, amazing service, and lovely atmosphere. Describes the whole establishment!!
I love this place as their food is delicious, but very healthy which is always a plus on my list! They were all very surprising dishes we ordered. It was a UYE event that we all went for and it was spectacular! The food was not what it seems to be, as their food was very special and very different on each level. There were spicy, sweet, and sour all mixed in each bite. The dish with the rice and the pine nuts, omg that was sooo good. The special crunch at the end really was perfect touch to the dish.
Overall at the end it was a great price for all the food and we had tons of fun. It was cheap and for all the dishes we ordered it was perfect!! I hope to go there again with my friends and have another great awesome time!! :D -
Review from Nicole F.
2/17/2011 1 Check-in Here
Last night was my second visit to 3G! I went once when it first opened and wasn't really sure how I felt about it... until now.
There are a lot of similarities between 3G and Whole Vegetarian, but I think the menu at 3G is a little smaller. Not that it matters, I managed to stuff myself so full I could barely walk after anyhow. Not hard to do with food this tasty!
The chicken drumsticks are better at Whole Vegetarian. There, I said it. They are exactly the same thing, yet somehow I enjoy them more at Whole Veg. That being said, these were still delicious and I was a huge jerk and stole the last one that everyone else was too polite to take.
Other items that I enjoyed were the buckwheat soba noodles with spare ribs, which look kinda gross but are actually super tasty. The bean curd skin rolls were great, the gyozas were decent, and whatever the saucy steak thing was.. I liked that one a LOT! The pesto and pine nut rice was also pretty good as was the pineapple chicken ball... thing. Um, not sure of the name for that one, all I recall is a lot of balls talk.
There were a few other dishes I tried that I wasn't huge on, like the weird deep fried mushrooms... and the horrible disgusting yellowy chalk-like pumpkin dish. What the hell 3G? Take that shit off your menu!
I'll be back!Listed in: Veggie Spots
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Review from Evilyn T.
I love the staff at 3G! I went there last night for a friend's birthday dinner, there had to be about ten of us, with others randomly stopping by to wish our friend a good day. The staff were very prompt with the service and even gave us a pen and some paper so we could jot down who wanted to order what, so we could share and have a little bit of everything without two people ordering the same thing.
We ordered the buckwheat noodles with spare ribs, spicy tofu with sesame sauce, edamame, gyoza, peppered steak, bean curd, the fake chicken drumsticks, along with a few other things, and there was not one thing on the table that I didn't enjoy. We racked up a bill of over $200, since most of the people at the party were drinking as well, I mean, its not a party unless you are drinking right? And after the table had been cleared and the presents had been unwrapped, somone had the funny notion to turn their digital camera onto record and stick it on top of a pop can and put it on the turnable serving table in the middle. It basically recorded all of us amidst our post-dinner-coma-conversation, kind of like on that 70's show, without the extra fog juice *cough cough*
After dinner the waitress, who I believe is the owner, brought out an ice cream cake with kiwis on it!! Nobody at our table had purchased a cake, so we were floored, not only that, but they brought a whole cake, not just one slice like most restaurants do as a birthday favour, this was a whole freakin' cake!! I don't know where they got it from, but I know they didn't charge us for it! They also brought out a cute apple that had been sliced into a swan, how creative and cute! The kind of service we received last night is so rare at restaurants nowadays that I HAD to update this review to let everyone know how amazing my experience was. I can't wait till my birthday dinner in April!Listed in: Best of the best, Vancouver Vege-me-tarian.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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3/19/2010
When I think of 3G, the first thing that comes to my mind is Dan Savage's 3G's = good, giving and… Read more »
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Review from Linzi M.
2/25/2011
I've been vegetarian since I was about 14 (recently I've fallen off the wagon and tried meat, but it just doesn't fit me) and I've tried a variety of fake meat products. To be honest, I don't really 'get' it. Sure the mince can be a nice filling, but the fake turkey and pork. Why? Just eat turkey and pork if you want it so bad.
So on a visit to 3G with a bunch of fabulous Yelpers, I was surprised to see that they have a lot of fake meat dishes and not that many actual veggie dishes. The menu seems to be geared toward stodgy fried food stuffs and less nice, veg dishes. I enjoyed the dumplings and the pine nut risotto was amazing. But the rest of the fried and fake meat dishes left me hungry and unsatisfied.
The service was very sweet and attentive. However the restaurant isn't the fanciest so I probably wouldn't go here on a date. -
Review from Shannon A.
Vancouver, BC
1/24/2011
3 words. Sweet and Sour not-Pork. Okay, so maybe that's 4 :)
So much like the real thing I had to stop eating and dissect it just to make sure I wasn't eating meat.
Bring your non-believing, dead animal eating friends to this place and what their eyes light up with amazement at how good faux meat can really taste.
Service is friendly and fast, meals are reasonably priced. Location is super convenient to transit if you're a no-car wonder like me! -
Review from Amanda C.
Vancouver, BC
9/4/2010
3G has a sign out front that says "Vegans No1 Choice" and I'd have to say it's pretty good.
I live three blocks from here and I find myself ordering food from here far too often. For me this is vegan comfort food. I cannot resist the salt and pepper fried tofu or the chili fried rice and indian style noodles. They have creative sounding dishes like the mutton which is obviously not meat at all. They serve Daiya "cheese" for their risotto and other cheesy items and have a wide array of more unusual dishes with lily bulbs, and a variety of mushrooms.
If you are craving fake meat this is a good place to go, they have fake seafood, chicken, red meat. I find these kind of disturbing but I highly recommend the noodle and rice dishes and don't forget that tofu!
The couple that own this place are two of the sweetest people I have ever met and sometimes bring me traditional desserts for free. The tapioca and warm coconut pudding is to die for as well as the sweet red bean soup.
Support this place if you live in the Cambie/Main Street area. -
Review from Crystal H.
Vancouver, BC
Sad that I had not been to Bo Kong before it closed, I was determined to get me to 3G, having heard such good things. And yes, I was impressed!
The menu is extensive and since there was so many yummy sounding dishes my dinner date and I decided on 3: fried tofu with salt and pepper, taro and pumpkin coconut, and buckwheat soba noodles with spare ribs. All were delicious and large, enough for 2 more meals for lunch the next day.
I can be a little skeptical about fake meat, but this was incredible. The spare ribs didn't taste like ribs but they were really flavourful. My only complaint was I wish there were more of them to go with the heaping plate of noodles. The taro and pumpkin combines two of my favourite things, along with mushrooms. It wasn't super sweet, but I would have gladly ordered this again for dessert! And the tofu. Sometimes the most simple things really are the best! How they get these perfectly triangular tofu pieces to brown so evenly with a perfect crisp is beyond me!
Save another place at the dinner table for me vegetarians, I'm totally down with your fake meat sensations! -
Review from Renee C.
3/12/2010
Besides the fact that I completely don't understand then name of this vegetarian restaurant , I understand why I will likely go back.
I didn't understand the atmosphere either, but after about 5-10 minutes I began to appreciate it for its simplicity and assumedly zen approach towards decorating. The staff were so gentle and lovely, and I really quite enjoyed my salt and pepper tofu. Lovely triangles of tofuy goodness will keep me coming back almost anywhere.
There was a pumpkin and taro dish that was a pleasant surprise to see on the menu as well as on my plate. And portions made for a very very hungry vegetarian. AND I won't feel like I'm subjecting my non-vegetarian friends to standard non-meaty fare.
Plus, I have to say that I rather like a place that keeps me cognitively working to figure it out. -
Review from Laura Z.
Vancouver, BC
7/20/2011 1 Check-in Here
Yummy vegetarian food. My little kids love it. Tastes just like regular Chinese food but not greasy, more healthy. Sweet and sour soy chicken, shanghai noodles, fried pancakes all really good.
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Review from Tabatha Anne Y.
Richmond, BC
9/27/2010
I just got home from a large work dinner here. 8 of us from the office went after work. We all decided to choose one dish each and share. There was more than enough tasty, interesting food! We went with a girl who is vegan, myself who is vegetarian, and a bunch of meaties. We all really enjoyed the food, there was plenty of flavour, fake meat, fresh veggies and general awesomeness.
I can't even remember everything we ordered, but the "chicken wings" were great. Weird little fake meat on a "bone" which is just a stick, and deep fried. Mmm. Also, dumplings, spring rolls, fried rice with "meat" and sweet and sour "pork". Everything I tried, I liked.
The service was great, they were always checking on us. There were a few other tables occupied, but not many. The prices are pretty good, I think the best plan of attack is to go in a group and sample a bit of everything, but it would also be good to narrow it down to one thing and just eat it all yourself!
I will definitely be returning, and bringing friends. -
Review from Renee C.
8/2/2009
I was surprised with 3G, although they served Asian vegetarian vegan dishes, I was not overwhelmed by the seasonings and the extra MSG or sodium in the food.
They try their best to serve up the best food with the ingredients they have. It does come of as a little bland but I appreciated a slightly less seasoned dish when I've been eating too much sodium lately.
I came for lunch with my mom and the dim sum was pretty innovative. The deep fried dumpling and the steamed spinach dumping were very good. We also ordered a nest made of taro and deepfried to act as a basket for a stirfry of a mixture of vegetables including a tofu that is meant to look and taste like chicken....haha that "chicken' was amazingly similar to a real chicken pieces and I was a little blown away.
The black sesame sweet soup for dessert was very good, not too sweet and the perfect consistency. YUM!
The staff were very nice and I had a nice time with my mom here.Listed in: Vancouver, BC!!!!, Veg out!
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Review from Jasmine O.
Vancouver, BC
3/9/2010
Here was my experience tonight, in 7 points, at 3G:
1. Very odd kitchy atmosphere. Only one other table with people.
2. Good thai tom yum soup, very spicy.
3. I ordered Risotto with cheese and bell peppers and (veg) ribs and I got rice with peas and (veg) ribs...
4. They were having a business meeting in the restaurant between owners and buyers and people like that, disrupting my early evening meal.
5. The only other table, next to ours, was apparently regulars and got special treatment (free desserts etc) while we sat and watched.
6. The fake meat was really good. Why aren't we all vegetarians?
7. Is broccoli supposed to be THAT green?
PS/
(7a.) Over $20 bucks a person for a very non-fine dining experience with no alcohol.
Overall a good concept but not the right place for me.Listed in: The LOST list
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Review from Raymond K.
Vancouver, BC
7/24/2011 126 Check-ins Here
The location is really convenient. I love their dim sum. They have a huge selection of dim sum. They taste great, too!!! Great service. Reasonable price. I enjoy eating dinner there as well !! I really like their vegetables with the Portuguese sauce.
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Review from Joanne C.
Vancouver, BC
6/3/2011 1 Check-in Here
You can't go wrong with dim sum all day long! I love that they really care about the ingredients being vegan. Most veggie dim sum places do not guarantee that the veggie meats they use are vegan. I don't care much for the free desserts at the end of the meal though.
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Review from Isabelle G.
Vancouver, BC
2/18/2011
I am a proud meat eater, however, not opposed to vegetarian food if it is done right and tasty. Thankfully G3 did it right by my standards and taste. I am not completely going to turn vegetarian, however, it's dishes that are prepared like this that can make you appreciate and break assumptions of vegetarian food beyond what Jamie Oliver prepares. There were some misses and I am certainly no judge on Chinese food since I haven't really dined out at a lot of Chinese establishments. It felt comfortable knowing that everything was vegetarian and I didn't have to worry sea food UMS concerns.
The pricing was very reasonable. I went here for a yelp meet up in which we all shared dishes and filled up on some good appies.
The atmosphere seemed uninviting to be honest, horrible table clothes, bad lighting, worse than a cafeteria setting, however, the company well made up for it. Good for meet ups, however, bad for dates.
Service was decent and the dishes came out one at a time in a timely manner rather than all at once so that we could all sample, try, mingle and laugh.
The miss sadly was the pumpkin coconut thingy (can't remember the whole name). The pumpkin tasted like chalk. -
Review from Patrick L.
Vancouver, BC
5/3/2009
3G is a new restaurant on Cambie street. The menu is all vegetarian and 90% vegan, with mostly chinese style food but also japanese, thai and korean dishes. My girlfriend and I had a spicy veggie pork and cashew stirfry, a thai fried noodle dish, japanese pumpkin tempura and a mushroom and broccoli dish and it was all excellent and very nicely presented. Friendly staff. I thought the decor was really unique, as on each wall there's a simple mural of a tree and branches, uninterrupted by other hangings or posters. We will certainly go back. ~$15-20 a plate if you're getting appetizers as well as entrees.
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Review from Mina B.
3/9/2010
my expectations were a lot higher.
the waitress wasn't able to tell me more than the menu already did.
when i asked what kind of dressing the house dressing is she said it's made in house. oh really.
when i asked what the chicken patty (with orange sauce) comes with she told me hat it's a pan fried chicken patty and that it comes with orange sauce. thanks for repeating that...
i ordered the mixed greens with the myserious made-in-house house dressing and the chicken risotto.
the salad was good (iceberg, spinach, tomatoes and some sort of flakes) and the dressing was sweet chili sauce maybe mixed with something else. pretty interesting.
the risotto wasn't a risotto at all. have you ever tried to make a risotto without cheese? well if you have i'm sure you didn't call it a risotto...
what i got was rice with some canned mushrooms, super green broccoli and tofu chicken.
the fake chicken was pretty good but i really wish i got the risotto (cheese!!!!) i ordered.
i could have gotten the same with real chicken for half price at hoho's but i don't eat real chicken -
Review from Liz M.
2/23/2011
Well the staff was kind. I ordered the wrong food but I also feel that the selection could have been better. I found the bean desert, that was complimentary from the owner, to be delicious, though.
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Review from Janet B.
Vancouver, BC
5/24/2010
New favorite veggie place. Lots of interesting dishes. Favourites include the chili salted fake chicken drumsticks, fake shrimp dimsum and the sweet and sour fake pork. Service is prompt and friendly. Kid friendly.
Listed in: Vegetarian
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Review from Jim M.
Vancouver, BC
4/14/2010
Good vegetarian places are not numerous as they could be here in Vancouver, but we do have a few really good ones. 3G is one. The food is simple but very tasty. They have a fairly broad menu that should suit most anyone. The staff is friendly and as long as they are not very busy, dishes are served fairly fast. With the near by Bo Kong now closed, all the more reason to give 3G a try.
