AUGUST 20 • 2020 | 53
This Chinese vegetarian
restaurant, now closed,
was ahead of its time.
the best of everything
Raskin
A Look Back
at Mei Ling
I
t was many years back that I
recall eating food that today
might be classified somewhat
like the Impossible Burger …
but a whole lot
different.
The menu
read “Vegetarian
Cashew Chicken”
… and although
not a vegetarian
by any means, I
had to find out
what so many people were rav-
ing about.
The taste was hard to believe
… at Mei Ling Vegetarian
Chinese Restaurant …
Vegetarian “meat” there was
made from soy protein, then fla-
vored accordingly with spices …
It was owned by a body builder
wife and husband …the latter
also a second-degree black belt
in Tae Kwon Do.
Favorite dishes were a honey
sesame vegetarian chicken and a
spicy eggplant in a special ginger
garlic sauce with red peppers,
scallions and bamboo shoots,
and a Pineapple Passion of string
beans … pineapple bean curd
and onions. Even Peking duck
could be ordered ahead of time
and gotten with little notice.
Mei Ling was not a large
restaurant … Seating was only
85 … The wife was a vegetarian
and hubby loved Chinese cook-
ing, too … When in training,
high-protein food is called for
… For those who desired, there
was also fresh fish dishes, but
the emphasis was very much on
vegetarian Chinese … over 99
percent.
Repeat customers were many
at Mei Ling … The vegetarian
hot soup made with vegetables
and tofu was excellent … And
Mei Ling’
s homemade spring
rolls, called Autumn Rolls, were
made with a tofu skin and pan-
fried after being broiled.
No. 1 sellers were vegetarian
chicken dishes with their amaz-
ing soybean and wheat consis-
tency and taste … Second big-
gest were the various stir-fries.
If folks wanted a steak burger
made with tofu … They could
have had this and more …Many
of the numerous menu items
were seen only on restaurants of
much notable esteem.
Mei Ling, although closed
many years ago, was certainly a
most wonderful experience.
THE SPRING WAS too short
for many to enjoy the hardly
believable spring menu that Matt
Prentis presented at the Three
Cats restaurant … It was very
much outstanding and included
items not seen before on any
bill of fare … Some of the items
will no doubt appear on a latter
menu, if not already so … Matt,
by the way, may be looking at a
site in Farmington Hills.
OLDIE BUT GOODIE …
One night a burglar broke into
the house and heard a voice say,
“Jesus is watching you!” while
the burglar rummaged through
the desk.
The burglar looked up and
replied, “Who said that?”
Once again, he heard the same
thing, “Jesus is watching you!”
The robber looked around
the room only to see a parrot
… He asked the parrot what its
name was … The parrot replied,
“Cornelius.
”
“What kind of name is that?”
asked the burglar. “Who names
a parrot that?”
The parrot replied, “The
same person who named that
German Shepherd behind you
Jesus!”
CONGRATS TO … Gail and
Lonnie Zimmerman on their
anniversary.
Email dannyraskin2132@gmail.com.
Danny Raskin
Senior Columnist
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