KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 — It’s not every day you find vegetarian fare that keeps you craving for it. But once you taste the good-for-you vegetarian and vegan food served at RGB & the Bean Hive, you may start feeling the same way and end up being a regular.

This place, owned by Li Chan, traces its roots back to RAW Coffee, one of the pioneers of the Third Wave Coffee places. Coffee may be its cornerstone but the cafe previously located in Menara Equity also kept many tummies happy with its hearty vegetarian fare.

Opened in September, the cafe is housed in a spacious white bungalow right in the heart of the city. In addition, there is a micro-roastery and space to rent out for seminars. Think of it as an oasis of calm especially after you’ve fought through the notorious traffic gridlock around Jalan Ampang and Jalan Tun Razak.

As you drive up, take a closer look at the green patches of wild flowers around the driveway and you’ll discover a fluttery brigade of butterflies flitting around from flower to flower. Inside the quiet bungalow, you will find a variety of nooks and corners where you can dine comfortably or even enjoy a quiet cup of coffee with a novel from the bookshelf.

You can also dine outside on the small terrace near the entrance (left). The cosy British themed nook in the bungalow is the perfect place to read a book (right)

Expect minor décor changes each time you visit as the space is still a work-in-progress since Li likes to tweak its look.

The menu is designed as “vegetarian for meat eaters.” Unlike other vegetarian restaurants in the city that are run by people who are vegetarians, Li is not a vegetarian. “When I was in my late teens and early twenties, my entire family went vegetarian as my mother pushed for it since we were Sai Baba devotees.”

In the kitchen, food is prepared daily without MSG or any microwave (left). The mango masala filling can be ordered with a panini sandwich, coconut oil wrap, rye bread, burger bun or carb-less (right)

For six years, she was vegetarian including the time she worked in Hong Kong. However, once she returned to Malaysia, she found it hard to stick to a vegetarian diet since there were no fast food options. She believes this gives her the edge over other vegetarian restaurants. “When you’re too vegetarian in your mindset, you forget about the rest of the world and your palate changes. When meat eaters come and eat your food, it’s too unfamiliar.”

To date, she’s still debating whether she wants to offer meat options at the eatery especially since customers have been asking for it. “It’s something we talk about every day but at the same time, I don’t really like working with meat. It’s dirty and smelly. The more I work with raw meat, the more I want to stay vegetarian with the menu.”

In the event that meat dishes are introduced in the cafe, Li will be extremely particular to ensure there’s no cross contamination which is one of the big concerns for their vegan customers. “We will absolutely contain it within a separate area in the kitchen and I’ll buy new plates for serving meat as I don’t want any cross contamination. Moreover with meat products, it also introduces a whole level of different pests.”

Li admits that it’s easy to introduce meat dishes that will draw a bigger crowd but she prefers to create a more niche vegetarian menu with unusual offerings like vegetarian cheeses, vegetarian meatball subs or vegetarian burgers. “When you go out and ask for a vegetarian burger, all they do is give you is a Portobello mushroom, it’s actually very unimaginative.”

The vegan breakfast patty is filled with lots of vegetables like red pepper, broccoli and zucchini

Usually vegetarian burgers are made from soy to mimic the taste of meat. Since it’s tasteless, the patty gets its flavour from the accompanying sauces. “I’m more interested in making an awesome-tasting patty where you get the taste of the vegetables in the patty. It’s also more healthy compared to the ones made with soy.”

Currently on RGB’s menu, there are two types of vegetarian burgers served with a side salad. The vegan breakfast patty with a firmer bite is recommended to be paired with a bun. The patty is made from garbanzo flour, olive oil, mustard, nutritional yeast, onions, mushrooms and vegetables like red pepper, broccoli and zucchini. A crowd favourite is the broccoli and cheese patty, which Li recommends enjoying carbless with greens.

Enjoy a vegan chocolate muffin with your cup of coffee (left). The almonds in the Moroccan spice cake go through a long process of blanching, soaking to get rid of their phytic acids and dehydration before they are ground into a powder form for the cake (right)

The softer and slightly mushier patty is a combination of almonds, rice crackers, broccoli, onion, mushroom, olive oil, soy milk powder and soy sauce. Currently no fries are served on the side, as Li is still experimenting with baked fries, a healthier alternative to deep-fried French fries. Next week, she’ll be introducing a new beetroot burger.

In the two months they have been in business, the response has been good during the weekends but quieter during the weekdays. “This place was set up as a central kitchen rather than full service for the restaurant.” Li prefers to look at a longer term plan: like perfecting her vegetarian patties to sell to customers. The patties will be ideal for a quick after-work vegetarian meal.

Li also has plans to open kiosks in office buildings where the micro-roastery will supply the beans and the central kitchen can provide the food. In addition, her staff can have a career path where they can expand their income by becoming owners of the kiosks. She believes there’s definitely a niche for these kiosks when there’s no healthy food around the offices. “When I worked in Wisma Equity, when I wanted a salad, I would have to go Isetan for a basic salad that can cost up to RM20-RM25.”

She also hopes to start a delivery service once she sorts out a more eco-friendly way to handle the containers. Li who also owns Tiny Tapir, a shop that focuses on eco-friendly baby products, prefers to employ a re-usable tupperware system to keep the containers wastage minimal.

Slurp down a bowl of their creamy pumpkin soup (left). Vegans can relish this rich and nutty carrot cake (right)

Most of the items on RGB’s menu include favourites from their RAW Coffee days, like the refreshing chilled broccoli salad and their luscious pumpkin soup. As more customers come in for a quiet cup of coffee and slice of cake, there’s also a demand for more cakes here. Expect them to be different from other places with offerings like mocha cheesecake, Moroccan orange spiced cake and a vegan carrot cake that is rich and nutty. “I’m trying to move away from normal desserts and we want to offer more gluten-free and vegan options rather than the same old items like a red velvet cake.”

The self-taught chef gets her inspiration for these dishes from researching vegan cookbooks and the Internet, tweaking them to suit our environment. “A lot of the recipes are done overseas but they have access to the ingredients. Moreover, our humidity also changes the characteristics of baking, so we have to tweak it.”

The furniture is a nice mix of styles, from dining tables to comfortable sofas for people to chill out

One of Li’s own menu creations, the eggplant pesto pasta was inspired by a loved one. “I used to make this for my boyfriend as he liked it, so I put it on the menu.” The dish uses fine strands of angelhair pasta, tossed in a fragrant pesto made with parsley and basil leaves, cashews, Parmesan cheese and topped with toasted pine nuts, roasted eggplants and tomatoes. In future, Li would prefer to switch to mushrooms for the topping once she gets a supplier for the fungi.

The menu with its more bistro style food is constantly under development. “We’re not a fussy and fine dining restaurant. Basically we do recipes that you can recreate at home, if you’re willing to spend four to five hours in the kitchen.” It’s too early to tell what the future holds for the place but we reckon it’ll do well with their focus on real awesome food and coffee served with a lot of heart.

RGB & The Bean Hive 35, Jalan Damai, Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 03-2181139 https://www.facebook.com/RatherGoodBeans