Tenon Vegetarian Cuisine located at 8362 Kennedy Rd in Markham

March 23, 2019:  Vegetarian sushi and sashimi found here!  Tenon Vegetarian Cuisine (天恩中日素食料理) used to be a regular Japanese restaurant many, many years ago.  I remember dining here with my mom at least ten years ago and remembering the visit to be quite mediocre.  Since then, they have either been taken over by new management or switched to being a meat-free restaurant.

When we arrived at 12 p.m. on a Saturday, I was surprised to see that there weren’t many patrons inside at all.  However, the atmosphere and decor of the restaurant was splendid.  All the teapots, plates, cups, flowers on the table, and furnishings gave a luxurious vibe.  The chef’s sushi area was so nicely designed too with Japanese style lanterns.

Storefront. It’s easily seen from the New Kennedy Square parking lot

Delicate and pretty tableware

Look at how scenic this is!

Sushi chef at work

Menu cover

There were actually so many types of sushi rolls and rolls and dishes on the menu.  Everything was all vegetarian.  Even though a sushi roll may be made with “shrimp” or some kind of “fish”, all of them were either soy-based or made from vegetables so that there was no animal by-product at all.  I had to inquire about the ingredients with the server since I noticed that some items mentioned “soy-base”  while others didn’t, so the menu was a bit inconsistent.  However, the server did confirm for me that every single one of their item were 100% vegetarian.

Menu – appetizers

Menu – salads, rolls

Menu – special rolls

Menu -a la carte sushi, teriyaki items

Menu – tofu, vegetarian shrimp

Menu – vegetarian chicken, vegetarian duck

Menu – vegetarian fish/beef, soup

Menu – noodles, rice

Menu – bento box, combos

Menu – drinks, ice cream, vegan cakes

They’re a top 10 restaurant for vegan sushi

Vegan cakes!

We ordered the Green Dragon Roll and the Red Curry Soy-Chicken to share.

Green Dragon Roll (8 pcs). $9.99
-cucumber, tempura shrimp, imitation crab meat, avocado on top with barbecue sauce

The Green Dragon Roll had cucumber, tempura shrimp, imitation crab meat, avocado on top with barbecue sauce.  It looked no different than a regular green dragon roll with real shrimp actually.  It looked great.  The “tempura shrimp” though inside the roll was definitely a vegetarian mock shrimp that tasted a bit chewy and dense.

You can see the mock shrimp

Red Curry Soy-Chicken. $14.50
-soy chicken in red curry with coconut milk and basil

The Red Curry Soy-Chicken surprisingly didn’t come with any rice.  We shared the same knowing look when only the dish of mock chicken and curry arrived on our table.  We had to order a serving of rice to go with the dish.

It was soy chicken in red curry with coconut milk and basil.  The soy chicken was akin to how most vegetarian meats taste like.  I was impressed with the red curry as it was very smooth with a strong hint of coconut milk.  It wasn’t spicy at all.  I actually drank all of the curry soup since it was so tasty.  There were a lots of green peppers, red peppers, onions, and zucchinis in the dish.

The prices here were reasonable and actually similar to what it would cost at a meat-friendly restaurant.  There were so many choices of sushi and dishes that I definitely would return again to try more varieties.