Merit Vegan Cuisine

There aren’t as many vegan restaurants in the Silicon Valley compared to SoCal. I probably have been to most actually. Merit Vegan Cuisine is one of those restaurants that I always have to go to whenever I visit my parent’s house in Cupertino. They are a vegan/vegetarian restaurant that serves Vietnamese/Chinese/Thai food. Their menu is so extensive, yet there some items on their menu that I order every single time. Usually I come with my family and we order family-style (a bunch of dishes to share). Let’s get started!

I’ve ordered:

Fresh Spring Rolls – fresh rice paper rolls with lettuce, mint leaves, seasoned tofu and seitan and served with peanut sauce

Lotus Salad – shredded cabbages, lotus stem, tofu, carrot, onion, fried onion, mint leaves and crushed peanuts tossed in light sweet and sour vinaigrette sauce and served with tapioca crackers

Satay Salad – lettuce, cucumber, tomato, cabbage, carrot, shredded tofu, fried wonton skin, tossed in Thai satay sauce

Spicy Noodle Soup (Bun Hue) – thick vermicelli, organic fried tofu, seitan, bean curds, mushroom, cilantro and onion in a spicy lemongrass broth served with shredded cabbage, mint, jalapeno and bean sprouts on the side

Tom Kha Soup – ‘shrimb’ (made from yam), pineapple, tomato, fresh organic tofu, bean curds, mushroom, carrot, basil, coconut milk in Thai tamarind & herbs base broth

Stir-fried Mixed Veggies – combination of vegetables with organic tofu, seitan stir-fried in special garlic sauce

Orange Nuggets – batter-fried nuggets tossed in sweet & sour house-made orange sauce

Curry Vegetables – mixed fresh vegetables stir fried in coconut curry gravy

Sweet Potato Curry – gluten-free protein, organic tofu, sweet potato, onion, bell peppers, lemongrass, carrot and garbanzo bean in coconut curry gravy

Truly Sea – seaweed wrapped bean curds, topped with fried onion, garlic and crushed peanut served with ginger sauce

Ocean of Love – fried seaweed wrapped bean curds, topped with fried onion, garlic sesame seed and peanut and served with rice-paper, lettuce, mint leaves, cucumber, cilantro, vermicelli and lemongrass pineapple sauce

Pad Thai – rice noodles, ‘shrimb’ (made from yam), celery, carrots, bean sprouts, bean curds and onion stir-fried in pad thai sauce; garnished with crushed peanuts and cilantro

House Special Clay Pot – seasoned tofu, seitan, mushroom, bean threads, onion & ginger cooked with fragrant rice

Wow, that was a lot of dishes! This list will continue to grow as I visit the restaurant more and try more new dishes! Now, out of the dishes I’ve tried, there are a few that I enjoyed more than others. I’m a huge spring roll fans. You can probably call me a spring roll connoisseur. Merit’s spring rolls are unique and different than other place’s that I’ve tried. There isn’t too much rice noodle filling and their peanut sauce is so good! This is always a must-order for me! My mom’s favorite dish is their Spicy Noodle Soup which is Merit’s version of Bun Hue. She orders this every time. I also really enjoyed their Curry Vegetable and Sweet Potato Curry dishes. The curry is thick and the the perfect amount of sweetness. It tastes so good with rice! Lastly, another must-order is their House Special Clay Pot. This dish is so unique and the rice and noodles are so flavorful. You definitely won’t regret ordering this one!

Everything else that I’ve ordered are great dishes as well! They just aren’t my favorite compared to the ones I’ve mentioned above. Everyone’s taste differ so you might like other dishes more than I do. I know many people really enjoy the Orange Nuggets, which is Merit’s version of Orange Chicken. I thought it was a really good imitation! Their Tom Kha was very flavorful and the shrimp tastes and looks like real shrimp. It’s amazing what they can do.

One of my visits was actually for my birthday lunch so we ordered a vegan tiramisu cake at the end! It was pretty good, but was lacking a bit of the cognac flavor that non-vegan tiramisu has. However, Merit has an entire vegan dessert menu and I’m sure they are all delicious!

Fresh Spring Rolls

Stir-fried Mixed Veggies

Truly Sea

Orange Nuggets

Satay Salad

Tom Kha

House Special Clay Pot

Tiramisu

Sunnyvale, California
Vegetarian, Vegan, Noodles
Full vegan restaurant
Takes reservations
Private lot
I ordered: Fresh Spring Rolls, Lotus Salad, Satay Salad, Spicy Noodle Soup (Bun Hue), Tom Kha Soup, Stir-fried Mixed Veggies,Orange Nuggets, Curry Vegetables, Sweet Potato Curry, Truly Sea, Ocean of Love, Pad Thai, House Special Clay Pot, Tiramisu

You can visit their Yelp page here.