Ducked under the Mid Level escalators in Soho, right by Caine Road, I paid The Monogamous Chinese a visit one recent Monday afternoon for lunch. This was based on my silly assumption that they have limited options and only set lunches for the weekends.

One look and the menu proved me wrong with a whole bunch of clearly marked vegetarian options, enough for a party of 6 – 8. Great food meant I would probably come back with the hubster and the child.

A retro look but still felt modish. Striking portraits, Oriental ornaments, dim lights, paper lanterns, big tables, white tablecloths and the whole jazz! A good date spot too.

The name, apparently is a play on the Sichuan and Peking cuisines in their menu, but hear they happily accommodate any special requests.

I got there sharp at noon when the place opens for lunch, and it had already filled up quickly, with a lot of them having reserved before.

I still went with their set lunch menu (coming back with the hubster to try other things).

The deep fried eggplant with garlic and salt – like extra garlic and extra salt was superb. Perfection with crunchy exterior and melt-in-mouth inside.

The vegetarian dumplings were good, thin wrappers and hearty fillings. You’ll need plenty soy or spicy sauce to down it.

The noodles stir fried with vegetables were easy to down as well. Cooked to perfection, chewy and tender.

I’d requested for my food to be made spicy. I saw chunks of chilies in the fried eggplant, but the noodles could’ve been made spicier.

A party of two people sat besides me. And the girl was rather funny or rude in shouting loudly to his colleague, “Look at her plate, that’s the noodles you could get.” The guy tried shushing her, asking her to be a tad more polite. I chuckled!