Mapo Tofu - Looking for a Great Meatless Version

Haven't found a good one for a while now. Anyone have any recommendations for a place that does a great meatless version?

Szechwan JMC does a great version. Very ma-la.

The two I have enjoyed recently are from Peppercorns Kitchen in Evanston and Mala Spicy in the Richland Center Mall in Chinatown.

You can always request no ground beef/pork. When I make ma po dou fu at home I make it "vegetarian."

Christopher Gordon wrote:You can always request no ground beef/pork. When I make ma po dou fu at home I make it "vegetarian."

I'm looking for something that's well-balanced and sometimes I find that if you're just doing a "hold the meat" it throws them off their game.

Needless to say, the sauce is still made with chicken stock, so if that’s important to you, just saying “hold the meat” won’t do it.

I checked my Peppercorns Kitchen menu because I've had their's (good, like most of their stuff, but not my favorite dish there), and thought it was the usual version with pork. Their main version is "Mapo Tofu w/ Ground Pork". So if the vegetarian version is garnering votes, requesting it vegetarian at places with the best with-meat version, might not result in any reduced quality.

Cilantro: this is very true, I neglected to offer that chicken, or, Chinese chicken/pork stock is often the base of the dish. So, having written this, a rigorous vegetarian, might want to consider other options.