A family-run Chinese takeaway in Brislington has seen success in recent years by moving to an all-vegan menu. Cheungs on Sandhurst Road has a legacy spanning more than 50 years in South Bristol and was recently nationally recognised for its impressive takeout selection.
Cheungs was first opened in 1969 as a traditional Chinese takeaway and fish bar serving South Bristol. Linda Wong, formerly Cheung, took over her parent's business in the last few years and during a refit of the shop front in 2021, the team experimented by changing the menu initially on a temporary basis.
Linda said: "We thought we should try vegan as we still had access to the kitchen during that period we were closed. We thought we would play around with some vegan dishes and if there was the same demand for a trial."
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During this time, many restaurants and takeaways were looking at delivery-focused arms to their businesses due to enforced lockdowns during the Covid pandemic. The public's appetite grew for Cheungs as a vegan outlet and the takeaway didn't look back.
"It was really confusing for me at the time because obviously Cheungs is well known in Brislington," Linda said. "I did another three months of carrying on not going back to meat to see how people's perception was - we've continued and we haven't gone back to meat anymore because it's going great."
The shop was rebranded as Cheungs Vegan Kitchen, serving only plant-based versions of popular Chinese takeaway dishes, including sweet and sour chicken balls (£8.90), chilli beef (£7.80), Kung Po chicken (£13) and duck Chow Mein (£13) - all made with meat-free alternatives. Linda said she gets a lot of messages from non-vegans saying it is one of their favourite takeouts in the city.
However, Linda said she has seen a drop in customers coming to Cheungs from the Brislington area. "I do feel a bit bad for the locals but there are so many Chinese takeaways within walking distance around here," she admitted.
"I think sometimes if people don't know much about it they won't try it. They think veganism is some sort of cult," she joked.
Linda said while the business has lost some of its customers from the local area, Cheungs now reaches different corners of Bristol through Deliveroo and is a firm favourite in the vegan community with no risk of cross-contamination with meat products. It was recently named as one of the top vegan Chinese takeaways in the UK by PETA.
"When I told my family, they said it was really great. My sister said it was great we got a bit of recognition, they've all taken it really well," she said. "In the future, I think a lot more people will be doing plant-based Chinese."
Meat-free alternatives typically incur higher costs than purchasing meat in bulk, which Linda has to be mindful of in the pricing, and Deliveroo also takes a percentage. "We're also putting our food in recyclable packaging so everything costs a bit more for us," Linda added. "We do get comments saying it's expensive but we can't let it get that low as we want to keep the quality high and spend time on each dish."
Cheungs Vegan Kitchen is offering customers a 10 per cent discount on all pickup orders if you use the code BRISTOL10 at checkout through its website only. The offer lasts until February 28, 2023 and is for collection only.
15 Sandhurst Rd, Brislington, Bristol BS4 3PJ. https://www.cheungsvegankitchen.com/
Pictures by @CookYourLife | Melanie R Gonzalez | http://www.cookyourlife.co.uk/
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