The Wagas empire is dabbling in mock meat. They recently began serving OmniPork at their restaurants, one dish each at Wagas, Baker & Spice , Funk & Kale and Lokal . Hong Kong's OmniPork, “pork” made from shiitake mushrooms, peas, soy, and rice, is probably just the beginning of a meatless meat wave in mainland China. In addition to the country’s own rich heritage of mock meats, western brands Impossible and Beyond Meat are also trying to get into China. Justegg is already here . So is vegan sushi . Anyway, I went to all four stores to try all four dishes. Do you need them in your life?

Wagas: Flexitarian Future Bolognese (65rmb)

The small fake meat chunks are lost in tomato sauce, which is the overriding flavor. If you mistakenly ordered the five rmb more flexitarian version of the bolognese instead of the animal version, you couldn’t tell the difference. Which is the point of fake meat – so a success on that end.

Lokal: Flexitarian Future Spaghetti Meatball (68rmb)

The more upscale Lokal boasts a more upscale spaghetti with meatballs. The meatballs are less ball, more saucer, with flavor resembling falafel, and a texture of mushy crab cakes. Next time I’m at Lokal, I’ll order something else.

Funk & Kale: Flexitarian Future Tacos (68rmb)

Here the faux meat again imitates ground pork, which doesn’t have a strong flavor to begin with, and gets masked in the seasoned sauce. But they use a shouzhua bing instead of soft taco shells. Liked it. Favorite dish of the four.

Baker & Spice: Flexitarian Future Power Bowl (70rmb)

OmniPork is wedged among zucchini, spinach, egg, pickles, corn, and topped with a Korean gochujang sauce. This faux meat has realistic texture, and is seasoned well on its own.

Would I eat again?

Hmm, well, as a meat eater the OmniPork works best when undetectable. If you want to eat more meatless meals, these are solid options. All four Wagas brands are born of the same taste palette and share considerable overlap in menu items. The OmniPork dishes blend right in.