Sipz is located off the 805 Freeway and Clairemont Mesa Boulevard in the Madison Square shopping center. The restaurant has a hole-in-the wall feel and is nestled between a thrift shop and a karate school. It was once a coffee shop, but was converted 5 years ago into a full restaurant.

Sipz still has a cafe layout with tightly spaced tables and booths, but the décor does not have the typical random, eclectic feel of most cafes, the walls are painted with a whimsical ocean theme, and the rest of the restaurant is pretty simple, with a few plaques here and there.

Sipz menu offers a large variety of Asian fusion dishes that are 100 percent vegetarian, and many are vegan. But before all of you meat lovers stop reading, it is important to mention that the chefs at Sipz are masters of disguise.

The majority of their dishes come with meat substitutes that are far different from the squishy egg-like tofu that your vegetarian friends have been trying to force down your throats. Sipz has vegetarian pork, chicken, beef and seafood that have sinewy texture and intricate flavors that are extremely similar to the real thing.

The chefs address the misconception that all vegetarians are content with grazing on cabbage and alfalfa sprouts, by providing a satisfying alternative. The owner, Be Huynh, has these “mock meats” shipped special from Taiwan, and also has them in freezers available for customers to purchase.

You can get your food to go, or be seated and waited on. The service is nothing to be amazed by, even during non-peak hours it’s a little slow, but the staff is generally very pleasant.

Appetizers range from about $4 to $5, and include vegetarian BBQ chicken, fried “ham” wontons and FuZion rolls, Asian vegetables and herbs wrapped in rice paper. Most of the appetizer have fresh crispy vegetables and are served with peanut sauce.

Sipz serves all of their entrées in large clean white ceramic bowls, with a starch base, noodles or rice, and a mock-meat entrée like Kung Pao chicken, as spicy as you can take it, or peppered pork, a healthy serving of mock pork in a peppery brown sauce.

The entrée bowls have a set price of $6.95, and you can also order soup or salad bowls for only $6.25. Their Tom yum soup is exceptionally good, a traditional Thai soup made with a clear vegetable broth, straw mushrooms, bamboo shoots and lemon grass gives it tart, lemony background flavor.

Chinese style dinner entrees are available for $7.95 and come with a side of steamed white or brown rice, and can easily feed two. The orange chicken has bite sized crispy “chicken” pieces covered in a rich citrus sauce, and comes with a side of rice.

From 5 p.m. on, Sipz has a sushi bar situated in one of the back corners of the restaurant that serves a variety of vegan sushi. The vegan fish is not much compared to the delicate and flavorful taste of the real thing, it has a definite fishy taste to it, but it is more similar to imitation crab. Just be sure to use a heavy hand with the soy and wasabi.

Another specialty of Sipz is its desserts. They make several types of vegan cakes including chocolate and carrot cake. They also make Boba drinks, a combination of boba pearls (gummy balls made of tapioca) and either fruits like strawberry, mango or lychee, or hot or cold tea with milk.

One of the best things about Sipz is that the owners do more than please the taste buds and make a profit. They actually have a mission statement that is printed on each of their menus.

They write that their goal is to respect the world, the earth and one another by promoting the healthy vegetarian lifestyle and by providing the tastiest and healthiest vegetarian dining possible.

It’s a little hippy-dippy, but admirable nonetheless.

Sipz Vegetarian Fuzion Café is located at 5501 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., and has one other location called Sipz Vegetarian Express, located at 9450 Scranton Rd., Suite 1114A. They are open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week. They also have a Web site with their full menu at www.sipz.com.