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flore vegan: great for take-out
4September 19th, 2008flore, LA restaurantsi’ve been to flore vegan in siverlake a few times, and the food has always been super delicious. this last meal was no different, and it proved to me that flore is not just a great place to dine in, it also provides a lovely take-out experience as well. i ordered my grub on a weeknight at around 7pm, and when i went to pick it up, the place was packed. people waiting, every table full on the inside and outside, phone ringing off the hook with orders. my food took about ten minutes longer than promised, but seeing how busy the restaurant was, i really couldn’t blame them. to be honest, i was just thankful that i wasn’t one of the poor shleps standing around waiting to be seated. finally my order showed up, i paid the disgruntled hipster working behind the counter, and 30 minutes later i was home with my beautiful food. ahhhh.
the appetizer was as tasty as ever…
fusion rolls: sliced wheat rolls of nori, black bean, jicama, carrot, daikon sprout and cashew cheese served with lime wedges and a tamari citrus dipping sauce. $8.95
normally this dish comes with bell peppers as well, but i decided to pass on those. these little rolls withstood the wait, the car ride, the unpacking, and turned out to be quite an amazing appetizer. they were much thicker and heartier than i expected from the description, and actually could have been a meal on their own. all the vegetables blended together with the smooth cashew cheese for a unique taste that was intensely flavorful and very refreshing. the crisp carrots and jicama added the perfect amount of crunch to the creamy cheese and soft black beans. and the tamari dipping sauce had a citrusy bite to it that went so well with all the fresh ingredients. this roll was anything but bland.
as a main course, i opted for the flore burger, because i believe that any custom-made burger patty needs to be tried. going in a totally different direction from the grainy ricey burgers at places like follow your heart or m café, flore’s vegan burger is made mostly of black beans. in fact, i’ll be damned if it doesn’t taste almost exactly like the veganomicon black bean burger recipe.
flore burger: black bean burger grilled and served with sliced tomato, sprouts, red onion, green leaf lettuce and thousand island dressing. served with a side salad. $9.95
being such a fan of flore’s cashew cheese, i had to add it to my burger for an extra $1.50. totally worth it, that stuff enhances all it touches. as you can see, the burger came with so many extra leaves and vegetables, it looked like a salad on my plate. if you look at the picture above, that’s ALL the burger and stuff that came with the burger. i didn’t even photograph the actual side salad. since i love black beans, i fell in love with this dish right away. the patty was thin but juicy and boasted several grains and beans that blended together perfectly.
while this entree didn’t hold up quite as good as the fusion rolls, as far as take-out food, it put on a pretty good show for a burger. it had to be microwaved a little bit as it was getting cold, and the only thing that suffered was the bun. it got a little tough and chewy, but other than that, the burger was as good as new. one thing that really helped was that they packed it up all separately. in the take-out box flore separated the burger, the vegetables, the sauce and cheese, making for an ideal reheating situation. these flore peeps really know what they are doing. when i get a burger from m café to go, it’s already stacked and i have to peel it apart if i want to warm it up.
so overall, this take-out experience was on point. i think flore vegan is rapidly becoming my favorite restaurant in los angeles. all the food is perfect, they use tons of black beans, and they have a huge menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner that i will never be able to conquer. if only they had a little more seating and served beer…
Tags: burger, rolls, take-out
4 responses to “flore vegan: great for take-out” 
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“i paid the disgruntled hipster” LOL
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I agree, the food at Flore is top notch. No matter what I order there, I’m always surprised by what I receive in regards to the nice presentation and generous serving size. Some of the stuff on the menu sounds like it could be boring or simple, but then once it arrives it looks so pretty that I almost don’t want to ruin it by eating it! Almost 🙂
The one waitress with the dark hair is super sweet, friendly and attentive. I usually eat in when I go there, so I always try to sit at one of her tables (even if I have to wait longer) to avoid the disgruntled hipsterness of it all. If they could just shake that stigma (by hiring people who actually want to be there) I’d love them even more than I already do.
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I just ate lunch at Flore today, too! Please tell my you’ve had the Tempeh Reuben…it’s like eating a big hug.
Of course, Flore was just lunch. We had to follow it up with a few rounds of Blueberry Ale at Good, then Tamarindis and Jack Fruit Tortas at Pure Luck.
Who says we need a holiday to have a long weekend?
Not this kid.
Lex September 19th, 2008 at 08:37