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new m cafe opens in beverly hills…!
6February 14th, 2009LA restaurants, m cafém cafe de chaya is probably one of my favorite vegan-friendly restaurants ever. they started out as a melrose location offering hip and trendy macrobiotic cuisine and soon the demand was so high that they opened up another location in culver city…and now even another in beverly hills. i’m still not exactly sure what macrobiotic means, but m cafe assures their customers that they serve no eggs, dairy, red meat or poultry. it’s basically an entire vegan paradise offset by a few gross-nasty fish items. all the breads, cheeses, faux meats and sauces are safe for us herbivores, and the pesce items are clearly marked.
when i read on vegan-la that a new m cafe location had just opened, i had to book it there and get some food asap. the husband and i went by for our favorite m cafe meal…breakfast!! while the food that the beverly hills location served us was awesome, i could tell this restaurant was still definitely working out some kinks. they sure aren’t doing bad though, considering we hit them up just days after the grand opening.
the one big thing we didn’t realise before bolting over to m cafe in bev hills at 8:30 am on a weekday is that they only serve a “continental breakfast” monday thru friday, meaning mostly cold pastries and coffee. that vegan benedict and breakfast enchilada that we were craving are only available at the weekend brunch. not just that, but if you arrive at the bh location early and decide to grab lunch, you are shit out of luck; they don’t start serving the normal menu until 10 am. that leaves you in limbo for two hours with very limited breakfast options. luckily, although m bev hills doesn’t offer all the awesome morning meal options on weekdays, they do offer one hot dish, a scaled-down version of the breakfast panini.
i ordered the panini and was very impressed. the quality and freshness of the ingredients were top notch and it was an all-around tasty dish. fluffy tofu, chopped onions, a magniffy blend of spices along with tempeh bacon on freshly baked bread…absolutely flawless. it was simple and didn’t come with sweet potato hash like it does at the other locations, but without a side it was still more than enough food. they really should have knocked the price down though, for not including the hash. >:(
my husband grabbed a tofu salad sandwich from the display case, and it was excellent as well.
considering it was so early in the morning, we suspected the sandwiches on display may have been leftover from the previous day. this sure wasn’t the case! our sandwich wasn’t soggy or stale in the least. everything tasted freshly chopped and perfect. i’ve never had one of the ready-made sandwiches from m cafe before, so i was blown away by how good it was.
the location of the new m cafe is quiet and pleasant at the moment. i’m used to the melrose storefront being packed; heaving with hollywood cunts and actor wannabes. the beverly hills location only opened a few days ago, so it isn’t crowded at all…i’m assuming that will change though. it’s located in the what used to be the backstage cafe, which was owned by police drummer stewart copeland’s brother. the place looks totally different. no rock paraphernalia adorning the walls, no whiskey bottles lined up on the counter…just spotless tables and huge barren display case showing off the few items that m cafe beverly hills has in stock.
overall, we had a really lovely breakfast with some amazing food, and i am looking forward to going back. my only complaint is the lack of selection. i know, i know, they just opened, so i will let it slide. but had i just been walking by and wanting a proper breakfast, i wouldn’t have stayed at m cafe. they should make it a point to go overboard and offer everything they can, and at least carry the same menu as the other two successful locations. to be fair, i have a friend who hit up this m cafe the same day i did, but he went for lunch and the menu was in full swing. he loved it.
so there you have it, finally some good vegan food in beverly hills! go get some before this m cafe gets all douchey like the melrose outlet. oh, and just a tip: parking is tough in this area. if you want to be stealth about it, grab a spot in the whole foods parking lot on crescent. they will never be the wiser. plus, they stock celebration roasts at that whole foods, so you can pick up a few on your way back to the car. 😉
m cafe de chaya
9433 Brighton Way
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
310.858.8459Monday thru Sunday
Tags: beverly hills, breakfast, macrobiotic, panini, sandwich, tofu
8:00 am – 7:00 pm
5 responses to “new m cafe opens in beverly hills…!”
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Yeah, I doubt it will be long before this location is overrun with even more douchbags than Melrose. The Melrose spot is for the douchebages who can’t afford Beverly Hills while Beverly Hills is for the douchebags who can.
On the other hand, this might in time lead to less douchebags at Melrose, once the Melrose douchebags catch on to the fact that they can be even better at their douchbaggery if they just migrate on over to Beverly Hills, where douchebaggery is even more highly valued and acceptable.
(I’ve noticed that thus far the Culver City location has remained relatively douchebag free in comparison to the douche overpopulation problem on Melrose)
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Jonathan and I were going to go there this morning! We ended up going to The Trails and hiking in Griffith Park instead.
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That Panini is Kristin’s favorite thing on the planet! You always take such good pics!!!
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i dont get a dbag vibe from the melrose location. most conversations i’ve had with other patrons have been informed and enlightening. sure, there are actors there but none have ever been rude to me. mathew modine tried my risoto once and i randomly had lunch with the leader of the Raelians there.
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Cool! There are a lot of famous douchebags who go to the Melrose location and being the country bumpkin from OC (NOT “the OC” for us bumpkin old-timers) I never get tired of watching them chowing down on their tempeh burgers.
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j's kitchen, a vegan macrobiotic restaurant on abbot kinney in venice | vegan food and living in Los Angeles March 2nd, 2009 at 09:04
[…] on the west side. we’ve been lucky enough to gain seed, casa de tree, and yet another m cafe in beverly hills. i guess with all this awesomeness happening, there was bound to be a fluke. enter j’s […]
Foodeater February 14th, 2009 at 13:35