every sunday, deep in the heart of topanga canyon, inn of the seventh ray offers an all-you-can-eat vegetarian brunch with plenty of vegan options. the atmosphere at the restaurant is quite serene, with outdoor seating surrounded by trees, all overlooking a quiet stream. new age hippie waitresses keep the place running, and are ready to answer any question about the organic food that carries ‘cosmic energy’, or the vitamin infused water that will make you ‘live forever’ (i’m not kidding, they really say that). the price tag for the buffet is pretty hefty at $31 per person (is it possible to eat over 30 bucks worth of vegetarian food in one sitting?), but hey, the surroundings are beautiful and you can fill your plate up as many times as you want.

vegetarian brunch buffet with vegan options. $31 per person.

i hit up inn of the seventh ray for sunday brunch recently with my husband and fellow vegan blogger foodeater, and we were all pretty satisfied with the vegan options. although the seating is outdoors, the food trays are displayed inside, away from the bugs and elements. all the vegan food is labeled appropriately, and the meat is all together in one section (yeah, inn of the seventh ray also offers chicken and crab for an extra 4 bucks, blech).

my first trip to the buffet table yielded what’s pictured above. starting at the top and going clockwise, that’s a quinoa scone, tabouli, assorted salads, asparagus, white bean stew, hummus, and vegan mock duck with raspberries and cherry tomatoes. all of the food was deliciously fresh and filled with well-seasoned vegetables. i’ve never left an all-you-can-eat buffet feeling so light and energized, so i know this must have been pretty healthy. the only ‘fake’ meat offered was the mock duck, it was moist and chewy with a bit of a stringy texture and a savory flavor….and omg was it fantastic. my subsequent trips to the buffet line were seriously just to stock up on the vegan duck.

mock duck. oh so fucking wonderful.

the other highlight of my meal was the quinoa scone. i don’t think i’ve ever had a vegan scone before, but this thing was soft and fluffy in the middle and perfectly hard and crunchy on the outside. it was small and light, the perfect accompaniment to large feast. it would be pretty easy to fill up on these guys without feeling all gross and weighed down.

vegan quinoa scone. i could eat approx 8,000 of these.

the sunday brunch at inn of the seventh ray seems must be pretty popular, there weren’t many people there when we showed up at 11am, but as we were leaving at around 12:30, the place was already full. i suggest making a reservation and arriving a bit early like we did, to ensure you get a good seat.

we were lucky enough to get a stone ‘booth’ table with a creekside view, right next to the little stream that they call ‘the Mother flow’. according to the restaurant’s website, the area where we were sitting is filled with ‘angelic vibrations,’ so i am pretty stoked we got a table in that spot. on our way out i saw lots of customers paying the same price for their meals that i did, but crammed into little two-top tables, with no view of the stream. suckers.

after our meal, we got adventurous and went exploring in ‘the Mother flow’ to check out what kind of wildlife she was housing. we saw a lizard…

and tons of pollywogs, but no frogs in sight!

inn of the seventh ray is definitely one of the most unique restaurants i’ve ever visited, and their sunday brunch has plenty of things for us vegans to eat. i suggest you give it a try, because even if you don’t end up loving it, it’s a pretty special place. it’s a little too hippie dippy for my taste, and the prices are pretty high for what you get, but dude where else can you eat next to a stream and drink water that will make you live forever? you gotta go see this place for yourself.

inn of the seventh ray
128 Old Topanga Canyon Road
Topanga, CA 90290
(310) 455-1311

P.S. oooh, one more thing, and this is important: be sure to let your waitress know that you are eating the vegetarian buffet. we got charged $4 extra per person for the crab leg/chicken/death buffet, and didn’t even realize it until after we’d left! don’t let that happen to you. i’m pretty devastated because i guess that means that extra money we spent went to ‘supporting’ the sale of meat. (shudders)