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vegan mac & cheese dinner special at m cafe!
13September 2nd, 2009LA restaurants, m caféi can’t remember the last time i was so damn excited about a dinner special. through friday, m cafe de chaya is offering vegan macaroni and cheese at both the melrose and culver city locations after 5pm. i have been wanting to try m cafe’s mac and cheese forever and when i finally got a chance to last night, it did not disappoint.
for those of you who have never been to m cafe before, it’s a macrobiotic restaurant that’s almost entirely vegan, other than some dishes that clearly contain fish. they serve mostly organic whole foods and seasonal vegetables, and their meals tend to be on the healthier side. i was excited to see what they would do with a home-style dish like mac & cheese that’s usually packed with oil, grease and dairy products. i was delighted to find my take-out container filled with light but creamy noodles, crunchy bread crumbs, and loads of vegetables.
the macaroni and cheese came with twisted noodles, a light soy cheese sauce, bread crumbs, sundried tomato, asparagus and arugula. i can’t even begin to tell you how delicious the cheesy pasta was mixed up with the sweet tomatoes. i have never had sundried tomatoes in mac & cheese before, but DUDE, it was so good. the asparagus added a nice crunch to the whole dish and provided a slightly sour offset to the tomatoes. a perfect combination for sure. i also liked that there were tons of vegetables in the dish, so i didn’t feel like i was eating a bowl of just carbs and fat. for under 11 bucks, the portion was large as well, and it had a really fine-dining taste. you pay a little more at m cafe, but they use such high-quality ingredients that it’s well worth the extra few dollars.
i got my macaroni and cheese to go, and enjoyed it at home with a nice glass of organic wine and a side of m cafe’s broccolini pepperocini. it really hit the spot! right now the melrose location doesn’t serve booze, but the culver city one does. so if you are dining in on the west side, grab some alcohol to go with your dinner special. 🙂
if you like mac and cheese, i highly suggest you get to m cafe this week and try out their rendition of it. it’s healthier than all the other vegan mac and cheese in town, and it’s really delicious. they are only offering it as a dinner special through friday, but maybe if a lot of people order it (and bug them about it) they will add it to the menu. if any of y’all try it, let me know what you think.
i would be so happy if they decided to stock this regularly in the deli case…they wouldn’t even have to add it as a meal, but just a side salad. come on, m cafe. please?
m cafe de chaya
7119 Melrose Avenue
Hollywood, CA 90046
323.525.05889343 Culver Boulevard
Tags: culver city, macaroni & cheese, macrobiotic, melrose, organic
Culver City, CA 90232
310.838.4300
12 responses to “vegan mac & cheese dinner special at m cafe!”
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Looks like a pretty weak meal and at $10.75, Llama ripoff!
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angela September 2nd, 2009 at 08:39
That’s funny, I had this last night too and I thought it was really good! I agree, this would go well in the deli case.
Llamakiller, everything at M Cafe is expensive! You know that going in. $10.75 is actually cheap, for them. I know crazy. I keep eating it though.
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jennifer September 2nd, 2009 at 08:47
delicious!!! will definitely be visiting m for this special before friday 🙂 thanks for the heads up!!!
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LlamaKiller September 2nd, 2009 at 08:59
I wasn’t referring to the portion size, but the fact it looks like one could whip that together fairly quickly in their own kitchen.
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Bonnie September 2nd, 2009 at 09:04
I had this when it was a special a few months ago. NOT a ripoff. Yummy!
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i want this SO BAD. if i had to only eat pizza and mac and cheese for the rest of my life, i would be perfectly fine with that.
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Hilarious! I too had this for dinner last night at the Culver City location, with a glass (or two) of their organic wine. I had high expectations, and while it didn’t quite meet them, it was pretty darn tasty. It’s just that I make a RIDICULOUS vegan mac ‘n cheese in the slow cooker–very unfair competition. But, honorable mention, M Cafe…honorable mention.
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Damn, I have a gift certificate, but I will be too late to partake!
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I checked this out last Friday at the Melrose location and was one of the last people to order the dish before they removed the sign for this special at around 6:30pm.
Whew!
There wasn’t as much sauce as I expected, and not a lot of ‘cheese’ flavor, imo. The asparagus kind of overwhelmed the rest of the flavors and I would suggest they add a different veggie next time (in addition to the sun-dried tomatoes and mushrooms…no arugula in mine). And I didn’t get breadcrumbs on mine, which would have added a bit of texture.
But overall, I enjoyed it. While didn’t blow my mind, it was a good option that I’d probably order again if it was a regular menu item at M. (People at the Culver City location told me it’s likely to be added to the regular menu soon.)
I’d just ditch the asparagus!!!
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LlamaKiller September 2nd, 2009 at 08:37