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vegan dineLA at susan feniger’s street
13October 13th, 2009LA restaurants, streetas you may know, on this blog we’ve been compiling a list of restaurants that can accommodate vegans during dineLA restaurant week. recently, i decided to put this info to use and hit up susan feniger’s street with my former dineLA partner in crime, jennshaggy.
when we arrived, the restaurant wasn’t very crowded and we leisurely sunk a few cocktails before placing our order. the pink drink above was mine…and it was so damn good, i can’t even remember its name. if you like fancy drinks though, street is your place. their cocktails and sangria are absolutely amazing, and they even have a drink made with absinthe on the menu!
our waitress presented us with the special dineLA menus, and when we told her we were vegans, she rushed to the kitchen to speak with the chef. she returned quickly with a list of modifications we could make to each item in order to veganize it, and our restaurant week experience was underway!
indian vada dumplings (veganized): crispy dal fritters topped with mince sauce and tamarind date chutney
it turns out the dineLA appetizer, indian vada dumplings, could easily be made vegan by leaving off the yogurt topping. the “crispy dal fritters” were soft little fried balls that melted in my mouth immediately, with flavorful dollops of mint sauce and chutney. they were so rich, that eating several of them would probably result in a massive food coma…but in moderation they were delicious.
side note: with our appetizer, a server brought some round millet cakes to the table. jennshaggy took a bite of one and thought it tasted weird, and just a moment later our waitress came rushing to our table, grabbing for the dish and exclaiming, “don’t eat that! it has marshmallow in it!” ewwwwwwwwwwwww, fucking gross. it had been sent to our table by mistake. if you are ever at street, stay away from these things.
new jerusalem bread salad (veganized): chopped salad with jerusalem artichoke, persian cucumber, tomato, parsley leaves and greens; tossed with cumin toasted olive bread drizzled with warm sumac oil and fresh lemon
for our salad course, we had two vegan options. i chose the new jerusalem bread salad with no feta (pictured above), and jennshaggy went with the scandinavian beet and apple salad with no croutons (pictured below). the new jerusalem bread salad was phenomenal, a whole world of unfamiliar and delicious tastes. tender artichokes, baby cucumbers, fresh leaves and soft bread…everything was delicate and perfect. it was tangy and refreshing, smooth and not overly oily. the best salad i’ve had in a long, long time. jennshaggy was also quite pleased with the beet and apple salad, and praised everything as being extremely well-seasoned.
scandinavian beet & apple salad (veganized): slow roasted beets with apple, black currant, watercress and toasted walnut in a juniper vinaigrette
when it came to side dishes, there were several vegan options including broccoli, sweet potatoes, and corn. we both opted for the roman broccoli—tender rapini cooked with olive oil, garlic, and red chile flake. while the broccoli was good and i ate it all, i wasn’t blown away by it. it tasted a little overcooked and soggy all at once. next time, i’m going for the sweet potatoes.
roman broccoli: tender rapini slow cooked with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, and red chile flake
when it came to entrees on the dineLA menu, street was able to veganize two of them. jennshaggy got the lamb kofta and falafel salad, but without the lamb or tzatziki. her plate arrived with a big pile of homemade falafel salad, a mound of baba ganouj, a bowl of tahini dressing, and a stack of lavash bread to make it all into little wraps. i tasted everything on her plate and it was all awesome, especially the tiny little falafel balls. they were crispy around the edges, soft inside, and slightly spicy….everything i require from falafel. while this meal was excellent, it might not be such a great deal…considering it was a meat dish without the meat, and no new vegan ingredient in its place.
falafel salad: a salad of homemade marble sized falafel fritters tossed in crispy eggplant, tomato, cucumber, pickled radish shaved lettuce; served with thin lavash wraps, tahini hot sauce, baba ganouj and lemon oil
for my entree, i went with the spicy peanut noodles, which are vegan when ordered without egg. the noodles were soft and lightly coated in sticky peanut sauce, and the thinly sliced vegetables and tofu were cooked perfectly. although it was a simple dish, this entree packed tons of flavor and was really well-prepared.
spicy peanut noodles with vegetables (veganized): flat rice noodles tossed with long beans, eggplant, carrot, zucchini, and tofu in toasted sesame peanut sauce
unfortunately street wasn’t able to accommodate us with a vegan dessert option (although i don’t even see dessert listed on their online dineLA menu), and when we asked if that meant we could get a discount, they said no but offered to bring us a plate of berries. BERRIES?! no thanks…we were pretty stuffed anyways. so that was that.
overall i thoroughly enjoyed my vegan dineLA meal at street, but next time i think it would be a better deal to just order off the regular menu. street has so many appetizing vegan options available, but most of them were off limits to us because we were constrained to the dineLA options. the atmosphere at street is top notch, the food is great, and the drinks are incredible. i will definitely be back soon.
susan feniger’s street
Tags: cocktails, dinela, hollywood, noodles, restaurant week, salad
742 N. Highland
Los Angeles, CA 90038
(323) 203-0500
12 responses to “vegan dineLA at susan feniger’s street” 
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It’s awesome that they were so accommodating! That beet/apple salad looks so good.
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The Jerusalem artichoke salad looks amazing! So do the peanut noodles and falafel dish. It’s great to know there are other vegan offerings on their main menu, too.
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Millie October 13th, 2009 at 12:43
Street is so awesome and willing to cater to vegans! I love them!
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Sounds like the service was great. We call that the “vegan tax” – paying the same price for a menu item without the meat or whatever.
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that peanut stuff sounds guuuuuuuuud. the portion looks kind of small for my liking… i likes me leftovers.
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the falafel salad looks YUM! I could eat that right now! :D… <–drool
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Who else would think to actually look into dine la for vegans? This is so helpful. I am gonna go to Ciudad AND Street.
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msmerymac October 14th, 2009 at 08:15
I had that peanut noodle dish before! I also LOVED the thai bites, which are on their regular menu. They veganized them for me by switching out the palm caramel (which had fish sauce – ew) for a date sauce, and leaving out the shrimp. SO good.
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Went with out of town guests a few weeks ago. Yes, loved it, highly recommend for vegans. Everyone there was really helpful and friendly. First time in LA at a non-vegan restaurant where I felt like they really understood and weren’t put out by my questions.
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miss mikes June 13th, 2010 at 16:46
FYI..STREET now has 2 vegan desserts on menu..double choc bourbon cherry cookies and an agave tequila tropical fruit cup.
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ms.m.s. September 20th, 2011 at 07:09
Have you heard about STREET’s upcoming veggie night? “Herbivore Like Never Before” it looks amazing! http://eatatstreet.com/index.html
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miss anthrope October 13th, 2009 at 08:52