if there is one food on this whole planet i miss from when i was a vegetarian, that food is definitely pizza. a huge slab of dough covered with fresh vegetables and melted mozzarella was my all-time favorite meal and until very recently there was just no vegan substitute. plus, you can’t beat the convenience of picking up one huge plate, enough to feed several people, and ripping into it slice by slice without any utensils.

for ages, the only way to get a vegan pizza in los angeles was to order one with no cheese (boring) or wait hours for a mediocre pizza from damiano’s (blech). however, over the past year three amazing pizza joints within driving distance have started offering pizza with both vegan cheese and vegan meaty toppings. over the weekend we made the thirty minute drive all they way out to santa clarita to test out the new vegan pepperoni at tomato joe’s and i can safely say it was worth the trip.

tomato joe's pizza on micro-brew crust with vegan mozzarella, vegan pepperoni, mushrooms, tomatoes and fresh garlic. $23.39

i first read about tomato joe’s offering vegan pepperoni on scvegan.com, and couldn’t wait to try it out. i was already a huge fan of tomato joe’s…i mean, their fluffy vegan beer crust is absolutely amazing and they work wonders with follow your heart cheese. the vegan pepperoni was no different…this stuff was insanely delicious. i’m not sure what brand of pepperoni they use, but it has tons of spicy flavor and a pretty decent texture. it’s definitely not quite up there with the artisan field roast meat that purgatory pizza uses, but as far as vegan pepperoni goes it’s definitely the best i’ve ever had.

vegan stuff aside, tomato joe’s really makes damn good pizza by anyone’s standards. the beer crust is some of the best tasting bread i’ve ever tasted, and is a welcome change from the ny-style pizza i am used to eating. it’s just oozing with hefeweizen flavor from the beer brewed right next door, and has a really fluffy texture with slightly crispy edges. plus, the toppings are fresh and the follow your heart cheese is melted just perfectly…i have no clue how they accomplish it.

tomato joe’s is so good it actually kind of pisses me off. they have two vegan crusts, vegan cheese, two vegan meat options (they were out of the second one when we went!), and loads of creative toppings from bird seed to tortilla strips. seriously there must be like 8 vegans in santa clarita and 80 billion vegans in los angeles…can’t tomato joe’s move to LA? it’s not fair that i should have to drive 30 miles for a vegan pizza with beer crust and these spoiled santa clarita people can get it delivered to their house. wtf. the ONLY good vegan pizza in los angeles is at purgatory pizza, which is a crime. we should have at least 20 good pizza places around here. you hear that pizza parlor owners? stop fucking around and start carrying vegan cheese! AGJHGHGHGHGHGHGAHAHGh.

so anyways, the pizza pictured above was absolutely amazing. i would eat it every single day if it wasn’t located so far away. if you haven’t tried tomato joe’s yet, you NEED to drive to santa clarita and check it out. granted, there is nowhere to eat inside because it is a take-out/delivery place…but who is gonna stop you from eating a whole pizza in your car? i’m not.

tomato joe’s
27732 McBean Pkwy
Valencia, CA 91354
(661) 263-8646

if you go to london, be sure not to leave without hitting up camden market. the open-air market has been going on since the 70s, draws about 100,000 people each weekend, and is packed with tons of cool stalls, shops, pubs and restaurants. whether you want a pair of wacky socks, a purse, a whole new wardrobe or just some shit that glows in the dark…you can find it at camden market. definitely go on a saturday or sunday, it will be pretty crowded, but at least everything will be open. and after you work up a massive appetite from all that shopping, drop by and grab some vegan lunch from camden lock’s falafel queen.

camden market...shopping makes vegans HUNGRY

the 100% vegetarian falafel stand is located in the middleyard section of the camden lock market and appears to be all vegan as well. i didn’t see any dairy products or eggs on the menu. the falafel queen is open on weekends from 10am until 5pm and serves up pipin’ hot falafel sandwiches, fresh salads, crispy chips and cold drinks. oh, and the falafel balls are cooked right there on the spot as well, super fresh!

falafel queen: pita bread with salads, tabuli, corn, hummos, tahini, warm chickpeas, and chili sauce. £4.50

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for a long time, quiznos has been a place for vegans to avoid. up until very recently, all of their breads have contained dairy, making it impossible to order a vegan sandwich. all this has changed though, with the introduction of the torpedo!

vegan quiznos torpedo: guacamole, black olives, lettuce, tomato, red onions, mushrooms. (no cheese, no vinaigrette) $4

the new sleek sandwich is over one foot long, about two inches wide, and comes on baked ciabatta bread that is delicious and dairy-free. although none of the standard torpedo combinations are vegan (or even vegetarian), you can order a vegan sandwich by getting a torpedo with the the veggie sub fillings, minus the cheese and vinaigrette (which contains dairy). the end result is actually extremely tasty, and a damn good deal for 4 bucks. plus, isn’t it great to know we vegans can finally eat at quiznos?!?! i am sooo burnt out on subway.

oh, and you get extra credit vegan points if you bring in your own tofurky and add it to your sandwich. it really takes the torpedo to the next level.

vegan quiznos torpedo with some added tofurky action

so there you have it. vegan fast food for under 5 dollars. if you are ever stranded in need of a vegan meal, chances are you are probably near a quiznos. do the torpedo!

oh, and in case you were wondering…my friend double checked with the quiznos hq about the torpedo bread being vegan, and they sent her a list of ingredients in the ciabatta. click here if you want to check them out.

UPDATED! turns out the vegan cheese at this place IS vegan, although i was skeptical. scroll to the near end of the post, update is in bold.

lemme tell ya about a lunch gone wrong with a very happy ending. a few days ago, me and my homie, vegan chef/blogger extraordinaire jennshaggy, made a pilgrimage to the mid-city chili factory earle’z grill which is believed to have tons of vegan options. we lined up when we got there, super hungry and high off all the positive vegan-friendly yelp reviews…very ready to be impressed. unfortunately when we got to the front of the queue, the cashier told us that the only vegan thing on the menu was “vegan cake”. all the veggie dogs and burgers were possibly vegan in their own right, but the buns contained dairy. fuck. we bailed and drove back down crenshaw racking our brains for a new place to eat. luckily, jennshaggy is like a an encyclopedia of all things vegan, so she tapped into her super computer brain and lead us to sky’s gourmet tacos on pico.

sky’s gourmet tacos is a small sit-down mexican restaurant with an extensive vegetarian menu that can be made vegan upon request. dude, right down to fake meat and soy cheese, sky’s gourmet tacos has got it going on. the woman there seemed pretty knowledgeable as well; before we even asked she assured us that the soy cheese was vegan and i heard her instruct the kitchen to cook our food on “the vegetarian grill”. awesome. we ordered a ton of food and shared it, and everything was completely off the hook.

veggie taco (prepared vegan): two corn tortillas, tofu, lettuce, tomato, cilantro, hot sauce and cheese. $3.25

the veggie taco comes with the choice of vegan soyrizo-type meat or tofu. we went with the tofu and it was absolutely incredible. it was covered in delicious seasonings that turned it bright orange and gave it a very spicy flavor. the thing that took this taco over the edge though, was the hot sauce. sky has their own mild salsa that we couldn’t get enough of…even though the food was covered in it, we kept going to the counter and requesting more. so damn good!

veggie torta (prepared vegan): vegan meat, sky's sassy sauce, melted cheese, lettuce, tomato and cilantro fused together on mexican telera bread. $5.95

we also ordered the veggie torta which was filled with chopped up and seasoned vegan meat along with beans, salsa, vegetables and soy cheese. this sandwich was a lot different from the amazing vegan torta at pure luck, but every bit as good. the bread was really soft and bendable, kind of like a huge store-bought hamburger bun, and it was cooked and covered in delicious orange spices (you really can’t pick this thing up without getting it all over you). the vegan meat inside was incredibly tasty–huge chunks of soy protein oozing with mexican flavor. packed with so many fresh vegetables and juicy beans, the torta is definitely a bit messy, but so worth the cleanup.

the veggie burrito caught us a bit off guard because it wasn’t wrapped. check out the picture below…doesn’t it look like a massive taco?? it was prepared just like the taco as well. it had basically the same stuff in it, except i ordered it with vegan meat instead of tofu, and it came in flour instead of corn tortillas. i definitely liked it, but i prefer a more traditional burrito experience.

veggie burrito (prepared vegan): two flour tortillas, vegan meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro and salsa. $5.45

lastly we got the veggie quesadilla with vegan cheese which was basically melted soy cheese sandwiched between two huge tortillas, then covered with beans, vegan meat, and more un-melted cheese. it was so massive, we didn’t even make it through half of it.

veggie quesadilla (prepared vegan): vegan meat and black or brown beans. $5.95

the vegan soy cheese didn’t taste like follow your heart, which kind of raised our suspicions but it definitely didn’t stretch like most soy cheese that contains dairy. it was strange. check out the picture below, it didn’t quite melt but it sure tried. although the texture wasn’t quite right, the taste melted was really good, which made us even more suspicious. after reading the post on sick of lettuce about vegan restaurants selling non-vegan cheese, i’m thinking we should treat all fake cheese as suspect. so although the lady at the restaurant told us this cheese was vegan, and she was very knowledgeable and even cooked the food on separate grills, you may want to avoid this soy cheese because i can’t tell you what brand it is. i don’t think i would order this again in the future, although it was really good. what do you think? should all “vegan” cheese be avoided if you don’t know the brand? where do the other vegans stand on this?

UPDATE: the vegan cheese is vegan! after reading this post, the resourceful vegyogini took it upon herself to email sky’s gourmet tacos directly and find out what brand of vegan cheese they use. it turns out they use follow your heart…maybe i just didn’t recognize it because it was coated in flour? it all makes sense now, considering the soy cheese didn’t quite melt. phew, the vegan cheese appears to be safe so go for it!

so there you have it, an great mexican restaurant with a huge vegetarian menu that can be veganized…what more do you require? the food is damn good as well. i think i will be spending many a lunch at sky’s gourmet tacos in days to come. and for you vegan cheese skeptics, just order everything without the cheese. the burritos, tacos and tortas would be just as tasty without it. get your vegan asses over to sky’s gourmet tacos. you will not regret it. and special thanks to jennshaggy for remembering this place, she turned our lunch fail into a lunch win.

sky’s gourmet tacos
5408 West Pico Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA. 90019
323.932.6253

P.S. stay away from earle’z grill and don’t believe people when they tell you about all the great vegan options. it just ain’t true.

If you’re lucky enough to be a vegan living in Southern California — particularly Los Angeles – your favorite cuisine will, of course, be vegan Thai. From the Westside to the Southland to the Inland Empire there are over 9,500 vegan Thai restaurants, each with a totally diverse menu (except, of course, for everybody’s favorite “Cowboy Burger” and “Garlic Pepper Seitan”, which are faithfully included on every restaurant’s menu). The unique combination of fine dining, surprising menu options and incredibly attentive servers is offset to the negative by long waits (reservations at the Beverly Hills “Taste of Vegan” restaurant usually need to be made days in advance), and the famous “Vegan Tasty” in Alhambra usually has a 4-5 hour wait for a table.

vegan tasty in alhambra

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if you follow this blog, you probably read about the vegan dramz that occurred a few weeks ago in regards to the kogi taco truck. the korean/mexican-style bbq is definitely the latest food fad to hit los angeles, and there can be up to two hour waits and a shortage of grub wherever the trucks decide to make an appearance. i queued up for like 45 minutes just to get a tofu taco which i assumed was vegan, only to find out that it almost was….other than “traces of lard” in the corn tortilla…after i’d already eaten it.

i wrote a post about my kogi experience, which kicked up a minor stir…but it didn’t stop the la vegan drinks crew from organizing a meetup at the alibi room in culver city, the new brick and mortar home to the kogi taco truck cuisine. vegan drinks were arranged for saturday, march 28, with the selling point being that the word “vegan” is in fact on the kogi menu at the alibi (they offer a vegan taco wrapped in a leaf), plus the chef promised to create a “vegan special” just to appease our crew. i gotta admit, it was a pretty ballsy move on the part of vegan drinks. afterall, “kogi” means “meat” in korean and this is a place that has been known to have conflicting stories about the contents of their food. on the other hand, kogi is the latest culinary craze sweeping the town…why shouldn’t we vegans get to enjoy it as well? plus the alibi room is a hip bar with tons of vegan beer and a parking lot. having the vegan drinks meetup revolve around this controversial cuisine was obviously a good idea, because like 80 fucking vegans showed up!

the place was jam packed, with vegans and meat-eaters alike…you could tell the alibi must fill to capacity even without a huge vegan party taking over the place. when we left, there was seriously a wait to get in. what is it with la and these bloody fads…once la foodies get wind of one, there really is no stopping them! anyways, on to the food!

vegan sesame leaf tacos with tofu and asian pear. $5

we started with the one and only main dish on kogi’s alibi menu that comes vegan as is: the vegan sesame leaf tacos. these tacos aren’t listed on the mobile kogi taco truck menu…but who knows, maybe they could make them for you if you ask. either way, they are always available at the alibi. they tasted pretty similar to the normal tofu tacos wrapped in lard, except these were wrapped in a delicate shiso leaf instead. the insides were a little bit sweeter than the normal tacos, and there was just a hint of hot sauce. they were pretty tasty, i just gotta admit i’m not a huge fan of eating tacos or burritos wrapped in leaves. i would have much preferred these to come in vegan corn tortillas, but oh well.

vegan special of the night and tofu burrito after the jump.

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the corner of duke street and berry street in liverpool is pretty fucking awesome. not just because it’s home to a derelict pub which sports banksy’s biggest and most valuable piece of graffiti…but also because it’s steps away from a kick ass vegan-friendly chinese restaurant called yuet ben.

yuet ben restaurant and famous banksy graffiti in liverpool

i found out about yuet ben from the must-read vegan liverpool website, scouseveg.co.uk. scouse veg is a great resource and gives the lowdown on all the veg-friendly places in the city. that is after all, where i read about the awesome egg cafe. i was stoked to visit yuet ben’s website and find that they had an entirely separate vegetarian/vegan menu that was simple yet appetizing. on our one night in liverpool a couple of months ago, we decided to put the chips and curry on hold and dine at yuet ben for a dinner of vegan chinese food.

imagine how stoked we were to trudge up the hill to yuet ben and see before us a huge piece of banksy graffiti that i’d been reading about online. the depiction of a giant cat/rat creature stands about 20 feet high and is said to be banksy’s biggest work of art. it has raised the value of the disused pub it adorns, the whitehorse, to an estimated £1 million! if you are a fan of street art (what self-respecting vegan isn’t?), then yuet ben is definitely the place to dine in liverpool.

crappy dark pictures of our tasty dinner after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

222 veggie vegan is a 100% vegan restaurant in west kensington, a rather nice area of london. they offer a daily lunchtime all-you-can-eat buffet for just £7.50, and an a la carte dinner menu every evening. i’ve never been to the lunch buffet, but have been in the past a couple of times for dinner and have overall been pretty pleased with the place. our last visit, however, left a lot to be desired.

we hit up 222 veggie vegan on a monday evening at around 6pm, and although the place wasn’t that busy, it took us forever to be noticed by the waitress. the entire place was being taken care of by just one server, and she seemed pretty flustered and miserable. when we finally got her attention, we ordered everything at once. an appetizer, two main dishes, and one side dish.

bean and tofu pancake: black eye bean and tofu pate wrapped in a wholemeal pancake, topped with tomato chunks and vegan cream sauce.

the appetizer arrived almost immediately and was definitely the highlight of the meal. the bean and tofu pancake didn’t taste like a pancake at all, more like rolled up and fried tofu scramble with a delicious sauce and a vegan sour-cream-type condiment. it was really beautifully presented and tasted great; we thought we were in for an awesome meal.

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for vegans in hollywood who are looking for some quick, cheap and decent fast food…astro burger is your place. located on the corner of melrose and gower, the legendary burger joint has been around since the 70’s and has a really impressive vegetarian menu, with vegan items clearly marked.

i hit up astro burger for the first time with one of my vegan homies, and we both left stuffed and feelin’ happy. most of the vegan items at astroburger are provided by gardenburger; they offer several of their products including the chik’n grill, bbq riblets, flame grilled burger and more. while the food is mass-produced store-bought stuff and isn’t exceptional, it’s really well-prepared at astro burger and pretty inexpensive. (everything costs around 5 bucks)

chik'n grill vegan sandwich with no bbq sauce, + mushrooms, + onions, + avocado

my friend ordered the chik’n grill sandwich and (being the astroburger pro that she is) got it modified with from average to delicious by adding extra toppings. she shared some with me and i was wishing i had ordered this for myself as well. the chik’n grill normally comes with lettuce, tomato and bbq sauce…but she got it without the sauce, plus grilled onions, mushrooms and avocado. absolutely wonderful. the chik’n patty was really thick and juicy, the onions and mushrooms added tons of flavor, and the avocado provided a cool and creamy texture that complimented the cooked vegetables perfectly. it may have been falling apart, but it was one of the better vegan fast food sandwiches in los angeles, for sure. it would have been much more boring with just lettuce and tomatoes on it.

flame grilled vegan gardenburger

i ordered the vegan flame grilled burger which came with lettuce and tomatoes, and tasted like a standard store-bought gardenburger. not much to really describe about this one, it was lightly grilled and didn’t have much flavor…next time i am totally gonna add some onions and mushrooms.

vegan chili fries

we also split an order of vegan chilli fries, which were excellent. i was expecting the chilli to contain fake meat and probably be out of a can, but instead it was just beans with a really thick sauce, sliced round carrots, and huge chunks of chillies. the crispy fries were absolutely covered with it, and it was all topped off with a load of fresh chopped onions. i really, really dug the chilli fries and would definitely order them again. between the two of us, not a single fry or bean was left behind.

so there you have it, astro burger is definitely a place to grab some vegan fast food if you are hungry in the hollywood area. they have a parking lot and a drive thru, which is super convenient but they are cash only, which is not so convenient. they also have an atm inside the restaurant if you don’t mind paying a buck fifty surcharge in order to buy a burger.

oh and don’t get this astro burger on melrose and gower confused with the one in weho on santa monica blvd. i think they are owned by the same people, but the vegan menu at the melrose/gower location is much more extensive. and yes, the vegan items are cooked on a separate grill with separate utensils, it even says so on their website. enjoy!

astro burger
5601 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90038
(323) 469-1924

vegans, rejoice! there is a new cruelty-free product on the block from none other than chicago soy dairy. if you aren’t familiar with them, they are the same folks who created teese, which tied for 1st place in our best vegan cheese for pizza showdown and also covers our favorite pizzas in los angeles. as if making great vegan cheese wasn’t enough, chicago soy dairy has recently rolled out their most convincing product yet…a line of treats called dandies vegan marshmallows. lemme tell ya, the word dandy doesn’t even begin to describe how tasty these sweet, moist, little, gelatin-free puffs are…they are nothing short of exceptional.

vegan rice krispies treats made with dandies from chicago soy dairy!

i tested the dandies out in the standard rice krispies treat recipe from the kelloggs website, and the batch came out absolutely perfect. i haven’t had real rice krispies treats (or marshmallows for that matter!) in AT LEAST ten years, and still these little squares propelled me back in time to a place when eating cereal coated with gelatin was the uninformed yet delicious norm.

dandies vegan marshmallows: $5.29/10 oz bag

i kept the recipe exactly the same as on the kelloggs website, but i substituted dandies for real marshmallows and used earth balance sticks in the place of margarine. i tasted a few of the dandies raw before making the rice krispies treats, and i can assure you that chicago soy dairy has nailed the exact marshmallow flavor AND texture. i ordered my dandies the moment they were available from veganessentials.com, and they were very quickly sold out. they are still currently out of stock, but for more updates you can always follow chicago soy dairy on twitter.

dandies vegan marshmallows melting away!

i prepared the rice krispies treats exactly according to the original recipe…melting the dandies with margarine and mixing them up in a pan with the cereal. the dandies had a thick and gummy texture that was so close to real marshmallows, i could barely believe it! they melted down immediately and became a thick sticky stew that coated the spatula and kelloggs alike.

when i let the cereal/dandies/earth balance mixture cool, it turned into a perfect slab of rice krispies treat that was easy to cut and tasted great. i am so used to eating the vegan brown rice marshmallow treats from trader joe’s, which suck ass compared to the dandies version. i even took a bite of each one side by side, and the dandies treats were so incredible, i don’t think i will ever buy the trader joe’s ones again. the vegan marshmallows were soft, creamy, and chewy…the rice krispies treat was in every way identical to its non-vegetarian counterpart.

just for fun, i also tried roasting a dandie over the fire. it turned out perfectly. crispy edges and gooey insides, just like the real thing. if i were a camping person, i would definitely be loaded up with tons of dandies for campfire smores.

melted dandies vegan marshmallow on top of some dark chocolate. yum.

lastly, i threw the dandies in some hot chocolate to see how they did. they got soft and mushy, again, just like real marshmallows. it was so awesome being able to just drink a mug of cocoa with puffy white marshmallows…a simple pleasure that’s been off limits to me for over a decade.

hot chocolate piled high with vegan dandies marshmallows

so overall, dandies vegan marshmallows are a pretty impressive break through product. the marshmallow taste and texture are hard things to get right, and chicago soy dairy has got them both nailed. a+! i will be adding these to my list of staples to order from vegan essentials.

for more info check dandies out on the web, on myspace, and on twitter.

so a few months ago, i wrote about this new little japanese/french vegan deli/bakery that opened up in west los angeles on motor avenue called casa de tree. at the time of posting, the restaurant was the sister to the recently-closed torrance location, and didn’t offer a full menu yet…just a pay-by-weight salad and hot food bar with a few blackboard specials to choose from each day.

3 months later, i am happy to announce that the west la casa de tree has expanded their menu and lowered their prices. these changes aren’t even reflected on the casa de tree website yet (most of the online info is out of date), so pay close attention to the prices and the menu that i will post below. not just that, but they wave before us the promise of their torrance location re-opening soon, which would be great news for the vegan community.

i had the awesome opportunity to catch up at casa de tree with like-minded herbivores last weekend for an oh-so-fun and sporadic happycow.net meeting. now for all you vegan angelenos who want to know about these meetings in the future…just join happycow, leave some reviews, and specify that you want in on all the vegan shindig info for your area. this site is a great place to meet other veg-heads and stay abreast of all vegan/vegetarian-goings ons in yer area.

that being said, the husband and i decided to have a slap-up feast, starting with the curry donut to share. as of recently, casa de tree offers several pastries…some savory and some sweet. so whether you are in the mood for an appetizer or dessert, they will definitely find a way to loosen your waistline.

curry donut: vegan curry paste inside crunchy bread crumbed dough. $2.50

the curry donut was nothing short of exceptional. seriously, even though it took a bit long for them to heat it up behind the counter, one bite of it immediately launched casa de tree into the category of “favorite vegan restaurants, ever”. and that’s a bold statement. it was fried with little crumby edges…all crispy on the outside and fluffy in the middle. not just that, but it was ooooooooOOOOOOooozing with salty and chunky curry goodness.

for my entree, i decided to order off the newly-introduced fixed menu. as i said, last time i went to casa de tree i was limited to the pay-by-weight buffet option, so on my recent trip i couldn’t help but test out one of the MANY BURGERS AND SANDWICHES they are now offering daily. not just that, but the meals are cheaper than they were even at the original torrance location. damn, i was having a fantasy menu field day when deciding what to order, there was so much awesomeness. i eventually settled on the katsu sandwich, which was a great choice.

katsu sandwich: homemade organic seitan katsu, cabbage, mustard and italian miso sauce. served with salad and side dish. $8.95

although it took way too long to arrive (maybe it just felt that way because all my fellow diners went with the buffet option), the katsu sandwich was totally worth it, and was a bargain at $8.95 with a salad and a side dish. the bread was remarkably soft and porous, the cabbage was fresh and crispy, the mustard was hot and tangy, and above all the seitan was crispy and just fatty enough. it was a sinful yet healthy tasting food, if you can imagine that…truly the best of both worlds. it came with a light and well-prepared salad as well as a cold and a creamy noodle dish which was packed with flavor. i’d order this again in a jiffy…after exploring the other amazing sounding sandwich and burger options, of course…

sticking to tradition, my husband went with with the pay-by-weight buffet option, which is probably the most obvious thing to do at casa de tree (it isn’t exactly clear when you walk in that they have a proper menu). since our last visit, the restaurant has lowered their price to $7.99 per pound, the exact same price as whole foods, but with much MUCH better shit. he filled up on loads of salad, sushi, tofu steak hamburgers, deep fried jalapenos, vegetable gyoza, and potato cakes. it really is a little self-serve vegan paradise. just be aware that it will cost you!

vegan buffet: $7.99 per pound.

the buffet is a great option if you are feeling up for eating samples of 15 different things, but i think in the future i will order off the newly-available set menu at casa de tree. they really give you a lot of food for the (now lower) price, and although it takes a while longer, it is so worth it.

check out the menu i’ve posted below. as i said, the items AND prices are different than the ones listed on the casa de tree website, which is well old and useless. also please note that casa de tree is CASH ONLY. if you come prepared with enough cash to foot the bill, this could easily be the best restaurant in los angeles. if you fill up on heavy shit from the buffet and get overcharged, then have to run to the atm…this could leave you with a very bad taste in your mouth. i hope my little hints will help you make the best of your experience.

casa de tree
3741 motor ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90034
310.784.0455

For those people in Ethiopia who are fortunate enough to get a square meal on a regular basis, the usual menu consists of a slab of meat with several vegetable side dishes and some flat, unleavened bread to scoop everything up into your face. It’s a coincidence that the vegetable side dishes fit into that unusual intersection of “naturally vegan, yet tasty”. Yeah, naturally tasty vegan food isn’t that common in ethnic mainstream (if you can call Ethiopian “mainstream”!) dining. After all, just about the only thing vegan at a Chinese restaurant is plain, white rice – the antitheses of tasty.

I’m really glad that LA has a thriving Ethiopian community. Even though there are pockets of Ethiopian ex-pats all over the city, the Ethiopian dining center (called, strangely “Little Ethiopia”) is one short block of Fairfax Avenue between Olympic and Pico Blvds., and we vegans can take advantage of the excellent food and warm hospitality at any of over 20 restaurants, pretty much any time we like. One common menu item is the “vegetarian combination” which is, in fact, entirely vegan as it consists of hearty portions of each side dish with some bread on the side.

I’ve eaten at many of the restaurants in Little Ethiopia over the years, and the vegetarian combination tastes exactly the same everywhere. I’m convinced they have one large kitchen in an alleyway somewhere that prepares all the side dishes and runners dash from there to each restaurant every time somebody places an order. OK, probably not, but the consistency is within a very fine tolerance of identical at each establishment.

So, when choosing where to dine, I used to decide between Nyala and Rosalind’s – two of the larger and more established restaurants on the “strip”, largely as a preference over the kind of ambiance and atmosphere I was seeking. However, after discovering Rahel Vegan Cuisine I’m somewhat torn with my loyalties. You see, Rahel’s is entirely VEGAN – the staff are right up my street because they are nice, polite and wear tee-shirts with things like “Vegan POWER!” written on them. It also offers consistently tasty food, and is on the opposite side of the street to the aforementioned establishments – which is a good, because I come from the west and crossing Fairfax here is like being Frogger in the video game.

I was fortunate, recently, to go back to Rahel’s with a friend and colleague who is much more of a regular than I. The lunch special during weekdays is an “all you can eat style” lunch, although a full a la carte menu is (surprisingly) available. I’m used to all-you-can-eat affairs being buffet-style where half the fun is pigging out on the dishes you really like, while ignoring the ones you don’t. Sadly, Rahel’s brings you one plate of food with no choice about what you get – probably due to the fact they don’t have room for a buffet setup as the restaurant is so small inside. This complicates things somewhat, and takes the fun out of scooping the food out of catering trays, as one would normally do at an all-you-can-eat session.

Lunch Special at Rahel Vegan Cuisine

Injera bread for scooping up vegetables

Once you’ve eaten the food, there are two choices: another plate of what you just had, or a delicate negotiation with a server who knows WAY more than you’ll ever know about what you just ate and how to pronounce it, so that you can get more of the dishes you want. Having to ask a server for more free stuff feels sort-of guilty to me, and the gluttonous nature of all-you-can-eat is mitigated to a degree by the proxy of a human whom has to acknowledge and process every order. Compounding this is the fact that, like most ignorant white people, I’ve never managed to memorize the real Ethiopian names of the food I enjoy so much – so I’m reduced to explaining things in terms of color and texture: “the black, creamy lentils, but the ones without potatoes” and “the green salad-type thing with the large tomatoes on it” when I want more of something.

Second plate of food after heavy negotiations with the waitress!

Bottom line, Rahel’s has a lot going for it because it’s entirely vegan, but falls down in other areas. It’s small and cramped inside, with strange décor (upside down umbrellas on the ceiling?!), extra-small, glass-covered two-top tables and a lunchtime vegan buffet that’s a full buck more than Nyala’s vegan buffet across the street. Nyala’s is a much nicer place to be (high ceilings, expansive floor space, booths) and has a self-serve buffet, to guarantee that fatty vegans like me will always be satisfied.

Remembering that Rahel’s is entirely vegan (although related to the anything-but-vegan Messob next door), it certainly warrants a visit – as do the other fine establishments in Little Ethiopia – but it falls short somewhat on atmosphere and convenience. Supporting a vegan business is always my preference, but I’ve added Rahel’s to my rotation of restaurants on this block, rather than going there exclusively.

rahel vegan cuisine
1047 south fairfax avenue
los angeles ca 90019
323-937-8401
open daily
11am to 11pm
all you can eat lunch special
11am – 3pm

hey there LA vegan cupcake lovers (i know there is a grip of you out there), i have some really good news. remember when i lamented the closing of leda’s bakeshop in sherman oaks? well, as of recently, the original vegan baker at leda’s, kim garr has started selling her recipes to the public via her online bakeshop, c’est la v!

i know that a lot of vegan hearts (including mine) sank when they learned about the shutting of leda’s. kim garr read my melancholy post and emailed me to tell me that even though she no longer worked at leda’s, she had been improving her vegan recipes with plans to launch her own online bakery. i was so stoked to hear this, and now it looks like she is finally up and running. i haven’t personally tried any of c’est la v’s baked goods…but i thought i should let y’all know what they have to offer. here are just a few of the goodies. check out the full menu here.

c'est la v vegan cupcakes: moist, delicate cakes topped with fluffy, creamy frosting. (chocolate cake with vanilla frosting pictured) $3.25 each

vegan chocolate chip cookies: 12 minis/ $4.75

vegan rugelach: raspberry, strawberry or apricot. 6 pieces/ $5.25

c’est la v offers loads more vegan goodies than the ones pictured above. check them out and place an order if you want to relive the good old days of leda’s bakeshop and try some new/improved stuff as well. they also have lots of mouth-watering things that aren’t even listed on the menu like chocolate peanut butter fudge and plum kuchen cake.

so there you have it. while i haven’t actually tried c’est la v’s baked goods myself, i know they come from the mastermind behind my all-time favorite vegan cupcakes. i guess when one door closes, a new one opens…it was tough saying goodbye to leda’s, but c’est la v! so los angeles vegans, embrace the new vegan baking line from our talented local kim garr.

c’est la v
Kim Garr
Owner / Baker
818.326.4443
kimgarr1@gmail.com
www.cestlavbakeshop.com

also check out kim’s kick ass vegan blog:
www.cestlavegan.com

UPDATE 9/17: as of sunday 9/20, THE VEGAN BRUNCH IS BACK!!! please go support flore cafe! we don’t want to see this brunch go away again!

UPDATE: unfortunately, due to slow business, the all-you-can-eat vegan brunch at flore cafe has been discontinued. you should still get over there ASAP though, as most of the brunch items are available on their menu.

so if you read this blog, you are probably already aware of the fact that a vegetarian restaurant called flore cafe now occupies the former space of the best vegan eatery in town (the vegan spot) and has recently started offering an awesome all-you-can-eat vegan brunch every sunday from 10am to 3pm for just 10 bucks. that’s right, probably the best vegan brunch deal ever conceived of, flore cafe provides quality vegan food in cafeteria-sized trays every week for a fixed price, and you can go up and get as many servings as you like. total recipe for over-indulgence disaster.

however this weekend, flore cafe started offering a different menu for the all you can eat brunch. today the tofu scramble and waffles were replaced with vegetable frittata and grilled “chicken” patties. both dishes were tasty, no doubt…but i can’t lie, i REALLY missed the tofu scramble.

flore cafe all you can eat vegan brunch. french toast, vegan bacon, vegetarian frittata and "chicken" patties. $10

the vegan menu this weekend consisted of french toast with berry compote, vegetable frittata, veggie bacon, grilled “chicken” patties, roasted breakfast potatoes, bread & jam along with coffee & orange juice. the french toast was delicious (as usual) and the new berry compote really added and extra wow factor, if you enjoy eating sweets for breakfast. i’d say this was the highlight of the meal, along with the “chicken” patties which are pictured above to the top left and below in the bottom center.

flore cafe vegan all you can eat brunch for $10

the “chicken” patties didn’t really taste like chicken at all, but thick seitany sausages instead. they were absolutely delicious, albeit a bit cold, and i seriously couldn’t stop going back for more. the vegetarian frittata was a bit bland and, like the breakfast potatoes, full of bell peppers…which i HATE. 🙁 bell peppers aside, the frittata just wasn’t as good as flore cafe’s tofu scramble. i don’t think i would ever spoon the frittata onto my plate again as long as other stuff was available, i’d rather just fill up on the awesome bacon and “chicken” patties.

i don’t know if this menu change is permanent for the all-you-can-eat sunday brunch at flore cafe, or if they were just trying out some new things. what i do know though, is i didn’t like it quite as much as the old menu that i’m used to. the seitan “chicken” patties and fruit compote were delicious, but they didn’t fill the hole that was left by the absence of the tofu scramble.

still though, in the end it is unlimited awesome vegan food at a fixed price and you just can’t beat that. if you haven’t been, definitely head out to flore cafe and get the sunday brunch as soon as you can. maybe put in a good word to your server about the tofu scramble if you are lucky enough to get it. 😉 believe you me, it’s the best thing they offer.

Flore Cafe
3206 W. Sunset Blvd.
@ Descanso in Silver Lake
323-667-0116

for vegans who find themselves in london on the hunt for a quick meal, i highly recommend popping into one of the many itsu shops located around the city. itsu offers japanese-style light fare including sushi, soups and salads that as they say on their website is “full of goodness & won’t make you fat.”

while the menu at itsu has a lot of icky fish on it, they do have some great vegan options that are a welcome break from all the heavy chips and curry i’m used to consuming while in the uk. we always make sure to hit up itsu at least once when in london for their delicious dumpling soup…we even like it so much, we figured out how to make it at home here in los angeles.

itsu dynamite vegetable dumplings with miso broth. £4.95

when ordering the dumpling soup off the menu, be sure to specify that you want it with miso broth. the miso broth is vegan, while some of the other soups at itsu contain bonito (fish). although you can’t see them in the picture, the vegetable dumpling soup comes packed with fresh vegetables including spinach, mushrooms and bean sprouts, all atop a big pile of fat udon noodles and stacked with plump and juicy vegetable dumplings and crunchy seeds. everything that’s shoved into this soup is fresh and amazing, my only tip would be to eat the dumplings first because if they get too soggy they start to disintegrate. this stuff is so bloody yummy, it will have you wondering why you haven’t been eating it every day for years. seriously, so simple and so good.

in addition to a really stellar vegan soup option (don’t forget to specify that you want vegan miso broth!), itsu offers a damn good salad.

hip & healthy: avocado, itsu salad, tenderstem broccoli, itsu rice with chives, soy pumpkin seeds, beetroot angel hair and shallot dressing. £4.25

the hip and healthy is packed delicate leaves, perfectly prepared vegetables, hearty seeds and even fluffy white rice. it’s seriously a produce lover’s dream…all so fresh and tasty. while the vegetable dumpling soup with miso broth is by far the best thing i’ve ever tried at itsu, the hip and healthy salad is a perfect choice if you don’t want to stagger out with half a gallon of liquid in your belly.

to sum it up, itsu is a great choice if you are looking for a nourishing and tasty vegan meal in london. it’s one of our regular uk haunts, and i always feel energized and guilt-free, even after eating a ton. the japanese have got the healthy and simple food down. eating this food will make you feel so good, you won’t even miss the fried and greasy chips or oil-filled indian food.

one thing to look out for, if you are eating in and not getting your food to go…be sure to hit up one of itsu’s SHOP locations, not one of the RESTAURANTS. the shops are quick with a vegan-friendly menu and have cute little booths to eat at. the restaurants are larger and offer a mainly fish menu, with the soups and salads only available for takeaway. basically don’t bother with the restaurants. check out the itsu website for all the shop locations…they are seriously scattered all over london. the pix in this post are all from the piccadilly shop. address and hours below.

so hit up itsu! because as they say, “you can eat lots without guilt, sorrow, and pain”! woo!

itsu
167 Piccadilly
London W1J 9EG
T: 020 7495 4048
F: 020 7495 4645
Mon to Fri: 10am – 8pm
Sat & Sun: 12pm – 5pm