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Vegan and Family Owned: Veggie World in Monterey Park
8August 22nd, 2010LA restaurants, veggie worldhey everyone, time for a field report from right here in los angeles! this one comes to us from monterey park, and is the first post by our new local operative, “M-E”. check it out, and learn all about veggie world, a family owned restaurant.
I work in East LA which is an area spotted with little gems of restaurants most of which cook with animal fat- the culinary gems don’t usually leave much for the vegan to uncover. My boss is Vietnamese and while driving she saw a sign for what looked like a new restaurant, “Veggie World” and she was dying to show me the wonders of meatless Vietnamese cuisine. We went today after a rough morning in the office.
“Veggie World, Vegetarian Restaurant” is located in Monterey Park and has a vinyl sign with the restaurant name and a little lotus flower hanging out front. We entered zen, the restaurant was empty, but it was immaculate. White walls, beautiful screen dividers, glass lazy susans on the large tables and many jade statues and gold laughing Buddhas evidencing that the patrons were devout Buddhists. The menu is extensive and has $6 lunch specials which come with soup and rice.
I rarely get asian cuisine so my boss and I decided to go all out. I must admit I usually shy away from fake meats as I don’t remember or miss the taste of meat but I LOVE asian food so I was game for an adventure. We decided on a shredded lotus salad with carrots, fake shrimp and pork belly and yummy sauce. Really it was sweet, savory, crunchy and delicious and my boss swore up and down the pork belly tasted exactly like the real thing.
They came with those puffy white “shrimp” flavored crackers. When my boss saw them come out she grabbed one and bit it. She then quickly interrogated our server in Vietnamese saying that they tasted too much like shrimp. Our sever shook his head hard and said no animal ingredients were used in the restaurant, but to make sure he went back and checked with the chef directly and came back to double assure us the crackers were just seasoning and flour and that no animal ingredients were used.
We then had the yucca and “sausage” spring rolls…
Again I don’t remember sausage, but mixed with the salad they were divine.
We ordered a soup with soft noodles and fake crab meat that had a spicy sauce and came with a big plate of sprouts, leaves and jalapenos to mix in and a light sauce with chunks of peanuts. The broth was swimming with seitan strips, greens, mushrooms and savory tomatoes.
We ALSO got two lunch specials, steamed greens and a sticky and delicious chicken dish- honestly these were the two BEST dishes we had, so full of flavor.
The portions were really large and the soup that came with the lunch special was sweet with chunks of fake pork and steamed mustard greens- I was so full, but the soup I made room for. All in all what we ordered made up 5 meals (we both had doggy bags) but we were happy to try out this restaurant and give this clean and tasty establishment business. We asked our server how long ago the restaurant had been open and he informed us it had been open for five months!
Literally one other group was in the restaurant during the nearly two hours that we were there. After some discussion we came to learn that the business is completely family run, totally vegan, and that the whole family has been vegetarian for 20 years. The space is very clean and beautiful with soothing strumming music in the background. If you are ever in Montrey Park, I urge you vegans to support this little family restaurant!
Veggie World, Vegetarian Restaurant
Tags: asian food, field report, monterey park
321 W. Harvey Ave., Suite A
Monterey Park, CA 91754
626-642-0368
8 responses to “Vegan and Family Owned: Veggie World in Monterey Park” 
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I used to go to a Veggie World in Orange, but it closed down in 2004. I wonder if it’s the same one??! It was soooo good! The entrees look familiar, but it’s been so long. Think I might have to check this place out for myself. Thanks for the post!
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Gauri Radha August 22nd, 2010 at 08:38
Oh my gosh, I think my parents took me to this place long ago, when I became vegetarian, after or during college-days. It’s been years and years since we went. I should go check it out again, thanks for posting this review!!
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Gauri Radha August 22nd, 2010 at 08:42
Oh wait a minute, I see this place has only been open five months, so no way can it be the vegetarian place I went to years ago!! Shucks, please excuse my previous post, looks like my morning caffeine has not taken hold yet 😛
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Gregalor August 22nd, 2010 at 10:14
Oh cool, there aren’t enough veggie Vietnamese places. I always go to this part of town for Happy Family, but I’ll have to try this out next time instead.
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Ooh must try this place! That spring roll sausage thing looks nuts!
“gregalor” you actually like happy family? The old broad that runs the place was soooo rude to my date and I a few years back, that I never returned. The faux meats were suspicious. She swore vegan but I got fiarly sick after (which will happen if I eat or drink things containing diary). Bleh.
Kari August 22nd, 2010 at 08:26