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Vegan Field Report: Veggie Heaven and Toy Joy in Austin, Texas
6February 8th, 2011austin, more restaurants (not LA)vegan field report time! it’s another one by bess of i dream of greenie, and this one comes to us again from austin, texas. here she gives us quick reviews on 2 different places. she covers some awesome thai food at veggie heaven, as well as some vegan soft serve from toy joy. i am officially more jealous than i ever thought possible of those of you who are heading to sxsw next month. check it:
Curry Bun: Made of flour dough outside and filled with onions, tofu, vegetable cooked in curry sauce. $2.50
After eating and drinking my weight in vegan tacos, enchiladas and tequila, for my last meal in Austin, I decided to switch things up a bit.
My friend and I spent the day in the UT campus area and after consulting the Compassion Over Killing Austin dining guide, opted to check out Veggie Heaven…
I’m not the kind of person who runs out to try all of those mock-meat heavy Thai restaurants but when I find a good one, I like to sing its praises. Such was the case with Veggie Heaven.
Most (if not all) of the giant menu was vegan and priced under $9. The minute I saw a few varieties of steamed buns on the menu, I knew that was how I would start my meal. There were a few filling options, but I ultimately decided on the Curry Bun (pictured above) which was a steamed bun filled with vegetables, onions and tofu cooked in a curry sauce. Perfect starter to the meal.
Veggie Protein Bowl: Veggie protein, broccoli, baby bok choy, cauliflower, carrots, napa cabbage, fried tofu, onion and garlic in teriyaki sauce. Served on choices of white rice, brown rice, noodle, or rice noodle. $5.15
For my entrée, I opted for the Veggie Protein bowl: Veggie protein, broccoli, baby bok choy, cauliflower, carrots, napa cabbage, fried tofu, onion and garlic in teriyaki sauce over rice noodles…flavorful and good portion size (though I could have stood for a few more veggies). Service was quick and the prices were right…my entire lunch set me back just $10-including tip!
We made sure to save some room for the house made vegan soft serve at Toy Joy, which is a super rad toy store with a huge selection of eclectic “trip down memory lane” toys and a huge Hello Kitty section. The café in the back serves 2 flavors every day and when I was there they had vanilla and a cinnamon/cappuccino flavor. Both were delicious, though I opted for the vanilla with sandwich cookies.
Vegan Soft Serve with Cookies at Toy Joy
In addition to a huge list of toppings, they also have lots of sundae and shake options. Next time I will save more room for a bigger, more decadent concoction.
Veggie Heaven
1914 Guadalupe St
Ste A
Austin, TX 78705
(512) 457-1013Toy Joy
Tags: austin, curry, dessert, field report, ice cream, texas
2900 Guadalupe
Austin, TX 78705
(512) 320-0090
6 responses to “Vegan Field Report: Veggie Heaven and Toy Joy in Austin, Texas” 
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Wow, Veggie Heaven has SO many scrumptious-looking dishes (I looked at their online menu as well as the beautiful photos in the nice review)! You know, it has reached the point where I don’t even consider a city to be a REAL city UNLESS it has a number of vegan/vegetarian Thai restaurants! My partner and I are so appreciative of the wonderful ones near us! The Toy Joy ice cream looks great, too!
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Gregalor February 8th, 2011 at 21:33
More places should sell stuffed steamed buns. Famima used to sell a veggie one, but they got rid of it (of course). Now I think the steamed bun options in this town are zero. 🙁
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Ok, now I’m in the mood for some steamed buns. They’re like a soft pillow in your mouth.
I’m sure there are Chinese restaurants somewhere that serve them but I really like the vegetable steamed buns from Ranch 99 Market in the refrigerated case, made by Ley Grand Foods in Industry. They come in a 4 pack and they also have sweet ones with lotus seed, red beans, or taro paste. You might be able to find them in other Asian grocery stores too.
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i ate at veggie heaven often in college and my friends and i still talk about Protein 2000 as one of the best vegan dishes on the planet.
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jambot February 20th, 2011 at 10:15
Veggie Heaven is great, but I would not call it Thai Food. It’s more chinese that anything. But it is really great, fast and cheap. I would take a lunch break at SXSW last year and be able to get there, eat and get back downtown in under an hour.
Fritz February 8th, 2011 at 20:18