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Vegan Field Report: Loving Hut in SF
13March 28th, 2011bay area, more restaurants (not LA), san franciscohey everyone! time for another field report from VeganHeartDoc. this time she hit up loving hut in san francisco. check it out:
On a recent trip to San Francisco, I was staying at the Marriott Marquis, right next to the San Francisco Westfield shopping mall. Right there, in the middle of the food court was Loving Hut, in all its vegan glory.
I’m stunned, but very excited, to see something so clearly labeled as a vegan restaurant in the middle of a food court. Loving Hut is a chain of vegan fast-food restaurants under the supervision of the Supreme Master Ching Hai. Depending on the account that you read, Supreme Master Ching Hai is a loving spiritual leader, and others describe her as a cult leader and attention seeker.
On my first visit, I tried out the Buffet Combo Special. For $8.25, you get two hot entrees with either noodles or rice. I chose the Lemongrass Tofu and Basil Mushrooms. Overall, pretty good for a food court.
Next visit with my mom, we had the Rainbow Salad. It comes with shredded lettuce, cabbage, corn, cucumber, tomato, sesame seeds, and soy protein. We chose to get ours wthout the wontons and with the peanut dressing on the side. We both felt that the salads were quite skimpy on the amount of soy protein, but the salads were flavorful and filling. I found that just a few small spoonfuls of the peanut dressing were enough.
I stopped by Golden Era, another one of Supreme Master Ching Hai’s restaurants in San Francisco. I took no pictures, but similarly, decent food, not such a great area of town, and a bit skimpy on the soy protein.
If you’re visiting San Francisco, or any of the other cities with a Loving Hut, it’s a convenient and fast vegan option.
Tags: field report, loving hut, san francisco
13 responses to “Vegan Field Report: Loving Hut in SF” 
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I LOVE the Loving Hut near me (in Orange, CA), but the Supreme Master stuff is a put-off. But the food is amazing, and pretty cheap as well. Easily the best Asian-style soups I’ve ever had.
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omg, i kind of flipped out also when I saw it for the first time. i usually have the daikon cakes at slanted door/out the door when i’m in that food court, but i was there earlier in the day about two weeks ago and needed some sustenance. aside from out the door, there’s not much there to appeal to vegans (maybe just not THIS pseudo-vegan 😉 It was so awesome to see Loving Hut in the food court!!!
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Wow, I was at the same hotel in January and had no idea! LOL Thanks for the head’s up on that. I have eaten at one Loving Hut, in Manhattan. Good for a vegan fast food fix!
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The Buffet Combo Special sounds/looks good! Wish they would open a restaurant in Hollywood!
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For my SF Supreme Master fix I prefer Golden Era. Much nicer and in a much crappier part of town.
Any Golden Era field reports? Prior to Vin Loi it was my first Vegan Pho Phix…
James
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Gauri Radha गौरी राधा March 29th, 2011 at 09:32
I’ve been to the LA location several times and it’s great for a quick lunch.
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Gina Leemhuis March 29th, 2011 at 09:42
The food looks better than the one in the Brea mall. I was so excited there was vegan food in the food court but it was just not that good. I usually love Loving Hut.
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James — I was at Golden Era on this visit. But, as I was having dinner with a friend who I hadn’t seen in 20 years, I thought it would be tacky to bust out the camera phone and take pictures of his food 🙂 I thought Golden Era food was okay, nothing great. The service was pretty cold, and the amount of soy protein/mock meat was pretty skimpy. It was ok, but I was not overwhelmed. I’d rather eat dinner at Gracias Madre.
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I LOVE that they have a Loving Hut in the food court at the mall!! Ive been to LH in FL, and its pretty yummy! that rainbow salad looks delicious:):)
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Gregalor March 29th, 2011 at 21:02
The MASSIVE steamed buns (with filling) at Golden Era are so awesome, I wish we had vegan steamed buns here.
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Gregalor March 29th, 2011 at 21:09
Wait a minute… I’m staying at the Marriot Marquis this weekend. Score! Wow, that makes 3 vegan eating options within a couple blocks of Moscone Center. There’s a place called Green Papaya next to where the new Z Pizza is that makes a bitchin’ banana blossom salad with tofu and vegan chicken (among other things).
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tomatochild March 31st, 2011 at 14:53
There are a few Supreme Master restaurants in the L.A. area, though only one is called Loving Hut. There’s Loving Hut in Alhambra (http://lovinghut.us/alhambra), One World Veggie in West Covina (http://www.oneworldveggie.com/) and Green Earth Vegan in Old Town Pasadena (http://www.greenearthvegan.com/about-pasadena.html).
I have no problem with the association with Supreme Master Ching Hai, but some vegans will find a reason to dislike anything.
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Mindy April 5th, 2011 at 18:58
I ate at the Loving Hut in North Beach and I was blown away. I went twice over my weekend trip to San Francisco. The food was great and the place was so nice and bright — a nice change from the slightly skeezy area of Golden Era. Soup! Steamed Buns! Orange Chicken!
Michael Doss March 28th, 2011 at 21:57