• December 17th, 2008quarrygirlgreen temple, LA restaurants

    there are a lot of great vegan-friendly restaurants just outside of los angeles, and i gotta say that green temple in redondo beach is one not to miss. they have a huge entirely vegetarian menu where lots of stuff can be veganized—don’t let their online menu fool you; they offer much more than that. salads, bowls, burgers and mexican food can all be found at green temple.

    i hit up green temple for the first time over the weekend with my husband and ordered the tofu bowl, which came with tons of beans, savory tofu and the famous tofu sauce…all of which was beyond delicious.

    tofu bowl: organic brown rice, organic black or pinto beans, oranic tofu served with organic tofu sauce. $10

    tofu bowl: organic brown rice, organic black or pinto beans, oranic tofu served with organic tofu sauce. $10

    the scrumptious tofu was grilled perfectly and the TOFU SAUCE was some of the best sauce i’ve ever tried. i can’t even write about how good the sauce was. although it was tasty, the tofu bowl wasn’t really a bowl at all. it was a plate, and it really didn’t have much food on it for $10. i guess you pay a premium for off the hook sauce.

    my husband ordered the temple green salad, which was also delicious.

    temple green salad: organic hand torn green leaf lettuce, shredded beets and carrots, organic mixed greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, avocados and seasonal sprouts. $12

    temple green salad: organic hand torn green leaf lettuce, shredded beets and carrots, organic mixed greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, avocados and seasonal sprouts. $12

    while there was nothing to fault taste-wise about the salad, it really wasn’t worth $12. it was just a salad with vegetables, no protein or anything. that’s more than most vegan places charge for a huge salad overflowing with crazy fake meats and soy cheese. the temple green salad did come with a nifty piece of bread and tahini sauce for dipping, though. that went down pretty well.

    green-temple-bread

    for what we got, our meal was pretty expensive. i’m guessing you pay higher prices at green temple because the atmosphere has the potential to be incredible. there are a few tables in doors, and then a bunch of outdoor seating in a peaceful courtyard with tons of plants and a trickling fountain. when we were there though, all the indoor seats were full and we had to sit outside in the december beach cold. plus the service was pretty awful; we waited ages for our food, the waiter was inattentive, and a member of the staff looked at my husband like he was crazy when he asked where the bathroom was.

     

    brrrrrrrrr. sitting outside at green temple.

    brrrrrrrrr. sitting outside at green temple.

    so the bottom line is, the food at the green temple is great, but pricey. i’m sure under the right circumstances though, it would be well worth it. if the weather was great, or if we had a seat inside and someone who actually gave a fuck was waiting on us, everything would have been perfect. i will definitely go back to green temple again and give it another chance. the tofu sauce is calling me.

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