it isn’t very often you hear me get excited about a salad, but the chilled orient from healthyca is something to write home about.

chilled orient: buckwheat noodles, tofu, carrots, cucumbers, cilantro, rice sticks, black sesame seeds, seaweed, baby greens. $9.24

it’s less like a salad, and more like a huge bed of noodles piled high with vegetables, two kinds of tofu, rice sticks, seeds, and baby greens. there is so much going on in this thing, and i can safely say it’s the best noodle salad i’ve ever eaten. the buckwheat soba noodles are substantial and filling, and all the leaves are insanely fresh. the best part about this salad though, is the generous portion of grilled marinated tofu. it’s crispy on the outside and juicy in the middle, and very deliciously flavored. healthyca also throws in a hearty amount of soft tofu for good measure, and the combo produces some very tasty results.

the meal clocks in at under 10 bucks, and also comes with a side and dressing of your choice. i got mine with quinoa, and a cup of non-fat basil. seriously sooooo good.

the pictures don’t do this thing justice, and i can’t talk it up enough….so you are gonna have to go experience this salad for yourself. i don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

healthyca
monday-friday
11am-6pm
4724 lankershim blvd
noho, ca 91602
818-505-1035

over the past couple weeks, i have been heading out to the valley to lunch it up at north hollywood’s hoppin’ little take-out and delivery restaurant, healthyca. the place is just a tiny hole in the wall on lankershim with short weekday only hours, but it has loads of vegan options with several salads, sandwiches and hot plates to choose from. i’ve tried a few things off the menu at healthyca, and so far the way i feel about the food there is, i either love it or i hate it…or i think it’s okay.

vegan feast: tofu trio (teriyaki, tomato and ginger olive) on a bed of red cabbage. $9.95

let’s start with the dish i absolutely loved…the vegan feast. it was the first thing i ever tried at healthyca, and i was so blown away by it that i was ready to call this place my new favorite restaurant. a vegan feast it is indeed with a hearty portion of well marinated tofu, and your choice of two sides. to make things super easy, all the sides at healthyca are vegan except for the potato salad. i ordered this with red mashed potatoes and grilled white asparagus, and dude…it was all phenomenal.

i am such a lame foodie that this was my first time ever eating white asparagus, but i think it’s safe to say that i will now be a fan for life.

the best thing about this feast, though, was the mound of thick grilled tofu chunks, soaked in a most exquisite and flavorful sauce. it was super tomatoey and oily, and went great with all the cilantro and purple cabbage. there was also so much of it, i ended up stuffing myself and still taking a bunch of food home.

now for the dish i hated: the veggie delight.

veggie delight: vegan macrobiotic tofu-grain patty with pesto sauce. $9.95

the veggie delight sounds well and good from the menu description, a vegan macrobiotic tofu-grain patty served with pesto sauce with your choice of two sides. it’s the same price as the vegan feast, so i was a bit disappointed and underwhelmed when it showed up looking so small. instead of a massive pile of tofu, this hot plate comes with two thin patties that without much texture or flavoring. i was expecting them to be much more hearty made of grains and tofu like a good veggie burger, but these limp things just tasted like mashed up garden vegetables. to be fair, the sides of quinoa and asparagus i got with them were awesome, and the tofu pesto sauce was decent, but the patties were just blech.

lastly the dish that i thought was okay: the healthyca sausage (be sure to say “NO MAYO”!)

healthyca sausage: homemade vegan sausage on sesame roll with tomato, lettuce, grilled onion, tofu pesto and red pepper sauces. $9.25

to be fair, this dish didn’t belong to me….it was ordered by my lunch partner brittany from sickoflettuce.com. i did get to taste it though, so i figure i’m allowed to have an opinion on it. at $9.25, this thing really was a good deal. the sandwich was huge, and it came with a healthy-sized side of your choice (she chose quinoa). it actually arrived at our table looking a lot bigger than the veggie delight, which cost 70cents more. hmph. while it was really attractively priced and the portion was large, i thought the sandwich was just alright. it advertised itself as a vegan sausage, it was more like the same vegetable patty i had in the veggie delight! there was nothing mock-meaty about it. brittany seemed to think it was decent, but i definitely didn’t hear her raving about it or anything.

so there you go, a quick little run down of some of the vegan offerings at healthyca. while i thought the veggie delight was gross, and the healthyca sausage was nothing to write home about, i can’t stress enough that the vegan feast was fucking amazing! i know i will be back soon to eat that again. for all you peeps who work in the valley or are jobless, this is a great place for a weekday lunch. for everyone else, unfortunately healthyca is closed evenings and weekends. oh well.

for more pix and reviews of healthyca, you should check out this category on foodeater’s blog toliveandeatinla.com. i think she has eaten practically everything vegan there is to try on the menu! so check it.

healthyca
4724 lankershim blvd
noho, ca 91602
monday-friday
11am-6pm