• May 12th, 2009quarrygirlLA restaurants, loving hut

    loving hut is the fastest growing international vegan chain restaurant, and they recently opened up a location near los angeles in alhambra. i checked it out over the weekend with my husband and we were both blown away by the excellence of the food, the size of the portions, and the friendliness of the staff. the best i can describe loving hut’s cuisine is as asian-inspired fast food with lots of fried selections, burgers, burritos and sandwiches as well as vegetable stir frys, spring rolls and noodle bowls. the place is very affordable and everything we tried was super tasty.

    golden nuggets: deep fried breaded soy protein. $5.95

    golden nuggets: deep fried breaded soy protein. $5.95

    we started with the golden nuggets, which were basically huge chunks of seitan coated in bread crumbs and fried. they weren’t overly oily, and the coating was surprisingly light. the seitan was extra thick and wheat-meaty, and i gotta say these were quite possibly the best vegan nuggets i’ve ever had. they didn’t mess around with that fake “chicken” taste that most nuggets do, these just had a really excellent seitan flavor. not to mention the tangy mayo-style dipping sauce they came with, which was incredible!

    aulac special salad: shredded cabbage with soy chicken tossed with mint and special sauce. $6.95

    aulac special salad: shredded cabbage with soy chicken tossed with mint and special sauce. $6.95

    my husband ordered the aulac special salad, which was a massive mound of cabbage covered in mock meat strips. the chickeny strips were delicious, and the shredded cabbage was crisp and fresh. definitely a win if you are looking for a really satisfying, yet healthy salad.

    teriyaki sub: grilled sauteed soy protein on a sandwich. $6.95

    teriyaki sub: grilled sauteed soy protein on a sandwich. $6.95

    i ordered the teriyaki sub, a sandwich roll covered in vegan mayo and piled high with grilled soy meat, onions and tomatoes. this thing was so tasty—the fake steak was thick, juicy, and cooked in the most delicious teriyaki sauce. what a fucking great sandwich.

    the food isn’t the only good thing about loving hut; the service is quick and attentive, there is ample parking, the restaurant is clean and spacious, and everything is very well-priced. we had such a pleasant experience there, i know i would be a regular if i lived in alhambra.

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    one last thing. apparently, loving hut is affiliated with the “supreme master”, and i’m not even sure exactly what that means, but it has stirred up quite the conversation. they did have supreme master television playing in the restaurant, which is basically a non-stop stream of cheezily produced pro-vegan programming. while some people accuse the organization of being “cultish”, it seemed harmless enough to me, and loving hut served up damn good vegan food, so i don’t really care about any of that other noise.

    go check out loving hut asap. there are tons of locations, so hopefully you live close enough to one to make the trip. and get the golden nuggets!

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    Loving Hut
    621 W. Main St.
    Alhambra, CA 91801
    Tel: 1-626-289-2684
    Fax: 1-775-628-8037
    Open Tue – Sun (11:00 am – 9:00 pm)

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