well it has been a while since our last vegan field report from red velvet in las vegas, but i am happy to report that our operative is back in sin city and has even more delicious food to share with us.

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i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again, watercourse foods in denver is one of the greatest vegetarian restaurants ever. the food is great, the portions are huge, they serve tap beer, and EVERYTHING on the menu can be made vegan. we love watercourse so much, that on our recent retreat to the mountains of evergreen colorado, we stocked up on take out food for the next day…which proved to be a very wise decision.

Reuben: Smoky portobello mushrooms topped with homemade sauerkraut, and a special sauce on grilled rye bread. With choice of 2 sides. $9.25

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if you read this blog a lot, you probably know that we have a bad-ass field operative who travels around and sends us pictures of his various vegan exploits. so far he has conquered seattle, vegas, san diego and huntington beach…but tonight’s episode comes to you all the way from the windy city. that’s right, we bring you an undercover report of karyn’s cooked, a gourmet vegan restaurant located in chicago. i will let our very terse and no bullshit informant take it away (his words are in quotes):

sloppy jo: slow cooked soy protein on a toasted whole wheat bun with special sauce. includes potato wedges and coleslaw. $8.95

“sloppy jos were off the charts. perfect potato wedges and slaw as your sides.” ’nuff said!

green enchiladas: Corn tortillas stuffed with garlic mashed potatoes, smothered in a green tomatillo sauce and drizzled with soy cheese. Served with a side of spanish brown rice and refried black beans. $10.95

“the enchiladas were something i would never have imagined….

“garlic mashed potato as filling. epic.” —what?!?!? mashed potato filling? fuck yeah!

southern greens as a side. $4

“southern greens i could eat every day and not get sick of.” (i think we can all agree w/ that!)

mac and cheese as a side. $4

“mac and cheese, well duh. its like cold pizza. even when its bad–it’s good. and this was delicious. the waitress said that she had ‘checked with the mac and cheese’ when she got in and it was ‘having a good day’ -she was right.”

and of course, there were drinks with lunch…

“champagne with our campaign, doin the damn thang.”

dunno about you, but this sounds like a pretty stellar meal to me! i can personally vouch for this karyn’s cooked, as the one time i ate there many years ago it was tip top. so definitely check this place out when in chicago. i have a feeling our informant is onto something.

he closes his document with even more praise:

“always the best service, food and atmosphere…”

“i’m more of a karyn’s snob vs. the chicago diner hipster… “

and

“the perfect sunday lunch and my favorite place to eat when i visit back home to chicago. i think r. kelly was sitting next to us…”

karyn’s cooked
738 N. Wells St.
Chicago, IL 312-587-1050
(312) 587-1050

Why did I just put my house on the market and quit my job? Why am I now sitting here looking into employment opportunities and real estate prices in another city? I can tell you it’s not because of this article which names Santa Barbara as the 6th best “Medium and Small Metro Area” in the USA, or the fact that a few minutes drive from said metro area are some of the oldest and finest wineries in North America.

It’s not even because my comedic hero John Cleese lives there. Nah. The reason I’m tempted to up roots and hitchhike north is because Santa Barbara has the very best pizza I’ve ever eaten. AND, I’m not just talking about since becoming vegan – I’m talking about the best pizza ever. In the world. Of all time. For me, at least.

Situated about three miles north of Downtown Santa Barbara, on State St., Pizza Guru looks more like a coffee shop than a pizza parlor. Subdued lighting, dark antique tables, gilt-edged mirrors, potted plants and a chalk board in the bathroom (more on that later) give a very homely feeling to this up-market organic pizzeria. Inside you’ll find friendly staff, low-key locals and an absolutely HUGE selection of vegan crusts, sauces and toppings lovingly prepared by a small team of hard working people dedicated to giving you the very best pizza experience.

As all of us pizza lovers know, a perfect pie has four perfect things blended in perfect harmony, which at Pizza Guru they really do, er, perfect:

The Crust: Hand tossed, yet consistently textured. This crust is crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside and has a perfect amount of oil so that after the first bite or two you have an awesome mouth texture without feeling over-greased or over dried. Crusts come in Signature (white, which we had), Whole Wheat and Gluten-free (something very rare for a commercial pizzeria).

The Sauce: We opted for Vegan Garlic White Sauce, which was so much more than a blob of garlic infused olive oil: It was creamy, yet light, leading to a healthy-tasting vibe with more of a flavor of garlic than overpowering raw garlic. The special Marinara is also vegan, so there are two choices of sauces with three pizza crusts leading to six vegan variations. And that’s before the cheese and toppings.

The Cheese: Nowadays, there’s only one vegan cheese that works on pizza: Daiya Italian Blend. Pizza Guru do a great job using just the right amount, and cooking it perfectly. As we all know, over-cooked Daiya (or, indeed, over-cooked cheese of any persuasion) really isn’t that good any more than under-cooked cheese is. Pizza Guru do Daiya just right. You seriously won’t get a better rendition of Daiya anywhere else.

The Toppings: In addition to 14 vegetable toppings (from the basic onions to the avant garde “Mushroom Blend”), Pizza Guru has three vegan protein offerings: Toasted Tofu, Pepperoni and Canadian Bacon. We opted for a bunch of vegetables: Mushroom Blend (diced mushrooms, leading to more of a mushroom flavor than chunky mushrooms to chew on: a good thing), tomatoes, garlic, jalapenos and the vegan pepperoni.

For vegan pizza converts (such as myself), this pie had a strikingly similar consistency to a Pizza Hut deep dish pizza, but without the overbearing oily taste (and, of course, the non-vegan ingredients). At the same time hearty and tasty but not too filling to make one feel bloated, Pizza Guru really strikes a very careful balance and delivers, both metaphorically, and also to a five mile delivery radius, on a wonderfully unique, yet strangely familiar vegan pizza offering.

Next time you’re in Santa Barbara whether it’s after an afternoon of wine tasting, or on a day trip from wherever you are (only 90 minutes from LA, don’t forget), Pizza Guru is either a must-visit destination or the only ‘phone number you need to know for delivery to your hotel room.

If you dine in, though, there’s a good selection of tap beers and locally produced wines (some organic) so you can get your fill of alcohol too. There are also a few bars on that block including “Don’s Cocktails” a hard-hitting urban dive bar/drinking den with a difference you’ll have to visit to find out.

So, after re-living my visit to Pizza Guru just now I recalled my offer on an apartment, begged my boss for my job back and decided it was easier to drive up north a few times a year than actually move to Santa Barbara. Also, John Cleese is older than my mother (that’s saying something) so I’m not sure I’m ready for the sedentary life of retirement just yet.

Oh, and chalk-boards in restrooms are BEGGING to be drawn on. So shoot us 🙂

Pizza Guru
3534 State St
Santa Barbara, CA 93105
(805) 563-3250

on our recent trip to nyc, we ate at our fair share of vegan restaurants and a really damn good one was cafe blossom. there are a few blossom locations in manhattan, but we ate at the up town restaurant on the recommendation from vegan beauty review.

seitan skewers: flame grilled seitan in a bbq sauce served with jicama slaw. $8

we started with an order of seitan skewers, which were fantastic. thick wheat meat mixed up with a tangy yet not too sweet sauce, served with a refreshing side of jicama slaw. we polished them right off. a+!

soy bacon cheeseburger: grilled soy burger topped with caramelized onions, daiya cheese, soy bacon, mushrooms, lettuce and chipotle aioli. $13

we also ordered a soy bacon cheeseburger….and this thing was was not fucking around. it came stacked with a juicy patty, daiya cheese, grilled vegetables and crispy bacon. my only complaint was that the patty was too small for the bun. i mean, look at it—i had to go through two bites of bread before even reaching the “meat”. either way, it was really good and it made me wish LA had more vegan bacon burgers. we ordered it with a side of potato salad, which would have been perfect if it didn’t have bell peppers in it.

southern seitan sandwich: spiced seitan with caramelized onions, avocado and chipotle aioli on foccacia bread. $14

we also shared the southern seitan sandwich with an order of fries. the sandwich was good, but from the description i thought it would be much better. overall it was a little dry and just didn’t hold up to the awesomeness of the bacon cheeseburger. the fries were excellent though, long thin and crispy—some of the best i’ve had in a while.

although the food was on point for the most part, our service was a bit slow. the place wasn’t busy, and we had to go find our server and ask for the check because we’d been sitting there for thirty minutes. oh well, maybe they were just having an off day. either way, i will definitely be back next time i’m in nyc for some more skewers and a bacon cheeseburger.

blossom up town
466 Columbus Avenue, NYC
212-875-2600

Open Daily
Monday – Friday: 11am-10pm
Saturday: 11am-10:30pm
Sunday: 11am-9:30pm

vegan donuts.

over here in the western part of the united states, we have our share of amazing vegan donuts. we have the gourmet delicacies from madeleine bistro in LA, the cheap old school treats that would fool omnivores from ronald’s in vegas, and then the rich well-crafted, organic donuts from mighty o in seattle. while i love all these places for different reasons…mighty o wins for inventive flavors, taste variety, and all around excitement.

recently my twitter friend (and quarrygirl.com caption contest winner) @deteriorate offered to bring me some mighty o donuts back from seattle, and the haul was epic.

french toast, chocolate, don king, peanut butter chocolate

i got hooked up with a combo of french toast, chocolate, don king (chocolate topped with coconut), and peanut butter chocolate. serious sugar coma. the pb chocolate was by far the best, and probably one of the best desserts i’ve had in my life.

when in seattle, be sure to hit up mighty o. and it may be worth taking a trip up there just to eat donuts!

mighty o donuts
2110 north 55th street
seattle, WA 98103
206-547-0335

I live in Southern California where we have perfect year-round temperatures, palm trees and sun-drenched beaches. A Beach Cafe here looks like THIS:

Paradise Cove Beach Cafe. Malibu, California

(picture courtesy of flickr)

Whereas a beach cafe in my home country of England looks, shall we say, a tad less exotic, especially on a rainy, blustery October day. However, while the Paradise Cove might LOOK attractive from the outside, what’s inside it is positively ugly. Tanks of dying “fresh seafood” – lobsters, crustaceans and even fish waiting to be plucked and cooked in boiling water.

VBites, on the other hand, is a wonderful and entirely vegan cafe on the “English Riviera” at Hove, just west of Brighton on the South Coast. Yeah, there’s no sandy beach outside the door or palm trees waving in the wind but what’s inside will warm you right to your soul on the coldest of winter days.

Once you walk through the doors of VBites, it’s like being transported to a city-center cafe like you’d find in London or New York. Bright colors adorn the walls, and everything is light wood, concrete, stainless steel or funky plastic. Right away, you know you’re somewhere different as the first thing you see is a large bar dining area with a “cupcake conveyor belt” rotating, you guessed it, many varieties of vegan cupcakes past your nose as you eat. It was off hours when we went there, so sadly the belt was not operational which is a pity.

To the left of the bar is a children’s play area with soft mats and toys – a real boon to vegan parents who can pop their toddler in a safe environment and keep an eye on them while they eat. What a great idea!

Towards the rear of the restaurant is the dining room which has a long bar down one side and comfortable tables along the other. Funky music, cool lighting and bright decor really did make me feel very urban, not at all like I was sitting a few feet form the beach.

The huge menu is delightfully varied, and has to be one of the best I’ve ever seen at an entirely vegan restaurant. You can start the day with a tofu scramble or vegan full English breakfast, then eat your way through plenty of lighter options such as burgers, hot dogs, nachos, sandwiches, and salads. If you choose to go for a romantic dinner in the evening, there’s also a full-on lunch menu, and a long list of entrees (Italian, Indian, you name it!). Additionally, there’s a “build your own vegan pizza” option with tons of toppings, all baked on dough specially brought in from Italy.

Nachos with soya melted cheese, salsa and guacamole. £4.75

We opted for some down to earth comfort food: nachos followed by bangers and mash. The service was very fast and attentive, the food arrived extremely well presented, and didn’t hang around long on the table. The nachos were awesome – home baked chips, salsa, guacamole and cheezly cheese topped off with jalapenos and a lime.

Soya bangers and mash with onion gravy. £6.95

The traditionally English “bangers and mash” sincerely blew us away. Creamy, buttery mashed potatoes (probably the best I’ve had since becoming vegan) topped with three hearty VBites sausages and smothered in a rich, creamy onion gravy. I know my description sounds like something off a menu, but those adjectives are all highly accurate, I can assure you!

Our only regret when we visited VBites is that we were on the south coast for just a few hours, and had to get back to London for the evening otherwise we would have tried far more things on the menu. On the way out there are fridges full of VBites food items (VBites is the brand formerly knows as Redwood Foods) so you can get many of the ingredients to take home and prepare. The bangers, cheezly, fake meats, burgers etc. are all available at the same prices you can pick them up in a supermarket.

Oh, and talking of prices, VBites is remarkably inexpensive considering what you get. The portions are large, the prices are low and you’d usually expect to pay a heck of a lot more considering the beach location and standard of decor and service.

Finally, there’s one more contrasting fact between our English version of a beach cafe and what exists in America: NO BEACH VIEW. Yeah, due to the crazy winds on English Channel there’s a large storm wall and built-up promenade between VBites and the sea.

That’s not a bad thing, though, as our beaches are a lot less picturesque than the ones in Southern California. Just ask Holly Walsh who made this great video just a mile or two from VBites:

I hate the seaside – Watch more Funny Videos

Our friend Lex, at Vegan-LA/Vegan-Europe described VBites as “… like finding the gingerbread castle in a fairy tale. You’ll rub your eyes in disbelief.”. So true!

Vbites
Hove Lagoon, Kingsway, BN3 4LX
01273 933757

a warning to all my los angeles readers, before you get your hopes up, lula’s sweet apothecary is located in new york. sad but true…

lula’s is like a modern version of those romantic 1950’s ice cream parlours you grew up hearing about—it’s got a huge menu of various frozen treats, bar stools lining a counter, and friendly staff members who greet you with a smile. the big difference with lula’s is the whole place is 100% VEGAN. that’s right…the floats, shakes, malts, cones, sundaes, and banana splits are all entirely animal-free. woooooo!

brownie sundae: 2 scoops or soft serve + 1 sauce + 1 topping. topped with whipped cream and a cherry. $8.50

my first trip to lula’s in manhattan was in december on the coldest day of 2009. even in that ridiculous weather, a huge brownie sundae smothered in hot fudge and cookie crumbles went down extremely well. for my two ice cream flavors i chose the soft serve “cake batter” and the hand-packed “mint chip,” both of which were exquisite.

when i asked the girl behind the counter what cake batter would taste like, she said casually, “oh it’s like when you are making a cake and then you lick the batter off the mixer…”. granted, i had no idea what to expect after that explanation, but she was right on the money. i haven’t made a cake like that in years, and it’s a taste i would have forgotten entirely, but lula’s really nailed the flavor of old school boxed cake batter. it was like being 8 years old all over again with a box of betty crocker.

everything from the cherry on top to the moist fudgey brownie on bottom, was absolutely perfect. if you are vegan and you like desserts, you will highly appreciate lula’s sweet apothecary.

nothing tasted “dairy-free” at all, this was just seriously some of the best fucking ice cream i’ve ever had in my entire life! and the menu is so massive…i may have to move to new york just so i can make my way through it. wow, so good. vegan bakeries are cool, but i’d like to see a lot more vegan ice cream parlours.

hello! los angeles, you are failing! it is always hot here….and it is always cold in nyc. why do they have such a bad-ass ice cream place and we don’t? sad. sad. sad.

lula’s sweet apothecary
516 E 6th St
(between Avenue A & Avenue B)
New York, NY 10009
(646) 912-4549

there i said it. watercourse is better than any vegetarian restaurant here in los angeles. it’s roomy and comfortable with a long bar, the menu is enormous and every item can be made vegan, and the food is really REALLY good. plus they have a whole cabinet of vegan baked goods and several beers on tap. in fact, i am planning another trip to colorado just to eat at watercourse again.

country fried seitan: a hearty breaded seitan steak served with mashed potatoes, country gravy, and mixed vegetables. $10.95

on our first visit to watercourse, our minds were completely blown by the country fried seitan. the massive plate of home-style cookin’ honestly defies description. it is so delicious and so hearty, it’s one of those food food items you’ll remember it forever. the plate comes with a large piece of chewy yet crispy battered and fried seitan with fluffy mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables all slathered with the best gravy i’ve ever had in my life.

just look at that spiced and creamy gravy perfection. i can’t think of one place in LA to get a decent vegan gravy dish…and i’m seriously considering moving away for that reason.

po boy: a crispy portobello mushroom cap on a bun topped with chipotle aioli and coleslaw. served with your choice of 2 sides. +$1 for onion rings. $9.25

we also split a vegan portobello po boy, which came with a huge fried mushroom stacked with slaw and creamy aioli on a soft bun. watercourse does not fuck around…their sandwiches are under 10 bucks and come with not one, but TWO sides! i went with the mashed potatoes and gravy, as well as onion rings (which cost an extra dollar). that additional buck was money well spent, because the onion rings were epic. have a look:

enormous, crispy, and deep-fried…what’s not to love? oh, and the sandwich was killer too. this place really has some of the best vegan food i’ve ever eaten; and i’ve eaten a lot.

the atmosphere at watercouse is super chilled out, the staff is friendly, the food comes out quick…i really don’t have one bad thing to say about this place. basically, just go there if you ever have the chance. even if you are merely flying over denver, it’s worth figuring out how to make an extra stop just to eat here.

i love you, watercourse!

watercourse
837 E. 17th Ave, Denver, CO 80218
303-832-7313 / » Map
Open Mon – Thur 7am – 9pm, Fri 7am – 10pm,
Sat 8am – 10pm, Sun 8am – 9pm

PS: the team behind watercourse are the same people behind city ‘o city….which we LOVE. these beautiful people can do NO WRONG.

‘snice is like the nyc equivalent of cafe muse…but even better. the small and comfy coffee shop in the west village boasts an impressive and entirely vegetarian menu, with plenty of vegan options to choose from. breakfast dishes, sandwiches, salads, wraps, and specials—‘snice has it all.

vegan reuben: kraut, vegan thousand island dressing and daiya cheese. $8.75

we tried ‘snice on our recent trip to new york, and after all the talk of vegan reubens in LA, of course i had to their take on the classic sandwich. unfortunately we arrived at ‘snice at around 10:45am, and although they open everyday early in the morning, they don’t serve lunch until 11. the breakfast options are kind of limited and full of bell peppers, so we decided to wait it out until the full menu was available. when my sandwich finally did arrive, it was well worth the wait! while i wouldn’t call it “the best reuben ever,” it was hearty and delicious….with a huge helping of soft tempeh and melty daiya cheese. i’d recommend it.

vegan panini: smoked tofu, pesto and sun-dried tomatoes. $8.75

on top of the reuben, we also split a vegan panini…which was un-fuckin-believable! soft grilled bread, creamy dairy-free pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, and huge slabs of firm tofu; could anything be more perfect. while i was a fan of the reuben, this thing was definitely more memorable. if you go to ‘snice, you GOTTA TRY the vegan panini.

so visit ‘snice when in manhattan for cheapish, satisfying, casual vegan food. it really hits the spot. just be sure to show up AFTER 11am…when all the good stuff on the menu is available.

‘snice
45 8th Ave
(between Jane St & West 4th St)
New York, NY 10014
(212) 645-0310

manhattan is full of upscale places that charge a phenomenally high price for food in a posh, trendy environment…and now vegans can get in on the fun. cocoa v is a recently opened and entirely vegan chocolate & wine bar located in chelsea NYC that definitely offers the fancy pants experience. we hit them up last month on a snowy day for a late afternoon snack and had a very lovely, albeit very expensive time.

although cocoa v has a menu full of incredible-sounding chocolate plates (or as the pretentiously call them, “chocolat” plates), we decided to go the a la carte route and save ourselves for the cheese plate. we had a look at the display case up front an chose a couple stumptown coffee candies, as well as a serving of coffee-flavored chocolate bark. i believe each piece of chocolate was about $4, and while it was tasty, the candy itself did not justify the price. i guess you aren’t just paying for the chocolate though, you are paying for the location, the atmosphere, and the all upperclassy-ness of it all.

we also ordered a few glasses of house red wine and a cocoa v cheese plate, which came with a combo of dr. cow cheese, crackers, strawberries and vegan honey.

the cheese plate was delicious (i am a big fan of dr. cow), although it was phenomenally expensive. it came with 3 small wedges of cheese cut into thirds, and i think the whole plate was about $17. i would probably pay it again though, considering it was so tasty and the ambiance was so relaxing.

overall, i would recommend cocoa v if you want to go somewhere special and don’t mind paying what most people would consider way too much money. our bill before tip for the items pictured above was around $50…but hey, the place is beautiful and it’s a bloody upscale VEGAN chocolate bar in nyc! what do you expect? since our visit, they have posted an expanded menu online which looks pretty interesting. they’ve got stuff like english tea sandwiches, quiche, and even a nutella plate.

i definitely plan to return to cocoa v on my next visit to new york; i just better start saving up for it now.

CocoaV
174 Ninth Ave (20th & 21st)
New York, NY 10011
212-242-3339

Hours:
Mon: 1 PM–8 PM
Tue-Thurs: 11 AM–9 PM
Fri: 11 AM–10 PM
Sat: 10:30 AM–10 PM
Sun: 12 AM–8 PM

hey everyone, time for another field report from vegankitten. this one comes all the way from long beach, and reviews some vegan pho at number nine noodles! here you go:

When Number Nine opened on Retro Row in Long Beach a few years ago, I couldn’t help myself from stopping in to see if there were any vegan options. The Vietnamese restaurant is housed in a narrow building with white walls, modern, minimalist decor and big sign advertising NOODLES & BEER, all of which is very appealing to me. I was so excited to see the tiny menu was teaming with vegan options, including one of my all time favorites – PHO!

Let’s start with drinks: They offer 6 beers, 5 white wines, 4 red wines and 4 cocktails. Their menu is like their decor – minimalist. Our waitress was about as far from friendly as they come. She was awkward, uncomfortable and seemed suspicious of me and my camera. She asked for our drink orders and I asked her for a red wine recommendation. Keep in mind, they have FOUR RED WINES and she really gave me a hard time. If I ask for a recommendation, just give me your personal opinion, I’m not going to send it back! After asking a bunch of questions about my wine preferences, I settled on the Red Rock Merlot. If I would have taken a few seconds to check Barnivore I would have known it was not vegan-friendly. Sad. My dining companion ordered the Tiger Beer, which is vegan and only $4.00!

We had a few choices for our appetizer, but we chose the vegetarian spring rolls and Russian root vegetable salad. The spring rolls were amazing! The delicate rice paper was packed with tofu, mushrooms, lettuce, vermicelli and carrots. They were crispy, fresh and perfectly chilled. They were served with the sweetest, most delicious peanut sauce and Sriracha sauce, which I avoided. The peanut sauce was so delicious that, if I hadn’t been on a date, I would have eaten it with a spoon.

Vegetarian Spring Rolls. $7

Not surprisingly, we did not receive our russian root vegetable salad. The waitress didn’t write down our order and it was quite obvious to me from the get-go she wasn’t capable enough to take an order without writing it down. Unfortunately, we were in a bit of a rush trying to make a movie at The Art Theatre across the street and didn’t have time to ask for it.

Vegetarian Pho. $8

My dining companion and I both ordered the vegetarian pho as our main course. Pho is a Vietnamese noodle soup, generally with a beef broth. I’ve rarely seen vegan versions of this delicious dish and have only had the pleasure of eating it at one other place – Gingergrass in Silverlake. I like interactive food, so I think that may have something to do with my attraction to pho. Along with your soup, you are brought a plate of garnishes to add to your soup at your discretion. As I’ve mentioned in previous reviews, I usually find garnishes odd and the pho garnishes are no exception. They are intimidating, but I’ve eaten this dish enough times that I now embrace them. Number Nine offers the traditional pho garnishes: basil, lime wedges, bean sprouts, chili peppers, one sweet paste (Hoisin) and one spicy paste (Sriracha).

Although almost impossible to eat, Number Nine’s pho is delicious. The rice noodles at the bottom of the bowl are tied in a knot. Armed with only a pair of chop sticks and an asian soup spoon, breaking them apart is like solving a Rubik’s Cube. I recommend bringing a hair tie, as well! The ingredients included mushrooms, cilantro, onions, huge chunks of carrot and radish and the same amazingly seasoned firm tofu found in the spring rolls. From our garnish plate, I added the juice of one lime wedge, a bunch of bean sprouts and all of the Hoisin Sause. It was so tasty and the perfect meal for a blustery Southern California day. And would you believe it’s only $8.00? I can’t…just look at the huge bowl!

This is the third time I have been to Number Nine and I’m definitely going back. The service has always left something to be desired, and this time was the worst, but the food truly makes up for it. Plus it’s located on the coolest street in Long Beach. Number Nine is located in the heart of Retro Row and a block away from the beginning of Alcohol Alley. What more could you ask for 🙂

Number Nine
2118 East 4th Street
Long Beach, CA 90814
(562) 434-2009
Open Sun-Thu 12:00pm-9:30pm; Fri + Sat 12:00pm-10:00pm

heyo, readers! time for another vegan field report! this one comes to us from all the way across the pond, by da datamonkey in london! here’s a very humorous review of mango tree, a super vegan-friendly thai restaurant that i can’t wait to visit:

Let me start off by saying, I’ll give full disclosure! Mango Tree is my favourite Thai restaurant in London. I’ve been lucky enough to have been eating here for years, having found it by chance one day! What a good day that was. The menu is taken from all over Thailand – the milder cooking of the North (often influenced by Muslim curries), the spicy but simpler food of the East, the fiery heat and complexity of Southern dishes, to the Chinese/Thai style of the Central regions – and hand crafted into the refined “Royal Court Cuisine” style of Bangkok Palaces, with street influences in there too. Add in a slight Western take from Mark, the executive chef, and it really rocks. Be aware that MT is often fully booked from opening through to closing, so booking ahead can be essential (300 covers a night is not unusual). If you can, book using toptable and get 50% off your food bill (but not booze sadly). But even at full price it’s still great value! Suffice to say I normally eat here once a week and get severe withdrawal symptoms if it goes beyond 12 days…

Read the rest of this entry »

One thing I miss about my vegetarian days is spending an evening with some friends in a pizza restaurant. Take some tasty pizza, a few glasses of wine, and a liberal helping of grated chillies, add in a cool environment (preferably dark, with an extensive bar) and you’ve got a winning combination.

While many cities have pizza restaurants, and all of them can serve a vegetarian pizza, getting a vegan pizza usually involves a major inquiry into the composition of the dough and sauce then (at best) eating the thing with no cheese, usually a dry, affair. It’s also embarrassing going there with friends and ending up with a green salad, should the crust not be vegan, so I tend to avoid eat-in pizza restaurants these days.

So, imagine how thrilled I was to visit City O City on our recent trip to Denver. Whomever thought this place up is a complete genius, and I wish they’d open one (or several) in every city in the USA. The place is entirely vegetarian, super vegan-friendly (they make two vegan cheeses on the premises and have a ton of vegan meats) has a full bar, extensive wine selection, cocktails, microbrews, candlelit tables, a rotating art gallery and all the hustle and bustle of a busy, downtown pizza joint. As if that’s not enough, they have several vegan breakfast items, vegan sweets and even an organic coffee bar!

We hit up City O City on a busy Saturday night, were promptly seated and started to pour over the menu. Oh boy. Before we even got to the pizza section we were pulled in by “Seitan Wings” with a choice of sauces and dressing. We hoped these were vegan, and indeed they turned out to be, so we ordered them along with our drinks while we debated our pizza order.

buffalo seitan wings. $7

Within a few minutes a HUMONGOUS basket of spicy seitan “wings” arrived, along with a cool ranch dipping sauce and sticks of celery. This dish was absolutely amazing – crunchy, hotter than hell and chewy beyond belief. The order was only $7, so we thought it would be good to share between two people, but it turned out to be not only much larger than we thought, but much tastier too. It was gone in a couple of minutes.

For our main dishes, we opted for the meaty “Animal Lover’s” pizza, which came with vegan sausage, pepperoni onion and mushrooms. We subbed jalapenos for the green peppers that usually accompany this pie for a spicy, meaty and hearty meal to warm us up from the sub-zero temperatures outside.

animal lover's pizza: seitan sausage, seitan pepperoni, fresh chilies, caramelized onion, mushroom, vegan mozzarella. $9

Cuz we’re gluttons, we ordered another pie, the very Italian sounding “Florentine”, an olive-oil-based pizza with roma tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms and fresh rosemary. Yes, it was as good as it sounds. Better, probably.

florentine pizza: garlic-infused olive oil, mushroom, spinach, roma tomato, fresh rosemary, vegan cheese. $9

Both pizzas were covered in home-made vegan mozzarella, which was really tasty and melty. City O City also has an option of vegan cashew ricotta which we didn’t try, but looked very tasty on the pie at the table next to us. In fact, when we asked the people eating it what they thought they said it was better than the vegan mozzarella, which was awesome to begin with.

The crust was thin and crispy, all blackened on the underside and crunchy on the edge, yet soft where it matters (just like me!). The sauces range from the basic (garlic infused olive oil) to the exotic: fig, hummus, chipoltle marinara. The only non-vegan protein topping is an egg, dwarfed by seitan sausage, seitan pepperoni, tempeh bacon, bbq tofu and even falafel. If that isn’t enough, you can choose from 16 vegetable toppings and an array of salads, wraps and fried stuff, nearly all of it vegan.

I simply can’t sing the praises of City O City enough. The place is awesomely vegan friendly, the food is incredibly tasty and filling and there’s a bar with so many different drinks you could spend a whole day there and never eat or drink the same thing twice. Indeed, I intend to on my next trip to Denver.

City O City even had cool decorative lamps!

Talking of Denver, where I was lucky enough to live for a year (sadly before City O City was open), this restaurant attracted a great crowd of hip Denver natives who are that unmistakable vibe of unassuming, pleasant and just pleased to be there.

City O City
206 E 13th Ave
Denver, CO 80203
(303) 831-6443
Mon-Fri. 7:00 a.m. – 2:00 a.m.
Sat-Sun. 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 a.m.

hey everyone, time for another vegan field report written by vegankitten! here ya go:

This is my last night is Vegas and I wanted to get a little creative for my final dinner. I ran across a Las Vegas Restaurant Guide site called lvvegan.com and noticed they had a tab for Japanese food. My omnivore traveling companion has been talking about miso soup non-stop for days, as it was her only experience up ’til now eating tofu. I got pretty excited when I read that Miko’s Izakaya Sushi & Tapanese has their own vegetarian menu and I knew we had to check it out.

It didn’t disappoint. The proprietor was also our waiter and his eyes lit up when I mentioned I am vegan. I grabbed a vegetarian menu for me and a regular menu for my buddy. He asked how I heard about the place, where we were from and was generally very chatty. He was very excited to tell us that he is discussing teaming up with Red Velvet Cafe to offer their cupcakes. Hopefully the excitement of my non-vegan dining companion at this news was enough to convince him it is a great idea!

The sushi bar was packed and the diners were enjoying sports highlights on the big screen TV. The atmosphere was really relaxed and the staff was super friendly! They were playing Social Distortion in the bathroom and the lotion on the counter was not tested on animals. Yay!

On to the food: I am not used to having so many vegan sushi options. The menu was front and back and very overwhelming for me, as it included many ingredients I wasn’t familiar with. I left it up to the owner and he chose the Age Tofu Roll. I added Inari and Edamame to the order. My buddy ordered the miso soup she was so excited about and the owner was kind enough to let me know I couldn’t eat it that day, as they has added bonito fish flakes.

The edamame was particularly delicious. Each bite was coated in salt and pepper. I’ve never had edamame with pepper before, so this was quite a treat. It was beautiful, too!

The Inari was some of the best I ever had. Fresh, sweet and moist.

Sadly, the Age Tofu Roll left a bit to be desired. The roll consisted of deep fried tofu, green onion and miso. I guess I was just looking for a little more excitement, because it was kind of bland. My biggest complaint was the sushi rice was very mushy in two out of the eight pieces. It was really strange and the other six had perfect texture. Next time I am going to be more adventurous and pick out something myself.

The absolute highlight of the meal was the tempura bananas. The owner happily explained their tempura batter is vegan and they do not use eggs, which I had also read online. We were in no way planning to eat desert, but can I really say “no” when the owner is offering us a delicious VEGAN option? We decided to share. Embarrassingly, sharing involved my friend gracefully eating two pieces while I wolfed down the other six. Ooops! They were delicately crisp on the outside and oh-so-warm and gooey on the inside. It was heavenly! The only thing that could have made it better was a vegan ice cream option on the side. Maybe next time???

I think Miko’s is one of my new favorite places. The staff was awesome, they love vegans and I love sushi. It’s a match made in heaven.

Miko’s Izakaya Sushi & Tapanese
500 E. Windmill Ln. Ste. 165
Las Vegas, NV 89123
(702) 823.2779
www.mikosushilasvegas.com
Open Monday-Thursday 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., Friday 4 p.m. to midnight, Saturday 5 p.m. to midnight, Sunday 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.