hey everyone! time for another field report by JL goes vegan. this one comes to us all the way from orlando, florida where she visited ethos vegan kitchen. ch-ch-check it:

A few months ago I sent out a tweet, requesting recommendations for a vegan restaurant in Orlando, Florida. The resounding recommendation was Ethos Vegan Kitchen.

It was me—the lone vegan—one vegetarian and three omnivores. Two of the omnivores, my parents, had never dined at a vegan restaurant and, err, were a bit suspicious. I, however, was delighted and couldn’t wait!

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tibits vegetarian restaurant is one of our favorite places to eat in london. we were first alerted to this place when rachel did a field report on it back in 2010…so it’s kinda fitting that we revisit it today on rachel’s birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RACHEL!).

we’ve eaten at tibits a few times now, and haven’t been disappointed yet. i’d rank this as a “must visit” eatery when in london. great location, great food, great prices—tibits has it all!

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my friends who live in the bay area jokingly refer to this restaurant as herbi-bore, in reference to what they say is bland food and an unimaginative menu. i don’t know though, it seems like i always end up having a pretty good experience at herbivore.

on our recent trip to san francisco, we decided to hit up the divisidero location for an early meal. one thing herbivore really has going for it is it opens daily at 9am and is one of the few places in the city to get a great vegan breakfast. we weren’t coming for breakfast though, even though it was morning time. after reading on the herbivore website that the “lunch and dinner menu is always available,” we had our hearts set on the grilled seitan shawarma, which we’d had before and is absolutely incredible.

unless i have reading comprehension problems, i think that means shawarma should be available at 9:30am

unfortunately, our waitress informed us that ONLY the breakfast menu is served at breakfast time, and she had no clue about the website. so sad. we’d walked across town for that shawarma, but had to settle on morning-appropriate food instead. luckily, it was pretty tasty.

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Great news! Veggie Grill®, one of our favorite fast-casual dining restaurants, is opening in Torrance on Monday at Rolling Hills Plaza (right by the AMC Movie Theater) just a stone’s throw from PCH, easily accessible from Palos Verdes, San Pedro and even Long Beach. To call Veggie Grill® “The Perfect Indulgence” is an understatement – with a signature blend of hearty veggie proteins and savory marinades, all their food is indulgently satisfying.

Taste and Believe!

Image courtesy of The Veggie Grill Facebook page

More goodness details on Veggie Grill® after the jump…

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on a recent trip to the bay area we decided to check out the plant cafe, a sleek healthy restaurant with loads of vegan options, located on san francisco’s pier 3.

it was late afternoon when we visited and we weren’t super hungry—so after browsing plant’s menu online, we went with the plan to share a tempeh reuben. however when we arrived at 3pm, the hostess presented us with a special happy hour menu, which didn’t list the sandwich. this was okay though, because this menu was loaded with great vegan items from sliders to appetizers, and everything was small and cheap. perfect!

we grabbed a seat across from the long bar and set about deciding what to order. the decor in plant was absolutely lovely—roomy and comfortable with large tables, high ceilings, and moody lighting. it was pretty empty when we were there as well, which suited our misanthropic nature.

they had some pretty tempting boozy creations on the happy hour menu, as well as beer and wine. we were already pretty buzzed from an afternoon drinking session at magnolia though, so we decided to pass on the alcohol this time (crazy, i know!). we started with a plate of the patatas bravas to share, which was excellent…

patatas bravas. $5

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hey everyone! time for a massive field report from lima, peru by chica vegan. she visited several restaurants and sent us a whole vegan guide of the city. check it!

This was the first time I’ve been back to Peru after becoming vegan, and I found several interesting options all within the same neighborhood.

My first stop was Starbucks. I don’t drink coffee, but I was curious to see their menu and I needed to hog some Wi-Fi. Most famous chains “localize” their menu with ingredients available in the region, and I was happy with what I found!

Starbucks had just as many smoothies, juices, and non-coffee drinks as coffee! I noticed they even had “Algarrobina”, a very popular syrup in Peru, high in protein and vitamins. So I got an “Algarrobina Dark Chocolate Chip Soy Crème Frappuccino”. SERIOUSLY:

I just knew I was going to have a great day ahead of me!

The first restaurant I went to was Govinda, opened decades ago and recently relocated. I checked out the Menu first because I didn’t want to just go to an Indian place, or Thai, or any other non-Peruvian place I could find here in the States or anywhere else. I wanted Peruvian food. But they did have a mix of Peruvian and Indian plates, mostly vegetarian with a few vegan options.

I first ordered the “Anticuchos”, the famous kebabs (traditionally made with beef hearts… gross, I know but) with a great “aji” marinade. I had to try their version. These were seitan kebabs…

I have to admit I was not impressed. I was expecting maybe a mix of vegetables or potatoes with the seitan, not straight up flabs of seitan. The marinade was ok and not spicy at all (which it usually is…we even serve it with corn and potatoes to rinse off the palate from the spice!). So I don’t understand why they even bothered here. I wouldn’t order this again.

Next, I had the “Saltado”, another traditional Peruvian dish. Angelenos may have had it at the “Lomo Arigato” Food Truck. It’s a basic stir fry of lomo (beef), tomatoes, onions, and French fries (yeah, french fries!). I’ve cooked this myself many times at home. You can’t go wrong with this one. Some people do all veggies, but instead Govinda used soy meat.

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UPDATE: bangers and smashed has just confirmed that they will be selling VEGAN SAUSAGES as well as vegan mashed potatoes at the event! yes! the sausage plate comes with 2 sausages and 2 scoops of potatoes for ten bucks, or you can get 2 scoops of potatoes for $5! so stoked that this event is so vegan-friendly! cheers!

vegans like to celebrate st. patrick’s day by getting drunk, gorging on potatoes festive “irish” foods, and participating in a bunch of needless pinching just as much as other americans…right? right! that’s why surly goat in west hollywood is the place to be this thursday.

the folks at the goat are teaming up with our favorite gourmet potato mashing company, bangers and smashed to bring us a st. patrick’s day party shindig that will please vegans and omnivores alike.

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sad news, my friends. the old quarrygirl favorite, yalla truck, is no longer vegetarian. now, along with their delicious (and harmless) falafel, they are serving up full on bird flesh.

this is especially gutting, because we LOVED the fact that they were a meatless business…

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hey y’all! today’s quick bite (aka reader review) comes to us from greg c. in los angeles. he recently checked out the valley’s new all vegetarian indian restaurant and loaded up on tons of tastiness from samosas to dosas. an entirely meatless restaurant with great food and low prices? yes, please! i am freaking dying to go here. check it out:

I was flipping though some of that junkmail w/ local businesses & coupons, and an ad for Streets of India Cafe in Encino caught my eye. The ad said “VEGETARIAN/VEGAN” ….so of course I had to check this out! I found their website, checked out the menu….and – they have DOSA!!!!!!!! Dosa’s my favorite Indian food, but not that many Indian restaurants make it. I’d go to Paru’s in Hollywood for my dosa fix, but Encino is closer to me so I was very excited.

Samosa: Crispy triangular turnover stuffed w/ veggies. $4

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hey everyone! natural products expo west, the world’s largest natural products tradeshow, is going down this weekend in anaheim and we were there all day yesterday.

we got a pretty good feel for the new vegan products that are about to hit the market, so sit back and enjoy this post full of our favorite finds. we’ll start off with stuff from brands that we already know and love—established quarrygirl favoriteses that should be familiar to you guys.

first up: chicago soydairy!

these folks didn’t have a booth at the expo in 2010…but daaaaaaaamn, they made up for it this year with all kinds of craziness! where do i start? their booth was like a vegan party. they had an endless supply of deep-fried vegan mozzarella sticks using teese (pictured above), which were INCREDIBLE.

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heads up, angelenos! the newly-established JAM vegan bakery is hosting a grand opening sale this saturday, march 12th from 8am to 3pm in los feliz.

here is all you need to know about their inaugural sale…

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omg omg omg. i am so excited. sliders are the best thing ever! it’s common knowledge that cute mini food is waaaaaay better than normal food, and sliders are just that: tiny adorable burgers that are far superior to their full grown counterparts. as of friday march 11th, flore vegan (one of the best restaurants in town) won’t just be offering sliders…but they’re adding AN ENTIRE SLIDER MENU. my head is gonna explode. check it out:

vegan sliders at flore!

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dear friends and readers, i have recently become completely enamored with the vegan queso by food for lovers. i’m not kidding when i say that this is something you all need to try immediately, and share with your omnivore friends.

being a vegan blogger, i get sent free products from time to time, yet none has ever captured my fancy like this one. when food for lovers offered to mail me a complimentary jar of their vegan queso, i accepted with moderate expectations. perhaps i mentally lumped their product in with the other vegan quesos i’ve tried in the past—all decent, but nothing game-changing in the world of vegan cheeses. perhaps it’s because their product is fat-free and very low in calories, i was expecting it to taste “healthy,” and therefore not insanely delicious. boy, was i wrong.

one bite of this vegan queso and i was hooked…

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…i get emailed this question AT LEAST 3 times per week. i thought it may be easiest to just write a post about it and point everybody here from now on.

before you read any further, please check out our 2010 lists of top vegan restaurants, top vegetarian restaurants, top omnivorous restaurants, and top ten things to eat in los angeles.

alright, now for the out of town list. i’ll try to break this up in a way that makes sense: fancy dining, casual dining, and pizza. that’s all that matters, right? and i’ll also let you in on a few of my favorite dishes from each restaurant. this is not a list of every vegan-friendly place in LA—that’s what the sidebar of this blog is for. these are just my top picks of places you should visit if you are only in town for a couple days. if you disagree, prove it in the comments section. here we go!

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how would you like to spend a rainy english evening with a warm bottle of sake and a massive spread of vegetables, noodles, and sushi? thankfully london has its very own entirely vegan, entirely organic, and entirely delicious japanese restaurant called itadaki zen, where you can do just that.

we checked out itadaki zen for dinner one evening and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, despite the fact that we left the restaurant much poorer than when we arrived.

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