• February 28th, 2011quarrygirlbay area, more restaurants (not LA), san francisco

    hey everyone! today’s quick bite comes to us from fred (aka @cycled) who visited maggiemudd, a very vegan-friendly ice cream parlor in san francisco, over presidents day weekend. man, i really wanna go here someday. check it out.

    We arrived here on a Sunday afternoon looking to indulge in some tasty treats after withstanding the deluge on Saturday. After staring at the menu board denoting a multitude of variations available to make your ultimate frozen treat, I couldn’t help but feel indecisive.

    Mudslide and Birthday Cake, covered with soy whip, sliced almonds, and cookie crumbs. $7

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  • it was a super eco-friendly day in los angeles as hippies, vegans and all around earth lovers gathered to partake in worldfest, “a solar-powered celebration of music, the environment, animals and humanity.” basically a big grassy field in the valley was fenced off and people were charged 7 bucks (+ $5 for parking) to hear to jam bands, listen to animal activist speakers, and have the opportunity to purchase a wide variety of all vegan food and alcohol. i went for a couple hours today and didn’t spend much time with the speakers or the music…i did get my fill of food though, and that’s what i’m here to tell ya about.

    wordfest vegan corn dog. $3.50

    wordfest vegan corn dog. $3.50

    between the two of us, my husband and i murdered a lot of vegan goodies. one of my favorites was a corn dog offered up by a stand selling field roast sausages, tofurky links, curly fries and vegan burgers. the corn dog was a standard veggie dog turned spectacular with corn batter and a deep fryer. this was nothing like your out-of-the-freezer family meal corn dogs…this thing was just like the old school hot dog on a stick meals i used to get at my local mall. the batter formed a crispy and almost burnt layer on the outside which surrounded fluffy moist corn bread and finally a plump and juicy soy dog. this totally brought back childhood memories.

    worldfest-corndog2

    we also tried the vegan chicken curry from the bodhi tree stand, which was excellent. the bodhi tree is a vegetarian restaurant located in huntington beach, and after eating their curry, i know i will be making a trip there very soon. the sauce was sweet with a perfectly subtle spiciness, and the soy meat was thick and juicy. all the vegetables were fresh and well-prepared as well, and they had so many other appetizing dishes i didn’t even get to try.

    bodhi tree vegan curry chicken. $7

    bodhi tree vegan curry chicken. $7

    the chicken sandwich from follow your heart was another high point of the festival—at only 5 bucks it was a total steal, considering it was huge and came with a side of greens and potato salad. we interrogated the booth about the ingredients in the bun (normal follow your heart buns contain honey), and they ensured us that not only were these special vegan buns ordered just for worldfest, but that their restaurant buns may soon no longer contain honey either! (we will try to keep you posted on that.) aside from the bun, the sandwich was awesome and extremely well priced. the bbq sauce was mild and tangy, not overwhelmingly sweet, and the slices of soy meat were thick and hearty. the potato salad was on point as well: soft and creamy yet not too full of vegenaise. total perfection.

    follow your heart vegan chicken bbq sandwich with potato salad. $5

    follow your heart vegan chicken bbq sandwich with potato salad. $5

    for dessert, we rounded off the feasting with some maggie mudd ice cream all the way from san francisco. they offered a whopping bowl filled up with ice cream, chocolate sauce, nuts, sprinkles and whipped cream (ALL VEGAN) for just $7. it came with the choice of three flavors, but i stuck to two: memphis mudd pie (coffee flavor with chocolate cookies, fudge swirl and whiskey) and tarmack (chocolate peanut butter flavor with chocolate cookies and peanut butter swirl). the ice cream itself was extremely decadent, and it came with the most amazing toppings….this has to be the best old-fashioned dessert i’ve had since i was a child. no vegan ice cream has anything on maggie mudd; this stuff was so good, i’m considering a move to SF.

    big bowl: tarmack and memphis mudd ice cream topped with whipped cream, nuts, chocolate sauce and sprinkles

    big bowl: tarmack and memphis mudd ice cream topped with whipped cream, nuts, chocolate sauce and sprinkles

    to top it all off, worldfest had a bad ass beer garden serving up $5 pints of lagunitas ipa and $10 bottles of double ipa. that made coachella’s beer garden look like a total shithole. i’m telling you, this beer was off the chain. not only was it well priced, this stuff was hoppy and flavorful as hell…i’d be stoked to get brew this good in a bar, so imagine how thrilled i was to drink it at a sweaty festival in the valley.

    lagunitas double ipa

    lagunitas double ipa

    although i did try a lot of great stuff at worldfest this year, i can only eat so much…so naturally i missed out on tons of vendors. i wanna give some shout outs to places that looked delicious, yet i was way too stuffed to try. to name a few: luscious organic desserts, c’est la v bakeshop, friedel caribbean cuisine and sunpower cafe. the frankenstand was also supposed to make an appearance, but to everyone’s dismay, ended up cancelling. basically what i am trying to say is, even with all the ridiculously tasty vegan food i got to eat today, it was still just the tip of the iceberg. worldfest is apparently THE PLACE to get your vegan eats on—i’m talking several entirely animal-free stands with stuff ranging from salads, to burgers, to fried foods, to desserts including ice cream, cookies, funnel cakes, and cobbler.

    word to the wise: save up for worldfest 2010. the amazing food will make all the bitchy fees and unhealthy calories worth it. i’ve never seen so much food i can eat in one place, it made me feel like an omnivore…in a good way!

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  • May 8th, 2009quarrygirlmore restaurants (not LA), san francisco

    up north in san francisco and berkely, there’s an entirely vegan restaurant with three locations called herbivore. one glance at their menu makes herbivore look like heaven—they’ve got tons of brunch selections, a 2 page lunch and dinner menu with several types of cuisine, loads of desserts, and even tap beer. it would seriously take me months of eating there regularly to try everything, and it all sounds delicious.

    i have been to herbivore and blogged about it a couple times in the past for both breakfast and lunch, and thoroughly enjoyed both of my meals. however, every single person i know who lives in SF thinks herbivore sucks balls. the word on the street, according to friends of mine who live up there, is that the only decent things at herbivore are the shwarma and the brunch items. the pad thai is supposedly noodles with a load of peanut butter dumped on them, and the fake meats are store-bought packages from white wave. so i took her advice on my recent visit and stuck to the brunch.

    sausage biscuit: with house potatoes, mushroom gravy and avocado-tomato salad. $8.25

    sausage biscuit: with house potatoes, mushroom gravy and avocado-tomato salad. $8.25

    i ordered the sausage biscuit, which tasted amazingly like the “sausage rolls” from london i fell in love with at beetroot. the flaky pastry was filled with chunky soy meat…i wish i could find more stuff like this at los angeles vegan restaurants. the breakfast potatoes were just superb as well—slightly burnt and a tad oily with tasty seasoning. my only complaint about this dish is that the sausage biscuit was a bit small (especially for 8 bucks), and it came with a salad which is a bit odd at breakfast-time. whateves, i was overall pretty happy with it.

    mudslide ice cream from maggie mudd. $4.75

    mudslide ice cream from maggie mudd. $4.75

    since i didn’t make it to maggie mudd on my trip, i decided to grab a scoop of their ice cream which is sold at herbivore. it was a bit of a ripoff at $4.75 (i come from the land of huge portions of scoops for 2 bucks), but i gotta say it was damn good. the mudslide flavor was super chunky and the ice cream was really thick and dense. i can’t wait until the day i can visit maggie mudd and go wild with a slap up sundae. this ice cream deserves to be done right! still, i’ll take what i can get, and herbivore’s serving hit the spot.

    so overall my experiences at herbivore have been pretty good, although i haven’t ordered any of the “sucky” menu items. i will continue to stick to the brunch offerings when i visit there, and of course the amazing shwarma, which rocks my world.

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