vegan food is popping up all over the west side, some good and some bad…just last week i wrote about a newly opened vegan restaurant in venice that i wasn’t very impressed with. luckily for all you beach peeps, there is an excellent macrobiotic restaurant called seed on pacific avenue, serving up healthy all-vegan meals seven days a week.

seed has been open for 4 months, and while i’ve only eaten there twice, everything i’ve tried has been awesome. my first visit was just days after they opened, and i went back for a second time last week. i was happy to discover the food was just as delicious and it was great to see a healthy crowd of beach-goers chowing down on vegan fare.

saisai donburi macro bowl: kabocha, kale, shitake, arame, bean sprouts, daily bean, sauerkraut, balsalmic miso sauce all over organic brown rice. $11.95

the food at seed is masterfully crafted by celebrity chef eric lechasseur, who used to be the chef de patisserie at m cafe. seed’s macrobiotic menu is actually really similar to that of m cafe…tons of bowls, burgers, paninis and japanese vegetables…just without all the dead fish. a lot of my friends actually prefer the food at m cafe, arguing that seed’s food is a bit more bland. i don’t necessarily agree with that, and i’d rather eat at seed any day because it’s a 100% vegan restaurant.

i recently hit up seed with my husband on a double lunch date with eric and diana from happycow.net. i ordered the saisai donburi macro bowl, which was overflowing with more delicious vegetables than i could handle. it came with the option to add tofu, tempeh or seitan at an additional charge, but all the plants in this bowl were enough for me. i gotta say this was the freshest, lightest, tastiest meal i’ve had in quite a while. everything was incredibly delicate and just oozing with healthy flavor. the organic brown rice was extremely soft and fluffy, i ate every bite of it even though i tend to leave my rice behind. the bowl came with a tangy miso sauce that i forgot to even pour on top! that’s right, it was so good i forgot to liven it up with the sauce. i think i will order this every time i go back to seed.

my husband got the blackened tempeh burger which was huge and very hearty.

blackened tempeh burger with sauerkraut: lettuce, tomato, onion, sauerkraut, house mango salsa and mustard-vegenaise spread serverd on a wheat bun with a side of vinaigrette coleslaw. $9.95

while the burger was excellent, the flavor combinations weren’t my favorite. i like sauerkraut and tempeh, but i didn’t really like the mango salsa and mustard vegenaise. i think overall this burger was just too sweet for me, and my husband agreed. although i know tons of people who claim this is the best thing on the menu. ah, to each his own.

eric and diana ordered a side of sweet potato fries to share, which were so fucking awesome. i am just bummed i forgot to photograph them. seriously, they were the one thing at the table that didn’t taste insanely healthy and they were really good in a guilty pleasure sort of way. thin and incredibly crispy around the edges, but soft and fluffy on the inside. perfect fries indeed.

for the four months that seed has been open, i’ve been dying to try their soft serve ice cream. it’s on the menu, and i’ve heard that it exists, but it hasn’t been available the two times i’ve dined at seed. happycow eric informed us that it’s usually only available when chef eric is present, because the recipe and machine are so complicated. what? seriously? vegan ice cream so special that it can only be made when a celebrity chef is on hand? this made me want it even more. now i have another reason to get back to seed asap, as if the saisai donburi macro bowl wasn’t enough. i will let you know if i ever get my hands on some of that elusive soft serve ice cream.

so if you haven’t been to seed yet, got check them out. like i said before, they serve up high-quality m cafe style food, but without the disgusting dead fish. definitely worth a visit.

oh, and check out their happycow.net rating while you are at it…they’ve got a really high score. and join happycow if you haven’t already; it’s like the non-shady and vegetarian version of yelp.

seed
1604 pacific avenue
venice, ca 90291
(310)396-1604

open daily
10 am to 9 pm