yeah, yeah, yeah…so i have already raved about sandwiches from north hollywood’s hy-mart deli on a couple of occasions, but that isn’t gonna stop me from doing it again.

i still can’t choose a favorite menu item, because every sandwich/wrap/creation i order from hy-mart is absolutely wonderful. here we have the shahkloot special (be sure to specify vegan, no cheese!):

shahkloot special (no cheese!): tabouleh, greek olives, cucumber, avocado, hummus, falafel, herbs and all the veggies. $6.95

at under 7 bucks, this is the perfect cheap and satisfying meal. but don’t take my word for it…go to the valley and see for yourselves.

check out this post for hy-mart’s vegetarian menu (which is pretty much all veganizable)!

hy-mart deli
4762 Lankershim Blvd
North Hollywood, CA 91602
(818) 506-7264
Mon-Fri. 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Sat. 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Sun. 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

PS: hy-mart may not be open today, i dunno. i heard it was a bank holiday or something.

two new american veggie patties with our vegan, gluten-free mushroom gravy. Served with mixed seasonal vegetables, cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes. $13

we have some good news for you this morning: hugo’s restaurant has finally added a vegan mashed potato option to their menu! throughout december they are continuing to offer their happy holiday feast special, which both me and foodeater have written about in the past, and now you can get it with their new and delicious vegan mash. just be sure to specify you want the vegan potatoes, because they are continuing to offer the non-vegan ones as well.

i highly recommend you get over to hugo’s and order this special while it’s still around, because it’s tasty as hell and the gravy can’t be beat. i can’t wait to go back to hugo’s and try out more of their dishes with vegan mashed potatoes. thanks for listening to the vegans, hugo’s! we will make it worth your while. xo

special thanks to sunny at vegan beauty review for telling me about these potatoes. she is awesome.

hugo’s restaurant
8401 Santa Monica Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(323) 654-399
and
12851 Riverside Drive
Studio City, CA 91607
(818) 761-8985

for the holiday season, vinh loi tofu is offering full size vegan faux turkeys, and you just have to try one! we ordered one of these for our thanksgiving celebration with my omnivorous family, and it was definitely a crowd-pleaser.

the vegan loaf is shaped like a real animal, with little fake legs and a hole for stuffing. it isn’t realistic enough to be gross though, if anything it made for a great conversation piece and i thought it was kinda cute. we pre-baked a batch of homemade stuffing and carefully put it inside the vinh loi turkey before heating it.

the turkey comes already cooked from vinh loi, but we put it in the oven for a while to heat it up. after about 40 minutes it was just right, and the outer skin was perfectly crispy. the soy meat inside was soft and juicy, and the overall flavor was amazing.

there were four of us, and we didn’t even finish off half of this thing. in fact, i still have tons of leftovers in the freezer. the turkey cost $49.50, and was worth every cent. it’s definitely some of the best fake meat i’ve ever had.

call vinh loi tofu to order a delicious vegan turkey for your xmas meal. you can have a traditional holiday feast, except without the murder. oh, and they also have a vegan ham tray as well! YUM.

vinh loi tofu
18625 Sherman Way #101
Reseda, CA 91335
(818) 996-9779

update november 2010: madeleine bistro is doing thanksgiving with the turkeys AGAIN this year!! thanksgiving day from 10am – 3pm. this was honestly the most special thanksgiving meal of my life…so i highly suggest you book a table asap. if you aren’t free on thanksgiving day, madeleine bistro is also doing take-out holiday meals. give ’em a call!

hey my fellow herbivores, i hope you all had a lovely holiday and managed to avoid the stench of dead flesh…we sure did! we had a magnificent brunch at one of LA’s top vegan restaurants, madeleine bistro. the los angeles vegan thanksgiving offerings this year were plentiful, so we had quite a hard time deciding where to eat. the deal was pretty much sealed though, when we saw that madeleine bistro would be bringing in healthy, happy turkey friends from animal acres to join in the celebration!

we booked a table for mid-morning and were happy to see that madeleine bistro would be offering not only a thanksgiving five-course fix prixe meal, but also some holiday specials a la carte as well as their regular brunch menu. we were shocked at how crowded the restaurant was with vegan a-listers when we arrived, from famous actors and authors to bloggers like moi. rad, right?! we settled in and ordered some entrees and sides, all of which were excellent and exceeded our expectations.

fresh organic donut with organic fruit compote. $2

we started off with some fresh organic donuts, which we’ve had before, and they were phenomenal. so crispy and sweet on the outside, yet unbelievably light and fluffy within—these set a new standard for animal-free sweets. i can honestly say that the donuts at madeleine bistro are the best i’ve ever had, even trumping the (in)famous ronald’s.

vegan biscuits and gravy. $7

next up, we had an some biscuits and gravy from the holiday specials menu.

i fucking adore biscuits and gravy, and i seriously have to get them whenever they’re available. the portion from madeleine bistro was absolutely amazing. the gravy was thick and meaty-tasting (but not in a gross way)…and while the biscuits were small, they were moist and packed with flavor.

thanksgiving sandwich: herbed seitan, cranberry mayo, caramelized onions, gravy. $15

for our first main course, we ordered the thanksgiving sandwich from the holiday menu. this sandwich is one of the best things i have ever had the pleasure of eating…and i have eaten a lot of stuff! the turkey-style seitan was crispy and pleasantly oily, a perfect compliment to the fluffy vegan mayo and soft warm bread. and the cranberries added the perfect amount of sweetness without being overwhelming.

i know, i know….15 bucks seems like a lot to pay for a sandwich, and i am the first person to bitch when something is overpriced. but this thing was seriously worth it. not only was it massive (the pix don’t do it justice), but the flavor combos were just plain brilliant. my only complaint is that madeleine bistro doesn’t offer this sandwich all year!

the Skillet, tofu scramble, seasonal vegetables, tempeh bacon, home fries. $15

for our second entree we ordered the skillet, which is available year round on the madeleine brunch menu. omg this shit was INSANE. soft, fluffy, and slightly wet tofu all mixed up with fresh vegetables and salty tempeh. it was beautiful. take that, and add in the best home fry potatoes ever (i’m not lying!)…and you have a virtually perfect breakfast. the portion was hearty as well—we ended up with more food than we could eat!

while the food at madeleine bistro was exquisite and we had no complaints, the most special part of our thanksgiving celebration was spending time with the wonderful turkeys from animal acres. on a day when so many animals are slaughtered with perverted notions of joy and thankfulness, it was great to hang out with these beautiful creatures after a completely satisfying vegan meal.

i’m thankful for an awesome and cruelty-free holiday, complete with beautiful birds and amazing food from madeleine bistro.

madeleine bistro
18621 ventura blvd
tarzana, ca 91356
818-758-6971
(check the website for hours, it’s complicated)

over the past couple weeks, i have been heading out to the valley to lunch it up at north hollywood’s hoppin’ little take-out and delivery restaurant, healthyca. the place is just a tiny hole in the wall on lankershim with short weekday only hours, but it has loads of vegan options with several salads, sandwiches and hot plates to choose from. i’ve tried a few things off the menu at healthyca, and so far the way i feel about the food there is, i either love it or i hate it…or i think it’s okay.

vegan feast: tofu trio (teriyaki, tomato and ginger olive) on a bed of red cabbage. $9.95

let’s start with the dish i absolutely loved…the vegan feast. it was the first thing i ever tried at healthyca, and i was so blown away by it that i was ready to call this place my new favorite restaurant. a vegan feast it is indeed with a hearty portion of well marinated tofu, and your choice of two sides. to make things super easy, all the sides at healthyca are vegan except for the potato salad. i ordered this with red mashed potatoes and grilled white asparagus, and dude…it was all phenomenal.

i am such a lame foodie that this was my first time ever eating white asparagus, but i think it’s safe to say that i will now be a fan for life.

the best thing about this feast, though, was the mound of thick grilled tofu chunks, soaked in a most exquisite and flavorful sauce. it was super tomatoey and oily, and went great with all the cilantro and purple cabbage. there was also so much of it, i ended up stuffing myself and still taking a bunch of food home.

now for the dish i hated: the veggie delight.

veggie delight: vegan macrobiotic tofu-grain patty with pesto sauce. $9.95

the veggie delight sounds well and good from the menu description, a vegan macrobiotic tofu-grain patty served with pesto sauce with your choice of two sides. it’s the same price as the vegan feast, so i was a bit disappointed and underwhelmed when it showed up looking so small. instead of a massive pile of tofu, this hot plate comes with two thin patties that without much texture or flavoring. i was expecting them to be much more hearty made of grains and tofu like a good veggie burger, but these limp things just tasted like mashed up garden vegetables. to be fair, the sides of quinoa and asparagus i got with them were awesome, and the tofu pesto sauce was decent, but the patties were just blech.

lastly the dish that i thought was okay: the healthyca sausage (be sure to say “NO MAYO”!)

healthyca sausage: homemade vegan sausage on sesame roll with tomato, lettuce, grilled onion, tofu pesto and red pepper sauces. $9.25

to be fair, this dish didn’t belong to me….it was ordered by my lunch partner brittany from sickoflettuce.com. i did get to taste it though, so i figure i’m allowed to have an opinion on it. at $9.25, this thing really was a good deal. the sandwich was huge, and it came with a healthy-sized side of your choice (she chose quinoa). it actually arrived at our table looking a lot bigger than the veggie delight, which cost 70cents more. hmph. while it was really attractively priced and the portion was large, i thought the sandwich was just alright. it advertised itself as a vegan sausage, it was more like the same vegetable patty i had in the veggie delight! there was nothing mock-meaty about it. brittany seemed to think it was decent, but i definitely didn’t hear her raving about it or anything.

so there you go, a quick little run down of some of the vegan offerings at healthyca. while i thought the veggie delight was gross, and the healthyca sausage was nothing to write home about, i can’t stress enough that the vegan feast was fucking amazing! i know i will be back soon to eat that again. for all you peeps who work in the valley or are jobless, this is a great place for a weekday lunch. for everyone else, unfortunately healthyca is closed evenings and weekends. oh well.

for more pix and reviews of healthyca, you should check out this category on foodeater’s blog toliveandeatinla.com. i think she has eaten practically everything vegan there is to try on the menu! so check it.

healthyca
4724 lankershim blvd
noho, ca 91602
monday-friday
11am-6pm

yummy cupcakes is a bakery that certainly lives up to its name. with two locations (one in the valley and one on the west side), plenty of animal-free offerings, and absolutely delicious treats, it is probably my favorite place to get vegan desserts in los angeles.

on top of offering vegan cupcakes at their storefronts on fridays, sundays and mondays, yummy also has an extensive vegan menu for large orders which features basically any cupcake you could possibly dream up. they also have an absolutely brilliant product for special order called “cupcake-in-a-jar.” yep, it is exactly like you would imagine…fluffly frosting and moist cake all piled up in a mason jar, to be eaten with a spoon.

recently, yummy sent me some of their cupcakes in jars to try out—and boy oh boy, they made a believer out of me! chocolate with vanilla frosting, almond with almond butter cream, and peanut butter cup were all part of the deal…and they were all delicious. the best thing about the cupcake in a jar is, you don’t have to eat it all at once. you can just spoon out a bite of yummy frosting and cake, then store the rest in the fridge until later.

i gave one of the cupcake-filled jars to my omnivorous co-worker, and she was completely blown away. first off, it was so decadent that she couldn’t believe it was vegan. secondly, she noted that the idea of layering cake and frosting in a mason jar is “fucking brilliant.” and i agree with her. you think you like vegan cupcakes? well, try eating them with a spoon. you will never look back. YUMMY!

yummy cupcakes
313 Wilshire Blvd 90401
310.393.8283

2918 W. Magnolia Blvd 91505
818.558.1080

…well, not really. but it sure reminded me of one. what i’m talking about here is lorenzo’s tofu eggwich at follow your heart.

Lorenzo's Tofu Eggwich: A Grilled Scrambled Tofu Pattie, Tomato and *Pastrami* Wheatmeat, with Avocado and Vegenaise® on our Homemade English Muffin. Served with Fries or Fresh Fruit. $6.95

on a recent trip to FYH, i was jonesing for a burger. unable to order any of follow your heart’s veggie burgers because the buns contain honey (even though the menu claims they are vegan-optional…for some reason), i scanned the menu for other options. hiding out in the appetizer section, i found the meal i was looking for: a tofu eggwich that sounded a lot like an egg mcmuffin…but better, with added vegetables.

the english muffin came stacked with a tofu patty, pastrami wheatmeat, vegenaise, avocado and tomato. served with a generous portion of crinkly fries and costing under 7 bucks, this thing was a bargain! not just was it a good deal, but it tasted awesome too. the patty and wheat meat were perfectly salty, and nicely rounded out by the cool, creamy avocado and vegenaise. the english muffin was warm and toasty, while the tomato was cold and fresh. fucking delicious, all of it!

i honestly don’t know what this tofu eggwich is doing in the appetizer section of the menu. it makes a fine main course for one person, and i may just call it one of the best little vegan sandwiches in los angeles. get over and try this thing when you have a chance. it’s hearty, tasty, and it won’t break the bank.

why don’t more restaurants in los angeles have vegan egg mcmuffins?!

follow your heart
21825 Sherman Way
Canoga Park, California, 91303
(818) 348-3240

vegan sandwiches are awesome, and they just don’t get enough attention. what’s the best sandwich you’ve ever eaten? if you live in los angeles, the answer very well could be a banh mi sub from vinh loi tofu.

although vinh loi is an entirely vegan restaurant, their sandwiches aren’t filled with vegetables. no, no, no…they specialize in sturdy, meaty subs that would satisfy any omnivore.

ham sub. $5.50

take the enormous “ham” sub, filled with pink faux meat and spicy chilies, measuring around 9 inches for just $5.50.

or the extravagant vinh loi sub, which comes stuffed with “chicken”, “beef”, AND tofu for just 6 bucks.

vinh loi sub (chicken, beef and tofu) $6

these banh mi are massive, the price is right, and they are packed with taste. what more do you want from a sandwich?

you probably already knew about the bad ass subs at vinh loi tofu…but i thought you needed a reminder. i hereby name today vegan sandwich appreciation day. now what are you gonna do to celebrate?

vinh loi tofu
18625 Sherman Way #101
Reseda, CA 91335
(818) 996-9779

Okay, so we’ve already posted about the best vegan and best vegetarian restaurants in Los Angeles, but sometimes we vegans HAVE to eat in omnivorous restaurants. That’s a part of life. What’s interesting, though, is when we find meat-serving restaurants that we WANT to eat in. That’s a whole different story, and LA has a few outstanding omnivorous establishments that go out of their way to cater to vegans. Here are our favorites.

M Cafe

While the “M” in M Cafe probably stands for Macrobiotic, I believe it actually stands for Mmmmmmmm, which is pretty much what I murmur with every bite of this amazing food. With a totally vegan menu except for fish, M Cafe has a chic urban appeal, backed up with an A-list of ingredients (and clientele) all layered over an efficient kitchen and fair pricing, considering how great the food is. While the last year or two M Cafe’s items have been prepared by kitchen staff rather than chefs, their menu items are still some of the best in town.

Vegan Benedict at M Cafe

The Big Macro is arguably LA’s best vegan burger. The broccolini pepporochini is without a doubt LA’s premier broccolini, and the Vegan Benedict is constantly voted one of the “best” breakfast items on any local menu. There are plenty of vegan options at all times of the day, and the rotating menu constantly keeps one coming back for more. The deserts are out of this world, along with the very best vegan tiramisu known to humanity. Check it out!!

Purgatory Pizza

It’s probably inaccurate to credit Purgatory Pizza with single-handedly introducing incredible vegan pizza to LA, but we’re going to anyway. The insatiable team, formerly headed by Chef Ricky, that painstakingly worked to veganize an entire product line and food preparation process has gone from strength to strength. Purgatory was not only the first pizza place to embrace Teese (the ground-breaking alternative to Follow Your Heart Cheese), but is also the first to stock Gardein and Field Roast as toppings, and one of the first to serve Daiya (the best vegan cheese at time of posting) in SoCal.

Vegan Chicken Pestop Pizza with Gardein and Daiya at Purgatory Pizza.

To get your Purgatory Pizza kicks (if you’re not in the delivery area), show up with a bottle of cheap wine and/or a six-pack of beer, then order your pizza to dine in. Feeling like a cross between an 80s suburban pizza joint and some kind of modern art experiment, Purgatory has a great, brightly-lit atmosphere and friendly staff to keep you entertained while you swallow slice after slice of LA’s best vegan pizza.

Hugo’s Restaurant

With two locations (one in West Hollywood, the other in Studio City), and a full-on meat-oriented menu, one might be surprised to find that the Hugo’s chefs have created some seriously innovative vegan cuisine. Not only do they have loads of options, but they have menu with several clearly marked animal-free alternatives, as well as dishes that can be optionally veganized. If you can get past the trendy atmosphere, long waits and constant celebrity sightings (I’ve watched the staff at the WeHo location fawn over Gabriel Byrne and Jeff Goldblum within the past few weeks) you’re in for a vegan treat.

Tikka Masala Veggie Patties at Hugo's Restaurant

Although I’ve long been a fan of the tofu scramble, I also love the Very Green Casserole (one of the best vegan burgers I’ve ever tasted atop stewed vegetables and sauce in a pot) as well as the salads, tikka masala veggie patties, stir-frys and wraps. Make sure you specify “VEGAN” clearly when you order, while the restaurant is extremely vegan-friendly, there may be butter hiding in unsuspecting dishes.

Toi

Sadly, the Toi chain has contracted from two locations to just one, on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood. Thankfully the sacrificial lamb of this two-outlet chain was the Santa Monica outlet on Wilshire and not the ultimate rock and roll dining location sandwiched between Guitar Center and clothing stores most mortals are too… well… mortal to shop in. Toi has a loud, brash atmosphere with a class-based seating system (some tables suck ass, others are amazing — you ride the wind and luck of the draw depending your arrival time).

Vegan Pad Thai at Toi

Get the vegan pad thai with grilled tofu for a real treat, or the Saigon spring rolls…and make sure you request the hot sauces to dollop liberally over your food. The portions are huge, the kitchen respects us vegans, and most things on the menu can be made vegan — substitute chicken for tofu, oyster sauce for vegan oyster sauce, and you’ll get a superb meal. Take your omni friends there, and chillax the fuck out listening to rock ‘n’ roll on the speakers. Step into the parking lot at the back and you can smell weed in the air. Need we say more.

Mama’s Hot Tamales

OK, I’ll admit, MacArthur Park (just West of Downtown LA) has a shady reputation. Lotsa crime, lotsa drugs, lotsa pigeons, lotsa bodegas and lotsa REAL, AUTHENTIC Mexican restaurants. How glad are we vegans, then, that one of the most popular, Mama’s Hot Tamales, has a full-on vegan menu, complete with Daiya cheese, vegan sauces and all the trimmings. Did you hear that? Authentic Mexican food AND Daiya Cheese!!!! That is reason enough to make any top 5 list, as far as we’re concerned.

Vegan Daiya Cheese Enchiladas at Mama's Hot Tamales Cafe

At Mama’s you can enjoy all the greasy, cheesy filling Mexican food that omnivores love to death, but prepared under the supervision of Mama herself: the real deal, a Mexican señora who could not be more understanding of what a vegan is, what we need and how to prepare the food for us.

Honorable mentions: Green Peas, XIV, Zpizza, Cafe Muse, Interim Cafe, Mani’s Bakery

Yesterday we brought you a list of the 5 best vegan restaurants in Los Angeles. But if a 100% vegan eatery isn’t on the cards for whatever reason, LA has a superb selection of vegan-friendly vegetarian restaurants, some of which rival or exceed the offerings available at vegan-only establishments. From a 60s-era hippie health-food store to a moderne hipster hangout, LA has it all. Check out our top five vegan-friendly vegetarian restaurants and please let us know in the comments if you think any don’t deserve the list, or you have a favorite that should be on it.

Follow Your Heart

Psychedelia. Woodstock. Topanga Canyon. Flower Power. Tie Dye. We have many things to thank the late 60s for, and Follow Your Heart is one of them. This amazing vegetarian oasis, established in 1970 in Canoga Park, has LA’s premier (= only) vegetarian grocery store with a TON of vegan products (some of which can’t be purchased anywhere else). Not only that, it has a cosy restaurant and patio where some of LA’s finest vegan food is waiting for you.

Vegan Reuben at Follow Your Heart

Don’t miss the Reuben Sandwich (make sure you ask for extra 1,000 island dressing), as a human being has to try this out at least once in their life! There are many, many dishes with home made fake meats, and vegan entrees such as breakfast burritos, benedicts etc. Follow Your Heart does a SUPER job with the restaurant food and you pretty much can’t go wrong. If you’re averse to honey (hopefully you are, bees are cool), the buns have honey in them, so be sure to order your delicious burger on VEGAN bread.

Fatty’s & Co

Fatty’s is an interesting place. So overtly pretentious, yet with honest down-to-earth food items you can’t get anywhere else it’s a somewhat strange place to dine. If you walk in when the place is empty, the greeter will give you a hard time because you didn’t make a reservation, but when you’re seated in this pristine restaurant with cavernous ceilings you will be served some truly special food.

Vegan Chartreuse at Fatty's & Co

After wading through a pretty dairy-heavy menu, there are some vegan wonders which await. Half the appetizers are vegan and run the gamut from bread and oil (very special, bread and oil, I might add) through blackened tempeh to more obscure things like “far east rolls” including non-meat chicken. This is a place with powerful entrees as well — get the vegan paella, ravioli, sloppy joe or chartruese for a throughly different and high quality experience. There are also some rare deserts, including a cotton candy that’s only available if a certain person is in the restaurant (Mrs. Dingle, I kid you not). Eat here when you really want to impress a date or experience vegan fine dining to the fullest.

Flore Cafe

Like a phoenix from the ashes, Flore Cafe rose from the amazing Vegan Spot, my favorite ever vegan restaurant. Despite a rocky existence (after the abrupt closing of Vegan Spot I firmly expected this place to be shuttered when I next visit), Flore Cafe has some great vegan food that’s served fast and of very high quality. Almost totally vegan except for a few egg and dairy items, Flore Cafe is unlikely to disappoint. Plus, they really raise the bar with their excellent “all you can eat deals”—from their regular Sunday $10 brunch, to their special event buffets—they give us several reasons to watch them closely.

Tofu Scramble at Flore Cafe

The tofu scramble (if you’re really lucky you’ll be eating that at one of the botomless Sunday brunches) is some of the best in town, along with the breakfast burritos, burgers and salads with seitan. Also, their fake tuna a.k.a. “tu-no” is awesome — especially when served on the tu-no melt. Like its sister restaurant Flore (located just 1/2 mile away), Flore Cafe offers organic meat-free menu with fresh ingredients and attention to detail, yet the restaurant is rarely crowded. Not the best place to dine in, but great for a quick snack or take-out feast.

Cinnamon

Californian-style Mexican food can be well prepared with vegetarian or vegan ingredients, and Cinnamon has perfected the art. Situated in a nondescript single-frontage store in Highland Park, Cinnamon has a warm, family atmosphere in common with all the best Mexican restaurants. Most times, the owner will be there to personally advise on her menu creations as well as supervise the kitchen. With a huge menu of high quality food items, you basically can’t go wrong.

Chorizo and Tofu Tacos at Cinnamon Vegetarian

Although a vegetarian restaurant, pretty much anything can be veganized or is already vegan. Burritos, tacos, quesadillas, all the regular Californian-style Mexican food is well represented as well more authentic stuff such as tamales, mole and empanadas. You got your mock meats, spicy black beans, fresh and crunchy vegetables and the typical sauces — all optionally vegan. Cinnamon proves that great Mexican food can be made vegan.You can eat here with a clear conscience because you KNOW the rice has no chicken broth and the refried beans no lard. Check it out…. you really won’t be sorry.

Paru’s Indian Vegetarian Restaurant

While our friends at Cinnamon excel at vegetarian Mexican-style food, Paru’s knocks the ball out of the park with vegetarian Indian food. Since the 1970s, Parus has been quietly plugging away, serving some of the best Indian food this side of Brick Lane. With a strict policy on preparing vegan food separately in the kitchen, they are to be trusted with our veganocity. The place is a little foreboding upon arrival. It seems like you’re entering a bail bond office or brothel in a sketchy part of town (they buzz you in), but once past the reinforced door you’re in a private patio that leads to an intimate restaurant.

Punjab Glory at Paru's Indian Vegetarian Restaurant

All but a couple of the menu items are either vegan or can be prepared vegan, and the best bet is to get a few side orders with some rice and bread. It’ll cost you a lot less than the signature dishes, and is a great way to experience the variety of food Paru’s has to offer. Get the dosa (puffy bread that looks like a deflating balloon), bonda (fried potato balls) and one of the lentil dishes. Paru’s is a welcome break from our fake-meat-tofu world as they make everything by hand from vegetables and legumes. That’s a rare thing these days.

Honorable mentions: Bulan Thai, The Spot, Nite Moon Cafe

Tomorrow, we’ll be presenting the Top Five LA vegan-friendly omnivorous restaurants. Stay tuned!

Following three years of eating out on LA’s vegan restaurant scene we thought it would be good to come up with a “top list” of the establishments we, and the commenters on this esteemed blog, thought were really good. Check out the end for honorable mentions, restaurants that didn’t quite make the list. Want to bump a mention off the list, or add your own? Please comment. Don’t be shy. We had to start somewhere.

Madeleine Bistro

Advice when visiting Madeline Bistro: Sit facing away from the window and forget that you walked past the exotic lingerie store a few doors down, after an excruciatingly long drive from pretty much wherever you live. If you can suspend the belief of where you are and how you got there for long enough, you’ll enjoy some of the most incredible vegan food on the West Coast, and probably in the world.

porcini-crusted tofu benedict at madeleine bistro.

Chef Dave Anderson has spared no expense or time in thinking through and preparing the most minute details of every menu item. From a doughnut that is so light and fluffy it practically levitates, to a veganized carbon-copy emulation of a Big Mag (which I’m told by omnivores tastes way, way better than the real thing), through magical soufflés and German Mac ‘n’ Cheese (complete with Bacon bits!) you are certain to delight in the experience of fine vegan dining with a menu as inventive as it is familiar. Every dish at Madeleine’s has that “HOW DO THEY DO THIS?” question mark hanging over it. Dave Anderson is a culinary genius, and we should all be glad he decided to practice his art on us vegans.

Stuff I Eat

Situated on a quiet street a block from busy Manchester Blvd. on the edge of Inglewood is an absolute gem of a vegan restaurant: Stuff I Eat. With an eclectic menu of options spanning the gamut from soul food through Mexican-inspired and down to earth, honest to goodness, American-style favorites, Stuff I Eat excels in every category. The staff are all so helpful, polite and caring that one feels grateful to be in ‘their’ restaurant. The portions are HUGE, and the quality of every food item, from the way it looks to the way it tastes cannot be overstated.

part of the soul food platter at stuff i eat

Feeling hungry? The $18 “Organic Soul Food Platter” will fill you up, as well as one or two of your guests. The burritos are to die for (how many burritos have fresh, steamed broccoli topping them?). Any place that has a menu item called “Sumthin-Sumthin”, makes its own dressings from scratch every day and serves a $5 taco with so much filling that they throw in an extra tortilla so you can “make two out of one” clearly has an appreciation of food. If you have the same (or even if you don’t), Stuff I Eat will be some of the best Stuff you will EVER Eat.

Vinh Loi Tofu

Kevin Tran, the chef/owner/cashier of Vinh Loi Tofu is probably the King of Los Angeles vegan cuisine. Sitting on his throne behind the counter at Vinh Loi Tofu, he rules his mini-kingdom of obedient, smiling tofu-preparing workers who create some of the most stunning vegan food in town. In his modest Reseda restaurant (about the size of a donut shop!) he manages to squeeze in not only a tofu factory but also a kitchen that prepares no less than 126 vegan specialty menu items, along with several “new inventions” that Kevin has cooked up to try out on us unsuspecting, but very lucky, vegans.

ham sub at vinh loi tofu

With so many menu items it’s really hard to choose favorites (and, to be fair, I try to mix up what I order, but in a lifetime one can only scratch the surface of Kevin’s creativity). Signature dishes we see people ordering time and time again include the Banh Mi subs (of which there are 13 varieties) ranging between $4.50 and and extortionate $6! Kevin’s tofu and fake meats blend perfectly with fresh vegetables in his soups, stir fries, teriyaki noodles and salads. If you’re feeling really adventurous, just ask him for his “special of the day”. You won’t be sorry.

Pure Luck

On our first visit to Pure Luck, we were intrigued to watch a tattooed dude (who we later discovered was Ben, the guy who dreamed up the establishment) wheeling a toilet through a busy restaurant and out of the door. He returned to climb, precariously, above the food area while he installed a WiFi access point suspended from the ceiling by green cables, that’s still there to this day. While this entertainment was going on, my friends and I got quietly drunk on craft beer, and full of potato pals, followed by several plates of fresh salads, rolls with exotic ingredients and burritos. Pure luck doesn’t quite have the atmosphere of a bar, but you can squint your eyes and fake it real easy, with at least 10 beers on tap and an endless supply of comfort food you can’t go wrong.

angélica’s garbanzo salad sandwich with potato pals at pure luck

Must-have dishes are the jackfruit-anything (especially the Todd’s BBQ Sandwich or Torta), Fresh Noodle Salad and the deep fried stuff (Potato Pals, Rosemary Fries, Sweet Potato Fries). The Tofu Pesto Sandwich is also an excellent choice, arriving on a crusty, fresh La Brea Bakery roll. Chow on some great bar food, drink some of LA’s finest beers and smile in the haze of how great it is to be vegan in this day and age. Thanks, Pure Luck, for all the good times.

Oh, and the toilet was abandoned in the parking lot by the dumpster when we left.

Shojin

I recall hanging out as a teenager in the Tokyo district of Akihabara, where bright lights, video arcades and electronics stores are punctuated only by sushi bars and upscale dining. The shopping mall in Little Tokyo (just south of Downtown LA) contains all of the above plus an amazing find if you trudge to the top of the escalator: Shojin Restaurant. to call this place “fine dining” would be an understatement. Hand polished silverware resting on starched tablecloths await your vegan self. Nuvo-Japonaise decor and Frank Sinatra on the speakers round out this most eclectic of dining experiences. Your shy, yet overly-attentive and awkwardly chatty serving staff will do whatever it takes for you to have a great time, as plate upon plate of amazing food spirits itself out of the kitchen to your pristine table.

vegan dragon roll at shojin

Whether you go for the sushi (with seitan, tofu and other faux-fish accoutrements), the pan-fried seitan stir-fry or the incredibly tasty hand-made deserts you will know that such care has been put into preparing your food with prime, organic ingredients that you just can’t go wrong. Order as much stuff as you like — the portions are small, but the taste is big.

Honorable mentions: A Taste Of Life, Native Foods, Veggie Grill, Casa De Tree, Cru, Flore, Cafe Flourish, Rahel’s, and Seed

Check back tomorrow, for our list of the top five vegetarian restaurants that are vegan friendly.

as i’ve mentioned before, vegans have an unhealthy obsession with reubens. i don’t know what it is about sauerkraut, thousand island, and rye bread that gives every vegan i know a hard on, but it never fails.

i’ve written blog posts on 2 vegan reubens in los angeles before, and each time i’ve gotten comments from people urging me to go to follow your heart and try their reuben. not only that, but three of my favorite blogs named it the best vegan reuben in town. i went to follow your heart over the weekend with super high expectations and finally got my mouth around the legendary sandwich.

the reuben: thinly sliced wheatmeat, cottage-style tofu, sauerkraut, mustard and vegenaise on oversized rye bread, oven-baked. served with dill pickle and thousand island dressing. $10.75

one thing the FYH reuben definitely has going for it is SIZE. the thing is absolutely ginormous—definitely big enough for two people to share. it clocks in at just under 11 bucks, so i would definitely say you get your money’s worth. the weak side of carrot chips leaves something to be desired, so next time i would consider upgrading and paying a bit more for french fries.

the vegan version of the sandwich comes with your choice of cottage-style tofu or follow your heart vegan cheese. since i can’t stand FYH cheese, i went with the cottage-style tofu, which was nothing short of excellent. they layered it on nice and thick, and it gave the sandwich a hearty and thick texture that i quite enjoyed.

the follow your heart reuben is also piled high with slices of wheat meat, rather than tempeh like many vegan reubens, so it has a similar taste and texture to its meaty counterpart. the faux meat FYH uses is awesome as well, just chewy enough and very flavorful.

the one issue i had with this sandwich, and the only reason i’m not yelling in all caps “OMFG THIS WAS THE BEST VEGAN REUBEN EVER,” is that it was pretty dry. after the fact i was told by foodeater that i should have ordered it with extra thousand island on the side, and i will definitely take her advice next time. something about the combination of the crispy (maybe slightly over-baked) bread and the not-too-moist cottage tofu left me wishing the whole thing was a little more juicy.

so to recap, follow your heart’s reuben is indeed awesome. is it the best? maybe.

pros:
it’s really fucking big.
the wheat meat is awesome.
the cottage-style tofu is absolutely incredible.

cons:
the side of carrot chips is kinda lame.
the sandwich without extra dressing can be a bit dry.

overall, the FYH reuben scores pretty high here at quarrygirl.com, with just a few points being deducted for the dryness. it’s nothing that couldn’t be easily fixed though—if the bread were a bit softer and there was a tad more dressing, this sandwich would have been an a+ rather than an a-.

head on over to follow your heart and check this sandwich out. let me know what you think. i highly recommend the cottage-style tofu and a side of extra thousand island.

follow your heart
21825 Sherman Way
Canoga Park, CA 91303
(818) 348-3240

recently i brought you the news that cruzer pizza in los feliz was offering pizzas topped with daiya cheese. now just a couple weeks later, i am happy to say they have not just expanded their menu and added many vegan pasta options, but they are also now serving up all their daiya cheese and fake meat creations at both the los feliz location and the glendale outlet. i hit up cruzer in glendale last week to try out their new vegan stuff, and i can tell ya that daiya is just as good (if not better) in pasta than it is on pizza.

vegan chicken parmigiana. $9.99

i’ve never had real chicken parmigiana, so i can’t really compare, but cruzer’s version of the italian classic was a bed of fat spaghetti noodles in a thick sauce, topped with soy chicken and covered in daiya cheese. they really piled on the cheddar and mozzarella daiya, and stuck it all in the oven so it melted up right nice.

for ten bucks, the portion was huge. it’s definitely enough to share and even then have some left over. it was really great tasting daiya in a pasta…all scrambled in with the soy meat and noodles, you seriously wouldn’t ever notice that this is ‘fake’ cheese.

vegan meat spaghetti. $9.99

we also tried out the vegan meat spaghetti, which was the same noodles as in the chicken parmigiana, but mixed up with soy ground meat and covered in cheese. again, the daiya was awesome; perfectly melty, stretchy and flavorful. this tasted just like an old school meaty cheesy pasta dish you get an italian restaurant…i’ve never tasted anything like it since becoming vegan.

cruzer also has other vegan pastas that i haven’t tried yet, including lasagna and eggplant parmigiana. my only advice is to call ahead if there is something specific you want, because when i was there they didn’t have the lasagna. oh well, i can’t wait to go back and try it.

vegan pasta menu at cruzer pizza

of course in addition to pasta, both cruzer locations are offering up good ‘ole daiya vegan pizza as well. i tried out the thin crust from the glendale restaurant with tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic and vegan sausage. definitely some of the best vegan pizza around.

large daiya cheese pizza with mushrooms, tomato, garlic and vegan sausage. $20.99

by now you all probably know how i feel about daiya, but just to remind you, this stuff is amazing on pizza. it melts, stretches, and feels just like real cheese. cruzer also mixes the cheddar and mozzarella together to give it more flavor, and it makes for an absolutely delicious pie.

just to be clear, cruzer is take-out pizza place, so while there are a few stools to eat at inside, it wouldn’t necessarily recommend it. do what i did, call for your pizza and pasta in advance, take it home and relax with a good movie and a bottle of wine, if that’s how you roll.

rumor is, cruzer is gonna keep adding more vegan stuff to the menu. i hope that’s true, because everything i have tried there has been excellent. go check it out if you haven’t already, now you have a cruzer in the valley AND los feliz to choose from.

cruzer pizza
1200 N Pacific Ave
Glendale, CA 91202
(818) 500-1289

and

cruzer pizza
4449 Prospect Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 666-0600

Gangadin, an Indian restaurant on Ventura Place that’s close to the intersection of Laurel Canyon and Ventura Blvd. would otherwise be an average Southern Californian interpretation of a Northern Indian curry house, but it smashes through a barrier of mediocrity by offering a special menu for vegans. I’m not talking about a typical vegan menu where meat is substituted for vegetables (kindly for the same price), but a REAL and seriously prepared vegan menu with a respectful kitchen and staff that are knowledgeable about what a vegan is and what we require as dietary predicates. All of this in an omnivorous environment with a cool vibe and convenient location.

As it happens, I’m weeks away from hosting some omnivores that hail from England: recognized as the home of Indian cuisine, so following a recent post on the Quarrums, we decided to do a dry run of Gangadin so we could check out the “vegan friendly” options on the menu.

Upon arrival, we were searching the menu for vegan items (the word “Vegan” doesn’t appear anywhere), and were planning to play the substitution game with long faces until we noticed the “ask about our vegan menu” subtitle on the front page. Upon reading that, I went to the rear of the restaurant to ask about vegan offerings (as our server was at best inattentive, at worst rude) and was handed “GANGADIN’S VEGAN MENU”, so I scuttled back to our table, and we began to order with aplomb.

First, we had the Tofu Pakoras. In some ways, they reminded me of the vegan fish and chips at Weird Fish, as they were slabs of firm tofu fried in batter and perfectly seasoned. It’s a fact that I’ve eaten Indian food in all 13 continents (including India), and this is by far the best appetizer I’ve ever had. In fact, it was so good I was tempted to order another serving as a main dish!

tofu pakoras: firm tofu dipped in spiced gram flour, fried. $6

Next, we mixed it up with Aloo Gobhi (potatoes, cauliflower and vegetables)…

aloo gobi: cauliflower and potaoes sauteed with tomatoes, ginger and spices. $10.50

Saag Tofu (spinach and tofu)…

saag tofu: spinach and tofu cooked in onions and tomatoes. $10.50

all washed down with a Vegetable Biryani (Rice, vegetables and spiced)…

vegetable biryani: basmati rice with mixed vegetables. $6.50

with a side order of Spinach Paratha – basically two paratha breads with steamed spinach stuffed inside and cooked in a hot Tandoor oven.

spinach parantha: parantha stuffed with rich leafy spinach, baked in the tandoor. $3.50

The quality of the food was superb — with or without it being vegan. The spices and textures worked very well together, and the seemingly endless supply of condiments and biryani rice gave a rather filling feeling to the evening leaving us most replete in our quest for curry.

I’ll proudly take my English friends to Gangadin, and while they enjoy their omnivorous whatevers I’ll sneak to the back and order from the vegan menu that (until now) was only available if asked for when visiting. Minor gripes like reheated potatoes and vegetables that were frozen before cooking (and, yeah, I can tell for sure) pale into insignificance with a menu like this. Gandadin might not be the best Indian restaurant in LA, but the fact it has a special vegan menu (even though it is mysteriously hidden) speaks volumes about what we vegans can expect these days in regular restaurants. here’s the vegan menu so you can see for yourself:

Do you know of the poet Rudyard Kipling? If so, you’ll certainly know the poem Gunga Din. It ends with “Tho’ I’ve belted you and flayed you, By the livin’ Gawd that made you, You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din!”. Kinda sums up Gangadin (sic) in many more ways than one.

Gangadin
12067 Ventura Pl
Studio City, CA 91604
(818) 509-0722

los angeles vegans know this very well: edible sushi usually consists of a stale avocado roll, some slices of cucumber, and if you are lucky, maybe some deep fried tempura vegetables. well that’s just not the case at tomo sushi. located in burbank, tomo sushi is your typical hole-in-the-wall sushi establishment with its cute bar, authentic menu, friendly staff, and canadian-brewed japanese bottled beer. except tomo sushi does one thing different: they offer an entirely vegan sushi selection in addition to the fish-filled standards. and i’m not talking just any old ‘boring’ vegan selection, tomo boasts over 20 entirely animal-free sushi rolls filled with vegetables, tofu, potatoes, and more vegetables that i can’t pronounce.

i hit up tomo sushi last night with my husband, and while ordering our carefully selected vegetarian rolls, we let our server know we were vegan. i think he took this info as a challenge, and insisted that he bring out some ‘chef specials’. we complied and ended up with a most amazing selection of vegan sushi. tomo pulled no stops when they presented us with the fresh garlic rolls, japanese mountain potato sushi, japanese mushrooms and chile tempura.

garlic rolls, japanese mountain potato, japanese mushroom and chile tempura.

every bite of the above was like a flavor explosion in the mouth. i don’t even think this stuff is on the menu, but it was the highlight of our meal. seriously, if you ever dine at tomo, please ask the chef to make you something vegan and special. i’m not sure how much it cost, but whatever the price tag was, it was well worth it.

cold tofu: served with ginger and green onions. $5.25

as an appetizer, we shared the cold tofu which was basically four large blocks of silken tofu topped with chilled sliced tomatoes. when it arrived at the table i thought it looked kinda boring, but when i tasted it i realized i’d forgotten how damn good simple tofu can be. this stuff was top notch, and dipped in copious amounts of wasabi and soy sauce, it tasted incredible.

kimchi roll. $7.50

we also split a kimchi roll, which was pickled cabbage all rolled up in nori and rice. i’ve never had kimchi sushi before…it was mushy, sour, and really flavorful. definitely worth a try. next we shared a caterpillar roll, which consisted of mushroom, squash, carrot, asparagus, and pickled greens rolled in rice topped with sliced avocado. the vegetables in this thing were absolutely amazing and the cool creamy avocado added to both the taste and presentation. i was a huge fan of the vegetarian caterpillar roll, tomo took a traditional sushi dish usually made with eel and created an absolutely delicious cruelty-free version. order this if you are in the mood for something decadent.

vegetarian caterpillar roll. $10.50

we also ordered the fried tofu roll—lightly fried tofu wrapped up with asparagus and scallions. this was the only one of our rolls with warm and cold ingredients, and it made for a pretty interesting taste sensation. the tofu was fried just perfectly, not too much, but enough to be crispy. i would definitely order this sucker again.

fried tofu roll. $7.50

once again proving that tomo loves vegans, at the end of our meal, our server brought us a complimentary plate of vegetables prepared by the chef. the dish consisted of cucumber slices topped with beet pate and thinly sliced shreds of japanese mountain potato. all of it was fatastic…seriously, never underestimate the deliciousness of simple ingredients when artfully prepared.

cucumber with beet pate and japanese mountain potato skins. FREE

other than shojin, the entirely vegan japanese restaurant in downtown, i’d say tomo is definitely the most vegan-friendly place to get sushi in los angeles. i know i will be back to try more of their creations such as the oshinko, mountain vegetable, & fotomaki rolls, and hopefully try some more specially-made vegan sushi from the chef. the staff is super friendly, the food is good, and the atmosphere is chill. a+!

as far as the decor goes, i guess tomo couldn’t decide what color to paint their walls, so they took $1 bills from customers hung up all over the restaurant. cuuuuuuute. most of the money has doodles or a message written on it in brightly-colored ink. i love it. i was gonna add to the wall, but i’m too damn cheap to give up a dollar.

in closing, my only gripe about tomo is, the bill can add up very quickly. the food pictured above plus two rounds of drinks ended up setting us back over 70 bucks. for stuff that leaves you feeling hungry a few hours later, that’s pretty damn pricey. oh well, i guess sushi in general is just really expensive, and this stuff was damn good so we didn’t mind paying. if you are on the hunt for some fish-free sushi that consists of more than chopped cucumber and avocado rolls, tomo is definitely your place.

tomo sushi
144 N San Fernando Blvd
Burbank, CA 91502
(818) 729-0808