Alright, I've got enough flack from vegans. I'm either going to be proven wrong, or prove all of them wrong, with one epic Vegan Food Marathon. I've already been told that one supposedly "good" place for vegan food is actually pretty bad while I've had two recommendations to try Shojin.
So, I welcome all readers and people to tell me WHERE I can find good vegan food in this city. I will go on this marathon for all you omnivore and carnivores and either pronounce at the end that YES, good vegan food is possible, or NO, vegan food has no basis in good food.
I will say, I love vegetables, I love tofu and I don't mind not eating meat. I grew up eating tons of Korean food, much of which could be considered vegan if eaten carefully. So I don't have a preconceived aversion to something that's (arbitrary) vegan.
Please submit your requests in the comments and I will piece together a marathon. Also any bloggers that would like to join me on my quest are more than welcome.
Lastly, we WILL be ending the night at Animal. Pork belly will find no greater welcome mat.
23 comments:
Your best bet is probably an Ethiopian place on Fairfax. I think Rahel is vegan.
lets do it!!! my mind and stomach are open to it :)
Just tell me when and where... I'll follow you with a nice steak, so you can have a bite of meat inbetween restaurants
Vegan food?? Hmmmmm....I don't know about this. I like the sound of Animal to close out the marathon though.
lol animal was my idea. its my faaaaavorite restaurant :) danny, just be open to try it. be positive! im sure we will be pleasantly surprised. however in the end i think we'll agree that we cannot live on vegan food alone ("we" being u, me, matthew at the very least)
Aaron: I'll definitely consider Rahel. I've heard good things.
Choisauce: looks like you're the only volunteer so far :) it's okay, if it's just us two, let's go! :)
No (napkin): get out of your veil napkin! and don't tempt me w/ steak.
danny: you can just us for the Animal part
Aaron,
Good call. Rahel is one of the two best Ethiopian restaurants in the city, and the only vegan Ethiopian anywhere. I'd highly recommend the crisp-sheathed lentil and onions samosas and the spicy pumpkin stew.
It's not purely vegan, but you can also find some excellent vegan dishes at Rajdhani in Artesia:
http://www.foodgps.com/rajdhani-–-artesia-ca-–-saturday-january-27-2007
Choisauce,
Hilarious idea to finish with Animal.
I'm not stranger to vegan dining and would love to join (time allowing).
For me, I like the Shojin, Flore Cafe, Real Food Daily and Bulan; would also avoid Mani's like the plague for their mediocre food (by any standard) and astronomical prices.
I'd be interesting in tagging along (also time allowing)! I've heard great things about Pure Luck across the street from Scoops on Heliotrope.
P.S. Scoops has vegan flavors...
Diana: I've been enjoying Scoops' vegan flavors for years! I actually really like them. But Pure Luck is one vegan restaurant I've frequented many times because of its close proximity to Scoops. I've been disappointed countless times. They don't even know how to make a decent set of sweet potato fries. Plus how good could those sweet potato fries be without honey?
How disappointing! Teach me to trust those silly yelpers! ;)
Vegan Glory on Beverly is also rumored to be good. (But again, those rumors may or may not be from the mouths of yelpers...)
Irony of ironies. A vegan blogger posted in my previous entry that Vegan Glory is also quite poor, though I heard it was good too. I'm still waiting to hear of good vegan places, but Shojin seems to have gotten the most recommendations.
This may be too far a drive for you, but I really like One World Vegetarian Cuisine:
http://www.oneworldveggie.com/
and I also really like Bean Sprouts in Arcadia:
http://pleasurepalate.blogspot.com/2008/04/taiwanese-vegetarian-cuisine-at-bean.html
Both restaurants could serve their dishes as vegan.
I love Native Foods In Westood; they are the ONLY vegan place I would go to if I wasn't with one of my vegan friends (and therefore have to). Their food is tasty and reflects a world view.
Sorry I had a typo in my previous comment, Native Foods is in Westwood. http://www.nativefoods.com and it's the only place I would take a meat eater who wants to try vegan food or anyone who likes world fusion type food.
My favorite is Real Food Daily. Lunch time at RFD La Cienega is often patronized by celebrities. My son (vegetarian) favors Native Foods in Westwood.
Akasha in Culver City is not technically a vegan restaurant but you can get vegan food there.
I'll just see you guys at Animal though O:)
abby: I'll look into both of those spots as possible places to visit. Thanks!
Elaine: I've noted Native foods. Thanks for the rec.
Diana: Real Food Daily - I used to pass by there on my commute to Beverly Hills. I'll try to check that out.
Fiona: Akasha is a pretty decent place, I'll look into their vegan dishes.
I think I'll need to attend. Is a date set?
Neil: i'll probably go on a free saturday in June.either the 13th or the 20th. I'll loop you into the emails once I get back from my trip to Japan, which will be next Wednesday.
Oh I, too, can attest to bean sprouts being tasty - but that's pretty hard to incorporate given it's out there (oh wait, HERE) in Arcadia ;)
And yea, it's probably easier to open the options up beyond vegan-only restaurants and incorporate ethnic cuisines that have lots of vegan friendly options (Thai / Indian / even Chinese)
13th or 20th should work for me . . .
is this happening? I really want to do it.
I haven't neglected this - I'll shoot for the vegan marathon sometime in mid July at this point, since i'm pretty busy until the end of June.
Post a Comment