After coveting the posts on quarrygirl for months, I finally took the Red Line down to the Sunday Farmer’s Market on Ivar and Selma to check it out and get some vegan soul food from A Taste of Life.

Missed out on the breakfast sammiches, took too much time gawking at vegetables, I guess.

Me and my omni boy shared a dinner plate:

Pot Roast, Kale, BBQ Tofu, Mac & Cheese, Cornbread

Criticism first:

I think that after reviewing the glowing posts about this place, that maybe they were having an off day. I got the Pot Roast begrudgingly, as they were out of Lasagna. My companion really liked the Pot Roast, but felt it could use some vegetables like potatoes and carrots to even out the flavor. I found it too beefy, but beefy flavor is to me as bell peppers are to quarrygirl – gross.

I was so looking forward to the kale. After looking at the beautiful kale in other’s pictures (like here), I’m convinced that I got a bad batch. Our kale was so soggy and overcooked – it was bitter and really, really awful. A sad day for kale, indeed.

The cornbread was really tough, even though it wasn’t super dry on the inside. However, it was still enjoyable because it was sweet and had a REALLY great flavor.

Awesomeness second:

The BBQ Tofu is really quite good. It’s hard to fuck up barbeque, really. My cohort would  have preferred the tofu in smaller chunks, but he’s a coward. I would have liked them more pillowy, but I’m awesome and always right. The BBQ sauce is super flavorful and smoky. Really good.

The mac and cheese is probably the best that I’ve had that I haven’t made myself, which probably makes it all the better. The sauce is slightly noochy, and I think there’s cashews in it – it’s very creamy and doesn’t get clumpy or oily at all. It made for a really good companion to the tofu, especially when the BBQ sauce would get into the mac & cheese. Yum!

All this for $12, and the two of us were stuffed. We also grabbed a giant strawberry lemonade from the lemonade booth for $3. $15 very well spent, despite the few flaws.

No comments

This is  a completely picture-free post, because I don’t think to shove my cameraphone into my food’s yap unless I’m in the sanctity of my own home. This is a bit of  a test for myself, to see if I can do a decent roll call of the various places that I’ve gotten to dine at in the last year.

Lotus Vegan – North Hollywood, CA

Vegan delivery, and just a few blocks from my home? Yes, please. Despite the Operation: Pancake debacle, this is my neighborhood haunt. Super friendly staff, great food, fast delivery. All they need now is online ordering! Order the Orange Chicken, the Chicken Burger, Chicken and Pancakes (uhh… maybe ask if they’ve changed their mix yet), the satay… you won’t regret it. [link]

Wahoo’s Fish Taco – Various Locations

Yeah, I’m not shitting you. Wahoo for Wahoo’s, as they are surprisingly vegan friendly. You can order dairy-free burritos, tacos, and other plates with the following vegan fillings: Tofu (vaguely teriyaki flavored), Banzai veggies (teriyaki), “vegetarian” (rice and black beans), blackened mushrooms. The guacamole is vegan and pretty decent. My favorite is to order the taco tofus, cheeseless, and a side of guac. Yum. Ask your server about cleaning the grill first, it’s not something that I ask about because it’s admittedly pretty low on my list of priorities (but I’m not assuming that you’re the same, so please ask!) [link]

California Vegan – Hollywood, CA

Just tried this place last weekend, and the food is great! The service is friendly, but a little forgetful – so keep an eye on your order, they’re more than happy to fix oopsies like forgetting whole dishes. My omni companion got a smoothie and the Banana Raisin pancake, I got the Sweet Chili Fish Lunch Special (I think my spring roll was forgotten, but I still received the dipping sauce, lawl), and we both shared a quesadilla and the Banana Coconut Spring Rolls with Ice Cream. Really, really good, and I love the open, old timey diner feel of the place. Some aren’t so into it, but I can dig it. [link]

Pure Luck – Los Angeles, CA

Pure. Luck. Is. So. Goddamned. Good.

Deliver all of your delicious food directly to my mouth, please.

I’m not even going to review this place, just fucking go there. And bring me back an order. [link]

Flore Cafe – Los Angeles, CA (Silverlake)

Took the opportunity to take advantage of the $10 All You Can Eat Brunch Buffet, what a great deal! The tofu scramble was yummy, the french toast was great. The bacon was a little burned, the sausage was flavorful, and the waffles were a little… tough. However! It was all you can eat! And boy, howdy, did we. Get your face in this if you get the chance. [link (via Yelp)]

zPizza – Various Locations

See this entry.  [link]

Astro Burger – Hollywood, CA

They’re pretty ok, and they’re probably much more awesome for vegetarians than vegans. However, their sweet potato fries are pretty awesome, they have lots of veg meals, and vegan stuff is clearly marked. I’ll have to probably visit again, after reading this post a few more times. Bring cash. [link]

Taix 321 Lounge – Los Angeles, CA (Silverlake)

There’s a lot of history in this restaurant, and one accidentally vegan meal on the menu. We dined in the lounge area – get there early to get a table and you can watch whatever acts come on to the stage. Our night found us with a man that did a bluegrass cover of a Motorhead song (and it wasn’t Ace of Spades). Pricey, and perhaps the Penne a la Monegasque wasn’t really worth the price, but it was a fun night anyway. Neat place to see bands, and you can get a hassle-free meal out of it. [link]

Follow Your Heart – Canoga Park, CA

I’ve only recently revisited FYH, after a lackluster first visit about a year ago. On the advice of everyone, everywhere, I tried the Reuben (extremely skeptically) with cottage style tofu. My very first Reuben, I never even tried it when I was omni. Much to my surprise, I was really impressed. Pro Tips: Order with cottage style tofu, extra Thousand Island, and the fries. Carrot chips aren’t exactly the pinnacle of awesome. Also, for those of you that are honey-averse, the buns contain honey, and so does the root beer – even though there’s Virgil’s in the refrigerator case. Can’t win ‘em all. [link]

Hy-Mart Deli – North Hollywood, CA

How cool is this place? It’s a tiny, Mom n’ Pop deli, with inviting owners that are knowledgeable about veganism, the food is awesome, the portions are huge, and the prices are low. So good. Bring cash! [link (via Yelp)]

Madeleine Bistro – Tarzana, CA

Fancypants dining! I came here with a fellow beignet lover for brunch and we nommed the fuck out of the amazing array here. We shared the beignets, and to be honest, I can’t even remember what else we had. The fresh squeezed juice drinks are great, too. Awesome place to take someone, especially if you want to get all romantical and shit.  [link]

Scoops -Los Angeles, CA

Finally! I got me some Scoops! Unfortunately, after dining at Pure Luck, the vegan Oreo cheesecake flavor that I wanted was all gone, but I got a scoop of Peanut Butter & Chocolate, and one scoop of Almond Hazelnut. Motherfuckingyummy. [link (via Yelp)]

Vinh Loi Tofu – Reseda, CA

I’ve only been here once, and it was over a year ago. My (super picky, think a spoiled 8 year old) omni companion wasn’t impressed with what he got, but I liked what I had. I definitely have to come back with better company, and I have a feeling that I’m going to start buying all of my tofu from them, as they manufacture their own tofu – I hear it’s amazing. [link]

Vegan Factory – Tarzana, CA

Another vegan Thai place in the SFV. Their satay is out of this world; I definitely have to revisit this place some time. [link]

Garden Wok – Tarzana, CA

A mostly vegan (just look out for some of the meats) Buddhist fakey meat Chinese place in the middle of the SFV. Extremely nice servers, a quiet and relaxing atmosphere. I hooked an (extremely obnoxious and picky) omni on their orange chicken and now he’s a regular. Sorry guys, I hope he behaves himself. They’re pretty good, nothing extremely amazing or poor – but one of its biggest strengths is that it’s also a great place to go when you have a big party, unlike a lot of vegan places, which simply don’t have the room or the family-style tables. [link (via Yelp)]

Veggie Era – Upland, CA

Straight up, really great fakey meat Chinese/Thai, and the best one that I know of that’s run by a (fun, goofy) cult (take that, Scientology. I bet LRH couldn’t fry up seitan to save his body thetan clusters.) And it’s the only place like it in the area, so it deserves all of the love that you can throw at it. I have a special place in my heart for the “My Sweet and Spicy Lady” – mock chicken flash fried in sweet chili sauce.  [link]

Chico’s – Riverside, CA

Chico’s used to be the best! Dual kitchens for omnis and vegans, GREAT food, neat ambiance. After the restaurant switched owners, shit definitely got real. The menu, service and food suffered, big-time. The last time I passed by there, the building was closed. Oh well, we’ll always have memories of your amazing vegan quesadilla with crema and guacamole. [link (via Yelp)]

Honorable Mention:

Orean’s Health Express – Pasadena, CA

Fuck Orean’s. They’ll (maybe, as their food is pretty fucking bland) get my money if they can bother to stop lying to customers about their dairy use. It’s too bad, man. I really wanted some of that chai milkshake action. (Spoilers: They’ve been dishonest assholes for years about it.) [link]

No comments

mc chris – Pizza Butt

I was so excited by my discovery of zpizza‘s use of Daiya cheese, AND my discovery of a location that has it that is close to both my work and home, AND that they offer delivery and online ordering. (So what if I’m a hermit?)

What’s a girl to do? ORDER A MOTHERFUCKING TUSCAN.

I placed the order online, even though they only offer the regular and the soy cheeses in the choices, I knew that this store carried it and asked in the notes to either pretty please use the vegan cheese or none at all. The owner of the store actually called me to let me know that they did just get the vegan cheese in and he wanted me to give him a call when I’ve tried it so I could let him know how it was.

The delivery guy was extra sweet, and they even delivered paper plates, plastic utensils and napkins. Wait, this is a chain? Fuck me sideways.

The pizza itself? AMAZING.

The crust wasn’t too thick or thin, on that was a layer of yummy garlic sauce, then the Daiya, sweet caramelized onions, and three kinds of mushrooms, and then some truffle oil and thyme. My first taste of Daiya was nothing short of awesome. I was on the phone with the owner after the first slice, telling him how great it is. He was glad to hear so, and explained that since he’s not a vegan he doesn’t know what qualifies as “good” vegan cheese, and what casein is, etc. I gave him the quick and dirty version: “Oh, that’s just a milk protein, it makes that soy cheese melty and stringy. That’s kind of why great vegan cheese was so hard to find – you’ve got a winner with what you’ve got now.”

I practiced great restraint by stopping at 3 slices. Ok, so I had one more after coming back from a show. Whatever. Can’t type now, eating leftover heaven.

Update: Lawl, they found me. http://twitter.com/zpizza_SoCal/status/3912735269

1 comment

I don’t know what happened to my mozzarella cheese (recipe from The Uncheese Cookbook); it turned out to be more of a spread than a block cheese. I don’t even know if it will be grateable if I freeze it a little. The taste is a little sharp but we have yet to try it on anything.

Last night I made almond Vice Cream; I probably should have blended the mixture for a minute longer in the blender because it’s full of little cashew chunks. Also, I used raw cashews instead of roasted ones but I don’t know if that would make a difference. The taste is good and it’s creamy (around the little cashew chunks) but Jake says that the cashew flavor is really overwhelming. Maybe not using raw cashews would fix this, or maybe soaking the cashews first – I really know nothing about raw cooking. I was tempted to use Disaronno instead of almond flavoring (and I used extract anyway.) Maybe next time.

Thursday was our designated Valentine’s Day, and our usual Night Out ™, but it was just an excuse on my part to trek out to Native Foods. We had the Tempeh Chips (think battered and fried) and shared a BBQ Chicken Pizza and a Gandhi bowl. The Tempeh Chips were excellent, as most fried food tends to be to someone who never eats it. The pizza was pretty good, but we could have done without the TVP “chicken” pieces and the Gandhi bowl, essentially a rice/veggie/tempeh curry bowl was a little bland but made a hearty second dinner for me on Friday night (along with a spare slice of the pizza.) We also went home with cheesecake for both of us; the house variety for Jake and a slice of the raw cherry for me. Jake liked the creamy texture of his but didn’t like the crust very much, and I liked mine because it had a very unique and not overpoweringly sweet taste, but for $8 I won’t be buying more unless it’s a very special occasion (the house cheesecake is half that price.)

No comments

Last night, Jake and I made the trek to Upland for some A+ Pan-Asian vegan grub. Come along and watch our stomachs explode.

Read more

No comments