LA Review: The Vegan Joint

Unfortunately, I don't have any photos for this review, but I thought that I might as well do a quick write-up about it.

I met up at the Vegan Joint with some friends in the morning, so I decided that getting a vegan breakfast was the thing for me. After looking at their large menu for quite some time, I settled on the Tofu scrambled-egz and pancakes: pancakes, tofu scramble egz topped with soy bacon bits & cheese. It was ok... not the most amazing vegan dish I had eaten in LA.
My friend's kids were picky eaters, and ordered simple dishes like the quesadilla, and plain pancakes. And since again, they were picky, I ended up eating what they both ordered (that's the way I roll ;D So kind of me to offer right? ). The quesadilla was extremely plain, and the cheeze was just barely melted. The pancakes weren't anything overly awesome, but added to my breakfast.
However, although the food was mediocre, I also ordered the Thai Iced Tea.. and that was AWESOME. I could of had a few more of those.

All and all, nothing to rave about. I wish I had ordered something more intense though. The rest of their menu looks pretty good.. and I could go for a wonton soup.
It also delivers! I don't find that many purely vegan restaurants do that.

www.theveganjoint.com

LA: Truly Vegan

Wow! So I was out and about, and searched "vegan" on google maps to see what was pretty close. Low and behold, Truly Vegan comes up. From the outside it's small, and has a very plain sign, BUT what a menu! It's a great little place, with amazingly reasonable prices, and their plates are HUGE! My friend ordered a great flat pan-fried noodle dish, and I ordered a scrumptious mushroom burger (which I couldn't believe was only 6 dollars). To share, we ordered the fried tofu, large brown rice plate (only $2...), veggie dumplings (which were AMAZING. Especially the sauce, which made them sweet. Doughy and delicious, HIGHLY recommend them), and we also got the spring rolls. For dessert, we got the fried banana, which was a lot different from what I was expecting. It was banana and shredded coconut in what looked like a spring roll, served with Maple Syrup. Great way to end the meal.

(Random: Also, I cooked a great stir-fry with tofu, perfectly ripe red pepper, chopped mini-carrots, and mushrooms, w/ balsamic vinegar and Vanilla Fig dipping oil, served over corn gluten-free pasta.
Dessert? Yes please! More EatPastry.com Cookie dough. This time it was gluten-free vegan chocolate chip. Yum....)

LA: Flore Deli/Restaurant + KindKreme

Another amazing day in the vegan restaurant hub of Los Angeles. After a busy morning we stopped into Flore Deli and Restaurant for a bite to eat. What a menu. I was with my non-vegan but very much loving the vegan food friend, so I let her pick what we'd share. Got the delish BBQ Bacon Slider for an appetizer, and split the grilled veggie pizza for the main course. The pizza takes a bit of time to make, so I'm glad we picked an appi to eat while we were waiting. I also ordered a side of the scrumptious tofu "egg" salad. I love ordering dishes I've missed since turning vegan, and liking them MORE this way. And this was certainly the case! They also have an incredible dessert menu. My friend got the lemon poppy cupcake, and I made the extremely wise decision to order the lemon berry cake (with strawberry buttercream icing) and holy cow. My friend and I agreed that that was the greatest piece of cake we had EVER had. The restaurant was packed, considering it's pretty small, and I'm certainly glad we went.









Later on we wanted to go get something cold, so we got recommended a vegan ice-cream place called "KindKreme". All organic, raw, and vegan (except the ones labeled "honey"). I couldn't believe the choices. I ended up (after forever deliberating) getting the banana chocolate, and the "vanilla softserve" which was almond and coconut milk with fine ground cashews. I HIGHLY recommend this place. It definitely rivaled the ice cream at Lula's.

Oh, Los Angeles!

I love this city.. most specifically for the gorgeous weather, and the AMAZING plethora of vegan options. Today, my friend and I hit up the Veggie Grill (http://veggiegrill.com), as it was recommended to me by a NON- Vegan! And boy did it live up to the hype. The "Chicken" burger was too good to be true, and I died over their cheezy creamy mac and cheese. So impressed. And if we thought the day couldn't get any better, we came home and ate more of EatPastry's delicious all vegan cookie-dough (http://eatpasty.com). Both glorious raw, and baked, we just can't get enough! Tried the oatmeal chocolate raisin flavor last night, and went to Whole Foods today to pick up the Cinnamon Ginger Spice. That's definitely miss it when I get back home to Vancouver.

LA: Vegan Glory

So I walked my way up to Vegan Glory today, which I was highly anticipating, as their online menu was massive. And it of course was in person as well! So many incredible choices, it was hard to choose what to order. But the lunch combination won, as it included soup, salad, brown rice, and I ordered the Pad Thai plate, which was delish, with tofu. Free refills on the chilled green tea hit the spot on the hot California day! For dessert (even when I'm full, I have to get dessert. I can't help myself!) I got the sweet Roti w/ Banana, with choice of blueberry filling. MMmmm...

LA: Bawarchi Indian Restaurant

Went to an amazing Indian restaurant with a couple friends who recommended it, called Barwarchi, in Culver City. Amazing, and so vegan-friendly!! Avocado Cheesecake was a perfect must, and I loved the veggie samosas so much, I even got 2 orders. I recommend the jack-fruit dish. It tastes like and has the texture of chicken, yet it's a fruit!