Vegan Jamaican Caribbean Food
I had the most amazing meal today, and I feel as if I’m onto some sort of well-hidden vegan secret, because I’d never heard of this place before stumbling upon their website by mistake. Friedel Caribbean Cuisine serves “Jamaican and Asian infused Caribbean”. It’s not strictly a vegetarian restaurant, however they do have a whole section devoted to truly unique vegan entrees that you simply won’t find anywhere else, for example: Ital Stew, Vegan Jerk Chicken, Brown Stew Tofu, Jerk Tofu, Vegan Tangerine Chicken, Vegan Ichiban Stir Fry, Jah Makin Me Krazy Crab(!) and more.
After taking my order, the nice waiter (who I later learned is the nephew of the owner) brought out a free sampling of one of the appetizers, the ‘Festival Bread’. This was basically sweetened, fried dough and was delicious, as most fried doughy things tend to be. I wasn’t planning on ordering these fattening little treats, but given that he was so nice, and that they were so tasty (and free), you certainly didn’t see me putting up much of a fight as I gladly gobbled them up. This was washed down with freshly squeezed spicy ginger & carrot juice (which was not only refreshing but also allowed me to pretend that I was eating something healthy).
Now for the piece de resistance. This was the ‘Vegan Mango Lion Beef’, delicious little crispy-yet-chewy soy mock-beef nuggets in a delicious Jamaican mango sauce with chunks of fresh mango, carrots and red peppers. This was served with rice & beans, warm cabbage salad and incredible sweet plantains. Yeah, it was all that and more.
The flirtatious cook, being the only other person in the place besides myself and the waiter, chatted with me while I ate. Despite the fact that I repeatedly declined to give him my phone number or accept his, he was still nice enough to fill up a take-home box for me consisting not only of my substantial leftovers, but with what appears to be at least another two or three full servings of food. Who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch? Friedel’s gets an “A+” from me despite the big blue “B” health code grade posted in their window. Hey, if you wanna stalk the wild vegan beef, you have to be willing to take a few risks now and again.
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what are the reasons a restaurant usually gets a B? this looks delicious, so I cannot imagine what an A restaurant’s stuff would look like!
Comment by Celine — April 20, 2007 @ 12:51 am
I found that you can look up a restaurant here to find out how and why they were given a particular grade. This site explains the whole system in detail; in short, the score is based on a scale of 100. A “B” is a rating of between 80-89: “Generally good in food handling practices and overall food facility maintenance”.
Comment by FoodEater — April 20, 2007 @ 3:08 am
That looks really tasty! I think I’d go there as well, if given that type of an option. :D
Comment by Cherie — April 20, 2007 @ 6:09 am
OH!! This looks SO good.. Excpesially those soy mock-beef nuggets with sauce…
Comment by Seitan Wörshipper — April 22, 2007 @ 1:08 am
I live pretty near LA so I am definitely going to have to try this place! It looks amazing!!! Great post.
Comment by textual bulldog — April 22, 2007 @ 1:31 pm
Thanks ‘Textual Bulldog’! Yes, do check these guys out, I’m sure you’ll the food. Very unique.
Comment by FoodEater — April 22, 2007 @ 1:57 pm
Beautiful picture. The food looks so good and I love the plate presentation. I’ve never had a savory mango dish before. I’m gonna have to try one these days ; )
Comment by Kimberly — February 27, 2008 @ 10:05 am
Kimberly: Thanks for stopping by! The mango flavor was perfect. Think of it as something similar to the way Chinese food makes use of oranges in dishes like orange flavored beef. See? Yum!
Comment by FoodEater — February 27, 2008 @ 8:28 pm