To Live and Eat in L.A. - A Vegan Food Photo Blog

Well ok, I’m really stretching the meaning of the word “featuring”, but they did use one of my photos (by permission of course) to illustrate a very tasty sounding recipe by Robin Robertson for vegan Vietnamese Pho soup (she of the infamous couscous cake contest). You can see the recipe along with my photo here: Vietnamese Faux Pho.

Now the odd thing is that while the recipe is for Pho soup, the picture of mine used is not of Pho but of a tofu appetizer that came served with Pho. You can see my original article where this photo was used on my post about vegan Pho soup at Blossom restaurant. I explained to them when they asked for it that the picture they were requesting is not of Pho but of tofu, but for some reason they wanted that particular picture instead of my pictures of actual Pho. Odd, but I ain’t gonna argue!

They did credit To Live and Eat in L.A. for the photo but sadly it is not actually linked back to my blog. Their new website looks nice but I’m finding that it’s a bit wonky in some sections… seems like it might have been released before they thoroughly tested it on all browsers, but overall they did a nice job and it’s a big improvement over their old site. I’m hoping that in the future they’ll have a better system for crediting solicited contributors who offer their work for free, and also that they’ll turn the links on in their comments section… I tried being sly and posting my link in the comments but they’ve got hyperlinks turned off. Hey VegNews, why not spread the link love around a bit?

Anyhow, my minor grumblings aside, it’s nice to see all the great articles and info on their new site… there’s a lot more content than there was before, so check it out when you get a chance, and don’t let me discourage you from bombarding them with comments about what a freaking amazing picture of tofu that is! One of these days someone’s actually going to pay me (or at least link to me?) for my talents… just you wait and see.
www.vegnews.com.

Just a quick Sunday post because it’s such a lovely day. I woke up too late to visit the Hollywood Farmers Market with as much time to linger as I would have liked, so I went to the closer Studio City Farmers Market instead.

The Studio City market does not have the awesome vegan soul food from Taste of Life like the larger Hollywood market, but it does have the delicious Corn Maiden tamales. This was my breakfast:

Corn is my crack. I love it any which way: sweet, savory, hot, spicy, baked, fried, whole, ground… you name it. I am not by any means a tamale connoisseur, my only qualification of expertise is my desire to eat them. Corn Maiden makes all kinds of delicious tamales and there’s always a few different vegetarian and vegan options, all rather tasty. Today I had one made with vegetables, potatoes and balsamic vinegar and the another made with sweet white corn. They came with a spicy tomato salsa and a mild tomatillo salsa. I had the savory tamale with a bit of each salsa and enjoyed the sweet one plain. A perfect combo.

Here’s a look at my market haul:

The packaged stuff is from Dave’s Gourmet Korean Food which is only available at local farmers markets (I haven’t seen them at the Hollywood market yet). Everything they sell is vegan, made by a master Korean herbalist who combines ingredients for maximum nutritional goodness. Next time you see their stand at a farmers market you should go check it out, they’ll usually let you generously sample everything.

The top container is Dave’s special tempeh, made from soy and brown rice by some fancy process of chef wizardry involving first pulverizing it, then grilling it and cutting it into strips. It’s got a very unique texture and mild flavor, I like to eat it with Dave’s kim-chi (not seen here because I’ve still got a jar in the fridge from my last visit).

The next container holds marvelously marinated lotus roots; pretty to look at, tasty to eat, and also said to be an aphrodisiac. I also got the mixed vegetable BiBimBop. I haven’t tried it yet but it’s calling my name from the other room. From what I can identify there’s pickled cucumbers, burdock root, bean sprouts and carrots, along with a couple of white rooty looking veggies I’m not sure about, all on top of cabbage.

I also picked up some little persimmons, red peppers, an Asian pear, asparagus, ginger and the most adorable little purple eggplants on the planet. Off to the side are a pair of delicata squash. Looks like I’m set for while :)

Recently one of my intrepid informants, let’s call her Agent Kate, uncovered a hitherto unknown development on the Valley eating front. Valiantly she told of her discovery: a new Indian food restaurant in Woodland Hills featuring both a vegetarian and a full vegan menu (along with a regular menu of animal parts for the Neanderthals among you). Good work Agent! I’ll take it from here…

Copper Chimney Indian food restaurant was recently opened by Chef Dewan Bisht of New Delhi. He has trained and worked at many fancy-schmancy places all over the world and after my first meal there I can solidly say that the southland is lucky to have him right here in our very own backyard. Offering a full menu of tantalizing tandooris and tikkas and curries and vindaloos and you name it… what will you find half way down the menu but the beautiful sight of a separate section labeled Vegan and another named Vegetarian. It also mentions that most of the vegetarian dishes can be made vegan. The vegan section boasts gloriously of exotic dishes like Samber Soup, Kurkuri Bhindi (okra), various Dals (lentils dishes), Mushroom Muttar, Jeera Aloo (potatoes with fenugreek) Tofu Masala, Chana Masala, Began Bharta (eggplant), Aloo Gobi (potato) and much more.

We started our meal with samosas, from which you have a choice of peas & potatoes, corn or green peas. I had the peas & potatoes accompanied by the enticing combined melodies of the chutney trio being displayed for you by one of my lovely assitants up at the top. Sweet, spicy, minty, refreshing… all three delicious, as were the samosas themselves. It was obvious they were freshly prepared, not something that had come out of a freezer or package.

For my main course I went with the Tofu Masala: Tofu sautéed with tomatoes, onions, spices & garnished with cilantro. The masala sauce itself was a revelation, thick with tomatoes and amazing Indian masala spices… tangy and slightly smokey/sweet/sexy… the tofu had been perfectly cooked to a chewy yet still soft consistency which made it an excellent vehicle for the sauce. Even with all the onions (demon vegetable spawn) I loved this dish and would highly recommended it.

This was the Vegetable Biryani: rice cooked with assorted vegetables. Eating it was as enjoyable as looking at it! It seemed like all the dishes served throughout the restaurant were coming out of the kitchen with similar artful and whimsical presentations. It was fun to hear and watch everyone “ooh” and “ah” as the various tables were served.

Everything I ate here was fantastic and my aforementioned Neanderthal eating companions (who, like the cavemen in those insurance commercials, are also ironically hard to please considering the crap they are willing to put in their mouths) enjoyed their meals every bit as much as I did. It’s nice to know there’s not only another Indian restaurant around that understands what vegan means (so that you can order off the menu without fear of hidden ghee or other undesirables in your meal) but where the food is also genuinely delicious.
www.copperchimney-woodlandhills.com

We speculated, we pondred, we assumed, we questioned, we fretted, we hoped… is the Vegan Spot closing or what? Our cries for information have been responded to in the comments section of my Vegan Twinkies post by one of the owners of the Vegan Spot. Here’s what she tells us:

hey guys,

i just wanted to clear something up about the vegan spot. i am co-owner of the place, and after months of hard work trying to get it up and going, i have decided to leave to pursue other opportunities. the vegan spot was my first restaurant, and definately a learning experience as well as a labor of love for me. ultimately, i just felt overwhelmed with working so much there, and that i was letting other important opportunities pass me by. my partner was much too busy with her other endeavors to buy me out and take over, so we decided to sell the place. we are selling the restaurant as a whole, recipes and full training included. that way, it can continue to be the vegan spot and to bring you those reubens and twinkies that you seem to love so much. :) i also want to thank all of you for your wonderful reviews and support. that is the sole reason i went into the restaurant business…to feed people good vegan food, and watch them smile. feeding people spreads happiness.

p.s. hopefully, you’ll all love my next place just as much, (maybe more??)
i’ll reveal more details of my future pursuits as they unfold. ;) until then, rest assure that the vegan spot isn’t going away anytime soon….

Comment by s. rad

So there you have it, straight from the source. We’re left to wonder just how easy or difficult it will be a for a new owner to come in and maintain the same level of awesomeness, but we’re certainly fans and rooting for the best… both for The Vegan Spot and for whatever either of these groovy vegan ladies do next. Thanks for stopping by to fill us in s.rad, I have just one request… please keep feeding us!

At this point it’s no exaggeration to say that there’s a new vegan or vegetarian restaurant opening in Los Angeles every five minutes. The vegan Thai places seem to multiply like bunnies almost overnight, while the more specialized and unique vegetarian focused restaurants are in no sort supply either. It really is a good time to be a vegetarian in L.A. and everyone who lives here should count themselves lucky in regard to the sheer number of awesome food choices that abound. And now I’m happy to report there’s yet another new restaurant to add to the list… and guess what? It’s not Thai food!

Doomie’s Home Cookin’ just opened up this last weekend in the heart of Chinatown. That in and of itself is super awesome because there’s very little that’s edible for a vegetarian in Chinatown. The area is brimming with all manner of animal horrors everywhere you look, from chickens, ducks and whole baby pigs roasting on skewers in restaurant windows, to the shops along Spring St. that will sell you live sea creatures or poultry… you know, for those who prefer to slaughter their own (how quaint). Doomie’s is like a breath of fresh air in a sea of stench, and I mean that literally. Have you walked past any of those deathpits lately? The foul odors are unbearable. To counter this, Doomie’s shines like a 2nd story beacon, a helping hand from the upper balcony, happy to help you rise above the dubious carcass parties swirling on the streets down below.

Described as offering “meat free versions of classic American diner fare”, that’s exactly what you’ll find at Doomie’s… comfort food for your vegan soul. We’re talking appetizers like: Chili Cheese Fries, Fried Calamari, Buffalo Legs, Chicken Fingers & Shrimp Cocktail. Soups like: French Onion & Clam Chowder. And then there’s the main courses: a Classic Burger, a Chili Cheeseburger, Sloppy Joes, Philly Cheesesteak, Chicken Salad, Meatball sandwich, BLT, BBQ Pulled Pork, Chili Cheese Dog, Southern Fried Chicken, Pot Roast, Meatloaf, Chicken Parmesan, Country Fried Steak, Shrimp Scampi, Spaghetti & Meatballs, Lemon Chicken Picatta, Seafood Combo… and that’s not even all of it.

Don’t let the names scare you off, everything here is vegan! They do also offer real cheese for the non-vegans, so be sure to specify (but all the meaty bits are vegan, that is not a leg from a real buffalo!). Seeing as how I adore the jackfruit “pulled pork” sandwich at Pure Luck, I figured I needed to try the version at Doomie’s to see how it stands up.

First things first, the sandwich comes served with Doomie’s vegan macaroni & cheese. You know what? This was the best veganized mac & cheese I’ve had anywhere. The previous holder of that title was Taste of Life’s mac & cheese which is just divine. Well, if theirs is divine, than Doomie’s is for sure heaven sent… this stuff is the bomb! The best way I can describe it to you is to say that it tastes exactly as if it had come right out of a blue Kraft mac & cheese box. If you gave this to your average normal macaroni and cheese eater, they would seriously have no clue that you’d pulled a vegan switcharoo on them (no, I don’t advocate tricking people, but this would surely do the trick). This is seriously as authentic as it gets. I’ve had a number of different encounters with various vegan mac & cheese offerings in my day, and while even the best have been incredible good, Doomie’s wins by a landslide.

Now let’s get back to the sandwich… BBQ Pulled Pork, southern style. I’m no Southern gal so I can’t tell you if that claim holds water, but what I can tell you is that this sucker was finger lickin’ good… for reals, it was all over my fingers. I believe the faux-pork is seitan based and it’s all slathered up in a most delicious, sweet & smoky BBQ sauce. It was absolutely delicious, with the filling having an incredibly realistic meaty taste and texture… I kept thinking how I could feed this to any meat lover and unless told, they wouldn’t even guess it wasn’t real flesh they were eating. For those how can’t deal with fake stuff that tastes too much like the real thing, stay away from this beast because it will probably make you cry. On the other hand, those like myself who relish the taste and skills involved with recreating veganized versions of their meaty counterparts… you have met your new favorite sandwich. The entrees come with cole slaw and a side of fries, onion rings or fruit. Don’t you like how I pretended to go the more healthy and less fattening route by choosing fruit? Who do I think I’m kidding?

You know you wanna get all up in it.

I had the opportunity to chat with the man himself, Mr. Doomie, who is an extremely cool guy (only extremely cool guys are allowed to wear Cocteau Twins t-shirts). His passion for good food is obvious and he’s wants to provide the vegan community with delicious food that does not compromise. He’s really intent on creating food that tastes as close as possible to the real comfort foods we all know and loved. His goal is to have it look and taste as real as possible and not like a wimpy, nutty granola vegan knockoff. He’s even devised a way to get fatty “skin” on his fried chicken, something I can’t freakin’ wait to try on my next visit. Hello? Did you hear that… vegan fried chicken… with skin, yo! Sure it sounds gross when you think about real chickens, but for me knowing it’s not a real animal does away with the gross factor completely and all I can think about is sinking my teeth in, and again, lickin’ some greasy fingers.

They’ll be adding more desserts in the future but for now another treat offered at Doomie’s is vegan J-ello, ehm, gell-o. Yup, now you can relive your childhood with blue and red j-ello, without having to ingest horse and cow bones in the process. How delightful! If only all childhoods could be bone marrow & cartilage-food free.

The g-ello was tasty with a tartly sweet punch of flavor. The texture is slightly thicker than real j-ello, a giveaway that it’s made with agar-agar. They did a good job though, it’s pretty easy to mess up with agar-agar and turn the whole thing into chewy rubber, but that was not the case here, the j-ello was quite a treat. I’m very much looking forward to seeing what other dessert offerings are yet to come.

Location wise, Doomie’s couldn’t be better situated. It’s on the second floor at 686 N. Spring St, inside of Roberto’s nightclub (that’s just down Ord St., the same little side street that Phillipe’s French Dip is on). They’ve got a giant space with an even bigger outdoor patio which provides stunning views of of Chinatown, downtown and beyond. What I love about this location is that it’s within a very short walking distance from not one, but two Metro stops. You can either get off at the Union Station Red Line stop or the Chinatown Gold Line stop, it’s pretty much the same distance from both (less than a ten minute walk). The one downside for them is that unless you know it’s up there, you really wouldn’t know it’s up there. That said, hopefully the word will spread quickly to help get and keep this place busy all the time… hey, I’m doing my part! Even though they just opened and are working out some of the kinks, I feel the potential here will be unlimited if they play it right.

To that end, I’ll admit I was a little bit confused when I first got there. I went on Sunday afternoon which is apparently the one day a week that the East Los Angeles Bikers Club (ELA) use the patio for a meeting. I didn’t know if I’d entered a restaurant or a sports bar. They were kinda loud and verging on rowdy… but unless you’re one of those people who’s afraid of everything and everyone, they weren’t intimidating… just boisterously friendly. At one point they all shuffled into a nearby room and disappeared for a while, apparently for their official meeting and then they all filtered out. They only gather out there on Sundays I was told, so if you just can’t hang with dark & handsome tattooed Latino biker boys surrounding you while you eat (hey, I ain’t complaining!), go on any other day (closed Mondays), otherwise just know that Sundays there will be a bit of an adventure.

The other exciting and unexpected part of my adventure is that I was recognized and outed from the blogger closet by the masterminds over at the Quarrygirl blog. That’s right, great minds think alike and apparently end up at the same great restaurants at the same time too… I got to have a face-to-face luncheon with Miss Anthrope and Mr. Meaner in the flesh! They both really enjoyed their visit as well, so for even more drool worthy pictures and further insight into the radness of Doomie’s, check out what they had to say about the vegan Philly Cheesesteak, onions rings, and more.

In case you haven’t figured it out by now I’m super excited about this place and I’m looking forward to seeing how it develops. If everything else on the menu is as good as what I had on my first visit, my diet is in for a world of hurt.
www.myspace.com/doomieshomecookin

p.s.- they also have free WiFi.

After I wrote yesterday about The Vegan Spot listed for sale on Craigs List, reports have started to arrive from my network of agents on location.

Agent QuarryGirl gleaned the following: “they say they are not closing, but trying to sell to someone that will preserve the biz.”

Agent Nemesis reports from the scene: “they said they were just re-organizing the restaurant because one owner was leaving. they were going to have healthier food and getting rid of a lot of menu items.”

Good work team! But still, I had to know more. And for crying out loud, I had to have one of those vegan Twinkies!

I arrived at The Vegan Spot happy to see that they were not only still open, but also ready and able to feed me. Not only that, but I could see right there in front of me in the cold case two trays full of the much coveted Twinkies, one tray of the regular and one all chocolate.

But let’s back it up a sec. I asked the fellow helping me at the counter what the deal is with this place being for sale on Craigs List. He seemed surprised and didn’t know what I was talking about, said he hadn’t heard anything about it being for sale or closing. Hmmm. I think he might have been very new there and probably not the right person to ask.

Right away I notice there’s a vegan Reuben on the menu, so of course that’s what I’m going to have to try. I asked the guy if the Reuben is made with tempeh and he said yes. Later when the sandwich arrived it was not made with tempeh but with seitan and tofu, which was equally fine because it was delicious.

From the menu: The Reuben: Tangy blend of corned “beef”, tofu cheese, sauerkraut, thousand island and soy mozzarella served toasted warm. We’ve talked many a time about just how much I love me a good vegan Reuben sandwich, so you know it’s got to be good when I tell you that after just one bite this one soared high up the list of all time best. It tastes more like a traditional “real” Reuben than any I’ve had yet as a vegetarian. It’s their perfectly well seasoned and meaty seitan that makes it so delicious, follow that with the thousand island (Follow Your Heart maybe?) and sauerkraut and it’s just like being in a good Jewish deli. A Jewish deli that serves vegan Twinkies.

The regular flavor Twinkies won out despite my having been tempted by the chocolate. I wanted to get the true experience, I wanted the original. I wanted to see how well they compared to real Twinkies.

Dudes, these are soooo much like real Twinkies! They’re actually way better than real Twinkies and being that they’re vegan the extra bonus prize is that your yummy dessert contains no crap that will kill you, or beef fat… yay!

I found these to be a bit more dense than a Hostess Twinkie, which I remember as being more fluffy. This was a good thing though, it was rich and thick and the flavor was spot on. The filling was so great, and generous too… no one likes a wimpy Twinkie. I’ll say these were about as close as you can get to the real thing without being the real thing and still being vegan. These are truly quite an improvement on the original… an upgrade if you will…. the highly evolved gourmet version that all regular Twinkies aspire to be. Kudos again to their creator JennShaggy, who the next time she offers me Twinkies, I will be powerless to refuse.

On that note, I have no final words for you on what the deal is with The Vegan Spot. Hopefully there will be no final words and they’ll continue to operate and serve up fantastic vegan food for the masses, or even just for me. Perhaps someone in the know will stop by and let us adoring yet concerned fans know what’s the what. The best I can offer you in these uncertain times are these words of advice: get while the getting’s good.

Hello fellow Foodeaters! Sorry to leave you all hanging for so long without any foodporn to tide you over. You poor things, you must be famished! I’ve been very busy working on version 2.0 of To Live and Eat in L.A., and that’s what’s been keeping me from writing (don’t worry, nothing can keep me from eating). In just a few more months I’ll be celebrating my two year vegan anniversary, which will also mean that this blog has been kicking ass and taking names for that long as well. Can you believe it? In the spirit of such celebratory awesomeness, I’m working on a major upgrade for this site both in terms of a snazzy new design and a more functional layout. I’m aiming to have this all ready to go very soon, so don’t be surprised if you come here sometime in the near future and it all looks different… the content of course will remain the same. In my humble opinion, I’m thinking it’s going to rock your socks off.

In the meantime I’ll take a much needed break from all the drama of trying to force Wordpress into doing what I want to let you in on some news that’s got a few of us Los Angeles vegans in a tizzy… word out on the street is that our much highly regarded new favorite lunch place, The Vegan Spot, is for sale. I found the “restaurant for sale” ad on CraigsList offering the restaurant for “quick sale” at $75K, with everything included. This comes as rather shocking news considering that the food at this place is so incredible, and also because it appeared that they were doing really well. There have been rave reviews from myself (see my take on the vegan Philly Cheesesteak) as well as all of the usual suspects. The vegan Twinkies sold there by JennShaggy have become a legend unto themselves, even landing them a write up in the L.A. Times. So what gives? It would be so sad to see this fantastic vegan food haven disappear, or worse, get purchased by someone who doesn’t know what they hell they’re doing… I would hate to watch them go downhill under new ownership. Anyone rad out there have the $75K handy to help rescue this little treasure?

For now, I can hear the growing chorus of voices out there… “but Foodeater, where is the foodporn you promised us?”. Fear not my food perv pretties, you shall not be leaving here today teased or denied. While I have no more Vegan Spot goodies to share with you at this time, what I am able to offer you comes from right up the street at their incestuously connected sister location, Flore. I’ve already let you gawk at my raw jicama tacos from Flore, and I’ve also let you fondle my seitan quesadilla, so how about I let you slide right into 2nd base with my Avocado and Seitan salad?

A bed of mixed greens with sliced avocado, daikon sprouts, grilled seitan, tomato and red onion (no thanks). You get a choice of dressings, I picked the miso as suggested by the super friendly waitress (they are known for having a somewhat disinterested staff… the exception is this nice gal whose name I don’t know, but she’s always fast & sweet & deserving of good tips). I’m not exactly sure what the dark sauce is but I got a tinge of tamari from it. This salad totally hit the spot, everything so perfectly fresh and the seitan grilled to magical perfection. I don’t know how they do it but their seitan tastes remarkably like chicken. If you are someone who’s still having a tough time getting over the meat addiction, give Flore’s seitan a try… I guarantee it will help to scratch that itch without adding any dead chicken karma weight to your conscious. This delightful lunch was shared with Your Vegan Mom to one side of me, and (celebrity spotting alert) Zachary Quinto (Sylar from Heroes!) at the table to my right. There’s nothing better than enjoying a leisurely lunch with a fine vegan mama while sitting a mere three feet away from a villain with the power to slice off the top of my skull to get at what’s inside my brain. These are the things that help keep life exciting.

What… you’re ready to go again so soon? Alright… let’s have at it.

This is the Portabella Panini: marinated grilled portabella mushroom with soy mozzarella, kale and creamy dill dressing on organic ciabatta bread. Served with potato salad, side salad or fruit. I of course, citing a lack of fattening carbs that day, opted for the potato salad.

This is my favorite sandwich that I’ve had at Flore so far, which is saying a lot because they’re all good! Before I picked it up or tasted it my first impression was that the bread looked dry. I couldn’t have been more wrong, this bread was incredible… oven fresh and really just so delicious. The mushrooms must have been marinated in some sort of secret nectar that only highly evolved 3rd degree elite chefs have access too because I’m telling you, this flavor was off the charts… fantastic. Anyone out there not like mushrooms? It’s only because you haven’t tasted these yet. The soy mozzarella had a thick consistency to it, almost more like a cottage cheese texture and the dill dressing pulled everything together into one cohesive collection of yum.

You know how every once in a rare while you come across one of those those legendary sorts of sandwiches, the kind that come to mind when you’re impossibly far away from where they’re located, and stuck fantasizing about just how much you’d give up for one bite of a perfect sandwich? Well my friends, this is that sandwich… and all you have to give up for it is a little over $10. It’s not super cheap but after eating it you will be in such awe that you’ll request they charge you extra for it just for having allowed you the privilege of eating it. Yes, it really is that good.

In summation, go eat at Flore all the time because your mouth & body will thank you… if they ever go out of business you don’t want to be the one to blame. And since no one has any clue what’s happening with The Vegan Spot, I’d suggest getting out there as soon as possible if you have any intention of ever trying their cheesesteak, Twinkies or any of the other great stuff on their menu… before it’s too late!

Update: See the follow up post here- The Vegan Spot continued: Reubens & Twinkies

When I saw the sign outside of the Vegan House Thai restaurant announcing Vegan Shabu-Shabu I simultaneously thought to myself, “you’ve got to be kidding me” and “what will they think of next!?”.

Shabu-shabu is a Japanese dish often simply referred to as “hot pot“. Generally it involves a hot boiling broth into which are dipped slices of raw meat, fish, vegetables and noodles, which then get swished around in the hot soup until cooked. Traditionalist would (will) most likely mock even the mere suggestion of a vegan version of shabu-shabu, in which after all, the whole point is to serve raw meat and cook it at the table. Some people also scoff at the idea of Vegan Pho (Vietnamese soup), but it appears that us satisfied vegans are getting the last (death free) laugh.

I say to hell with tradition! Who needs tradition when it involves stinky, salmonella flavored raw beef? I’m all about everything on earth being made vegan and tasty, traditions be damned. Needless to say, I was super excited to take this ride for a spin. I’d never eaten at Vegan House before, neither at this location off Hollywood on Wilcox, nor at their Silver Lake location. This spot on Wilcox used to be home to the most amazing Sri Lankin restaurant where I was first introduced to the glories of cashew curry many years ago. Sadly that restaurant has been gone for a over a decade, but I’m happy to see that a vegan establishment has taken it’s place. The menu at Vegan House is exactly what you’ve come to expect from the plethora of vegan Thai joints we’ve got all over town… your usual pad thai, cowboy burgers and freshy wraps, etc… You may have noticed that even though all these Thai places have very similar menus, they’ve all also usually got a few specialty items of their own that the others don’t have… in this case, it’s Thai’s serving Japanese shabu-shabu.

But I’m gonna get to that in a minute. First I want to tell you about another one of those specialties I just mentioned. This is something that I haven’t noticed at any of the other Thai places, at least not yet.

These are Soy Crab Cheese Wontons, vegan of course, with soy crab and soy cream cheese stuffed into a wonton skin and fried. If someone could tell me how to say “addicting perfection” in either Japanese, Chinese or Thai I would be grateful, because that’s what these little beauties were. I’m not going to tell you that it tasted like real crab, because I’ve never put a dead crab in my mouth so I wouldn’t know, but what I can tell you was that these were absolutely delectable. There is no fishy taste whatsoever, just melty cheesy goodness mixed with whatever that pseudo-crab stuff is which gives it a nice texture, firmness and flavor which I just couldn’t get enough of, especially once dipped in the sweet sauce that was served alongside. This was the tastiest bad-for-me appetizer I’ve had in quite sometime, and even if I hated this restaurant (which I don’t), I would still go back just to get my hands on some more of these wontons.

On to the main meal, my shabu-shabu order came with a nice side salad. Fresh lettuce, carrots and sesame which get elevated way up from being boring by the wonderful dressing that you can’t see in the photo because it’s buried at the bottom of the bowl. Slightly salty and obviously involving soy sauce, I thought it was mighty tasty. Even though I’d just eaten a ton of wontons and knew there was still a full meal yet to come, I couldn’t resist eating the whole salad, the dressing was that good. I wish they’d sell me a bottle of the stuff.

First my waiter brought out the heating contraption which I’ve got pictured up at the beginning of this post. Next comes the bowl of broth shown here, with a large piece of kombu seaweed in it which gets set on the hot device (hence, “hot pot”) and heated to a rolling boil, then the ingredients are brought in for you to assemble as desired.

The soy chicken is your standard fake meat fare, nothing marvelous to write home about, but certainly more presentable and palatable than real chicken any day.

They also brought out a nice assortment of vegetables, including carrots, Chinese cabbage, celery and celery leaves and shitake mushrooms, along with tofu and both glass and udon noodles. You also get two different kinds of dipping sauces, a traditional Ponzu (a tart citrus sauce) for the vegetables, and Gomadare (sesame sauce) for the soy meats. There’s also a large serving of brown rice.

So the way this works is you pick and choose your combo of ingredients and place them into the hot broth. Using your chop sticks you swish the stuff around (Wikidpedia tells us that shabu-shabu translates to “swish-swish” in Japanese) until it reaches your preferred level of doneness. From this point on I was a bit confused as to what I was supposed to do with it. The menu says to dip the stuff into the sauce… so does that mean I take it out of the broth, dip it, then put it in my mouth? Kind of hard to do when your dealing with boiling hot dripping noodles. I felt a bit silly not knowing how to eat shabu-shabu like a pro, but without a guide to show me the way, I made up my own method that seemed to work. First I put a layer of rice down on my plate, then I just piled the stuff out of the broth onto the rice (it’s not so easy fishing noodles out of hot liquid with a spoon and strainer, tongs would have come in handy), then poured on some of each sauce (after tasting both first to make sure I liked them). I’m kind of doubting this is the proper way to eat shabu-shabu, but what do I know? It’s not like anyone came up to me and told me I was doing it wrong.

Pictured above is the first plate I put together. Awkwardness aside, this was a great meal. The flavors of the veggies and soy meat cooked in kombu broth were very simple, almost plain, but once you get everything going together with the delicious sauces, all the flavors wake up and come together into a delicious medley that both tastes good and is fun to eat. Cooking my food there at the table and figuring out how to eat it was half the fun, the other half came from it all being delicious. And it’s a lot of food too… what you see here was all an order for one person, by the end of it I’d managed to cook out three full plates from what they served me, and I still had leftover chicken, vegetables and noodles by the time I was well past full.

The restaurant itself is cute and very tiny. I’ve seen others online describe at as a hole-in-the-wall and that’s somewhat fitting. It’s not a fancy place at all, in fact some other reviews described it as looking old and grimey, however I didn’t notice any grime while I was there. The place looked clean and well kept to me, and there was a big grinning “A” seal of approval from the health department smiling at me from the window, but I guess I’m just not as uptight about set and setting as some of the more dainty reviewers out there seem to be. As I’ve said before in previous reviews, don’t go wandering into dark little places off Wilcox behind a parking lot if you are expecting the ambiance of Beverly Hills. Do however wander into dark little places off Wilcox if you are able to appreciate unpretentious, down-home, mostly Thai cooking, served quickly and without attitude. This is a place for a fast yet leisurely and satisfying lunch when you find yourself nearby hanging out in Hollywood, it’s not the place to take some snooty bitch who you’re trying to impress on a first date. And why are you dating snooty bitches anyway?

I haven’t tried anything else at Vegan House yet so I can’t speak for the actual Thai food, though after this first pleasant experience I do plan on going back. There’s no way I’m not having those crab wontons again & again so they better keep making them for as long as I live. The people next to me were eating a deliciously fragrant yellow curry and equally tasty looking noodles… they left happy too.

A word of warning: Fellow Los Angeles area vegan foodblogger Quarrygirl had her recent attempt to eat at Vegan House in Hollywood thwarted by incorrect hours posted on their website… she got there and they were closed. I hate that! The lesson here is don’t trust their website (which doesn’t even list the shabu-shabu on the online menu) and be sure to call before you go to make sure they are open. If you order the wontons, any frustrations you might have faced before getting there will have been totally worth it.
www.myveganhouse.com