For those of you who just can’t get enough scrumptious vegan Thai food, there’s now a new place in town to get your fix: Lotus Vegan in North Hollywood.
Brought to you by one of the delightful ladies from Vegan Express in Studio City, Lotus Vegan has just opened it’s doors on Vineland Ave., a few doors down from the pirate shop (there used to be a Thai restaurant in this same location).
Their menu includes much the same fare you’ll find at Vegan Express and some of the other vegan Thai joints in town, with a few newer items I haven’t noticed at the other places. They also told me they plan to offer specialties of the house on a rotating basis.
On my first visit I tried the Orange Chicken plate, which comes with rice, spring roll and a side salad. The faux-chicken was delicious, perfectly crispy on the outside with a sinfully sweet and just slightly spicy orange glaze. This is totally the sort of thing I could order over and over again if it wasn’t so fattening. Thankfully they’ve got a large menu with many other delicious and less calorie intensive choices, including a number of great salads and vegetable dishes. They’re also aiming to use only organic produce and products whenever possible.
Another delicious item they’re serving is the traditional Mango and Sticky Rice. The rice is the most amazing consistency of sticky-meets-chewy-meets-awesome, and I was told it’s made with the chef’s special vegan coconut cream. The mango was perfectly ripe and the whole combination was in a word, heavenly. They’ve also got a refrigerator case full of those yummy No Udder mini-cakes in case the mango isn’t enough dessert for you.
I spoke to the host regarding some of the issues and speculations regarding the fake meats and cheeses served at some of the other Thai vegan restaurants and how some of them claim to be vegan while their food contains hidden dairy. He told me that the cook herself is a vegan and he assured me that they are 100% committed to serving only truly vegan food. Right on!
The space is tiny and cute, not fancy but nicely decorated… a fine option for an quick, inexpensive lunch or a more leisurely dinner. Even though you’re eating out at a restaurant, the place has an intimate, homey feel and you know that your food is being cooked fresh and with love, made just for you… the next best thing to homecooked. I like that they’ve got a seating area out front which will be great during the hot summer months… and I also like the fact that they’ll deliver.
Vegan Lotus is just getting up and running, so pay them a visit, stuff your face full of flavor, then come back here and tell me all about it in the comments. For more info visit their website (which really doesn’t have much info on it yet but most likely will soon): www.lotusvegan.com
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You know how I feel about the vegan Thai restaurant surplus in L.A. (I love them, it’s just that they have such similar menus & there are so many other L.A. vegan restaurants to try!), but it sounds like I need to pay a visit for the mango & sticky rice dish! Great review. :)
I had mango and sticky rice for the first (and last…) time in NYC and it was amazing. The rice was white, though, but it’s just such a good idea…
Oh, I wish I could go again and try this…
Wow, that restaurant sounds FABULOUS!!! I’m absolutely smitten with that Mango & Sticky Rice dish - yum!
wow, that orange chicken looks GREAT. reminds me of the stuff at california vegan. yummmmmmmmmmmm
Thanks for the comments everyone… I need to get myself back there soon to try some more of their offerings. Rest assured you’ll hear all about it!
Wow those dishes look awesome!
i went there the other night, and typical of most of these places the service was crap. the location leaves a bit to be desired, i hate north hollywood. the interior is pretty grungy, the chairs were uncomfortable. the table felt sticky. people from next door were standing outside smoking and the smoke just poured inside.
as far as the food goes… i ordered the pineapple fried rice with tofu and got the fresh rolls as an appetizer. my friend ordered the crispy chicken dinner. the crispy chicken came out, about 5 minutes later the pineapple fried rice came and a good 10 minutes after that my appetizer showed up as i was just about done with my entree. the crispy chicken was just like every other thai “vegan” place. decent, but nothing to write home about. the fried rice was ok, a big portion but a little skimpy on the tofu. and the fresh rolls were really wimpy… a lot of glass noodles wrapped inseide of rice paper and a few sprigs of mint(?) inside. two small rolls served on a giant plate of decoration shredded carrots. disappointing to say the least.
maybe i’m spoiled with so many places to eat around here, but that being said, since there are so many better places i think i would be a fool if i went back.
Scott: Ouch! So little love for NoHo?
What can I tell you, I happen to like it here… sure beats having to fight with all the traffic and congestion and inflated rents over the hill. I have lived plenty of other places in my time that were much, much worse. I think North Hollywood has come a long way and is continuing to change. Lots of development planned for the next few years are going to change it up a whole lot more in the future as well. Back to the food…
That’s a drag you and your friend were disappointed. It’s as if you had the exact opposite experience from mine! I’ve been back there again since my first visit and I still thought the food was great. Service has been super nice and attentive both times I’ve visited. There is a young lady waitress that has been there on my visits that is super sweet, if she was the one who gave you crap service than I’m very surprised. When I was there the place was clean so I’m not sure how it got grunged up so quickly for your visit. On my first time there they had these really cool giant comfy chairs that looked like something from an airport or an old theater. Next I went those chairs were gone and they had in those newer chairs… the problem was that the big comfy chairs took up too much room and they didn’t have enough places to seat all the people who’ve been showing up to eat there. I’d say give them some time to work out their tables and seating configuration… I don’t they were expecting to be as busy as they have been from the start.
The cigarette smoke floating over from next door… ok… that’s disgusting, and I do hope they can work something out with their neighbors to prevent that from happening. I’ve only been there during the day so far and I don’t think there was anything happening next door so the smoke was not an issue. Had it been going on while I was there, it would have seriously bothered me as well.
What can be said? I like their food. I like the people who run the place and I think their hearts are in the right place and they put tasty food on my plate. I wouldn’t say it’s award winning cuisine or anything like that, but for a quick and tasty vegan lunch with a huge menu of options to choose from, I had no complaints. Would I travel out of my way to come here or suggest that others do? No, maybe not considering that there’s similar stuff to be had elsewhere. But for those in the area I feel it’s one more good vegan option, and the more vegan options I have near me, the happier I am!
I think it’s only fair to cut these guys some slack too, considering that the restaurant hasn’t even been open a month yet. I have no vested interest in it of course (other than wanting to see them succeed so I can keep eating there), but I’d say you might want to give them a chance and try again once they’ve been open a while and worked out their kinks. Or not.
Went there last night for some late night munchies! I found it the same as the food eater- very sweet and attentive young lady serving with great and fast service, especially for 10 o’clock at night. The place was clean, and the food was yummy for a good price. Then I headed over to Menchie’s for dessert, which was also fun :)
Sarah: Yeah, I’ve been back a number of times now and even had them deliver a couple times too… I’ve still got nothing but good stuff to report. In fact, I’ll be blogging about some of those meals soon. So glad you found Menchies as well, it’s one of my latest addictions :)
I just went there today…..panang curry, it was so great. and their orange chicken too was just perfect, The restaurant looked nice, very clean. They got a lot of ppl there. The service was great from very nice young lady. I definely will go back there.
ilya: Thanks for the feedback! I haven’t tried the panang curry yet but that sounds divine… thanks for the suggestion :)
Stopped by on tuesday after i got out of work (my first time). I started off with Fresh Coconut to drink recommended by the waitress which was perfect because it was nice and cold and was very refreshing. I ordered pad thai dinner special came with a spring roll and miso soup it was very DELICIOUS and filling. Even though they were busy i received nothing but excellent service from the waitress. I HIGHLY recommend this restaurant lots of varieties to choose from , good price, great atmosphere and excellent service. I DEFINITELY will be go back there again.
Melissa: Cool, glad to hear you liked it… and specifically that the pad thai was good… that’s one I haven’t tried there yet. So much good food, so little time… (so many calories to burn!)
The mock duck curry, beef burgers, chicken sa tay, and sticky rice and mango are awesome! This restaurant rules!