More delights from Lotus Vegan
I recently let you all know about the new vegan Thai restaurant that just opened up here in North Hollywood, Lotus Vegan. I’ll refer you back to that post for the info and lively comments (New vegan Thai food in NoHo: Lotus Vegan)… for now I’m really just in the mood to talk about food.
This exotic dish, the Silver Noodle Salad was what I had on my most recent visit, and it was delicious. “Glass bean noodles mixed with soy chicken, soy shrimp and chilis in lime juice”. Yum… so good!
Not being a fan of onions I spent a minute picking those away to reveal the goodies underneath. What makes this dish a hit is the fantastic lime dressing. I’ve had some lime based dishes and salads at other Thai places where they’ve either just used straight up lime juice with nothing else (too sour), or they mix it with some herb or spice that I don’t like which gives it the distinct taste of dirty butt. Not that I know what dirty butt tastes like mind you, but I can send you to a few Thai joints where they’ll gladly give you a sample. Thankfully, this dish had no butt flavor whatsoever! I loved the dressing, sour but not too sour, pungent but not too pungent, spicy but not too spicy… ok, you get the idea. Both the soy chicken and soy shrimp are very tasty, though I would have liked a few more pieces of the shrimp. Slimy, slippery glass noodles are always fun to eat, and the greens and veggies were crisp and fresh.
Now let’s go back to the future. This last weekend was my birthday (yay me!). Because dorkiness apparently doesn’t go away once you hit middle age, I managed to take a major nosedive while climbing my steps, landing with all my force and weight on my right knee. Hard…. on concrete. Thankfully I didn’t break any bones, bust my kneecap or cause any permanent damage, but I did for all intents and purpose seriously mess up my knee and ability to walk for a few days. [This did not stop me from attending, eating my way through and hobbling around at Worldfest... to be blogged about soon!] While I was laid up at home with an elevated and ice-packed leg, I called Lotus Vegan up to bring me a delivery. If I’m going to be stuck at home on my birthday, you best believe I’m going to be doing it in style.
Talk about over indulgence! I swear I didn’t eat this all in one sitting. And it was my birthday, so shut up. From left to right: That’s the Hot & Spicy Green Beans (aka Prik King) with tofu and their awesome brown rice. Prik King has always been my favorite Thai dish, and I love how they prepare it here. In the middle is the lovely High Protein Salad and tahini dressing, right top has got the glorious sticky rice & mango, and in the front right we’ve got the quesadilla, made with vegan mozzarella cheese and served on chapatti bread. Their cheese does not contain casein and is very, very melty. It melts to an almost liquid consistency then firms up pretty quickly. Careful when biting into it as the drippy cheese is hot! But don’t let it sit for too long either because the cheese will cool fast. That’s not likely to happen though because it’s so tasty that you’ll want to scarf the whole thing down right away. Unless your name is Scott, in which case, would you pass me your quesadilla please? I will gladly eat it :)
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HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!!
Comment by Vegan Tickles — May 13, 2008 @ 2:05 pm
hmph ;)
i would’ve been more than happy to pass you a part of the quesadilla. my service would’ve been way better.
happy belated birthday!
Comment by scott — May 13, 2008 @ 2:25 pm
Nice. Man alive do I miss that light and the abundance of vegetables and thai food and my foodeatin’ friends. I think the butt taste is fish sauce.
Comment by Trina — May 13, 2008 @ 4:36 pm
Vegan Tickles: Thank you! And thank you to everyone else who I haven’t had the chance to thank yet :)
Comment by FoodEater — May 13, 2008 @ 5:18 pm
Scott: I see a new career in your future! I hope you know I’m just teasing ;)
At least we both agree on the awesomness that is Pure Luck! Thanks for the b-day wishes too!
Comment by FoodEater — May 13, 2008 @ 5:19 pm
Trina: I think you’re right: fish sauce = butt funk.
Nothing like moving to the middle of nowhere to make you miss the overabundance of vegan Thai food out here, eh? Thank goodness they’ll all be waiting with peanut sauce in hand for you when you get back!
Comment by FoodEater — May 13, 2008 @ 5:22 pm
Ooh, you should’ve called me! I would’ve happily shared that feast and a couple movies to celebrate your birthday! Never mind that we celebrated a couple weeks ago; there’s always room for more birthday celebration!
Comment by Vegyogini — May 13, 2008 @ 9:46 pm
wow, i need to get my hands on that quesadilla NOW! i definitely didn’t expect to see that amongst all the thai food. and you say it MELTS? i am so there! thanks for spreading the word on this place. ..and happy bday!
Comment by quarrygirl — May 14, 2008 @ 7:55 am
I was at this place Friday night. YUM. And the girl that works there is such a sweetie.
Comment by julie — May 14, 2008 @ 2:57 pm
i can be a sport… i’ll give this place another shot. but i bet you dollars to ronalds donuts that my quesadillas are better.
Comment by scott — May 15, 2008 @ 3:49 pm
Vegyogini: Thanks sweetie… it all worked out in the end. There will always be more reasons to celebrate :)
Comment by FoodEater — May 15, 2008 @ 11:05 pm
quarrygirl: They’ve actually got all kinds of non-Thai stuff… different types of burgers, wraps and all manner of breakfasts (served any time!)… the pancakes rock my socks off.
Comment by FoodEater — May 15, 2008 @ 11:07 pm
Scott: I have no doubt that your quesadilla’s rock! Can I please have one of those AND Ronald’s Donuts too?
Comment by FoodEater — May 15, 2008 @ 11:11 pm
Julie: While you were inside the restaurant enjoying your food I was having them delivery it to me so I could enjoy it at home!
Comment by FoodEater — May 15, 2008 @ 11:12 pm
This place was so awesome. I went there and tried the mock duck stew, orange chicken and a bacon sandwich with an order of sticky rice and mango and it was the best Thai food I have ever tasted. My twin brother and older brother also enjoyed it. I would give it a 5 out of 5 stars.
Comment by Colony Inn, Across the street — May 22, 2008 @ 6:19 pm
so i went there last night before i went to see indiana jones. it was better than the movie, but then again the movie was awful so thats not saying much…
actually i got the orange chicken dinner and it was pretty good. i ordered fries and they were decent, not as good as california vegans fries, but i enjoyed my visit much more than last time. i may go back if its convenient.
Comment by scott — June 2, 2008 @ 5:57 pm
Scott: I’m so pleased at the semi-change of heart, I take this as very good news!
What’s funny is that I do enjoy California Vegan (haven’t been there in a long time) though I see nothing but bad reviews about them all over the internet. While I do value other people’s feedback and I do usually check places like Yelp before I try some place new, I’ll never discount a place just because some other bozo’s on the web didn’t like it. You never know if they were just there on a bad day or what. Anyhow, I’m really glad you enjoy your latest trip to Lotus Vegan and that you gave them another shot. The people who run they place really are the biggest sweethearts and unlike a lot of other places out there, they really do seem to care about pleasing their customers and offering yummy food. Maybe I’ll run into you there some day and we’ll hash it out over some fries and orange chicken :)
Comment by FoodEater — June 5, 2008 @ 6:47 pm
Colony Inn person! Lucky you for being in such close proximity! I sure wish I would have had a vegan place across the street from me back when I worked real jobs. Thanks for the great review… now I am intrigued with trying that bacon sandwich myself.
Comment by FoodEater — June 5, 2008 @ 7:23 pm
I was at that place on Friday for lunch with 2 firends…that was my first visit because my friends told me the food there was great ….and I believe that because there was packed so there was no table for me :( so I ordered for to go the lunch special spicy eggplant,lentil loaf , fresh rolls ,quasadilla, Tom kha kai and sticky rice with mango…i just want to say this was the best thai food i ‘ve ever had :)
Comment by mizuki — June 23, 2008 @ 3:12 am