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

Hugo’s fans take note: both the restaurant and the taco stand have new specials going at the moment, and both are as expected, delicious.

Hugo’s Restaurant has currently got this Happy Happy Holiday Feast: Two ‘New American’ veggie patties with our vegan, gluten-free gravy. Served with mixed seasonal vegetables, cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes. Vegans, you MUST specify that you want to substitute either rice or roasted potatoes since the mashed potatoes are not vegan.

This is really nice, their veggie patties are always good, great texture, flavor and crunch- but what makes this dish awesome is the gravy. It’s thick & creamy with a full-bodied flavor of mushrooms & rosemary. While I wish they’d just make their mashed potatoes vegan so I could eat this yummy gravy slathered all over them, it’s really good with the roasted potatoes too. The cranberry sauce was delicious as well, more like a compote with full plump berries in juice… I don’t have a picture of it for you because they forgot to bring it at first and I had to ask for it, by then I’d already started eating this lovely plate of food you see before you.

If you prefer you could also order this special with their grilled tofu instead of the patties, their tofu is really good too, but I say stick with the patties because they rule. They’ll also make it with chicken breast, but that’s just gnarly gross so we’re not even gonna go there.

Next up, check out what they’ve got going on over at Hugo’s Tacos…
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Hugo’s Restaurant recently updated their menu, adding a number of unique vegan dishes to their already herbivore-friendly line-up. I’ve been making my way through the ones that have intrigued me and so far, as expected from Hugo’s, they’ve all been delicious. They’ve also added little symbols to their menu indicating what’s vegetarian or vegan, as well as what can be made vegan (they have vegan cheese which you can substitute on most of the cheesy dishes). The symbols are very helpful and take the guesswork out of knowing what’s vegan and what’s not. Good move, Hugonauts!

Note that we’re talking about the Hugo’s in Studio City (I’ve not yet been to the West Hollywood location), though they both have the same menu.

I’m just going to start this off with a bang because this is my favorite of all the new stuff so far. The Tika Masala Vegetable Patties are “made of organic sprouted mung bean, organic brown rice, assorted fresh vegetables, mushrooms, pumpkin & sunflower seeds, herbs & spices. Covered with an Indian inspired sauce of tomatoes, onions and spices. Served with turmeric rice, leafy greens and cilantro mint chutney”.

Wow, so good… the patties were perfectly crispy yet delicate, just right for sopping up the thick and piquant sauce. I love whatever spices they use in there, exotic but not overpowering. The cooks at Hugo’s really do have a special way with vegetables and greens, while simply done they’re cooked just right, always crispy and fresh tasting, never wilted or mushy. My only complaint about these yummy greens would be that I would have liked more. While the Indian inspiration was definitely in this dish, it had it’s own thing going on, tasting both exceedingly decadent while light & healthy at the same time. Excellent! So much more good stuff awaits…
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(Update: Both these specials are now over. Aren’t you sorry you missed ‘em?)

There are currently two great vegan meals on the “Specials” menu at Hugo’s Restaurant. I don’t want to wait any longer to share them with you because soon enough they’ll be gone. If you want to try these, and yes… you do want to try these… you’ll need to head on over to Hugo’s quick like a bunny.

This first interesting dish is the Red Lentil Veggie Patties: “an outstanding combination of organic red lentils, sweet potatoes, diced fresh summer vegetables, herbs and Indian spices. Served with mango chutney relish, black forbidden rice and sauteed leafy greens”. Outstanding was their adjective straight from the menu, but I heartily agree, these lentil patties were delicious. The Indian flavors were full and fragrant yet didn’t overpower the great flavors of the vegetables and lentils. The crispy outside and soft inside were just lovely, and the mango chutney kicked ass. It tasted slightly pickled, so it was both sweet and zingy at the same time.

The black forbidden rice was good, though I’m more inclined to the black sticky rice at Lotus Vegan, for which I as of yet have found no equal. The leafy greens were very tasty too, lots of garlic going on in there, just the way I like it. Overall an excellent meal.

On a subsequent visit I was far too intrigued to pass on the Very Green Enchiladas: “green corn tortillas filled with wilted leafy greens and garlic. Covered with a roasted poblano chili sauce and toasted pumpkin seeds. Served with green spanish rice and green zucchini”. It would also usually come with Cotija cheese, which they state right on the menu they’ll do without to make it vegan.

These enchiladas were outstanding! I was concerned that 1.) this would be kind of boring without cheese, and 2.) that the garlic would be too overwhelming. These concerns quickly melted away as I eagerly shoveled in my first bite. So good! The poblano chili sauce was amazing, full bodied and not too spicy. The enchiladas themselves were excellent, the greens and garlic perfectly seasoned and surprisingly filling. Both the zucchini and the spanish rice made for great accompanists in this very green orchestra. If you only try one new dish in the next few days or weeks, consider making it this one.

Now, a minor word of warning. Two words really: green poo.

You read me right. Now I know this is food blog so the last thing you want to read about are bodily functions. The thing is, how are you to trust that I’m telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, unless I told you the entire story, from start to finish so to speak? In the spirit of full disclosure, I’d like to save you an awkward moment of surprise after you eat this meal: my morning constitutional one day after eating the Very Green Enchilada plate was Very Green Poo… bright green poo the likes of which I’ve never seen before, neither from a baby nor an elephant. A quick run down over the past 24 hours worth of food immediately led me right to the culprit: it was the green enchiladas, in the kitchen, with a fork. All I’m saying is, forewarned is forearmed. Don’t fear the green!
www.hugosrestaurant.com

(Both of these are on the current specials at both Hugo’s locations, though all the stuff featured on this blog (so far) refers to the Hugo’s in Studio City -call if you’re going specifically for either of these items, because I don’t know how often the menu changes.)

Now for something completely different: here’s a delicious new breakfast special on the menu at Hugo’s, the Mung Bean Fritters.

“Three fritters made with sprouted mung beans blended with zucchini, green pepper, green onion and Chinese 5 spice. Topped with two poached eggs, sauteed leafy greens and an apple-mint drizzle”. I had them substitute the eggs with grilled tofu.

This was a really great dish. Being that they’re called fritters, I was expecting something more… well, fried. I assumed they’d be kind of like potato pancakes (you know, with shredded stuff like latkes) but instead they’re like regular pancakes and they didn’t taste or appear to be fried which is actually a good thing. I’d say they were more like savory griddle cakes. The flavor was delicious, delicately spiced and not too oniony for my taste. The apple-mint drizzle is what made this a real stand-out, being both sweet and minty at the same time, much like an Indian chutney, but with apples. Overall, a perfect breakfast.

This is a very tasty seasonal item currently on the specials menu at Hugo’s in Studio City.

The “Blood Orange Salad” is made with “a blend of Napa cabbage, organic mixed greens, strawberries, slivered fennel, roasted baby beets, blood oranges and California pistachio nuts. Accented with a dressing made from balsamic vinegar and blood orange juice reduction”. It comes with a choice of protein, I had their grilled tofu which is always reliably good.

The salad was great, what with all it’s different flavors going on… it’s got your sweetness coming from the blood oranges, strawberries and beets, and it’s also got the unexpected licorice flavor of the crunchy, raw fennel (and carrots too), and all this is backup by the powerful underhanded punch coming from the balsamic vinegar. It makes for a unique and delightful (and not cheap) combination.

This was the ‘Golden Milk Cereal’ at Hugo’s, and I’ve got to say it’s one of the weirdest taste sensations I’ve had in some time. That’s not saying it wasn’t good mind you, but definitely different.

It’s made with “warm, organic quinoa in a Golden Milk of turmeric, honey and raisins. Served with bananas and strawberries”. They give you a choice of cows milk, soy or rice, I went with the rice. (Note that honey is not vegan so ask them to leave that out if you don’t eat it).

So yeah, it’s pretty weird tasting! You’ve got your sweet, breakfasty flavors coming from the fruit, honey and milk, but then you’ve also got the intense, more savory flavor of turmeric in the middle of it all, turning your sweet breakfast into something more reminiscent of an Indian curry. It’s odd to say the least. I liked it and disliked it at the same. It’s something that would really take some getting used to but which is at the same time quite compelling. The dish is so healthy, which was the main reason I wanted to try it… turmeric is supposed to be an excellent anti-inflammatory among all the other good stuff it does. I’ve recently developed an allergy to Ibuprofen and have been recommended turmeric as a natural alternative, so when I noticed this item on the menu I figured I’d gave it my best shot. I wasn’t able to eat too much of it, but like I said, I’m compelled and intrigued enough by this dish to want to try it again. I don’t know that I’ll ever end up loving it, but I almost feel like this should be approached from more of a nutritional and medicinal point of view, rather than it just being about happy taste buds.

Now that the idea is in my head, I’ll try replicating this at home but start it off with much less turmeric and see if I can build up more of an acquired taste for it. It’s not that I don’t like turmeric, it’s that I’m not used to eating it along with something sweet. It’s one of those cultural things I guess.

This is was a delicious vegan special at Hugo’s, the ‘Egg-free Red Lentil Frittata’.

“Red lentils, fresh vegetables and Indian spices, topped with sauteed garlic leafy greens and a mango chutney mint sauce”. Oh man, this was so good. The frittata was perfectly crispy on the outside and the lentils a great, chewy consistancy on the inside… the Indian spices were just right. The sweet & minty mango chutney along with the tasty greens on top brought everything together. My compliments to the chef. Seriously.

I don’t know it it’s still on the current specials menu but if you get a chance to try this one, I highly recommend you do!

Speaking of Hugo’s menu, they recently re-did the whole thing and it’s very nice. What I like is that many/most of the dishes that I liked the best that came and went from their specials menu have now made it onto the regular menu, for example, the fantastic Kelp Noodle Salad and the Power of Green salad, two of my main faves. They’ve also made it easier to veganize meals by offering vegan cheese options on their casseroles and also indicating which dishes can be made with grilled tofu instead of meat.

Hugo’s rocks for adding this lovely vegan breakfast to their current specials.

“Almond, lemon and lavendar vegan pancakes with agave nectar: Just released from our test kitchen and prepared with all organic ingredients- vegan, sugar free, gluten free, wheat free and dairy free. Topped with almonds and agave lavendar lemon syrup.”

These were so delicious. I mean, come on. Totally indulgent yet uber-healthy at the same time. Thank you Mr. Hugo, wherever and whoever you are.