California Vegan - PK's Review w/Pics

[PoetKitty]

For zee photos, visit mah blog: http://omgfood.blogspot.com

California Vegan
7300 Sunset Blvd. Unit A
Los Angeles, CA
11.7.06 - Thursday, 12:30 PM
Me, myself, I, and our imaginary friends

RESTAURANT REPORT CARD - Visit 3

Ambiance - D-
Service - D+
Food (Taste) - D
Food (Presentation) - D
Wine/Drinks - N/A (just had non-alchies
)Value - B-
Vibe/Energy/Scene - D

Overall Experience - D+

I had an actual paid assignment to rush out and sample some vegetarian restaurants *hand on forehead*, and having hit up California Vegan previously, I decided to give it a gander again. My first two trips went well-ish, but I keep having the same experience here: great menu, nice web site . . .blah food. Would the third trip serve me well?

California Vegan is a strip mall hideway, which as we LA-ers know, can actually be the mark of greatness. It's a truly vegan restaurant - no meat goods to be found. There are lost of substitutes, however - they don't just limit you to good old tofu. Service is slow and disinterested, and the decor sucks. It actually feels dirty in there, which makes me a tad fearful for the food. The kitchen is open, and that's a saving grace, but I hate the feeling that grime is lurking, well, everywhere.

I'll admit that this time, I ordered wrong. Let it be known that previously, I did a better job. The raw wrap I had months ago was actually close to awesome. The stir fry is - eh - healthy, but bland. But oy vey did I hit a strikeout on swing three.

Drinks:

Water. Though they have smoothies and the like, so in retrospect . . .

Entree:

Lentil Burger
-- With lettuce, onion, tomato
Um, where to begin. First, it looked atrocious, but lentils aren't pretty, so whatever. The burger was MASSIVE - the bun had a thickness that could double as armor, and the burger itself was the size of a flying saucer. But it lacked density, so trying to pick this sucker up was a losing battle. Then, there's this pesky little "taste" issue. The texture was mushy and gross, and the lentil mixture damn near flavorless. Well, pooey.

Sides:

Vegan French Fries
I'm not sure why I thought vegan fries would be healthy. Perhaps I am just missing the air fries at Nature's Pantry in the valley - sooooo fantastic. These were so crazy greasy, I'll admit the girl who misses fast food, who I taunt and yell out occassionally, found a little glee. But they had zero seasoning and were just too fatty to really enjoy. Vegan or no, I just couldn't go there.

Damage for 1 soda, 1 burger, and a side of fries: $11 before tip. At least the price was right. Too bad it wasn't edible.

Parking: Easy schmeezy - little lot, and loads of street options.
Attire: Super casual
Pros: Cheap, 100% vegan
Cons: Not exactly flavorful, awful decor, slow service

Final word - for a vegetarian fast food experience, this will do.

Come on by - http://www.poetkitty.com

[PoetKitty]

I very much appreciate the insight. I have no aversion whatsoever to fake meats, as I used to be a vegan, but after 3 visits here, I just can't find anything with flavor. If I'm ordering wrong time and time again, perhaps they should update the menu :)

[igj]

Well, you admit that you ordered wrong, so that takes some of the sting out of the review. But - California Vegan is a Thai vegan place, so judging them by their burgers and sort of generic AmeriChinese stir-fry doesn't really do them justice.

NB: I have never eaten at the Sunset location, but occassionally eat at or order delivery from the West LA location.

There seem to be three main caveats for this place:
-avoid all non-Thai sounding items, especially things like egg rolls and Western salads/burgers
-one must be at least tolerant of fake meats
-they only serve brown rice, so either deal with that, go without rice or have takeout/delivery and use your own rice

They have a few decent dishes, and if fake meat doesn't do it for you, they have tofu (although not fried tofu for some reason).

I actively like the Coconut on Paradise, which is basically a gaeng kheo waan with fake chicken served in a coconut. OTOH, I have found their noodle dishes to be underwhelming.

Not a great place, but not bad for its ilk.

[westsidegal]

imho, not only is it not a great place,
it is not even a good place.
it is fairish.

there are lots of thai restaurants that serve brown rice that will happily prepare your food w/ vegan ingredients that will serve really good thai vegan food (to order) even if the restaurant isn't vegan. (thai boom and anyara come to mind)