Ellen Weinstock
Reviews written by Ellen Weinstock
Very, very vegan friendly chain. Big Bowl makes a point of making many of its items to order, which makes accessible many dishes that aren't usually vegan. Their appetizers include vegetable dumplings and vegetable potstickers (with lovely dark bitter greens inside). There are a couple of vegetable-only salads, which I haven't tried. I've found their Thai green vegetable curry and Kung Pao tofu quite nice -- perhaps not the best items of these types I've tasted, but the produce is noticeably fresh and it is great to have a choice of menu items. Their "fiery hot" menu has three vegan items -- spicy green beans, sesame peanut noodles, and Sichuan eggplant. These are not complex dishes, but are done simply and well. If none of these please you, they do have a lot of stir-fry choices -- you can pick the vegetables, sauce, protein, and rice or noodles. There are lots of nice drink options, too, such as lemonade flavored with fruit syrups (pomegranate, I think?). I'm thrilled to see that Big Bowl is expanding beyond the Edina Galleria -- they recently opened at Rosedale in Roseville as well.
I'd heard of Cafe Brenda for years. It sounded fairly fancy & expensive, so my sweetie & I went there for a birthday meal.
That was a mistake. There was so little suitable for vegans on the menu in the first place. Some local review had raved about the mock duck tacos, so we tried them. They were absolutely dull & too salty. Both of us are keen cooks, so I agreed with his review: "This tastes like something that one of us threw together when the fridge was almost empty." An appetizer plate of hummus & such was also less interesting than we could have tossed together.
The food, atmosphere, and service were bland, bland, bland. Maybe the local papers' reviewers that have called this a good vegetarian restaurant aren't vegan and don't cook much. If I weren't so fond of cooking, maybe I would have been more impressed.
We were, however, impressed by the prices. The bill was much higher than for places around town with far better food & atmosphere, including Udupi Cafe, and Big Bowl.
Hampden Park continues to improve. The major shortcoming is small selection. The staff is very good about trying out new products, but, because the place is so small, anything that doesn't sell well immediately is discontinued. However, if you want something they don't carry, they are great about special ordering.
HPC is very affordable. A membership costs only $30, as opposed to $90 at Mississippi Market. And I believe that only HPC and North Country Coop on the West Bank allow discounts for working in the store. (Two three-hour shifts per month gets you a 21% discount.)
Two or three soups are available daily. Fortunately for vegans, one is always vegetarian vegetable. (It's not unusual for one of the other soups to be vegan also -- such as Moroccan Chickpea or Curried Mock Duck.) You can make a simple meal out of that and a nice roll (from French Meadow or A Toast to Bread) and a drink (nice variety including Sioux City Sarsaparilla, ginger beer, Kristian Regale carbonated apple or pear juice, China Cola, and Orangina). The front refrigerator case also generally has house-made hummus and chickpea salsa, pasta salads, delicious zatar bread and baba ghannoush from Holy Land Deli, and, if you're lucky, the wonderful house-made tempeh salad made with vegan mayo.
They also have an exceptional variety of interesting crackers and dry pastas. The cookie selection is also excellent, with national brand vegan delights and a great variety of terrific locally made ones, which unfortunately are mostly non-vegan. The frozen section probably has the weakest selection, with far fewer veggie burger and soy ice cream choices than I'd like.
Housewares are excellent, with lots of great little gadgets, fancy chopsticks, beautiful French casserole dishes, whimsical aprons, and elegant Japanese pottery. There's a constantly changing selection of exquisite sarongs, less expensive than I've seen anywhere else.
Hampden Park may not stock everything you've ever wanted, but what it has is wonderful.
Sometimes it's hard to find an elegant place to get vegan food. That's why I'm thrilled that Mai Village has created this beautiful setting on University Avenue. The carvings and lighting are beautiful, as are the koi ponds. There is a pleasant background hubbub but you can't hear the specific conversations and you don't have to speak loudly to be heard. I've always found the service attentive.
As with Vietnamese restaurants in general, there are many veg options -- vegetarian spring rolls and egg rolls (greasy but good), noodle salads, mock duck dishes, tofu dishes, vegetable dishes.
I'm very grateful for the investment this family has made in Frogtown and for their creating a lovely atmosphere in which vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores can dine together in peace.
Sorry to say that I found the Triple Rock vastly overrated, at least for Sunday brunch. The tofu scrambler was horribly grainy, watery, and underseasoned, with hashbrowns that were just greasy potato chunks. I brought most of it home, intending to give it a second try or alter it in some way, but wound up donating it all to my dogs, who are not the pickiest! The music was painfully loud (isn't Sunday morning hangover time?) and the vibe was not particularly homey or friendly. I had heard so many good things about the Triple Rock -- very disappointing. Have had much nicer meals & atmosphere at the Hard Times.
Our meal at Spice Market Buffet in June 2005 was a highlight of our trip to Las Vegas and one of the best vegan meals we have eaten. It isn't marketed as a vegan or vegetarian restaurant, but just as a very large buffet. Many of the restaurants on the Strip seemed to specialize in large portions of non-veg food, and we just stumbled across this one. The ample amounts and varieties of vegetables, breads, legumes, and fruit were just mindboggling. It was pretty expensive for dinner ($22? over $20 including tax, anyway), but well worth it.
Oct 25 05
I wish I had more good things to say about this restaurant, especially since it claims to be the first Kurdish restaurant in the U.S.. But, in the couple of times I have been there, nothing I tried was exceptionally good and some vegetables tasted a bit freezer-burned. I'm sorry to say that I can cook better food than I had there.