hungry_coconut
Reviews written by hungry_coconut
I ate here twice during my recent stay in Boston. The vegetarian freshrolls are awesome with a ton of herbs. The fried tofu is only so-so, below average.
I had the Vegetable Hot Basil, which was excellent, although not spicy enough for me. I also had the Pad Se Iew Noodles with fried tofu and veggies -- really tasty. The curries have fish sauce other than the one listed under vegetarian, I believe. The only downside is that I think they make their food ahead of time so it is not as fresh as it could be. However, the flavors are really good and they use some nice ingredients which makes up for that.
It's great to see a national chain like this offer up vegan food. I tried PF Chang's a few days ago while on vacation. I had the veggie gyoza (panfried), veggie lettuce wraps, veggie springrolls(fried), and the coconut curry vegetables.
The gyoza were the best part of the meal. The lettuce wraps were good, but had too much soy sauce in the glaze which made everything too salty -- and I love salt. The springrolls were fine, nothing too special. The coconut curry vegetables was okay. The sauce was flavorful but seemed to be missing something. The tofu was flavored nicely, but the texture was not good at all. There were plenty of nice looking veggies in the dish, which is a definite plus.
Overall, the food is subpar to any actual Asian restaurant. However, when away from home and unsure or too lazy to argue with local Asian restaurants about fish sauce, this is an excellent cheap and convenient option.
I was really pumped up to try this place, but was met with disappointment. Perhaps my bar was set too high?
I had the food delivered, which I'm hoping is the only reason the food wasn't that good. Not that the food was horrible, it just wasn't everything I wanted.
None of the cheese had even been halfway melted, it was all just shredded and packaged to go, even on the garlic cheese bread. The bread used for the garlic cheese bread is just the sub sandwich bread, and it wasn't toasted or anything. I've had garlic "cheeze" bread delivered from other places at home and the cheese is at least melted and the bread crispy or shows signs of actual toasting.
The chicken parm was ok, not great, not bad. The calzone with "bufflow chicken" was ok. The crust was great.
Overall, I felt that I could cook the same food at home and it would be waaaay tastier. I love that there is an all-vegan pizzeria, I respect what they are trying to do. I'm going to try to visit their actual restaurant for a sit-down meal and hope that the food is better then.
Azia has some of the best fresh springrolls I've eaten. They are giant sized and are loaded with fresh herbs, plus they can put both tofu and mock duck in the rolls. I also really enjoy their pan-fried veggie potstickers. When I was a vegetarian, the cranberry cream cheese puffs were to die for.
The Hot and Spicy Lemongrass dish with mock duck is definitely my favorite. It is amazingly tasty. The cranberry curry is also good, as is the basil supreme.
I agree it is very pricey. I would recommend going during lunch for cheaper dishes and appetizers. It is incredibly laid back during lunch, and not filled with hipsters. The bartender tends to be the server during the quiet times of the day, which is nice.
The servers have always been very helpful telling me which dishes can be made vegan. I've also been told that they have separate areas of the kitchen where meat and vegetarian items are prepared. They use separate pans and utensils in preparing food as well.
I really enjoyed my visit to Babani's.
I tried the Biryani, which is rice with peas, almonds, raisins, veggies and a blend of spices. It was very tasty, especially with the Traditional Silopi Salad.
My lunch companion had the Garbanzo Bean Shilla (garbanzo beans in a broth with a little curry and other spices) which was pretty good, not mind blowing. However, mixed with my dish, it was excellent. The tabouli salad was quite good, too.
The food was very satisfying and really hit the spot. I'd like to try the other dishes and the soup.
This place is an excellent choice in Coffman Union for a quick and easy lunch. The beans, rice, veggies, guacamole and salsas are vegan. As far as I know, the tortillas are vegan, too. It's also nice to get sauteed veggies like zucchini, squash, peppers and onions for some added oomph.
This place is really all about the salsa bar. I have an extremely high heat tolerance for chilies and salsas, and it's nice to be able to get a ton of really hot salsa and jalapenos for free, unlike Burrito Loco or some other places which charge me extra even though I don't get meat, cheese, or sour cream. I mean, really, how much does salsa affect their bottom line?
The taco salad with a fried tortilla bowl is really tasty and filling. You are also able to order any burrito without the tortilla for a healthier option. The burritos also come with a small bag of chips, and as mentioned before, an awesome unlimited salsa bar.
Overall, I enjoy Baja Sol. Maybe I wouldn't as much if I didn't work on campus and have flexdine to spend on it. But it is a tasty option on campus.
I love burritos, but I love awesome salsa even more.
Baja Sol has a stellar unlimited salsa bar: from the super mild to the pretty darn spicy (and I love really spicy salsa), the salsa bar includes mango salsa, pico de gallo, corn, tomatillo, a smokey-tasting salsa, fresh and pickled jalapenos, onions, and cilantro. They also have tortilla chips -- unlimited.
For that reason alone, Baja Sol wins the mega-burrito competition (Chipotle, Qdoba, Burrito Loco) hands down.
I went to the Big Bowl in Roseville and was quite disappointed. Our server told us that there was oyster sauce in the szechwan sauce, the kung pao tofu and spinach dish also had fish sauce in it which could not be taken out.
My fiance and I wound up having the green curry tofu dish and veggie potstickers for appetizers. I personally didn't think the potstickers were that good, and the entree was bland. I don't plan on going to Big Bowl ever again.
I am completely addicted to the crispy tofu appetizer. Only 3.75 and incredibly tasty. The tofu is fried in the same oil as chicken and other meat, but I've been assured that the batter they use is completely vegan.
The teas are awesome, too. I have not yet asked if soy milk is an available option for the milk teas, but the non-milk flavored teas with boba are awesome.
They also have sushi rolls, some of which are vegetarian, none are vegan. I believe that there are one or two soup options which are vegan as well, but I have not tried them.
Overall, I chow down the fried tofu almost everyday, the spices and batter they use are SOOOO good.
*edit/update* They now offer brown rice for something like .50 or 1.50 extra on any entree. They also now offer potstickers which are pretty good. You get 20 potstickers for $6.95, way better than any other restaurant. I love the filling, but sometimes they are a bit too greasy. The entrees are now clearly labeled vegan and non-vegan and everything is still vegetarian. I've tried all the vegan entrees and I still like the mock fish & broccoli or fried tofu with brown sauce the best.**
I *finally* tried this place out. I love it! So very cute inside, and the (I presume) owner was soooo nice to us. We asked about vegan items, she gladly told us about which items were not vegan (namely the mock beef). I had the mock fish with broccoli. I thought it was super tasty and the texture was awesome. The broccoli was probably the most fresh and tasty I've ever had in any Asian dish from any restaurant. My fiance had the pepper steak dish, which included tomato and green peppers -- also very fresh and tasty.
Overall, my experience was wonderful. They even had some vegan cakes there, and can make whole vegan cakes upon request. The service was awesome, the woman (I assume the owner) was so very helpful and cheerful and nice to us.
It is a very small space, so be aware if you have a large group, the entire place could fit maybe 12 people comfortably (even though the Fire Dept. says 30). I completely intend to go back and try out all their dishes. I really want to support any completely vegetarian resturant and encourage others to do the same.
As mentioned before, the "reds and veggies" are pretty good for breakfast, and the tofu scramble is decent. It's nice to have another option for vegan breakfast in town.
As far as lunch/dinner goes, I really like the mock duck rolls, but *maybe* not quite for the price and amount you get, but the sauce is awesome. I would like to see at least one or two more vegan entrees other than a veg burger and pad thai.
All that said, I love that they have a billion condiments on the tables. And I love the BLB fries, which are thinly sliced red potatoes fried up and criispy and greasy. Yum.
I really like Burrito Loco, particularly for their salsas. It's made fresh everyday and there isn't a lot of oil like in Chipotle's salsas. I think the food is really tasty and they have some of the hottest salsa. I always get hot and Loco and jalapenos on my burrito bowls.
I have been going to Chipotle lately though because Burrito Loco charges extra for more than two salsas, even though I don't eat cheese, sour cream, meat, or the rice. Chipotle doesn't charge extra for more salsas.
Both the black beans and pinto beans are vegan, which is nice.
However, the rice is *NOT* vegan! They use butter in the rice to make the seasoning stick to it, which is a bummer.
The guacamole, peppers and onions, salsas, loco sauce, cilantro, and jalapenos are vegan.
The buffalo sauce is vegetarian (butter again). I'm not sure about rennet in the cheese or gelatin in the sour cream.
I went to Cafe Brenda a while back, and was a little disappointed with my dish, but my partner's dish was quite tasty. I was also a little disappointed at what seemed to be difficulty understanding exactly what could be made vegan and what could not. It sort of felt like The Good Earth, but a tiny bit fancier.
I had the Sozai, which was good, but just a little too "granola new age vegan" for me. And way too expensive for the dish. My partner had the mock duck tacos, which were fabulous.
I guess I was expecting more with all the hype of getting "Best Vegetarian" so many times in the City Pages and other local papers, which is strange considering they serve meat.
The only reason Camdi gets a 2 is for offering brown rice and our waitress was decent.
The vegan "cream cheese" wontons were not bad, but not the amazing bundles of crispy goodness that I have heard others raving about. It was closer in taste and texture to what I remember meat-filled wontons being more than a cream cheese wonton. I don't know if I'd really want them again.
The entrées were awful. I think I had the spicy mock duck or mock duck with veggies, I can't quite remember. I could taste the "can" from the mock duck and the flavors were not good at all.
My companion had General Tso's Tofu, which was equally bad. Out of 10-12 pieces of tofu, it seemed that the cook actually breaded only two pieces and just forgot about the rest. The veggies were not good either, they had a strange flavor to them like they had not been cooked in the sauce.
As if the food was bad enough, I had to use the restroom...which was *through the kitchen*, down some stairs, and in this creepy dirty basement. What? That just can't be sanitary to allow customers to walk through a kitchen.
Overall, it was one of the worst dining experiences ever. I was totally disappointed because I was looking forward to this place. I'm willing to try the food once more, order something different and get it to go.
I respect what they are trying to do here by offering a nice vegan friendly menu, using separate cooking surfaces, etc., but all the good intentions in the world won't make up for bad food.
I was incredibly impressed with the fact that *anything* at all was vegan on the menu. Several things also appeared to be vegetarian, though ask about the soups as I believe that many are meat-based stock.
While there were only 2 things on the menu my partner and I were able to eat, they were *fabulous*.
The appetizer was an oyster mushroom and avocado carpaccio with jalapeno-infused olive oil. WOW. The flavors were amazing. The entree was crispy tofu (came out in two logs, deep fried with a delicious crispy coating) and lily bulb (delectable greens) all atop of this amazing miso-type of sauce. Wow again. Some of the best gourmet vegan food I've ever had.
Maybe I was swept up in the fact that I didn't have to negotiate with the chef about getting some boring sauteed veggies or other sides to accommodate my vegan needs, but the flavors were amazing, and our waiter was more than willing to go back and forth to figure out what was and was not vegan for us.
Pretty expensive, I would probably not have even gone there if I was not attending an event for a family member, but I am considering going back just for those two items again.
Chiang Mai Thai is pretty tasty food.
I like it because any time I have gone there the staff has been helpful in pointing out which dishes contain fish sauce and which dishes can be made vegan. It's also open late, although I believe their kitchen closes at midnight or eleven.
I really enjoy their fried tofu appetizer, and I've had a sampler of dips and sauces with veggies once that was okay. I don't like their fresh spring rolls. They are kind of bland and boring and they won't put mock duck or tofu in the roll.
I tend to always get one thing: Laab/Good Luck Salad with mock duck(sometimes tofu, but their mock duck is awesome). It is SO good, and I haven't found another laab without fish sauce yet.
It's basically all mock duck (or tofu) with onions and an insanely good mix of spices and cilantro. It's served warm, with a side of rice and some lettuce to make yummy lettuce rollups and giant slices of cucumber. I get serious cravings for this dish. I've branched out occasionally, but nothing has come close to my love of the Laab.
The best drink is soon being taken off of the menu: the Thailander Tea. It's an upscale Long Island Ice Tea, and it is VERY good. At only $7 it's a steal (which is why it's being taken off the menu). I've had it many many times, and only one time it was not made correctly.
Overall, I love the Laab salad so much I'd give this place a 10, but most of the other food has struck me as so-so, nothing outstanding. However, I do appreciate the fact that I can eat Thai food with no fish sauce hiding in it.
Chino Latino is a great place to go with a lot of different people. The servers are more than happy to discuss what is and what is not vegan or vegetarian on the menu and they always go ask the chef if they are uncertain.
I love this place because of the style of eating: lots of little dishes throughout the night. There are big meals to share as well, but I love sampling lots of different appetizers and sharing with friends and family.
The menu also changes regularly, but my experience has been that they tend to add more meat-centric dishes than new veggie or vegan items.
The crazy cocktails also make this restaurant an experience to be had. Often at $10 or more but with more than enough booze that one may be enough.
However, Chino Latino is best done when someone else is paying -- it doesn't take long to rack up a couple hundred dollars.
I enjoy Chipotle, mainly because it's two meals for me. I tend to eat half of the burrito, then take it with me and eat the second half later. I like that they have lemons and limes and an assortment of Tabasco sauces. Their food is pretty tasty and simple, and it hits the spot.
Here's what I almost always get:
Burrito Bol with little or no rice, black beans, veggies, all of the salsas, and lettuce. Sometimes guac, depends how I feel.
My only problem with Chipotle is how they advertise as fresh and healthy, yet the burritos are almost all 1,000 calories or more. That's almost an entire day's worth of food for a person.
Dino's Gyros is a nice alternative to the other fast food chain options. They have a hummus wrap which is hummus, tomatoes, onions and lettuce in a pita with Dino's dressing which is vegan. There is also a falafel sandwich, be sure to order with no cucumber/tzatziki sauce if you're vegan.
I tend to order the hummus wrap with a side of falafel, and/or some fries. They offer beer in addition to the usual soft drink selection.
It's not the most awesome food, and there are a TON of local, Mom and Pop operations around town that make really great falafel, but I go to Dino's once in a while because it's much closer to my house.
As a side note, Dino's always has a stand operating at the MN State Fair, which makes any falafel and hummus a real treat in the land of deep fried meat on a stick.
Yuck.
I wanted the mock duck noodle soup, but they were out of mock duck. So I opted for the miso-tofu noodle soup stuff. I love the fact that they kept the broth separate from the veggies/noodles/tofu for my to go order. The owner/cook was extremely friendly, too.
But the food? Blah. Seriously, I wound up throwing most of it away, which I *never* do. I simply did not enjoy it at all. The noodles were gross, the broth was not tasty. The broccoli was good and the different seaweed was interesting. I also had the crispy fried Teriyaki tofu appetizer, which was edible but average or below average as far as fried tofu goes.
I really, *really* want to try this place again to have a different dish and different appetizer. So many other people have enjoyed this place, I want to give it another go. But for now, I give this place a 3, only for the sweet Teriyaki sauce and fresh veggies.
Amazing!
I'm so in love with their cashew "cheese" log. I have loved everything I've ever had their and want to keep going back to try everything. The lentil taco "meat" is awesome in both the green burrito and the tostada. The Rawvioli is to die for, the lasagna is awesome, too.
Excellent. I've taken many omnis here and they have all been equally impressed with this place.
The power bagel is awesome, loaded with nuts and dried fruit and is definitely a quick easy breakfast on the go. Not too much other than a few bagels are offered here, some vegetarian sandwiches.
I had a bad experience with the roasted veggie sandwich because they could not comprehend that I did not want any cheese or cream cheese. I wound up with grossly reheated veggies between two slices of bread. Waste of money and gross.
But the coffee is "darn good" as they say and the power bagel rules.
I really like the spicy lentil soup, it's cheap, filling, and vegan and it's a great healthy lunch between classes. The coffee shop offers outlets for laptops as well as free wireless and a comfortable place to sit and study.
I haven't tried any of the sandwiches yet, but plan on it.
The food during dinner is always really really good. I can't remember the names of everything, but I have not eaten anything I did not thoroughly enjoy, and I've been there many times. The spices are just amazing.
I went to the lunch buffet once. While it was nice that they had veggie items available, all of the food was cold or lukewarm. The service was awful, my water glass was empty on the end of the table for a VERY long time, and there were only three other people eating.
But my horrible lunch experience does not outweigh the goodness of the dinners I've had. Lots of interesting dishes. And the staff is very helpful in finding out what is vegan and what is not, and they understand what vegan means.
This place is so awesome! An impressive menu (make sure you ask for the big 6 page menu, not the 2-sided laminated one they give you right away). The most vegan options I've ever seen, EVER. They even include a disclaimer to ask about which mock meats have whey and casein.
The food itself is amazing. They pack an astounding amount of flavor into every bite. Seriously, the flavors are amazing. Lemongrass mock beef, 3-cup tofu, mock duck curry are all worth checking out. But really, everything is worth it. Take some friends, share some dishes, and have a great night out.
Excellent tasty food.
I go to Fasika with my fiance quite a bit, and we always get the veggie sampler platter to share because we can't decide between all the great dishes. The last time we ordered the veggie sampler, we were delightfully surprised to get some different items than usual.
The food has always been tasty, the staff is friendly and best of all, the veggie sampler is only $12 and it's plenty big enough for two people!
There are rarely any vegan options, so I don't eat here much at all. But the happy hour is fabulous. Sunday, all day $2 happy hour!
I usually do the happy hour here and then dine at Chiang Mai Thai or somewhere else with more vegan fare.
Not a ton of options for vegans, but enough to keep me happy. Words to know: bonito and dashi = fish.
I like to go here for a quick and (usually) quiet sampling of appetizers like edamame and some sushi. Agedashi tofu minus the dashi is pretty tasty, as are the handful of veggie rolls. The employees have always been friendly and knowledgeable about what can be vegan.
I like supporting Galactic Pizza. It's awesome that a restaurant can care so much about the environment, with their biodegradable toke out boxes, electric cars, donations to charity, etc.
Their vegan cheese bread is really good it's always been nice and melty.
The pizza is another story. The veggies are all quite good, but the cheese is inconsistent as far as meltiness goes. Sometimes it's gooey and yummy, other times it's a pizza with a bunch of shredded unmelted cheese. But at least there's always a lot of cheese, which makes for great leftovers.
The mock meat, in my opinion, is horrible. The mock duck is teeny tiny and not really tasty. The chik'n is bland and gross. I really wish they would at least get some decent mock duck.
That said, I do like their veggie pizzas and their interesting toppings as well as the fact that they serve Muddy Paws vegan cheesecake, which is always tasty.
They need more vegan options, but their spinach strawberry salad is so tasty. The fresh juice is awesome, too.
However, I am SOOOOO addicted to the house tea. I buy it regularly in bulk from the store. It's super caffeinated, much more than any coffee I've had, and very flavorful and awesome. Crack-tastically addictive.
Use your flexdine dollars here!!! I think it's one of the only healthy spots to eat and use up Flexdine dollars. There are always organic greens, as well as fresh veggies. I personally choose either plain tofu cubes or marinated portobella mushrooms as the "protein" and no dressing or olive oil & balsamic. Tasty, easy, overpriced -- but what isn't in the MN Marketplace???
Plus, it's better than eating chicken-juice saturated veggies from Panda Express...
Awesome. I tend to go here now when its quiet Sunday AMs; but used to frequent the 1-4am in my younger days when smoking was allowed indoors. Awesome food, always different depending on the cook, which I love.
All-vegetarian, and a good amount of vegan options. I like the tofu scramble, very garlicky and brown rice a plus. I LOVE the seitan gyros. The coffee is infamous and I love it. Decent vegan baked goods.
Overall, great atmosphere, though you may not like it if punk rock, kinda dirty feel isn't your thing. Music can get really loud, lots of colorful characters from the neighborhood frequent this place, too.
EDIT: went back recently and dined in the restaurant. My number one problem: LaChoy soy sauce in the containers! Are you kidding me?!?! It doesn't say LaChoy, but the taste is unmistakable: pure salt.
Our food wasn't that great, either. The spring rolls were average, too warm and sticky (great that it's fresh, but difficult to eat). Horrible peanut sauce. Points for excellent tofu in the spring roll.
The Lemongrass-Cashew mock duck was tasty. My curry mock duck was not. It had a burned taste to it. The mediocre food was better the next day with the aid of superior soy sauce and peanut sauce.
Overall, it's great for take out to season at home for yourself. The price matches the quantity and not the quality, unfortunately. Service is friendly and they understand "vegan" which is a plus. I am giving a 6 because serving LaChoy is unforgivable and it will take me a while to try more dishes in order to more appropriately rate this place.
I don't know if the vegan version of the veggie sub would be very good, I have not gone there since being vegan.
With that said, when I was vegetarian, I practically LIVED off of the veggie sub. I would get one everyday before work. They are incredibly addicting and yummy.
Plus, they deliver and have a ton of locations.
But being vegan, I'd much rather go to Subway.
I think it's great to make my own veggie stir fry. I like to go through the line a few times, not filling the bowl completely. This way, I eat several small dishes of exactly what I want.
I also love the ability to spice my own food without having to go to a restaurant several times to understand what a "4" or "2" really means to them.
The ambiance of the restaurant is not that great, the service is average. And there aren't any vegan appetizers, except possibly the coleslaw-like dish. It's a little pricey, but I am more than happy to pay for a stir fry containing exactly what I like and is finally spicy enough for me.
Tasty food, but I was disappointed at the limited vegan options. I like the size and atmosphere, though.
I LOVE the samosas, mainly because they are super super cheap (I think they are 1.25/ea) and make for a great grab and go food between classes.
I haven't really had any of their other dishes, except for some sort of spicy greens and rice type of thing that I cannot remember the name of.
Really average. The food isn't bad, it's just not awesome. The spring rolls are okay, it's nice that they put mock duck in them. I've only had the rice noodle salad with mock duck. It's tasty and pretty cheap and fulfills my craving of rice noodles. The only reason I go to this restaurant is the walking proximity to work and the campus and it's cheap.
But my overall review so far is: meh. Maybe it will change after I try a few more dishes.
I finally got to stop in to check out this fabled "vegan pizza by the slice" that I kept hearing rumors about. Lo and behold - there is was! $3 for a GIANT, floppy slice of grilled veggies with a great crust and sauce. I was walking around Dinkytown, and this was the perfect food to accompany me on my journey.
I enjoyed being able to just have one slice of pizza rather than having to order a whole pizza to carry around or no pizza at all. Great addition to Dinkytown and I look forward to my next slice or whole pizza!
EDIT: Regarding the La Loma Tamales
1) Before I wrote this review, I asked if there was cheese in the vegetarian tamale. No, they do not.
2) I asked about chicken broth/meat broth. They told me no.
3) After eating a tamale at the MGM counter service restaurant, I purchased a 6 pack of frozen tamales which are made at the restaurant's other location and available at one of the little markets inside the MGM. The frozen tamales come with a complete listing of ingredients. I read it three times before purchasing. They use vegetable lard (aka shortening) and specifically list vegetable broth. Natural flavors are listed, so I suppose there is a *small* chance that some sort of animal-derived product is involved, but I doubt it.
I will dutifully grill the staff next time I am there and ask for a full ingredient list of the tamales, but I have a feeling they are the same as the frozen packages.
The Midtown Global Market is awesome! Lots of my favorite restaurants have their second location in the MGM, set up as smaller counter-service versions of the full sized restaurants.
Everest Cafe is the mini version of Everest on Grand, and they have tasty momos - steamed or fried veggie dumplings for fairly cheap. La Loma has excellent vegetarian tamales, perfect at 2 bucks. They're vegan, too. Holy Land is there with a mini buffet as well as a mini grocery store to pick up their goods. West Indies Soul, Andy's Garage, Safari Express -- just to name a few other counter service restaurants at the MGM.
I love to go to lots of different vendors and get my fill on a variety of foods. I also love to pick up a few groceries from United Noodles or an Asian Market or the Produce Exchange organic market.
There are also a plethora of little shops which sell everything from clothing to jewelry, spices to unique gifts.
I always have a fun time taking it all in and eating a ton of good food for great prices.
I love that every vegan item is *clearly* marked on the menu. It helps sooo much for ordering rather than always having three or four items in mind in case that one can't be made dairy free.
I had the spinach dosai, which is a GIANT rice crepe with spinahc in the middle served with a potato/veggie "stew" (sorry, don't know the correct words.)
The food wasn't spectacular, was definitely not bad. I'm definitely going back to check out all the different vegan items, of which there are PLENTY.
Noodles is a great place to go grab a quick bite to eat. The Japanese Pan noodles with tofu is my favorite dish, and it's vegan.
I also love that if you sign up for their "noodlegrams" online, they email you occasional buy one get one free coupons as well as a free dish on your birthday.
I used to love this place, but I think I'm done with it now.
The last time I went to Pad Thai Grand, I was with my fiance. We are both vegan and have eaten there a few times before.
We ordered the fried tofu, which was ok but not spectacular. The springrolls are not really good, either. We then tried to order an entree but *everything* seemed to have fish sauce in it, even things we had been told were fish sauce free in the past. It was incredibly frustrating, the waiter was not helpful at all.
We paid for our tofu and left immediately, vowing to never return.
This location of Pizza Luce has been the most consistent for me. The spicy mock duck is always juicy and spicy and flavorful. The rinotta is tasty, but suffers the same fate as other locations: sometimes it is spread on thick and evenly, other times there just isn't enough.
The soy cheese is pretty great, too. Again, a little hit and miss as far as getting it to melt just right, but this is a difficult task anyway.
Overall, this location beats out the others in my opinion. The atmosphere wins, hands down. Uptown feels too much like an unwelcoming cafeteria (get in and get out) and Seward's design just seems "off" to me. Saint Paul has the 2nd best atmosphere.
While I LOVE that Pizza Luce finally opened up in Saint Paul, I must say the vegan pizza is very hit or miss and more miss than hit -- at least for take out.
The spicy mock duck can range to be almost as good as Downtown's mock duck (never quite as flavorful or spicy) to horribly dried out and crispy/burned. The crust has also been an issue for me, over half the time it's undercooked so it is wafer-thin, kind of soggy and not very tasty. Once in a while, I'll get a fully cooked crust which is awesome and so so good.
The rinotta is pretty spot-on, my only complaint is the same with Downtown's Luce: the application of rinotta can range from thick and awesome to sparse and uneven.
I tried the vegan cheese bread in-restaurant once at this location, and it was fine -- gooey and melted and tasty which is all you could ask for in vegan cheese bread.
I just get the feeling that this location doesn't have enough vegan orders or vegan employees to understand the art of the vegan pizza. More than once I've encountered a completely confused response when trying to order a pizza "vegan", something I don't do except at places like Luce where the word should be understood.
Despite the lackluster food I've gotten, I go back again and again and again. Why? Because it's so freaking close to my house and even the crappiest Pizza Luce is 20-bazillion times better than any other cheeseless pizza I can get without going to Minneapolis.
Overall, I go here when I'm lazy but for what I believe is the best Luce -- Downtown Mpls still wins over all the other locations.
Finally went here after months of consideration. I simply don't frequent many chain restaurants and don't give them my time. However, it's nice to have a vegan and meat-friendly place to visit with omnivorous family/friends.
All the pastas are vegan, according to a few sources, including our server. Also, I trust this source: http://www.vegblog.org/archive/2005/10/19/macaroni-grills-vegan-options for a few ideas.
We had the peasant bread (vegan) with olive oil and cracked black pepper. We both had make your own pasta: I had bowtie pasta with arrabiatta sauce, asparagus, sun dried tomatoes and roasted red peppers. My companion had fettucini with arrabiatta sauce, roasted garlic cloves, sun dried tomatoes and pine nuts. We requested no cheese, no butter, in case of unknown garnishes or preparation of food.
All in all, a carb-tastic meal. Not the absolute finest in the Twin Cities, however, an excellent cheap and easy meal to share with omnivores on a night out such as dinner and a movie at Rosedale. Or just shopping.
EDIT: So I revisited this place and I still LOVE the Mock Duck Tacos (aka "mockos"). If you order the entree, the dressing on the salad is not vegan, but you can order with no dressing and chimichurri sauce instead. After speaking with the head chef, he informed me that the chile relleno can be made vegan if ordered without cheese.
We also learned that the base for fried rice is made ahead of time, so while it is possible to get some made from scratch without egg, it may not be the best choice. I am not sure about other sauces yet, such as the stir fry. I don't really care, though, as I just want more "mockos."
Mmm, just ate here a couple weekends ago and I was reminded of how darn tasty the breakfast is.
Super Red-Green Tofu Earth is my fave. So much broccoli, potatoes, tofu, yummmmmy. And the whole order is SO MUCH FOOD! I forgot until I got my plate piled with food.
I totally want to go back again soon. Tofu Mock Muffins and Biscuits and Gravy are calling my name.
As other reviewers have said, the food is good, just not amazing.
I had the cauliflower and carrot dish. It was tasty but not awesome. It really hit the spot, though. I always forget how good cooked carrots and cauliflower are. I'll definitely try the other dishes in the veggie section, and maybe there is a hidden winner.
The best vegan nacho cheese EVER. I try to think of a way to include a side of nacho cheese in everything I eat.
I also really like the vegan mac and cheese, the mock duck sandwich and the mock duck salad. The vegan sub is awesome, and they always have a vegan soup.
One of the best dishes is the Cook's Revenge. Do not order this when they are super busy, your chances of getting a ridiculous meal goes up exponentially. I've ordered it at least 100 times, and only 5 dishes were awful. Some of the most fantastic food comes from the Cook's Revenge. I've had vegan gyros, one time I got three giant plates filled with vegan breakfast food including a ton of pancakes and I've had an excellent taco bowl, to name a few. Some people have complained because all they got was a PB&J for $8, but that's the chance you take, it's part of the fun.
The breakfast is okay. The tofu scrambler is good depending on the cook. The vegan French Toast is ok. Honestly, the best part about breakfast at the Triple Rock is the fact that you can drink at 10 am. I like the Seward's selection of vegan breakfast much more.
It's just awesome to have so many vegan options while out at the bar. No one does greasy American bar food vegan-style better.
Excellent food. I tried the onion bhaji, which had a good flavor, but were too soggy. I also tried the samosas and pakoora, which were both quite tasty. The samosas had an excellent flaky crust.
I had a spicy okra dish, which was really tasty. My fiance had a lentil dish, which again had some great flavors. Another companion had this amzingly gigantic "crepe" with potatoes and veggies in it. Excellent. The garlic nan was probably one of my favorite parts of the meal. It was so fresh and fluffy and lots of garlic.
Everything on the menu was clearly marked whether or not it could be vegan, and the service was wonderful. I definitely want to go back and try some more dishes and also to support an all vegetarian restaurant.
The food here isn't bad. In fact, I had the Kung Pao Tofu with fried tofu and it was quite tasty and big enough to share with my companion. Under the vegetarian selections, there is a category where they allow you to sub tofu for meat in many of their dishes. The waiter assured me that the sauce would be fish and meat broth free.
However, the potstickers had a very thick wrapper and were not that great. Plus, they came out 15-20 minutes *after* our entree and the waiter tried to lie to us by saying that he asked us if it was ok, which he didn't. I don't have an issue with appetizers coming late, just don't try to lie to the customer by blaming them.
If I only had the potstickers and the rude waiter, I would have hated this place, but the entree saved the day.
A few years ago I went to this restaurant and had the most amazing salt and pepper deep fried tofu. I was still craving it 3 years later, but much to my disappointment they no longer had it on the menu.
However, they added some of the most delicious tofu-lettuce cups I've ever had! Diced tofu and veggies in a sweet glaze of some sort. Messy to eat, but worth it.
I also had the braised tofu, which was a soup-entree consisting of bok choy, *lots* of oyster mushrooms, braised tofu, and a few other veggies. The waitstaff was very friendly and seemed comfortable with "strict vegetarian" and assured us the food would not have any fish/oyster sauce or meat broth in it.
The dish was so-so, I think the broth they used was too overwhelming with mushroom flavor and made me a little queasy. Then again, it could have been that I hadn't had a real meal in a long time and had been living off of alcohol (thanks, Vegas). The lettuce cups were fantastic, though.
I've never had the sushi here, but there is only one veggie roll on the menu, so I feel as though I'm not missing much. A little on the expensive side, but I'll keep coming back whenever I'm in town for a quick bite to share with a friend.
Jul 20 07
The food here was average to below average. There was an impressive amount and variety of vegetables as well as tofu available.
While it was nice that the waitress allowed me to peruse the ingredient list of all the sauces, I was disappointed to see so many with eggs or dairy that I would not normally think should have those ingredients.
The overall price is too expensive in my opinion. While it is an unlimited buffet, I don't know if I'd ever be able to go up more than once. This would be a great place to go with a bunch of omnivores and picky kids, though.