FayReyes
Reviews written by FayReyes
As far as food goes, this is my favorite vegan restaurant in Portland. The food is creative and healthy and you genuinely feel good after your meal. The downside is the dining "room" is approximately the size of a postage stamp so you are on top of your neighbors and yet when they are busy, they really seem to struggle to get the food out in a timely fashion. I do find the creamy and cheezy foods to be VERY rich, and the cheese doesn't really have the savoury or intense quality that I like cheese to have. (And, yes, I *have* had fake cheese that manages to capture that.) I also agree with one of the other comments here that many of the items on the menu are easily recreated at home and therefore somewhat unexciting. (For instance: the bowls, which are really good, but I always feel like I'm wasting my money when I buy them because I know how to make the same kind of thing at home.)
I don't know if I came here on a bad day or what but I found the food to be really bland and unexciting. Even though I love soup, the tasters I was given of each of the soups of the day were totally uninspiring. My soup and sandwich were tasty, but nothing I couldn't have whipped up at home. However, the people sitting at the next table over from me were literally in raptures about how amazing the food was so it's possible I just ordered the wrong thing. Or that my standards are too high from Real Food Daily in L.A. (where they make everything fresh on the premises, including their fake cheeses and fake meats).
Tube exemplifies everything I love about Portland. Where else do bars serve vegan bar food?? My favorite thing to do is buy myself a vegan donut at VooDoo Donuts a block away, then have it for dessert AFTER whatever I eat at Tube. The only drag is that smoking is allowed inside so if it bothers you, you have to get there early. I haven't stayed for the DJ yet but I hear they play a fantastic mix of music.
I thought the food was slightly better than average cafeteria food. You know, the kind of food you might get at an airport or on campus or something. They seemed to use a lot of processed (packaged fake meats and cheeses versus homemade) which I don't think of as being particularly healthy. I only had the lunch buffet - the veggies were overcooked (or perhaps victims of the heat lamp), the mac and cheese tasted awful (combination of dry due to the heat lamp and that plasticky flavor that fake cheeses sometime have) but the spelt biscuit with mushroom gravy was pretty tasty. It's definitely nice to have a vegan option for inexpensive food downtown, though.
I've just moved to the Portland area and so far this is the best place for vegan comfort food. The food can be a little bit heavy - definitely not lo-cal or particularly healthy - but I really like the service and the ambience. A very pleasant, casual environment. I really like the variety of food available here. Keep in mind, though, that it is not a vegetarian restaurant so remember to order vegan if you want vegan food. (I.e. if you ask for a side of bacon, you'll get the real deal and not the fakin' kind.)
Oct 31 07
This is, hands down, my favorite vegan restaurant in L.A. I just moved to Portland and one of the only things I miss is RFD! Having tried many other vegan restaurants (particularly in the Portland area, where there are more of them) I really have learned to appreciate the fact that everything you eat at RFD is made fresh on the premises - the fake meats, the fake cheeses, everything. It makes a HUGE difference in the flavor of the food. I may stuff myself silly when I eat at RFD, but I never feel sick afterwards, which is not something I can say for most other vegan restaurants that serve similar types of food. What I miss most are the mashed potatoes and (crack) gravy, the different Mexican style dishes (with the amazing cashew cheese) and the Sunday brunch which is ridiculous. (I don't even understand how they can make an OMELET that actually has the look and texture of a real omelet but without the eggs!)