____________________________________________________

Date: April 13, 2007
Times Visited: 5

Vegan Gamers, Rejoice!

A few months back, I heard about a new vegan and vegetarian menu at Backspace Cafe, an internet cafe, art gallery and gaming spot downtown. It’s a bit of a long walk for me to go for lunch, and I already have a default coffeeshop, Red & Black cafe, so I didn’t prioritize my visit. However, once I had read the online menu after hearing a glowing review from a friend, I had to go. You see, the menu features multiple field roast sandwiches, a grilled tofu sandwich, vegan Hot Lips pizza, quesadillas and perhaps best of all – no substitution price for vegan cheez!

My dining partner and I both ordered the ‘Steak’ sandwich on my second visit. Served on baguette, it contains pepperocini, wild mushroom field roast, grilled onions & peppers with rosemary and basil vegenaise. First off, if you haven’t tried field roast yet, give it a go! It’s based out of Seattle, and is not meant to be a ‘bologna’ substitute, but a herb, vegetarian and grain based variation on seitan. It’s something that’s featured on many Seattle menus, but I can’t think of anywhere else in Portland that offers this.

Back to the sandwich: though I had mine without onions and my partner left the pepperocini off of his, we were both immensely satisfied by this meal. Every bite of this sandwich is flavorful – tangy, savoury, herby, and on great bread – even at $7, I could not ask for more. We also shared an order of the basic cheez quesadillas ($3.50). If you’re not one for soy cheese (Follow Your Heart, I think in this case), you may want to skip it, or at least upgrade to the black beans and spinach variation. However, if you’re into soy cheese, don’t pass these up. They’re cheap, melty, filling and the salsa is just spicy enough.

I think the food is top notch for a cafe, the atmosphere is nice and spacious, plus there are multiple boards games as well as computer stations, yet I have one issue with Backspace – I’ve gone 4 times now, and there is always quite a wait for food. At a cafe, you might not expect to wait 20+ minutes for your sandwich, so it’s something to keep in mind. -JD

The Hot Lips Pizza is “single serving” (though it was two pieces too many for me) pizza cooked on site. The pizza changes daily but I was lucky enough to have one packed full of roasted garlic (almost a full bulb) caramelized onions, fancy mushrooms and other wonderful flavors. The price of the single ingredients of the pizza were well worth the $9 price. On top of that we were in an entertaining cafe with Stumptown Coffee, Viso and other great Portland drinks.

My favorite sandwich by far is the sausage and pepper sandwich, minus peppers. They use Field Roast apple sage sausage, cut in half and cover with grilled onions (and peppers if you swing that way). It was so tasty that even my animal-sausage-loving dining companion was impressed by the taste. The sandwich alone was $7, a true deal for such expensive, tasty vegan sausage.

It’s important to note that Backspace neighbor, Someday Lounge, has similar choices in food options. -WB

EDIT:

The backspace menu is Seasonal and may change. The 2007 Summer menu includes The Grinder and the Club, plus many more.

Vegan Jack and Cheddar Cheez Quesidilla with salsa verde

Steak Sandwich with Pepperocini, minus the onions

Steak Sandwich minus the Pepperocini

Sausage and Pepper Sandwich, minus the peppers:

The Grinder

NEW – Club Vegan

NEW – The Caesar with Spinach

NEW – BBQ Setain Wrap

Rating: 4 out of 5
Address: 115 NW 5th St. Portland, OR
Food Served Daily, 11am – 11pm

Thoughts from the Stumptown Vegans:

I have two basic hopes when visiting a raw restaurant:

1. Creative, complex presentations.
2. Fresh ingredients. If the kitchen uses tomatoes I wouldn’t want on my sandwich, there’s a big problem.

When I walked into the 118° Restaurant, I was immediately content with how calm it was. It wasn’t a laid back emptiness that’s pierced with sporadic sounds of a juicer, either.  It was a small, serene environment, with a lot of quiet, date-like conversations for a lunch time visit.  It reminded me of Tao of Tea on SE Belmont in Portland – a running waterfall would not have been out-of-place. After a short wait, where I perused the printed information on cooking classes on the counter and the selection of raw cookies and crackers, , I was seated by a very courteous and hip waiter.

118 Raw has a full menu of appetizers, soups, entrees, combinations, steamed almond milk and coffee beverages, tea, and wine selections. I’ve recently noticed a mild allergy to almonds, and my waiter had a great knowledge of the menu concerning allergens, and even double-checked my order with the kitchen. I started with a large cup of rousing green tea and ordered the Taste of Italy plate ($15 combination plate), with the lasagna option (as opposed to the raw pizza). I have a hard time resisting Italian offerings, and 2/3 of this plate did not prove my instincts wrong. The Caesar didn’t skip a beat with its lack of a creamy dressing – the chewy, caper and sun-dried tomato flake adorned greens were fantastic, especially with occasional bites of perfectly fresh avocado.  I never would have thought to put avocado in a Caesar, and now I know better. While the lasagna packaged a whole lot of impressively creamy, macadamia nut sauce, layered with thin strips of zucchini, and even more cream with a sun-dried-tomato sauce on top, the overall sweetness and lack of diversity in the lasagna vegetables left me with just that, bite after bite of sweet cream. Not so savoury Italian. The stuffed cremini mushrooms, on the other hand, were amazing. They were appeared marinated, stuffed with a rich pistachio pesto, and more the sun-dried tomato cream sauce. In this case, it was welcomed in contrast to the salty filling, and earthy base. I have honestly never been so confident in the raw culinary arts as I have been with those mushrooms.

If you’re in the Costa Mesa area and looking for a spot for a refreshing lunch of dinner date, and engaging conversation, I’d highly recommend 118° Raw.

Taste of Italy

Green Tea

The Strip

The Stumptown Vegans Travel!

If you have visited WaterCourse in Denver, CO, you’ve probably heard of City O City, a sister vegetarian restaurant. City O City has more than great coffee and baked goods from this little storefront; they have a full menu including pizza, sandwiches, and other American foods. But that’s only half the menu: the other half, another four pages, contains a long list of beer, wine, and other alcohol drinks.

The cafe portion of City O City is a small, standing room only, cafe with baked goods displayed in refrigerated cases and a full service espresso bar.  The restaurant and bar area is a large, dimly lit space filled with free-standing tables, some with booths and bar seating.

City O City is probably best known for 3 three things: the baked goods, the pizza, and the seitan wings. Most items on the all vegetarian menu can be made vegan including the pizzas.  Their housemade vegan cheese is a simple cashew cheese, which is more like sauce.

I started with the $8 Seitan Wings, from the “To Start” section of the menu, choosing a split plate of both the Buffalo and Teryaki with ranch dipping sauce. The tender strips of seitan were fried before being generously coated in their respective sauces. The Buffalo sauce made its presence known before being consumed.  A whiff of cayenne and vinegar entered my nasal passage and I’d be a liar if I said my eyes didn’t water! I braced myself and bit in.  Frying the seitan didn’t have the crunch I was expecting, but rather, it helped to firm the tender finger-length strips of wheat meat.  As for the heat, it wasn’t as bad as I expected, it was the vinegar that made my eyes water. In fact, I would imagine those who love spicy foods might want to add additional hot sauce, which is available on the table. This isn’t to say my lips weren’t burning, but a plate of the Buffalo wings alone would be too much for this spice wimp. The Teryaki sauce was the favorite of the two.  It had a little bit of heat, but the sweet and salty flavors were both mild in spice and bold in combination.

Next up was The Sherman, an $8.50 sandwich from the “Hand Held” menu. This is a dry rub tofu sandwich topped with coleslaw on a house made sweet potato bun. The frozen, then thawed tofu had a nice crust of Carolina dry rub BBQ seasoning. The blend of spices can only be described as tasting like a Bar-B-Que picnic. Combined with a green chili relish, crunchy purple cabbage slaw, and a fresh-baked sweet potato roll, I couldn’t help but think of a summer time back yard BBQ meal. This sandwich was sweet, savory, smooth, and crunchy – all in one.

The City O City offers pizzas ranging from a vegetarian ‘meat lovers’, called Animal Lovers, to a ranch and spinach pizza.  The 10″ pizzas range from $9-11.  Of course, you can choose your own from a wide variety of sauces, cheeses, and toppings.  I opted for an unique pizza – La Michelle, with a fig base topped with sun-dried tomatoes, capers, and rosemary. The fig base didn’t bring the sweetness I expected. Instead, the tangy capers paired with the sun-dried tomatoes and rosemary, melded together with the house made cashew cheese sauce to touch each taste bud on my tongue. The crust was thin, cooked enough to hold up the minimal toppings, but not enough to provide a crunch that would have worked well the “pop” of the capers and the creaminess of the cashew cheese.

All of their beautiful baked goods are made by WaterCourse Bakery.  It was hard to resist one, so I went with th HoHo.  When I think of Ho Hos, I think of a rolled cake with cream filling coated with ganche. Their Ho Ho Cupcake is a large chocolate cupcake with the top cut off spread with a vanilla cream layer, and dark chocolate ganache on top. Not the same, but still very good. The chocolate cake was dense, but moist, without much crumb, and brownie-like in taste. The vanilla filling was light and fluffy without too much sweetness. I enjoyed the mild sweetness of the frosting because it allowed the sweetness of the chocolate cake to come though. I only wish I had tried more of their baked goods.

My two favorite things about City O City are that they support local and organic farmers and that they are not afraid of unique combinations to bring bold flavors to their menu options. While I typically opt for a simple dish of greens, garlic, and Braggs – City O City helps me reach out to combine sweet, salty, savory, bitter, and sour for an amazing combination of tastes.

Next time you’re in Denver, do not choose between City O City and WaterCouse, or another vegetarian restaurant, find a way to visit both of these delicious restaurants.

Inside:

Seitan Wings:

La Michelle Pizza:

Tofu Dry Rub Sandwich:

Ho Ho Cupcake:

Ho Ho Cupcake, inside:

~

How many times have you heard Portlanders discuss Indian cuisine, and nothing comes up besides the Chaat Houses? No offense to the Chaat Houses (team BCH!), but vegans are always on the lookout for new vegan options. The latest addition, Dwaraka, knows how to skip the ghee while offering dosas, an array of pakoras, entrees, and a vegan-friendly lunch buffet.

Dwaraka Indian Cuisine opened on Hawthorne Boulevard at SE 40th this past Spring. It is located on a short strip of restaurants in an old Pakistani restaurant location, alongside Mio Sushi, No Fish! Go Fish! and Portland’s Pampered Pets The restaurant is quiet; minimally, yet comfortably lit, and mildly air-conditioned. The aroma of Indian cuisine casually fills the room. These factors, along with a very welcoming wait staff, contribute to an ambiance that’s both date night and family friendly. I’m partial to the seating out front, where a couple of tables overlook a busy area that’s sure to gather even more activity once New Seasons opens in the fall of 2010.

The first course to arrive when you are seated is the complimentary Papadums. These paper-thin discs are airy and lightly spiced with cumin seeds. They should be dipped into two of the table-side jars of chutney: the tomato and coconut.  There is a third, mint chutney, but I was warned by both staff and a friend that this contains dairy. If you like black pepper and tomato, go for the highly spiced tomato chutney. If you’ve always wondered what would happen if coconut milk fell into your hummus, the creamy, coconut chickpea sauce is for you. Really, go for some of each on alternate spoonings. Perhaps you’d like to intermingle the two.

Dwaraka’s entire menu features North and South Indian cuisine, and Tandoori specialties. Most vegetarian entrees can be made vegan, excluding anything deliberately including dairy, such as paneer dishes.  Across the board, it is imperative to let your server know you are vegan as there are exceptions to vegan-friendliness. Fortunately, the staff is confidently knowledgeable, and notified my dining parties that outside the paneer entrees, sadly – the Samosas, Crepes with Cream of Wheat, and Naan are all not vegan.  In regards to the Naan, house-baked whole wheat Parathas can be substituted for $1 in its place.  Not fun to spend an extra $1, but an option, in addition to rice. The staff has also been extremely helpful in pointing out what is, or can be, modified as gluten-free.

Now, what to get? Dwaraka’s immediate pull are their Dosas. And by pull, I mean, I justified review research by ordering them twice in a row. For those unaware, here is the description from Dwaraka’s online menu: “Dosas are crepes made with different lentils and flours stuffed with vegetable curry”. As if being a naturally gluten-free vegan crepe wasn’t enough, you have a savory Indian filling to look forward to. I recommend the Masala Dosa and Andhra Masala Dosa ($5 & $6.50). Both are gigantic, substantial folds of crepe with a moderately spiced and salty potato filling in the middle, with sautéed peas, carrots, onions, and other vegetables. The filling is clearly reminiscent of what’s inside a hot samosa.  The actual crepe is substantial, and again, gigantic, which works to your advantage if you decide to share or take leftovers home. Break off pieces like you would with injera at an Ethiopian restaurant, or use your fork and knife to dig in and cherish. Whatever way, dip your pieces into the accompanying bowl of salty Sambar lentil soup. On one occasion, this soup was rather spicy; on another, it was milder; both were warming and enjoyable.

The Dwaraka Combo Platter ($7.95) is an appealing deal. It is vegan, gluten-free, and comes with the Masala Dosa, one Idli, one Vada, and the Sambar soup. Combos are great for versatility, but a bite of each new side item was enough for me. The kindest thing I can say about the curious Idli, a round, saucer-shaped rice dumpling, was that I would consider immersing it in Sambar in the future. The rest I can say, is that it was plain, crumbly, and rather uninteresting. If I simply don’t know how to eat this, please let me know! The fried Vada lentil “donuts” had a nice, crisped shell, and savoury inside, but too much unbeknownst green onion for my palate.  A dining companion, however, was rather into them.

Another side option are the Pakoras, from the Appetizers section. These fried treats are battered in dough that’s once again, airy, yet crisp. There’s a touch of sweetness, and they avoid suffering from extra grease, like many deep-fried items do. Every variety I’ve sampled has been a winner, especially the tender pieces of eggplant ($4.25). The accompanying small bowl of tamarind sauce is also sweet, but subdued. The portion of sauce is small for friends to share, so be sure to ask for more if you’re dining family style.

The restaurant’s beverage menu includes standard sodas, Chai tea (request vegan, if possible), Madras coffee, wine, and a very decent selection of domestic and Indian beers. On my first visit, our charming server casually recommended another beer to a friend based on his prior ordering selection.

Since the move of India Oven to SE Belmont, Dwaraka Indian Cuisine now offers the most-vegan friendly Indian cuisine on SE Hawthorne.

Perhaps one day, I can look past the dosas and consider entrees, but for the time being I’ll say this: For the love of dosas in the Northwest, independent restaurants, and satisfying pakoras anywhere, check it out.

Exterior

Papadum and Table-side Chutney

Spinach Pakoras

Eggplant Pakoras

Aloo Gobi, A La Carte

Dosa combo

Masala Dosa

Inside the dosa

Whole Wheat Paratha

~

From the Stumptown Vegans Travel Log

Location

In 2008, My Thai Vegan Cafe moved into the second floor restaurant space above Pho Pasteur at the corner of Beach and Washington in Boston’s Chinatown. Prior to that, the space was occupied by a long-standing favorite of the veg-community, Buddha’s Delight (which it seems like would move downstairs, and then back up, every few years, but that’s a whole other story and part of this reviewer’s college memories).   Adding a bit more history to this dramatic back-story, My Thai first opened in a former Buddha’s Delight location in Brookline.  This original location closed in 2009. Both establishments were part of Boston’s vegetarian dining history.

Entering the current My Thai includes walking up one of the creakiest staircases I’ve ever experienced. It’s the type of stairs, regardless of being just one floor up, that would give your non-vegan family just cause to likely never visit the restaurant again. The dining area is quite calming, in contrast. I wouldn’t call it ambiance, but I would slightly credit the large room and the glimpse into the city below.

The Food

My Thai’s entirely vegan menu features 10 lunch specials of Thai and Vietnamese influence for $6.95-$7.50.  I won’t go into detail about the rest of the menu, as this is a New England based travel review specifically about a lunch special.

The restaurant was empty on a Friday afternoon for a late lunch.  The server approached quickly to fill my water and take my order. I chose the Pad Thai lunch special with vegan chicken.  The two-course lunch started with a minor oddity – my waitress did not seem to know what my request for “medium heat”, or “spicy” was about. I had to second guess myself if that was a freakish request on the East Coast. The first course to my table was the Soup of the Day, which actually contained a nice level of slowly increasing heat, one spoonful at a time. It had a light, red curry tinged broth with cubes of firm tofu and sliced vegetables. The vegetables were just cooked enough to stand up in a soup, unlike the soups of the day where soggy vegetables may have entered days before.

All lunch specials at My Thai come with a complimentary side, and I chose the vegetable dumplings. The two medium-sized dumplings served alongside my entrée were pan-fried, stuffed with a savory protein filling, and served with a generous amount of sweet dipping sauce. I was left with the impression that these were stuffed in-house, due to the custom folding. The Pad Thai itself was presently greatly, topped with fresh bean sprouts and christened with a slice of lime and crushed peanuts.  Flavor was another matter. The ample serving of hot rice noodles, a bit of garnish, and slices of soy chicken was reminiscent of a Pad Thai requested vegan at many omnivorous restaurants – incredibly bland.  It was missing sauciness and any heat whatsoever.  I can recall squeezing every last drop out of the lime! I can’t credit the addition of soy chicken strips, because those too, was odd, with a strangely burnt aftertaste.

In a city that shares the glory of Grasshopper in Allston, the recently closed but impressive raw dishes of Grezzo, and growing pride of Peace O’Pie, my lunch at My Thai was a real lackluster experience.

However, as all vegan alternative conveniently located downtown, I would be up for giving it another try.  Any recommendations?

House Soup

Pad Thai Lunch Special with dumplings

Exterior

The developing population of Southern style restaurants into Portland has brought more vegan options to this not-so-obvious genre with Miss Delta, Bye and Bye, and Delta Cafe, among others.   This is no different at The Fixin’ To – Vegan options abound!  If you can get past the odd name, then make your way to St. John’s and squeeze past the awkward entrance and try some of their vegan junk food bar food.

When you enter into the Fixin’ To, you are forced to belly up to the bar since it’s located feet from the entrance. From there you either go right to grab a table in the dimly lit dining area, or take a left and head outside to the partially covered patio.  The interior dining area is a smallish area with a variety of comfortable booths and tables that seems to be arranged differently each time this reviewer visits. But the tvs on the walls are always showing the latest game, but The Fixin’ To doesn’t have a sport bar feel.  This is the place for the more casual sports fan.  The fenced, private, outside dining area is twice as big as the interior and the heat lamps even make it a comfortable option in the colder months.  The high fence, made of old doors, and the crunchy pea stone ground cover will take you to a place where time stands still and all that matters is your current experience.

The menu is small with the vegan items clearly listed: Bean Dip, Hail Seitan Sandwich, Chicken Dumplings, Frito Pie, and The St. John’s Chili Bucket.  All are comfort foods that should be consumed with a stiff drink served in a mason jar, or with a cheap tall boy.  The lemonade, with or without booze, will help get you in the mood for some grub.  The drink menu is not listed on their website, so a visit is a must.

The Frito Pie ($6) is more like Frito nachos.  A pile of Fritos are topped with chili, lettuce, and tomatoes.  A fork is required to consume this mess of a plate. The chili beans and sauce are spiced with a flavorful but mild heat seasoning well so it does not need anything else to make this dish whole, unless you like it super hot, then grab the hot sauce.  There is no need to expedite consuming these Southern nachos to avoid sogginess because the Fritos are firm enough to hold their crunch for awhile.  The lettuce and tomatoes on top do a nice job at making a stick-to-your-ribs meal feel lighter.

The most unappealingly named dish on the menu, The St. John’s Chili Bucket, ($7) is much better  than the name implies.  Is it just me – but a bucket of anything from St. John’s just sounds suspicious.  In fact, the dish is smaller than a bucket.  A shallow bowl containing a soggy corn bread, aka corn pudding, is topped with the same vegan chili used for the Frito Pie.  The corn pudding tasted a bit old with stale corn and jalapeno chunks among the dense pudding cake.  Since the chili is only medium in thickness, it works well with another element like the Fritos or corn pudding.  However, even if this dish was fresh, I do not think it would be a favorite of mine because of the consistency of the mushy corn pudding.

The Chicken Dumplings ($7) contain The Fixin’ To’s wonderfully tender housemae seitan in a soupy gravy that is poured over some very tender dumplings.  Again, it’s  a consistency issue for this reviewer – perhaps I am not a fan of dishes where the sauce, or in this case, gravy, is mixed with a soft central item.  The gravy tasted great with a strong pepper and thyme flavor.  The few pieces of seitan really made the meal, but only left me wanting more seitan.  A serving of dirty rice would make this dish better to enjoy the remaining gravy, but this isn’t an option at the Fixin To.  If you’re a dumpling connoisseur, please, let us know your thoughts.

The menu item I will continue to order time and time again is the Hail Seitan Sandwich ($9).  Tender housemade seitan is marinated in a bourbon BBQ sauce and served with cabbage on an onion roll.  The menu notes the cabbage is actually a cirtus apple slaw, but the power of the BBQ sauce over-powered every other taste, which I could not complain about. Because the BBQ sauce had a deep, warm flavor of tomato, bourbon, and cayanne, it worked in contrast to the cool and crisp cabbage.  The seitan is tender without the chewy, rubbery, or even the too bready texture that some other restaurants in town serve.  The way The Fixin’ To’s seitan seems to melt in your mouth with the great bourbon BBQ sauce makes it a little too dangerous because you can eat the whole thing before even knowing it’s gone!

The Fixin’ To’s service is friendly and quick.  I don’t think I’ve ever waited more than 10 minutes, even on a busy night.  The laid back atmosphere will have you coming back for the stiff drinks and the tender seitan and to hang out with friends on their back patio for long summer nights.  Dishes range from $7-9, with the vegan items being cheaper than the the others.

Frito Pie:

Chicken Dumplings:

Chili Bucket:

Hail Seitan Sandwich:

We’ve painstakingly compiled this listing of 25 Great Vegan Foods for $7 or Less in Portland, OR

All items are $7 or less!   They are listed in no particular order.

We purposely stayed away from happy hours deals, where some of these items may be even less expensive!  Check out our podcast with full item descriptions and more rants & raves here.

This is modeled after recent similar listings by Willamette Week and ExtraMSG, except this time – it’s all vegan! We’ve included links to our prior reviews and restaurant websites on the list below.

25 Great Vegan Foods for $7 or Less:

1. Steak and Cheese at D.C. Vegetarian $5
2. Vegan Club at Backspace $7
3. Small plate at Portobello Vegan Trattoria (i.e. Italian Sausage stuffed Ravioli with Daiya and Broccoli Raab) $7
4. Misoyaki Eggplant at Miho Izakaya $6
5. Vegan Apple Fritter at VooDoo Doughnuts $2.25
6. Maple Sausage Waffle at Flavourspot $5
7. Vegan slice at Dove Vivi $3.75
8. Broadway Bowl at Native Bowl $6 for Regular
9. Tofu Salad Bun at Pho PDX $7
10. Falafel Sandwich at Hush Hush $5.50
11. Red Red at Asaase Ital Palace $6
12. Lunch Special (entree, summer roll, drink) at Thai Basil cart $5
13. Fries and dip at Potato Champion $3.50 regular, $4.50 large
14. Frito Pie at Fixin’ To $7
15. The Jade Abbot at The Ruby Dragon $4.50, single
16. Chicken Salad Sub at D.C. Vegetarian $5
17. Lunch Buffet at Green Wok $6.50
18. NoPo Burrito at Proper Eats $6.50
19. Tempeh Things (buffalo or bbq) at The Mash Tun Brewpub $6.95
20. Pad Thai at Thai Food Cafe $7
21. Big Lunch Special at Bombay Chaat House $5
22. Biscuits & Gravy special at Sweetpea Baking Co.
23. Fried Pie at Whiffies Fried Pies $3-4
24. Wok Bar at New Seasons $6.95
25. Weeping Tiger Sandwich at The Bye & Bye $7

Honorable Mentions:

• Taqueria Los Gorditos – the cart and taqueria. We’re shocked neither of us included an option and expected the other to – we just couldn’t decide on which excellent item! Nachos? Torta? Soy Curl Mulita?
• Vegan Eggplant and Cashew Tofu Stir Fries at Just Thai $5 – This cart is sweet, very vegan attentive and happy to include extra vegetables!
• Anything from Sip!
• Spaghetti with Gravy or Spicy Soba Noodles at Yarp?! $4-6
• Field Roast sandwich at East Side Deli
• Biscuits & Almond Gravy at Vita Cafe and Paradox Cafe $3-5
• Side of Organic Smash Coconut Yams at Papa G’s $3.85
• Everything else that’s slipping our minds!

This is not a definitive listing of the BEST offerings out there, simply 25 great suggestions we’ve tried in the recent past.

Do you agree with any of this?  Let us know & please share your favorites!

Check out our full podcast here. You can also subscribe via Itunes.

Looking for more recommendations? For an older list be sure to check out our May 2008 podcast on Cheap Food in Portland for $5 or less. Many of these may be out dated, but some are still relevant.

Some photographic evidence of said 25 Great Vegan Foods:

Ravioli Small Plate at Portobello Vegan Trattoria $7

Apple Fritter VooDoo Doughtnut $2.25

The Jade Abbot at Ruby Dragon $4.50

Red Red from Asaase Ital Palace cart $6

New Season’s Wok Bar $6.95

Regular Cone at Potato Champion! $3.50

Hush Hush Falafel Sandwich $5.50

Chicken Pad Thai at Thai Food Cafe $7

Frito Pie from Fixin’ To $7

Big Lunch Special from Bombay Chaat House $5

Whiffies Fried Pie – cherry chocolate chip $3 (Photo by Lucas DeShazer)

Steak & Cheese from D.C. Vegetarian $5

Chicken Salad Sandwich from D.C. Vegetarian $5

Lunch Special from Thai Basil Cart $5

Misoyaki Eggplant at Miho Izakaya $6

Tofu Salad Bun at Pho PDX $7

Buffalo Tempeh Things at Mash Tun $6.95

Club Backspace from Backspace $7

Biscuits & Gravy at Vita Cafe $3-5

Special at Taqueria Los Gorditos

Spaghetti with Gravy (Tomato Sauce) and Veggies at Yarp?! $6

Updated 12/11/2009 – New Daily Specials Menu –

I have experienced Tofufuffalo and thrown down my 40 cents a tofu wing.

And it is great. They have Spicy (Frank’s Red Hot style) and BBQ. At first I was digging the Spicy, but then BBQ won out.  It seemed to be the overall favorite among my friends, but mingling the two was also quite popular.  They’re basically strips of chewy, defrosted tofu, fried and smothered in sauce.  Can’t go wrong there.  Vegan ranch available for dipping! The new sensation has arrived.

UPDATED 8/24/09 – Menu Additions!

Years ago it was Paradox, but in the past year, Hungry Tiger Too has become my default “vegan diner” spot. I’m still sore over Paradox’s booth removal and expansion anyway, sorry!

Obviously, there’s a large separate vegan menu – the blue one.  They’ve recently added home fries, a BBQ tempeh sandwich, a Portabello mushroom scramble, Rosemary tofu skewers and a couple other items.

I never consider the multiple boca burger options, but it’s cool to choose from sizable scrambles, greasy sides, sandwiches, salads and appetizers like nachos and the dear squash filled wontons, a full bar, $4 Mimosas, vegan friendly bloody Marys, and huge vegan pancakes for $3.  It took me until this past weekend, appropriately after the Vegan Prom, to try one, and I’ve seen the light.  They come as a side option to scrambles or $3 individually.

I know you can find corn cakes to drown in maple syrup in this town, and I like the wheat free Chai Blueberry pancake at Jam well enough, but I’m usually wary to order vegan pancakes.  When I want pancakes, I want the eggy, fluffy pancakes from diners in New York that I grew up eating, not grainy corn cakes.

But here I am, recommending HT2′s fantastically giant vegan pancake, taking up an entire plate just like they do at real diners, with a lop of vegan margarine and a mini pitcher of maple syrup.  I don’t know if it’s the real stuff, or even 50% real stuff, but it does its job.  Can I please have a late night and then eat a pancake?  Sure!

I’m not forgetting the whole fried corndog thing with $1 (all vegan!) corndog and Pabst night; I just don’t want to eat them. I do go for the fun of it every few weeks, squeezing into the bar or showing up early to grab a table on the restaurant side.  One day a friend of mine will go for the glory to entertain me…

UPDATED 1/20/2009 – Quick Notes

The Hungry Tiger Too now has a regular menu, and a 2 page vegan menu.  Wednesdays are $1 vegan corn dog nights!  Fridays are $1 off vegan entree (excluding breakfasts).  Happy hour offers cheap vegan and side dish selections, like $4 vegan nachos smothered in cheezy sauce.

Sandwiches now come with housemade chips or slaw, and fries or tots are extra.  Sad, but true – and we hear good things about the chips.

The mac and cheeze is now $9.50 or so – and it hasn’t looked as cheezy as it used to.  On the other hand, the nacho cheeze went from being an oily, not so flavorful sauce to being a more than decent cheezy sauce I’m willing to pay for.

Times Visited: Too Many to Count!

The Hungry Tiger Too is more evidence to the fact that SE Portland and Veganism are BFFs. It’s gaining notice for keys reasons – local ads mention “VEGAN OPTIONS”, it’s within a couple blocks of everyone’s favorite vegan mini mall, and it’s the new existence of the now defunct but popular Hungry Tiger dive bar on East Burnside.

One half of the establishment is a closed-off bar with smoking, while the other half is a restaurant. The restaurant is smoke free and minors are welcome until 7pm. The building itself is a large house, and there is additional seating on the back porch and out front. The restaurant has tables of varying size and booths. The walls of the restaurant are colorful murals of wildlife that prominently feature many appropriate tigers. Vibe wise, I get the feeling that if you dimmed the lights come evening at Cup & Saucer and added more liquor and vegan food, you’d get something similar.

The vegan friendliness is evident on the menu in appetizers, sandwiches, salads, and entrees. Many items are available vegan, sandwiches like the Ruben, (see Portland Vegan Reubens for more love!) and others are vegan by default, like the butternut squash wontons. Vegan friendly options are marked with a character on the menu, and it’s all over it. There is no fun cocktail list in the restaurant, but there are decently priced microbrews and hard cider. You can order from the full bar as well. Standard vegan-friendly appetizers of greasy tator tots, french fries, and crinkle cut fries are available anytime. During happy hour, they are all a dollar-off. Selected drinks are also discounted on designated days.

As for the food itself, let’s talk about the Mac & Cheeze.

Extra points: Bread crumbs, and the serving dish.

I realized with taking my first bite that it wasn’t cheezy, but I kept trying it and kept liking the meal. Non-nooch crazy vegans should check this out! At $8 (now $9.75) it was enough for two meals, and several bites for others to sample. Raves were heard all around. The only downside is the helping of bland, pre-mixed grilled veggies on the side, but like you have room for them anyway. Take them to go and feel a bit healthier with your leftovers.

Breakfast is served all day, and for us it breaks down to biscuits, gravy and tofu scramble. The tofu scramble comes with toast and potatoes. Word is out that it tastes like more than plain tofu, but that can’t be said for the tofu on the salads. The butternut squash wontons ($5) are a pleasing diversion from standard appetizers and potatoes. The filling is mild and sweet, the fried shell is crispy enough and the creamy coconut sauce is complemented nicely by the sporadic sprinkles of sweet chili sauce and spice on the wonton itself.

Sandwiches are offered with vegan mayo, tempeh, and fake bacon. On my most recent visit, the server recommended the vegan Club sandwich ($9). This packed sandwich of three slices of bread, peppered Tofurkey deli meat, store-bought tempeh bacon, tomato, green leaf lettuce, and vegan mayo was not on the menu yet, but should be soon. Served with a pile of deliciously hot tator tots and a pickle, a split sandwich and appetizer is enough to feed two decent appetites. If I had known the price before ordering I would have held off, but I’m glad I tried it. I’d order it again and take half home.

There’s such a comfortable atmosphere and friendly menu at the Hungry Tiger Too, that I was shocked to be one of two people in the restaurant recently. Meet your friends for dinner ASAP, because word will spread….

Mac and Cheeze with grilled veggies

Butternut Squash Wontons

Club Sandwich with Tots

Portland Scramble with hash browns and toast

Vegan BLT with Tots

Nachos

Ceasar Salad

Mandarin Salad

Biscuits and Gravy

Grilled Cheese

Rating: 3.75 out of 5
Address: 207 SE 12th Ave, Portland, OR 97214
Mon-Fri 11am-2am, Sat & Sun 7am-2am

http://tryveganpdx.com/restaurants/hungry-tiger-too/

~

Step inside of Green Wok, and it’s easy to believe you’re in countless other, identical Chinese restaurants around the US. The fond memory of predictable take out boxes and broccoli in brown sauce returns as you’re seated. The small restaurant is decorated with framed, traditional Chinese art prints, and I noticed the addition of cute kids’ drawings on my latest visit.

At Green Wok, there are no worries of chicken broth and worrisome questioning, as it’s all vegetarian.  It’s entirely vegan outside of the crab rangoons.  They added the option of Tofutti Cream cheese several months ago, but still have a dairy option available, to my understanding. Regardless of that exception, for those around SW Portland with a penchant for vegan Chinese food, congrats!

Odds are, you’ve been to the Vegetarian House downtown, and are wondering, what’s the difference?  Why should I go to Green Wok on SW Capital Highway?  After multiple visits, the bottom line is clear:  the ingredients are fresher, the setting is that familiar Chinese restaurant (sorry, no gigantic Supreme Master TV), and the food packs so much more flavor.  The weekday lunch buffet, which is  announced full of suspense on their twitter, is simply put, supreme.

If you can make it on a weekday, you must try this vegan lunch buffet ($6.50/person).  I’ve gone twice, and both times I’ve left satisfied and pissed off that it’s not available downtown.  There are multiple hot items, including small and chewy soy chunks in a spicy Kung Pao sauce with dried chilis, standard Lo Mein noodles with vegetables, very tasty fried tofu squares and various vegetables in a spicy tomato sauce,  ever more lightly sautéed vegetables, fried rice with tiny vegetables, and more, featuring rotations and new items.  There is a daily soup, crispy wontons, hot spring rolls, tempura vegetables, and a few dipping sauces, available on the side table in reused Sriracha bottles.  Buffets dishes are regularly refilled across the board, as opposed to slowly withering down. I tend to pass on the noodles, and opt for the humble fried rice with bits of carrot and peas.   The tempura batter is light and noticeably non-traditional, but who’s going to complain about a tray of tempura asparagus?  My other pass belongs to a daily hot and sour soup.  It was underwhelmingly sour, but the rest of the lunch was awesome enough to make it a thing of the past.  The daily soup changes anyway.  Following their twitter, it usually appears to be broth-based with tofu. Overall, the variety and actual full-flavored sauces on their buffet are so enticing! Further enticement includes $2 off entrees during their lunch hours of 11am-2:30pm.

Outside of lunchtime, the entrée prices are pretty standard.  They run from $6.95 to $13.95 for stir fried vegetables, noodles, fried chunks of bean curd, faux chicken, beef, pork, fish, and shrimp analogue selections.  Their menu has the battered and sautéed meals you’re looking for, or have yet to consider.  There’s deep fried Vegetarian Fish in Hot Bean Sauce, Sweet and Sour Vegetarian Pork, Twice Cooked Vegetarian Beef, Bean Curd Pockets with Napa Cabbage, and the popular Orange Chicken with real orange peels, to name a few intriguing choices.  Pass on dishes in the chef’s white sauce, it’s sadly bland and does nothing for vegetables. Go with the tangy tomato instead, like in the very-well-cooked Broccoli in House Tangy Sauce ($8.95).  You want to get your vegetables alongside a soy and gluten party!  The entrees aren’t huge, and many do not come with an ample vegetable side.

I’ve sampled  many dishes, and anything with crispy or sautéed, textured bean curd strips remains my go to order.  Sesame Chicken ($10.95), in its battered, sweet sauced, sesame sprinkled glory, is hard to pass up, but the discovery of trying and sharing new dishes at Green Wok is harder to pass up.  I’ve learned that Kung Pao Tofu($8.95) with peanuts, is literally soft tofu cubes, peanuts, in a generous, mildly spicy brown sauce.  I was semi into it, but others were not. I have a big soft spot for well, soft tofu, but I can see the lack of textures putting people off. I don’t plan on ordering it again, but the restaurant remains an entertaining place to discover favorites – like the fairly spicy General Tso’s Chicken ($10.95), or the impressive, crispy Bean Curd Pockets with Greens ($13.95).  The price tag is on the higher side, so go during lunch time for a chance of something similar on the buffet, or get more for your money, and taste buds, by sharing with friends.  As for service, Green Wok’s staff is welcoming, prompt, and check mark – knowledgeable.

You know that one friend with a car?  Gather a few friends, venture SW and dine family style at Green Wok.  If you’re with a big group, I’d advise calling ahead to give them some time to put together a big table. As for bus-sing, it’s easy.  Green Wok is right on the #44 (ring the bell as soon as you see the pho restaurant!) and a reasonable walk from the #12.

Test if you’re really a faux chicken fanatic, as opposed to a faux beef, or a sincere bean curd lover.  If you like vegan Chinese food, there’s surely something that will win you over!

Lunch Buffet

Sesame Chicken

Bean Curd and Cabbage

Bean Curd and Vegetables

MooShu Vegetables

Pan-fried Dumplings

Tofu Hot Pot

Bird’s Nest

General Tso’s Chicken

Kung Pao Tofu

Orange Chicken

Broccoli in Tangy Sauce

Mixed Vegetables and Tofu

Exterior

You may be familiar with Sweet Lemon by their wraps at Food Fight, or their appearance at VegFest. If you were not aware of their west-side restaurant, go there now! And if you knew about their restaurant but never went, shame on you, and go there now!

There’s a common saying on the wall of the café, “Enter as guests, leave as friends,” This is not just a cute saying, the owners are friendly, want to know about you, and want to share themselves. They understand most Portland area vegans live in Portland proper and travel a good distance to visit their Bistro, so their food must be that much better to make the drive or bus trip to Bethany Village.

Sweet Lemon Vegetarian Bistro is located in a strip mall, which is an unassuming place for a vegan restaurant. The small café is brightly painted and several small tables are scattered through-out. The small two-person tables makes gathering in large groups or ordering a large amount of food difficult.

The all vegan, pan-Asian menu will suit any party – faux meat, tofu, appetizers, soups, wraps, salads, noodle or rice bowls, and sweets. While I have not tried the wraps or cakes, everything else has been not only delicious, but reasonably priced. A dinner for two ran $21 for tea, appetizers, and two entrees.

Most faux meat products are served with a heavy lemongrass dressing. In fact, the flavor is so strong that there’s not much difference between the Heavenly Kabob or the Dancing Drum Stick faux meat appetizers.  The pan-fried kabob soy protein chunks are served on a skewer and basted with a strong ginger and lemongrass sauce on top lettuce and accompanying ginger shredded carrots. The soy shaped drum sticks have a lemongrass stick inside them and a crispy exterior with the same sauce. If you’re not a fan of lemongrass I suggest avoiding these plates.

As a big fan of Mo Shoo, I ordered Mama’s Mo Shoo as a main dish, instead of an appetizer. This dish is definitely different from the traditional dish. It is wrapped in rice paper, like a summer roll and served with peanut sauce. The vegetables were all finely cooked, without the runny sauce, which often accompanies this dish. While I enjoyed the wrap it wasn’t the typical Mo Shoo I had expected since I was looking forward to the tangy plum sauce. However, the pancake held together while dipping into the sweet and spicy peanut sauce.

The Pad Thai tastes like the more common sweet and tangy rice noodle version with various vegetables and sliced and fried tofu.  The sweet and spicy curry was more than enough for one person and served with cute brown rice logs. The rice logs were nothing special, just a different way to present and garnish the dish. These little details to the dishes really make Sweet Lemon stand out.

The Noble Noodles was one of my favorite entrees sampled. The meal is much more like a traditional Vietnamese bun served with lemonglass glazed soy chicken, lettuce, carrots, bean sprouts, and peanuts, all over rice noodles with a light ginger dressing on the side. While the meal appeared simple in terms of ingredients, the combination of the lemon ginger soy chicken and the ginger dressing, the flavors carried through. Thankfully, these are only a few of the many dishes available at Sweet Lemon, because it gives me a good reason to go back and try more dishes, like the house baked cakes!

The vegans of Bethany must be very excited to have this all vegan restaurant in their backyard. Sweet Lemon is one of many vegetarian restaurants in Portland that spread the message of the Supreme Master. Whatever your reason for visiting, location, the message, or the all vegan kitchen, you will be happy to enjoy fresh food made with delicious sauces, and served with love.

Exterior:

Tea:

Kabobs and garnish:

Mo Shoo:

Dancing Queen served with cute rice logs and even more garnish:

Noble Noodles:

Pad Thai:

Curry: