Vegan Chicago: Restaurant Review of Native Foods Cafe (Wicker Park)

Vegan and non-vegan Chicagoans alike were excited for the grand opening of the first installment of the Native Foods Cafe chain in our windy city. The one my friends and I visited is the cafe in Wicker Park (replaced by what used to house Burger King - oh, the irony). There are two more restaurants open: one in the Belmont area (not far from the Chicago Diner and Pick-Me-Up Cafe) and coming soon in the Loop. At first, I was surprised to hear that not one but three were opening all within a short time frame. When I went to the Wicker Park location, I realized why this was possible. A close friend of mine has been to one of the restaurants in California and she had described to me that it was a sit-down restaurant. The locations in Chicago are cafeteria-style where one goes up to a counter to order then waiters bring your food out by the number sign given to you. This doesn't leave for the best customer service, but it does mean less of a wait staff which is the theory I have going as to why Native Foods could open so many restaurants at once. 

Chicken Wings

The first time my friends and I went, we all got different things (menu) in order to get a good array. We shared the Native chicken wings to begin. I would describe these more like chicken strips. Perhaps it is because the cafe is in the location of an old Burger King, but they reminded me a bit of those BK chicken fries (if you know what I'm talking about from commercials). They were breaded well and overall were not bad, but the title of the dish should really be changed as they weren't like wings. The ranch was tasty and complimented the chicken wings well. The buffalo sauce has a kick, be warned!

Portobello & Sausage Burger

Oklahoma Bacon Cheeseburger

For sandwiches, we got the portobello & sausage burger, chicken run ranch burger, and the Oklahoma bacon cheeseburger. Before I start, my only issue with the sandwiches is that you have to pay for a side (unless that sandwich is the special of the day). Most restaurants give you the side with your meal, so I found this rather odd. The side choices include a lemon-dill potato salad, garden salad, sweet potato fries, etc. My friend really enjoyed the portobello & sausage burger, although they practically gave him a salad for his topping. The sweet potato fries were delicious too. My other friend had the chicken run ranch burger. It came with the ranch that was with the chicken wings for the appetizer. Overall, it was a bit like a larger version of the chicken wings, but more appropriate as it was meant to be a patty (not wings). He had the lemon-dill potato salad as you can see in the picture (which was very good too). Lastly, I had the Oklahoma bacon cheeseburger. I really enjoyed this and was looking forward to it. The cheese is homemade by Native Foods and I really appreciate that kind of culinary forwardness in a restaurant. In the last few years, places like the Chicago Diner have been using local non-dairy cheese and seitan companies for their meals which is great that they are supporting local small businesses, but it lacks the oomph that was once so special to the restaurant. The bacon on the burger is also made by Native Foods which wasn't quite "bacony" but it gave it a more meaty texture overall. The sandwich came topped with fried pickles which were a nice added touch. The bbq sauce and ranch went well with everything, but I must admit, I was surprised that it wasn't a "burger" patty. It was thinly sliced seitan which reminded me more of a sandwich rather than a burger. Again, dish names that I think throw people off for what they are expecting. Otherwise, I really enjoyed my sandwich (which I had a garden salad with)!

Chicken Run Ranch Burger

For dessert, we all shared a cardamon rose cupcake. It was really perfume-y from the rose (rose water, I assume). But the cardamon and rose together was a pleasant taste and the frosting was really divine. Major props to their baking team on this. I was really impressed with how great of a vegan cupcake this was.

Two weeks later, I returned back to this Wicker Park Native Foods location to have another go with the friend who has been to the California locations. She was also surprised by the cafeteria-style setup. We shared the Native nachos to begin with in order to have a better taste test of this homemade cheese. It had a really sweet aftertaste which I'm not sure if that is because of the cheese or Native crema. I'm going to assume it was the crema. If you like a bit of sweetness, go for it, but if not, I would suggest asking for the crema on the side. The nachos could have been a meal in and of itself, so kudos to Native Foods for ample portions. 

For entree's, I had the Chicago dip au jus and my friend had the super Italian meatball sub. The Italian beef sandwich (I'm assuming this is what the Chicago dip au jus was trying to be) was really excellent. I would definitely get this again. Much better than the Oklahoma bacon cheeseburger I had previously by comparison. The dip was tasty and the giardinera had a great kick to it. I'm always a fan of places with homemade giardiniera (like Revolution Brewing). The seitan was sliced seitan which is what it should have been for this sandwich (unlike the cheeseburger). My friend enjoyed her Italian meatball sub, but she was lacking enough marinara sauce for all the meatballs. She really enjoyed the pumpkin seed pesto that was on it, though. She had a chocolate cupcake for dessert and that was also great just like the cupcake I had had before.

Cardamon Rose Cupcake

Native Foods has a card member discount system. If you sign up for the card, you earn points for free drinks or cupcakes, etc. Be sure to sign up! The beer and wine selection is great, but no hard alcohol which I was surprised to find. They have a wide outdoor seating arrangement, so I think a mimosa or bloody mary would be lovely for a Sunday brunch. 

Overall, I give the restaurant a 3.75/5 stars. I'm hesitant to give them a full 4 stars mostly because it wasn't what I was expecting at all. The service was okay and the food was pretty good, but not extraordinary (as I was expecting from all the hype). If you want something really special, I would still say go to the Chicago Diner instead. Of course, I would come back to Native Foods, but it wouldn't be my top contender. I would probably go if it were nearby. Honestly, I am a huge fan of Handlebar, so I would probably walk over to them first. For non-vegans, I could see how Native Foods is a bit of a stretch as I suppose one would be comparing it to "real" meat and cheese. I would take non-vegans here to try it though and support an all-vegan establishment. Congratulations to Native Foods for their expansion outside of California and into the Midwest land of meat and potatoes. I hope that many hearts and minds are changed by the power of one's food choices (and their forks) at this all vegan cafe. 

Photo Credit: Louis McGill

Vegan Kaua'i, Hawaii: Part Two

One of the best hotels on the island is the Grand Hyatt Kaua'i. That being said, it has some of the best restaurants on the island too. Tidepools is located on the pools of the resort with cute thatched hut-style roofs. Their menu has vegetable samosa and the garden isle salad for starters. For your main meal, they have tofu hiryozu which is quite tasty. It is like tofu crab cakes almost. Also located at the hotel is Yum Cha, an asian eatery. To begin, one can get their wok seared edamame. Their miso soup has fish broth in it, but they made me a vegan version special when I asked if it did have it in it. They also made me tofu summer rolls. For dinner, we had stir fried wild rice and stir fried seasonal vegetables. Overall, it was an excellent meal and the service was incredible. They went above and beyond to please us and had very generous portions for the price. 


Another south shore favorite is Keoki's Paradise. While this is primarily a fish place, they do have some veggie options. For starters, one can have their house salad and for dinner, they have a teriyaki stir fry with vegetables and rice. For lunch, they have grilled veggie sandwich (get it without cheese and aioli). 

A classic plantation in Kaua'i is Kilohana. It is a must see for its rustic beauty. The restaurant at the plantation used to be called Gaylord's but in the last year and a half they have changed it to 22 North. They pride themselves on farm raised food and local vegetables. Their menu changes from week to week. 22 North was very accommodating to vegetarians and vegans. I had herb roasted macadamia nuts, the estate salad (garden salad), a couscous stuffed tomato with crispy kale and zucchini, and ended it all with coconut sorbet. The restaurant is located facing out over the plantation with a lovely Hawaiian atmosphere.

Roy's is a world famous Hawaiian fusion restaurant with many Japanese influences. They even have a location here in Chicago. The one in Poipu had a small separate vegetarian menu. To begin, I had a tofu and mushroom appetizer and a garden salad. For my dinner, I had a vegetable stir fry with rice and then for dessert, fruit sorbet. They also serve sesame oil edamame instead of bread. Overall, Roy's is a fun place to go for a nice dinner.


On the east side in Kapa'a, there is a small lunch and dinner spot called Mermaid's Cafe. They have a really vegan-friendly menu and it's cheap. They serve a tofu satay plate, tofu curry plate, tofu stir fry noodle plate, tofu satay wrap, organic salad, and a black bean burrito (no cheese). Basically, the whole menu can be made vegan. Also in Kapa'a is Sukhothai Restaurant, a great Thai restaurant that is very good. Another Thai place in Kapa'a is Mema Thai. Other Asian restaurants in this city are Sushi Bushido and Shivalik Indian restaurant. A great kaiten sushi (sushi served on a conveyor belt) joint in Lihue is Genki Sushi. It's cheap and tasty!


Lastly, I went to Merriman's Restaurant which is located in Poipu. The waitress there was also vegan and helped me out with their menu. If you are reading this, thank you! I really appreciated it. She also has a vegan baking business called Hippie Cafe Kaua'i. Check it out! She recommended a restaurant called Caffe Coco in Wailua which is vegan-friendly. At Merriman's I had the petite lettuce salad to start and for dinner, I had the veggie platter. The veggie platter had lovely moist taro cakes and fresh crunchy green beans. Just don't get the honey sour cream on it. 


Well, that is everything I have to say about vegan-friendly places in Kaua'i. I hope someone finds this helpful and enjoys this beautiful island as much as I do.

Vegan Kaua'i, Hawaii: Part One

I've been to the island of Kaua'i many times in my life, but have never blogged about my vegan findings. This may be a bit extensive, fair warning, because of all the places I've been on the island. I've never been to another island, but this is the Garden Isle of Hawaii and it definitely doesn't live down its name. It is breathtakingly beautiful (maybe that's why all the celebrities go there?). It really is an amazing place to have a honeymoon and many do (or hell, you're wedding too!). My vegan findings are going to be mostly about south, west, and east shore. I rarely have gone to north shore (rains too much for me). So, if you are looking to go to Princeville or the Napali Coast, I don't have much information for you. But, I recommend going to south shore to visit to Poipu. It named year after year one of the best beaches in the world. One can often see the Hawaiian monk seals on the beach sunbathing as well as many tropical fish in the sea. For great snorkeling, I would recommend going to the beach in front of Lawaii Beach Resort and the Beach House restaurant. You find a lot of surfers going out here as well as divers. When I was just here, I saw three giant sea turtles at this spot almost every day. They are so close to you in the water, you could touch them. It is truly a magical experience to be surrounded by giant sea turtles munching away and tropical fish. Very peaceful and natural.

To start, I visited a local favorite, Puka Dog, in Poipu Shopping Village. They have a veggie dog that is vegan. Puka Dog has a good FAQ section on their website for all dietary concerns. The garlic lemon secret sauce is not vegan, though, so opt to just get one of their relishes or other condiments. I tried it with the lilikoi mustard on my hot dog which is passion fruit mustard (amazing!). There is a lot of bread on this which is its only downfall. It's also kinda large, so you could definitely split one with somebody for lunch. Another vegan hot dog place in the south shore is Dude Dog located in the Kukui'ula Village (also there is Lappert's ice cream that has a variety of vegan sorbets). They use Yves veggie dogs. Dude Dog has a variety of condiments to put on the veggie dog. Personally, Puka Dog is more interesting in how they present their food and with their original relishes. But, if you are around and hungry, Dude Dog is certainly a pretty good place to go.

Now, as I mentioned, there is a good beach in front of the Beach House restaurant. The Beach House has been named one of the most romantic restaurants in the world and it certainly is. With it located directly in front of the shoreline, it is a lovely place to have drinks and dinner at sunset. They an open floor plan so you get the ocean breeze and noises. They have two vegan options on their menu. To start, have their Omao, Kaua'i organic baby greens. For dinner, have their grilled portobello mushroom dish. Lastly, for dessert, us vegans can have their sorbetto trio. 

Heading west are the little towns of Hanapepe and Eleele. In Hanapepe, there is the Hanapepe Bakery & Cafe. They have a vegetable sandwich as well as a garden salad with all locally grown vegetables (delicious!). Sometimes, the bakery carries vegan goodies. It quite a cute place located in this tiny town. I would recommend it for a quick lunch while driving around the west side of the island.


If you have a place to make food, I recommend going to one of Kaua'i farmer's markets at least once. It is really a site! Such great fresh, local produce. The fruits and veggies are to die for. It is just like getting it out of your backyard. I have nothing but praise for the farmers in Kaua'i. For other vegan products on the south shore, there is a small market called Kukuiula Market. It has surprisingly a lot of vegan and green products. They have brands like Seventh Generation, Amy's, Boca, Follow Your Heart, Daiya, Morning Star, etc. It really is more like a health food store. Perfect! Another place near by is Living Foods Market which is a upscale, gourmet small grocery. It reminded me a bit of a small Whole Foods. They also carried many vegan brands too. On east shore in Kapa'a, there is Hoku Foods Natural Market. It was a bit like a combination of the other two markets. It had many gourmet items, but also was very much like a large health food store.

Vegan Springfield, IL: Part Two

Vegetable Delight Hibachi

Part Two begins with Japanese hibachi. It has been years since I've had hibachi. Kiku is nice because it is rather quiet and one can ask for special needs diet stuff without feeling like a burden. They are really nice about not using butter or fish sauce (their teriyaki sauce has animal product in it). When you get there, just say you are vegetarian and would like oil to be used on the vegetables instead of butter. Ask for only soy sauce and ginger sauce. Their miso soup is vegan, but I am not sure about the hibachi soup. I usually get the hibachi soup traded for miso when I get the vegetable delight hibachi. The salad that comes with it is also vegan. Also, ask for no shrimp appetizer. I'm pretty silly, so I'm a huge fan of all the hibachi cooking tricks. I particularly love the flaming volcano made out of onion! :D

Tom Yum Veggie Soup

Spring Rolls

Other items at Kiku are a variety of vegetable sushi including inari, avocado, and asparagus. They also have edamame and seaweed salad.

Screamer Tofu

Vegetarian Buffet

The best place for Thai food in Springfield, in my opinion, is Thailand Cuisine. Mona, one of the owners, is the sweetest lady you will ever meet. Their food is traditional Thai and holds true to it. A lot of places have a mix of Chinese and Japanese, but not Thailand Cuisine. It is never busy and the service is the best. I really recommend it. They have a cheap lunch buffet that has many vegetarian options. Mona will go out of her way to let you know what has animal products in it too. The tom yum veggie soup is also vegan if you ask for no fish sauce. It is rare that I find a Thai place with soup that doesn't have animal product.

Fresh Carrot Juice

Vegetarian Buffet

Lastly, Holy Land Diner has the best vegetarian buffet on Saturday nights. It changes from week to week, but generally, they always have Mediterranean salads, olives, lentil soup, homemade hummus, homemade falafel, and a variety of entrees. The entrees are always some kind of grain (usually brown rice) and several vegetable dishes or veggies with pasta. They never use salt in their dishes either. The owners, Afaf and Jamal, are really sweet too. I leave MFA literature with them including Vegetarian Starter Kits and Vegetarian Eating brochures.

Vegan Springfield, IL: Part One

For most people, this may not be too helpful as I'm not sure how much traveling is done to Springfield, IL. If you like Lincoln, this is your place.

Vegetable Mix Sushi

There are quite a number of Asian restaurants which tends to be the best bet for eating veg. Osaka is newer and has a rather extensive menu of Japanese hibachi and traditional entrees, sushi, and Thai food. They also boast a large range of home infused vodka's, whiskey's, sake's, and rum's (which are tasty too). This place has sort of turned into the hip place to go it seems and would be great to take someone out on a date. I usually go with a seaweed salad (their house salad dressing has dairy in it), hibachi soup (the miso soup contains fish stock), edamame, and the vegetable mix sushi (it comes with salad so no salad, just trade out the miso soup for hibachi soup). There are many Thai entree's that can be made vegan including eggplant, trio nuts, mango, etc. Just be sure to ask for tofu and no fish sauce or oyster sauce. The same can be said for the Thai noodle dishes (no egg too). Appetizers that are also good are the fried tofu and the summer rolls (ask for tofu instead of shrimp in them). There are a couple other vegetarian sushi rolls on the menu as well as vegetable teriyaki (check for fish sauce in the teriyaki; I have not had this dish so always best to check). Lastly, Osaka also has vegetable tempura, mini rolls, and gyoza, but again, one would have to double check for dairy/eggs. I had a great experience here with a very knowledgeable waitress who knew what was exactly vegan and not.

Portobello Sandwich

Spring Salad

If you're heading downtown to check out those many Lincoln sites or the Illinois capital stuff, there are a few places with vegan options. I like to go to Cafe Brio where they give you chips and salsa to start and I always get their spring salad. For sandwiches, one is kinda at a loss for a vegan grub, but they have a portobello sandwich which you can have them veganize (no pesto and aioli). This pretty much just leaves you with bread and a mushroom, so get some sandwich veggies and mustard and you're good to go. They have some pretty tasty hand-cut fries and sweet potato chips too. Two other places to also check out downtown are the Garden of Eat'n and Andiamo. The Garden of Eat'n can make vegan wraps, salads, and sometimes they'll have a vegan soup. They also have chips to go along with your wrap or salad. Andiamo has sandwiches as well as pizzas. I've never eaten there, but I do see on their menu they have a vegetarian sandwich and I'm thinking one could ask for no cheese on their mushroom pizza. Doesn't hurt to ask, ;].

Dal Soup

Almond Vegetable

Green Masaala

Another great place for vegetarians is Gateway to India. They have a weekday lunch buffet that is cheap, good, and they let you know what's vegan and what is not. The mint chutney is not vegan, to note! There are a number of vegetarian and vegan options. To start, one could go with vegetable samosa, pakora, salad, or dal soup. For entree's, I like the mango vegetable, green masaala vegetable, almond vegetable, baingan bharta, or the mushroom masaala waala. One can go with roti or garlic naan without butter for a side. They also have a killer fresh mango juice and organic, vegan wine. This is another place to take someone out on a date, I think. It has a lovely atmosphere (but quiet) which would be terribly romantic!

Veggie Samosa

While on the subject of Indian food, there is this great little store hidden away in Springfield called Mini Devon Groceries. One can pick up all sorts of vegan Indian things there such as bulk grains, chutneys, frozen entrees, and produce. Food Fantasies is the local health food store in Springfield and most people know about it to get vegan or green products. But if you are looking for some more traditional Indian or Pakistani food supplies, I recommend checking out Mini Devon (and grab a snow cone when you leave - Ice Deli is just next to it and hey, those are vegan too!).

Vegan Chicago: Review of Victory's Banner Restaurant

Brunch is my favorite meal. Two of my friends and I regularly do Sunday brunch. It's good fun! We usually go to the same places (such as Revolution Brewing, Handlebar, the Chicago Diner, & Kitsch'n), but I've been meaning to try Victory's Banner for a really long time. So, I took the opportunity to try it.

Tofu Scramble

Victory's Banner is a small restaurant in the heart of Roscoe Village. With quaint stores and other neighborhood restaurants and bars along Roscoe Ave., Victory's Banner fits right in. During the summer in Chicago, you must sit outside to eat even if it is a hundred degrees outside. We spend far too long indoors during the winter/spring/fall to not do so. For brunch, we sat outside and the owner was very friendly, talking to us about the restaurant, menu, and asking about ourselves. 

The restaurant is entirely vegetarian with many vegan options. The people that work there also are practitioners of meditation and followers of an Indian spiritual master. Don't be surprised to see the wait staff in sari's!

Soy sausage & side vegetables

I had the tofu scramble. The tofu was seasoned very well. You have a choice of adding two types of vegetables to it. I opted for a side of mixed grilled vegetables in order to add more than just two. I also got a side of soy sausage (the soy bacon had egg in it). To top it all off, it came with some very hardy bread and soy butter and homestyle potatoes. To wash it down, I had some apple juice. 

Victory's Banner is definitely a place to go to as a vegetarian or vegan on the prowl for a yummy brunch in Chicago! Highly recommend and I'll be going back sometime soon.

Mini chocolate cupcake

On the way home, I stopped at Delicious Cafe near Victory's Banner. It is an all vegan cafe with sandwiches and baked goods. The only non-vegan item is dairy milk for coffee. I had a mini chocolate cupcake for dessert. Delicious is a great place to get a sandwich, cup of coffee, and sit on your computer. 

Also to note, in my last post about vegan-friendly restaurants in Chicago, I didn't know there were two Mexican restaurant's now serving vegan food. One is Quesadilla Mexican Vegetarian Cuisine which is Chicago's only all vegetarian and vegan Mexican restaurant. Check out a picture of their menu here. It looks awesome with vegan tacos, tortas, and of course, quesadillas. The other Mexican place is La Cocina which is serving Upton's Naturals seitan in their tacos. 
Support local vegan-friendly restaurants!

Vegan Chicago: Restaurants & Chef Showdown!

As many of you may know, I am a Chicago Outreach Coordinator with Mercy For Animals. One of the many campaigns of MFA is our Vegetarian Dining Campaign. MFA works with restaurants to add vegan options to their menu and provides them with the support, PR, and connections to get soy cheese, faux meat, etc.


Recently, some great work was done by MFA in Chicago with the Vegetarian Dining Campaign. El Nuevo Mexicano has added vegan quesadillas, flautas, chile rellanos, enchiladas, fajitas, and more. There is even non-dairy, cruelty-free dessert! Daiya and local master seitan makers, Upton's Naturals, provide the vegan cheese and faux meat. A friend of mine and I went there for lunch to check out the new menu and were floored! We had never had flautas or chimichangas before, but I bet these were better than any filled with meat and dairy cheese. If you are in the neighborhood, come out and support the new vegan menu at El Nuevo Mexicano. Click here for the full new vegan menu. For more information, check out MFA's blog post here.

Grilled Cheeze Sandwich with Daiya from LooseLeaf Lounge

Tomorrow, MFA is having a launch party for a new vegan menu at another Chicago restaurant, LooseLeaf Lounge. They have already had a great vegan sandwich up on their menu, but it has been expanded to include a grilled cheeze sandwich, a seitan sandwich, a chorizo seitan wrap, a vegetable sandwich, and vegan cookies. Again, the cheese is provided by Daiya and the seitan by Upton's Naturals. If you are free tomorrow and in Chicago, check out the event! Click here for the Facebook event page for more information. This new menu is permanent, by the way!

I'd been aware of vegan pizza with vegan cheese from several different places here in Chicago including Ian's Pizza (also has Upton's Naturals seitan), Mista (not at their downtown location, though), Karyn's Cooked (to be expected, they're a vegan restaurant), Moonshine, and Pick Me Up Cafe (they have a very extensive vegan-friendly menu). Pie Hole Pizza Joint also carries pizza with Daiya which I just found out about. Thought I would share the news up on here since I'm updating about vegan restaurants! Here is a list of places that carries vegan pizza in Chicago. 

Pad Thai with soy chiken from Urban Vegan Chicago

Two new restaurants that have opened in Chicago in the past few months include Urban Vegan Chicago and Earth's Healing Cafe. Urban Vegan is a Thai vegan restaurant. Though I haven't been there yet, I can't wait to try it out. I've heard really good things from people who have gone. Their menu uses a variety of faux meats including soy chiken and vegan seafood. Earth's Healing Cafe is a raw organic cafe that boasts smoothies, juices, several entrees (pasta, wrap, pâté), and desserts (cheezecake, fruit pie, apple pie). If you are looking for a healthy, light meal, this is the new place to be! Also coming to town in July are three new locations of Native Foods, based primarily in California.  As a California native, I've heard fantastic things about this vegan chain for years now. I haven't tried it out myself, but I've had friends who have (and even were nice enough to bring me a reusable bag all the way to Chicago) and they all love it dearly. Native Foods makes their own vegan cheese which I hear is to die for (also, very impressive!). I'm looking forward to not one, but all three new Native Foods here in Chicago! I'm not sure of where all the new locations are to be, but for sure one will be in Wicker Park.

Lastly to report about here in Chicago is the very anticipated Chicago Vegan Chef Showdown sponsored by Upton's Naturals with the help of the Funky Buddha Lounge. All proceeds from the event will go to benefit Mercy For Animals. Twenty chefs will battle it out with yummy vegan food that includes Upton's Naturals seitan and the team or person whose food was bought the most wins the showdown. Guess what? Vegan Miss is participating! So, come out and show your support for Vegan Miss, MFA, and Upton's Naturals! We'll be serving a VM specialty that we're super excited to share (how often does the blogger get to cook the recipes she writes for her readers, huh?!). The more people come and show support by buying VM's delicious food ($1 per sample), the more money goes to MFA and their life-saving work. Win for everyone! Excited!

Vegan Chicago: Restaurant Review of Earwax Cafe (Reopened w/ New Menu)

Earwax Cafe in the Wicker Park area of Chicago is a landmark place. They recently released in mid-February that they were closing their doors on the last day of the month. It was truly a sad time. Their menu was always fun, tasty, and really vegan/vegetarian-friendly. It was a great place to get a Sunday brunch any time of the year. A week after they closed, they reopened! Apparently, the uproar was so much so that they found themselves in a position to open their doors again, albeit with a new menu. I am assuming this had something to do with their closing - their previous menu. I would say it was too large with many options and I can see how that would cause a fall in business. So, the week the reopened, I was super excited to try this new menu. 

For starters, my friends and I started out with the seitan croquettes. While the description says it is fried golden with a lovely dip... it wasn't at all impressive. The croquettes were not fried golden and the dip was nothing more than pureed green vegetables. The seitan had no spices to it and overall, it was in dire need of salt. I'd sincerely give them 1/5 stars.

Next, we shared the blackened salad. It was a decent salad with interestingly shaved carrots (though a bit impractical where one needed a knife to cut them). I'd say my only flaw I found with it was the lack of dressing, although I like a little more than most. The ranch is vegan, by the way. The salad gets a 3.5/5 stars.

Lastly, we shared a black bean burger and the seitan rueben. For the black bean burger, we added vegan cheddar, mushrooms, and caramelized onions. I really think this was the best part of the meal. It came with a perfect one person portion of fries. The texture of the burger was great and the add-on's made it a pretty damn good. The seitan rueben, on the other hand, was not as good. It was dry and severely lacked thousand island sauce. It would have be tasty if it just had more sauce! This sandwich also came fries. The fries were good. Not too crispy, but not underdone. The black bean burger gets a 4/5 stars. The rueben gets a 2.5/5 stars.

We were too full to have dessert, though I do not know what was vegan on the dessert menu (didn't ask). My assessment of the new Earwax menu is that it is not that great. The former menu was much better. What I would have done was downed the original menu. This new menu is just not up to par with what I remember fondly. If someone asked me to check out Earwax now, I'd honestly say to walk up the street to the Handlebar because the food is just better. I will add, though, that it is nice to see a vegan-friendly restaurant back in business! 2.5/5 stars for the new Earwax.

Vegan Tokyo

In the summer of 2008, I lived in Tokyo studying an intensive Japanese language course (4 hours a day) to finish my minor. I apparently took no pictures of the vegan restaurants and food I had there which is a shame. So, I am posting pictures from Google image search and my own personal photo's of the country and my experiences.


Living in Japan is tough as a vegan. Really tough. Sometimes you just had to try your best to make sure there was no fish broth hidden away somewhere in your meal, but it was oftentimes trying to do this. Language differences and your host/grocer's idea on veganism has a lot to do with this. So, I went out to find the restaurants in this vegan dining book to Japan I had.


In Harajuku, there were a number of vegan places. First, there is Brown Rice Cafe.  This place was my all time life saver in Tokyo. It was close enough to walk and they had a take out counter, so I could eat something that I knew was vegan. We could not cook in our dorms which was so horrible for any vegetarian or vegan. The only thing we had was a hot water maker for ramen, but 99.9% of the instant ramen in Japan is fish broth based. Brown Rice Cafe had a small cafe as the name implies as well as the take out counter which also had organic, natural products for sale. From my recollection, the food was very good. They have an English menu too.


Catty-corner from Brice Rice Cafe, there was a microbiotic/vegan and vegetarian-friendly/eco-friendly health food store and cafe. It is called Natural House. The health food store sells vegan products such as mock meats and cheeses.They also sell fresh produce. I was lucky to be able to talk to a sales clerk that spoke good enough English to realize why I was struggling and staring at the nutritional value of things like bread and using my kanji dictionary. So hard. Not fond of those memories! haha. She would tell me what had eggs or milk in them. Very nice of her. The cafe was good. I used to study and spend the afternoon munching on my lunch and drinking tea or coffee. They had a really good mushroom stir fry dish that I liked very much. Oh, and they have a vinegar drink! I LOVE vinegar. I have some crazy irrational love of vinegar and cornichons (fermented foods are my favorite...). So, this was MY drink!

Another Harajuku vegan place was der Akkord bakery. They have specifically marked vegan breads  there. Very good quality bread and freshly baked. Definitely worth checking out.


In Shibuya, there is the really awesome Vegan Healing Cafe. This is where I found my Vegan Restaurant Pocketguide book. A lot of Tokyo is small side streets where you weave in and out of them onto other small side streets until you are completely turned around and have to find a main road again just to figure out where you even are. On one of these side streets, a group of us were walking around the shops and suddenly I see a big sign that says, 'VEGAN". I literally squeaked out loud and went running to the sign. It was Vegan Healing Cafe. I was SO happy! I, at last, found veganism in Japan. This was the first vegan restaurant I found and thankfully, it was early on in my study abroad. I bought the book there and had many nice meals there through out my time in Japan. It was my first experience with texturized soy meat too. I had no idea what it was, but I liked it. I even brought some home with me because I didn't even know you could get it in America! Mmm. The owner was so nice too. She could tell just how I excited I was about her restaurant. She had vegan and animal right literature out by the cash register too (mostly PETA leaflets in English and Japanese). 

My 21st birthday was when I was in Japan. As this is a huge birthday in America, I wanted to properly celebrate it. The legal drinking age in Japan is 20 (they never card you anyways), so it wasn't big news there. In London, for my 20th birthday, I got a vegan chocolate cake at the brand new Whole Foods there at the time. In Tokyo... I thought I would be cake-less. To my surprise, I found vegan birthday cakes to order! Such a crazy thought, honestly. DevaDeva Cafe makes vegan birthday cakes to order (place your order 10 days in advance). The trip to get this cake was a great adventure. I had to take several trains waaaay on what seemed like the outskirts of Tokyo and then go on a hunt for this cafe. Street signs in Japan are not marked well (or at all sometimes). After wandering around for almost three hours on many side streets, I found this place. It was on the second level. Of course. I wasn't looking up for a sign; I was looking at the ground level. I remember I took a Starbucks break in this long hunt and ended up having an early dinner at DevaDeva because it just took so long to find! The cafe had quite a menu and they sold little snack foods (pre-packaged and baked goods they made) at the cash register. 


The picture of me is of my birthday party at our study abroad group's favorite dive bar by the dorm, Foods & Bar. Yes, it is called, "Foods & Bar". Amazing. Did you know they give you edamame, popsicles, and wasabi peas as bar food in Japan? Haha. Well, as many of you know, the Japanese sort of interchange their "r"'s and their "l"s. My name is Alexis. It sounds like Arexis in Japanese. Behold my mistaken cake. It was banana bread cake as we found out that night in the bar.

I had the amazing opportunity to go to New York Bar while I was in Tokyo. Have you all seen Lost in Translation? If you have not, you must! It says so much about Tokyo and the Japanese people. Well, New York Bar is within the Park Hyatt Tokyo. Throughout the movie, Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson go to this bar in the middle of the night because they have bad jet lag. There they meet and become friends. The view is one of the most spectacular things you have ever seen. It was an epic birthday moment that I will never forget. Here we had very well crafted martini's and listened to live jazz.

 

This is a picture of part of my host family in Japan. We are at a botanical garden several hours outside of Tokyo.

 

Of course, no blog post on Tokyo is complete without picture of Shibuya at night. And here you are. Always busy, always alive. ♥ 

One of the nights in Tokyo, a group of us went to a ninja restaurant. Yes, you read correctly, a ninja restaurant. Only in Tokyo. It is called Ninja Akasaka. It is built with trap doors and you dine in a dungeon. You are each served like a 8-10 course meal. They accommodated my veganism very nicely too! I don't remember all what I had but it was really crazy food presentation. Oh, the waitresses and waiters were dressed up as ninja's and the menu's were on scrolls. The picture of the tree thing is not vegan, but that is definitely a dessert. The soil is chocolate, I believe.

 

Couple useful phrases:   
1. "Watashi wa bejitarian/bigan desu." - I am vegetarian/vegan.
2. "Taberarenai mono ha..." - I don't eat...
niku - meat
sakana - fish
shifudo - seafood
niwatori - chicken
gyunyu - milk
chizu - cheese
tamago - eggs
machimitsu - honey
bata - butter
mayonezu - mayonnaise
sakana dashi - fish stock
3. After finishing your meal: "Gochisosamadeshita!" - Roughly, thank you for the good food (hard to translate).
4. "Ie, sakana wa shokubutsusei dewa arimasen, sorera mo dobutsusei desu." - No, fish are not plants, they are animals too.


Lastly, if you are at a conbini (convenience store), look for onigiri (rice balls) filled with umeboshi (pickled plum) or konbu (thick seaweed). There should also be nori maki there and the vegetarian ones are easy to spot with cucumber and konbu. Pickled vegetables in small trays are available at most. If you dig on natto (fermented soybeans), you'll find it here too. Natto is really good for you, but it is an acquired taste and quite frankly, it's pretty gross.

And there you have it in a good gist. Vegan Tokyo!