Associate the word “vegan” with rubbery tofu and heaps of overcooked vegetables no more because Thai-inspired California Vegan provides the casual diner with a fresh definition of a meat- and dairy-free diet, satisfying the tastes of herbivores and omnivores alike.
At the Santa Monica location, California Vegan sits on the top corner of a two-story restaurant complex, overlooking a busy, slightly bleak, strip mall. However, upon stepping into the cozy, cornered-off restaurant, the dim lighting, amiable pop music, and warm-colored walls invite diners to sit down and take their time browsing through the five-page menu of choices.
Curries, noodles, wraps, burgers and even savory dinner pancakes are all listed in an overwhelming array of options. Each dish is offered with a choice of tofu, soy chicken, soy fish, seitan (a wheat-based meat alternative), or soy pepper steak.
The dinner specials prove to be the best deal. A full meal of a Thai-entrée option, like a choice of yellow, red or green curry, pad thai or spicy eggplant, with miso soup, brown fried rice, a fried spring roll, and a green salad topped with a peanut-dressing is $10.95. Any of the Thai entrée options come á la carte, but there is only a $2 difference between an á la carte entrée and a combination.
While the miso soup is a standard, savory starter, the raw spring rolls, or “Raw Tony Roll,” should not be skipped as an appetizer. Wrapped in rice paper and filled with romaine lettuce, soy chicken, basil leaves, bean sprouts, and glass bean noodles, the spring rolls are served with the “house vegan sauce,” or a spicy peanut-chili dip. This blend of the refreshing, crunchy wrap with the flavorful sauce proves delectable and could be an entrée in and of itself. The soy chicken inside the wrap surprisingly lacked flavor, providing only a chewy, inoffensive texture with the crunchy greens inside, but the soy chicken’s sub-par flavor did not matter in the context of the rest of the roll.
An entrée of spicy mint leaves with seitan, bell peppers, and onions provided a light spicy chili, garlic and mint flavor. However, the entrée itself did not stand out from a standard Thai take-out meal. The influence of the mint satiated a craving for Thai flavors and the seitan was a smooth, chewy texture that served as a satisfying carrier for the mint sauce.
The entrée was the highlight of the dinner combo as the fried rice was disappointingly bland and greasy and a crunchy fried spring roll was stuffed only with a mildly-flavored blend of limp cabbage and carrots. The peanut sauce on the salad, however, had a satisfying sweet, nutty taste and, when spread on top of the spring roll and the fried rice, heightened their flavor.
While most of the meat substitutes seem just as tasty, if not tastier, than meat, do not expect the soy orange chicken to be like Panda Express. While it had the advantage of not sitting as heavily in one’s stomach as a typical meaty mound from a fast food Chinese restaurant, the lightness made the entrée seem more like dessert than dinner. The chicken was airy and flavorless, while the breading was as sweet as a pastry.
For the diner not inspired by the Thai options, the pepper steak wrap proved a nice alternative. With the pepper steak fully seasoned but not overwhelming, its flavor was complimented wrapped in a wheat tortilla with lettuce, tomato and alfalfa sprouts. As a cheaper dinner alternative, for only $6.95, it may not fully fill one’s appetite, but a side of crunchy, light vegan French fries can easily create a meal.
Although California Vegan provides nothing outrageously unique, the options available and the fresh taste of the food make it a laidback dining choice for even those who claim carnivorous palettes.
-Jenae Cohn
E-mail Cohn at jcohn@media.ucla.edu.