Reviews, Restaurant Discoveries..

As far as eating out in Toronto goes.. i've been doing a lot of it and as we all know it can be tricky! Working in the hardcore downtown area, it's been difficult finding places that cater to my lifestyle. Sadly, i've walked away from numerous places that refuse to embrace animal-free edibles - ahem Kernels!

Still, i've sampled many a "vegan" meal so here are my findings so far!

VEGETARIAN HAVEN
• My initial experience at this restaurant was not so pleasant. I ordered a burger with soy cheese. Bad idea, the ENORMOUS burger was not so delicious, possibly due to this mysterious soy cheese.

The second time I ordered takeout. I had a mango smoothie which was fabulous and veggie fried rice, also fabulous.

FRESSEN
• I've only dined there once, but can't wait to return. I was more than happy to fill up on the hummus and bread that accompanied our table, but sampled a few different dishes too. To start I had the peppery rocket arugula with pears, pumpkin seeds and seared tempeh in a poppadum canoe, I was completely apprehensive, but man was it good! I tried the squash ravioli and potato gnocci, both incredible!

FRESH
• You know I always hear how great this place is, but for me it's just mediocre. Not super fantastic, but not bad either. I had the deluxe burger w/o cheese last time I was there and it was good - but nothing to get too excited about. I also had the urban wrap minus the mayo but I wasn't a fan. Maybe i'm ordering the wrong items?!

URBAN HERBIVORE
• It took me awhile to actually make it there before closing, seeing as how my schedule does not correspond well with their hours. It was a bit of a let down. Mostly I was disappointed they spread some olive/bizarre mixture on my sandwich without asking if I wanted any. I despise olives so I barely made it through half the sandwich.

RICE BAR
• I ordered some basmati rice bowl with coconut green curry, I had them replace the regular milk with soy and added bok choy and another vegetable (?? it's been awhile). It was quite good, although my smoothie was a little too runny.

FIT FOR LIFE (Commerce Court)
• This place was reccommended to me by a coworker, so I went in with high expectations. I asked for a california pita dealio and was unimpressed. The combination of vegetables weren't too appetizing and it was messy as hell! I'm pretty certain I had half the pita contents on my face and the other half covering the circumference of the bench I was sitting on.

NATURALLY YOURS
• This is the closest health food store/veg takeout place to my work. I've tested out the veg chili and chickpea roti wrap - both very filling and flavourful. If you're looking for an excellent home-cooked kind of veg meal, this is a great place to go. As far as the store part goes - it stinks for finding vegan products!

PIZZAIOLO
• Man I love this place! Not only is the staff at the Dundas/Mccaul location amazing (they delivered even though they did not have a delivery person), but their vittoria pizza is the best I've ever had. In my pre-vegan days I could eat 1 piece MAX, now I will not rest until the entire box is devoured.

THAI PARADISE
• The staff is more than happy to make your pad thai just how you like it - fish sauceless and eggless! It's one of my favourite places for pad thai yet - and i've been to a TON of thai restaurants.

DHABA
• My first real Indian food experience. It was all positive aside from the $12 margarita. I assume they charge so much because the drink tasted like pure tequila. The waiter recommended okra okra (I sheepishly had to ask what okra was...cucumber/zucchini veg, for those who like me, are unfamiliar with exotic veggies). I also discovered you have to order rice to accompany the dish. The rice was flavoured with what, I couldn't tell you, but the combined flavours of the rice and okra okra it was spicy, slightly sweet and fantastic. We also ordered garlic naan bread, which he told me was vegan (although he had a suspicious look on his face when he answered). The bread was pretty burnt, but the non-blackened bits were very good. I would definitely go back, but i'd stick to the $3 juice for a beverage.

Chili

One vegan meal i've been enjoying for many years is veg chili. For awhile this was the only veggie recipe my mom knew how to make so I ate it often. After a recent move even further downtown and farther from any organic/natural/health food stores I was unable to find some key ingredients for this fabulous chili. In lieu of TVP, stewed tomatoes and many other veggies I usually toss in I substituted whole roma tomatoes, canned lentils and tomato paste.

Generally when i'm improvising I don't keep track of the amounts (also my measuring utensils didn't quite make it to the new place). Anyway here's the ingredients list.

• Can of tomato paste
• 1/2 can lentils
• Chopped celery
• Can of roma tomatoes and juice
• Kidney beans
• Diced onion
• Chopped garlic
• Chili powder
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Diced green pepper
• Chopped Mushrooms
• Red pepper flakes

Tastes delicious with Earth balanced buttered toast... mmm...