Week 8 - The Lazy Vegan eats at Vegetarian Haven

Vegetarian Haven - Baldwin Village

Welcome back to Week 8 of the Lazy Vegan Challenge Blog!!!

I had always been hearing all this hype about this specific vegan restaurant, so I couldn't wait to try it out. For this week's review I visited the "Vegetarian Haven" that's located in the Baldwin Village (closest to University & Dundas St West). It was a Friday evening when my date and I dined in, so I had to make reservations in advanced. Yep, they're a fancier resto. The moment you walk in, you can feel that it's more of an upscale restaurant than the other traditional "chill and relaxed" vegan restaurants I had visited so far. 

When we entered, we were kindly greeted by the hostess who introduced us to a lovely display of their "main special" for the evening. I thought the display looked fantastic. 

Singapore Seitan - $13.49 / Salmon & King Prawn Special

So the fabulous two dishes that you see in the photo on the right, starting with the entrée in the far back, is the Singapore Seitan and "Special Of The Day". The Singapore Seitan had tender slices of their succulent seitan cooked in a sweet and spicy pineapple peaunut sauce, served with purple rice and vegetables.

I had the Special Of The Day which was their famous 'salmon and king prawn' (made with soya protein and konnyaku root flour) served with their fresh rice noodles and mix of vegetables in their house-made Szechuan sauce. The Singapore Seitan was amazing but the special entrée that I ordered was 10x better! I kept saying after every bite "Oh my gosh...this is sooooo good!"

Matcha Green Tea Latte - $4.50

Our server was excellent. She was super enthusiastic, more than I would normally expect from a waitress at any restaurant these days. She was very knowledgeable about the particular ingredients we asked about and was honest about her preferred dishes.

I honestly cannot wait to come back here to try out their other selections. Their portions are massive and every plate that I saw pass by ordered from other tables smelled incredibly delicious and looked absolutely mouth-watering.

However, we did have an unfortunate exit experience. A different server had brought our bill to us without asking first. I had a Veg.ca discount card which should have been applied to the bill, so I took it out and just as I was about to apologize for not mentioning the discount card sooner, I was rudely interrupted with the question of whether I was paying by card or cash. My date and I exchanged glances as we hadn't yet decided and when we didn't give an immediate response, she impatiently repeated herself. Rude!!! At that point, we couldn't wait to leave, which was really disappointing because the evening was going so pleasantly well until the bill was brought to us.

I really wish I could give Vegetarian Haven a 5/5, but because of the end experience, I rate them a 4/5. Like I said, I cannot wait to come back to try out the rest of their menu but my advice to my readers: do not expect a consistent level "excellent service".

**All photo's are taken by me from my iPhone :)


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Week 7 - Fresh on Bloor + TLVC Progress Update!

Welcome back to Week 7 of The Lazy Vegan Challenge Blog!!! 

So just to quickly update you on the progress of this challenge for me thus far...

I'm rounding into my 11th week of the challenge (I began TLVC blog on my 3rd week and then had a school break...and shamefully I'm playing catch up on my blogs now). I have to admit that it is really starting to become a challenge. It's not like I miss eating meat or seafood or any of the other food elements that I had been used to eating prior to the challenge. It's actually just managing the proper healthy daily consumption and making it work with my busy time schedule. I don't know how y'all vegans do it! I know I can't be a "lazy vegan" forever...and I'm going to let you in on an exciting secret....I plan on sticking to being a vegan after the challenge is over! I know, I know. That means I have to change my lazy attitude if I want to keep up and eat the proper foods and maintain a proper diet....and maybe exercise for once, eh?

Fresh on Bloor - Bloor & Spadina

Anyhow, on to the good stuff! So for this week's featured restaurant, I'll be reviewing "Fresh", which has become another one of my faves. They've got three locations in Toronto with a fourth one opening this summer! This just shows how well they're doing and I'm excited to share this fantastic news! I had made the location on Bloor and Spadina my "regular spot", as it is the most convenient one to travel to in the downtown area, especially if you're commuting by the subway or TTC (Toronto's public transportation). The other two locations are on Spadina and Richmond St. W and Crawford and Queen St. W, and the fourth one opening this summer will be in the Yonge and Eglinton area.

Their atmosphere is pretty chilled, and no, not in the hipster kind of way. It's relaxing, a place where you can enjoy dinner with friends or lunch by yourself. As corny as this may sound, they actually do give off that "fresh" vibe.

Mushroom Onion Burger  - $10 / Jerusalem Bowl - $16

They have a great selection on their menu, with their entrée's ranging from burgers to wraps to fresh bowls.

At the top right of this photo is the Mushroom Onion Burger but on a bed of lettuce instead of a bun. It includes their high-protein, house-made vegan patty burger with sautéed mushrooms and onions, tomato, lettuce, alfalfa sprouts and their house mayo with a side of marinated kale slaw. Two words: soooo tasty!!! It's the kind of burger where after your first bite, you just close your eyes and say "Mmm..." Did I set the expectation too high? Guess you'll have to visit and find out for yourself ;P

At the bottom right of the photo is their Jerusalem Bowl (and no, I did not order two main dishes for myself...I was on another vegan date). My friend had decided to get it with the soba noodles which is a couple of bucks more (usually comes with brown basmati rice for $14). This dish was also really delicious. It had flax hummus, grilled spinach, cucumber, tomato, parsley, red onion, sunflower sprouts, olive oil, tamari, mixed herbs, lemon and chili powder. Normally I'm not one who can take anything spicy nor do I favour the flavour, but in this mix of veggie goodness, it was definitely acceptable and tolerable. Both dishes tasted "fresh" and light, yet delightfully satisfying.

Blue Lagoon - $4.50 - 12oz / Chocolate Cupcake - $3.25

I had always heard good things about their fruit smoothies (what vegan restaurants won't you hear good things about their fruit smoothies...) so I got their Blue Lagoon which was a mix of blueberry, mango and banana. It was very tropical tasting and went well with the meal.

I also decided to try one of their delectable Chocolate Cupcakes. You can never go wrong with delectable cupcakes. It was sweet and delicious but I was so full from the burger meal that I was only able to take a few bites and boxed the remainder to munch on for later.

It was actually over a month ago since this specific vegan date at Fresh, but I remember the experience very well. Our server was very pleasant and informative and gave suggestions to our meals that we probably would've never considered if she didn't. I definitely believe they deserve a 5/5 and I am sure any Torontonian vegan will assure you the same! :)



**All photo's are taken by me from my iPhone :)


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Week 6 - Loving Hut

Loving Hut - Queen & Spadina

 Welcome back to Week 6 of The Lazy Vegan Challenge Blog!!!

It's actually been a few weeks since I've posted anything but I'm finally back from hiatus! Because I fell a bit behind, I'll also be posting Week 6 and Week 7 in the next few days since I've been to a few vegan restaurants in between that time lol. So for the next few days I'll have a few awesome reviews lined up for you! :)

Anyhow, for Week 5, I dined in with a few other fellow vegan friends at the "Loving Hut", which is on Queen and Spadina. It's a super cute restaurant that I felt gave off a bright and cheery feeling once you entered. The staff was friendly, patient and most importantly, they did not look at me like a weirdo when I went around taking a bunch of photo's of the restaurant such as their walls and table decor. 

Their menu had a wide variety of options to choose from. There were choices that ranged from burgers, to wraps, to Vietnamese AND Chinese cuisine! We started off with a couple of the appetizers: Fried Wontons and the Spring Rolls. They tasted exactly how I expected them to...like fried wontons and asian spring rolls! That's not necessarily a bad thing. Usually when dining in a restaurant of typical asian cuisine, when ordering familiar dishes, you would usually have an expectation of what certain dishes should taste like. I was quite happy to have experienced that familiar taste. The appetizers were just the beginning!

I also decided to get a mango smoothie which was just extremely refreshing and also just seemed perfect for all the dishes that were ordered. 

I was privileged to be dining with my buds because that meant I was allowed to freely help myself to their plates to sample what they each ordered :)

For myself, I ordered the BBQ and Spring Roll Noodle (top left of the photo) under the Main Dish section on their menu. It's a Vietnamese inspired dish that included soy protein grilled with organic BBQ sauce, herbs, carrots, spring onion, cucumbers, lettuce, rice noodles (or otherwise known as vermicelli) and a spring roll cut in half. I was extremely happy and satisfied with this. If there's any particular taste that I miss prior to this vegan challenge, it's a good ol' bowl of vermicelli with the simple mixed greens and crunchy spring rolls!       

At the top right corner of this photo is the Joy & Happiness Sandwich which included scrambled tofu with organic onion, celery, seaweed, creamy sauce, seasoning and lettuce, served with a side of organic fries. I have to admit, the moment I had a bite, it really did offer happiness. It had such a light yet delectable taste! 

The bottom left photo is the Golden Burst Fried Rice. This had organic tofu, soy protein, broccoli, peas, carrots, and turmeric, which gave it that "golden burst". I had always been fan of asian fried rice. This was another particular taste that I've missed since becoming vegan. Since this night, I had gone back to Loving Hut a couple of times for the fried rice, either to eat it on the side with another dish, or to just take it to go. 

The bottom right photo is the Pad Thai. This consisted of rice noodle, organic tofu, tempeh, soy protein, napa/cabbage, and bell pepper, stir fried in their homemade organic Thai sauce sprinkled with tempeh. It was a bit spicy for me but still very tasty. Honestly everything there was just delightful and tasty. 

And let's not forget about desserts! How happy was I when I realized that not only did I enjoy every dish that we ordered, but to have the option of amazing sweet treats awaiting for us afterwards! Mind you, I've been to a lot of Vietnamese and Chinese restaurants in this Chinatown area, but I would never usually consider having dessert after chowing down a bowl of Pho. 

Anyway, on the left is the Wild Blueberry Cheesecake and on the right is the Chocolate Cheesecake. Since these two were being shared by 4 people, it was alright but if you come here by yourself, it may be a bit bizarre to order two slices of different desserts, but I highly recommend this combination! They were both delicious, but when you mixed them together, they were amazing! I'm a cheesecake lover so having more than one cheesecake flavoured option gave these guys extra points. 

I don't know why I have never been here before but I give them a 5/5 and can definitely mark them as one of my top faves! :)

**All photo's are taken by me from my iPhone :)


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