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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Week 5 - Live Organic Food Bar

Live Organic Food Bar - Dupont & Spadina

Welcome back to Week 5 of The Lazy Vegan Challenge Blog!!!

For this week's lazy dine-in, my featured vegan restaurant was "Live Organic Food Bar", in which I was accompanied by a good old high school friend of mine. She's a vegetarian who isn't quite part of TLVC that I'm partaking in, but is doing a vegan challenge of her own! Live was her choice which was perfect because neither of us had been there before.

It's a cute small restaurant, very much like the previous ones I've visited so far, with a bit more of an urban feel to it. I thought it was a perfect spot for my friend and I to just sit, reconnect and catch up on with our oh-so-busy "lives" (no pun intended).

The environment was quite relaxing. It had a nice subtle tone to it and may even be what some with lustrous personas would call "romantic".  Or maybe I just felt that way because I was on a vegan date, late in the evening. I can imagine they have a more upbeat and "lively" feeling during the day (again...no pun intended).

At the far back of the restaurant is where their actual food bar is located, in which they have a wide range of their line of Live Organic Raw products. Across from their food shelf is their dessert section, which I'll get in to after the main course.

Teriyaki Stirfry - $15

We both ordered the same dish under the Hot Main section of the menu which was the Teriyaki Stirfry. If there's anything you can't go wrong with when it comes to food, it's anything teriyaki....or stir fry for that matter! This delicious hot bowl consisted of mushrooms, zucchini, mixed peppers, broccoli, onions, and fennel in their sweet teriyaki BBQ sauce. I had the choice of having it served on a bed of brown rice or kelp noodles along with either the choice of tofu or tempeh thrown in the mix. I knew what brown rice was and what tofu was. But I've never had kelp noodles or tempeh before. Luckily my vegan date was a vegan expert because if she hadn't explained to me what those were, I would have been more reluctant to try it.

Water - $0!

So naturally I chose the kelp noodles along with the tempeh instead of the brown rice and tofu (even though I love tofu). However I'm glad I did! If I could eat everything on a bed of kelp noodles, I would! It went so well with the rest if the stir fry veggies in the bowl! Before trying the tempeh, I asked my friend what it tasted like. She explained that I might not like it and that it had an "acquired" taste. She was right about it having an acquired taste alright. I liked it! It had kind of a dry taste to it, but eaten with the right mix of other organic ingredients and my tummy is definitely smiling. Mind you, I must repeat my friend's advice about the tempeh having an "acquired" taste if you've never tried it before. If you're usually open-minded when it comes to trying new things, then you just might like it too!

Then came my favourite part of the meal.... dessert! At first we told our server that we were ready to order for desserts but we were then told that desserts from the menu was only served for brunch and that we had to go up to the food bar and just tell her which one we would like to get.

It was exciting. We had our hands pressed against the glass display like little kids looking into a candy store. It was an interesting concept because we could then see all the selections and decide which one looked more appealing to satisfy our sweet buds. This also made it more difficult for us to make the final decision because they ALL look so delicious!

Almond Nut Bar, Chocolate Avocado, Chocolate Nut Bar

Alas! We went with an almond nut bar, chocolate avocado pie, and chocolate nut bar. One word to describe all three: AMAZING!!! Especially the chocolate avocado! It just melted in my mouth with it's delicacy and heavenly taste! They all had just the right amount of sweetness to it! We began mixing all three of the bars together to blend the flavours and it just tasted like a fantastic vegan dessert party in my mouth.

I have to rate them a 4.5/5. I was really quite pleased with the choices on the menu and the service, however my friend and I both agreed that the prices were just a bit too high for the portion received. I'd definitely come back but most likely on a more formal occasion, unless I'm with-going an urgent desired craving for that chocolate avocado pie :)


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



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Week 4 - Hogtown Vegan

The Hogtown Vegan - Bloor & Ossington

Welcome to Week 4 of The Lazy Vegan Challenge Blog! I apologize for the late entry as I got really sick last week and had to postpone my blog :(

However this past Sunday of January 27th, I had the privilege of dining in at my featured vegan restaurant with a few of my peers who are also doing the challenge with me!

It was great because everyone ordered a different dish so there were different tastes and opinions going around the table.

The restaurant we ate at was at "The Hogtown Vegan"  which is on Bloor and Ossington. Their menu is particularly famous for their uniquely prepared entrées in which vegans would ultimately describe as "vegan comfort food". In other words, nostalgically satisfying your taste buds with the flavour of meat. So ironically, their menu includes a "Burger Section" with the unthinkable creative suggestions such as Hogtown Burger, Pulled Unpork Sandwich, Unchicken Burger, and much more.

Southern Combo - $13

The restaurant is small and always packed. We had to wait almost over half an hour to get in. Even late on a Sunday night! The environment felt more of like a super casual "hangout joint", which obviously works with the successful amount of traffic they get.

Once seated. I decided to let my colleagues place their orders first so that I wouldn't get the same dish as anyone else. The waitress had suggested for me to try the Unchicken and Waffles as it was one of their most popular entrées and generally received good ratings. I decided to go for it until one of my colleagues made another suggestion and said to try the Southern Combo if I liked "sweet". The unexpected suggestion from him caused me to agree under pressure and impulse that I didn't even know what I had just ordered.

The Southern Combo was basically the mimic of "chicken strips", really made with breaded, deep-fried soy chicken served with a side of sautéed garlic collard greens, along with their famous mac 'n' "cheese" and their house-made BBQ sauce for the strips. It was good. It definitely tasted like chicken strips. Their mac 'n' "cheese" was good too. That's really all I can say to describe it. I guess I'm not much of one for "comfort food". 

If you had been a meat-eater before becoming vegan and had once enjoyed the taste of chicken meat and mac 'n' (real) cheese and missed that taste, then you definitely would have appreciated this dish more than I did. Or anything else on their menu for that matter. 

Philly "Cheese" Burger with Fries - $12

The photo to the left here is the Philly "Cheese" Burger with a side of their fresh-cut fries. I'll have to admit that I really enjoyed the fries. I probably would have enjoyed it more if it were smothered in their house-made mushroom gravy. If there's any comfort food that I would always appreciate as a vegan, it's "poutine" (fries topped with gravy and curd cheese for the wondering non-Canadians reading this). 

However, if you're one to appreciate the healthier lifestyle, perfectly happy living on greens, and the type to cringe at the thought of meat, then this restaurant is definitely not for you. You really and literally have to miss and appreciate the taste of meat in order to even consider The Hogtown Vegan, as the majority of their entire menu is based on the idea of mimicking that common yet distinct taste. 

Shroom Burger & Side Caesar Salad - $12

There's always the typical healthy option that they offer such as salads and...well just salads. It's nice that they're still considerate for true hard-core vegans (which I am seriously slowly becoming). 

But based on my personal views as a vegan and my personal reason for not being nostalgic for meat, I give them a 4/5, mainly because the dishes weren't that bad and the service was decent enough.

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



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Week 3 - Rawlicious

Rawlicious - Bloor West Village

As I sit here munching on my kettle cooked potato chips (so healthy...NOT), trying to recall my recent trip to my second vegan restaurant, I just have to pause and update you with my vegan challenge progress so far...and well so far it's been a real piece of cake! Preferably vegan cake (womp womp).

Anyhow, welcome to Week 3 of The Lazy Vegan Challenge Blog!

I'm excited to share with you yet another satisfying trip of delicious vegan goodness. Today I had lunch at "Rawlicious" which is located in the Bloor West Village. The moment I stepped inside the restaurant, I felt as if I walked into a calm and collected atmosphere, my mood suddenly feeling light and pleasant. The environment was more of like a small elegant cafe with sofa's by the window and a grand piano all the way in the far back. I was greeted by a pretty waitress who invited me to sit wherever I pleased. Everything inside was squeaky clean.

They had a fairly simple menu. I took the liberty of peaking at their menu online while I was on my way there so I felt like I kind of cheated by already knowing what I wanted to order. All their entrées are raw (hence the name of their restaurant) with a small variety of different combinations and options from wraps, to pizza, to pad thai.

While the one side of the menu was dedicated to the salads, entrées and desserts, the other side was entirely just for beverages, with a wide selection of smoothies and juices, with the price ranging between $7-$9. Guessing they're not your ordinary booster juice.

Soft Tacos with Side Salad - $13

I ordered the Soft Tacos with Side Salad. It was an excellent choice. The side salad was a mix of greens with diced bell peppers also topped with I'm guessing hemp seeds with a light drizzle of their balsamic vinaigrette. Such a pleasant taste! I had to try my best to eat slowly and not to scarf the entire plate in two bites!

When it came to the tacos, I really had to control my urge to savage everything whole. The corn taco was made of buckwheat and flax seed and was stuffed with salsa, guacamole, refried beans, shredded romaine and sour cream. I know right???? The whole entrée was like the Gods of gardens partying in my mouth....but delightfully and elegantly.

Cheesecake - $9

The party didn't stop there though. Naturally, I had to try something from their dessert menu. The waiter was kind enough to take the time to give me his honest opinion on all the dessert items. It was a good thing he did though because the majority of their dessert selection included some sort of coconut in it which I am not a huge fan of.

So I decided to play it safe and go with their Cheesecake. The word "cheese" got me baffled the moment I ordered it but the waiter ensured that everything they served was 100% vegan. Just what I wanted to hear! Two minutes later he placed a plate of delectable cashew based cake on top of an almond and date crust.

Beautiful Foolishness  White Tea - $3

The cheesecake was divine. Again, I had to refrain from shoving the whole slice into my mouth in one sitting. It was a good thing I got a hot beverage to go with the meal to let everything settle nicely in my stomach. I was tempted to try one of their vegan smoothies or juices but I decided to save that adventure for another day. Instead, to keep the elegance going, I got what was labelled on the menu their Beautiful Foolishness - White Tea. After ordering it, I expected the tea to come in a fancy gold chalace with some crazy whipped swirls surfacing the top....but no. I can see why they included the word "foolishness" in the name. I sure felt like a fool when I was given regular tea in a plain white mug. But nonetheless, it had a sweet delicious scent that you can taste before the cup even reaches your lips!

I can definitely say with confidence that they deserve a 5/5. The entire experience was completely satisfying and I know I will definitely be back to try their other entrées and most definitely one of their smoothies/juices.


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



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