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this was the view while
I waited outside. It was
too pretty not to post |
I have to say right off the bat that I was pleasantly surprised by Vegan Tree in many ways. First off, I fully admit that I have some negative feelings towards the idea of veganism. Granted, the few people I know who are/were vegan are pretty relaxed in their stance on it - they never tried to shove it down anyone's throat. But too often I feel like I see veganism being touted as a health fad and not about a personal belief or way of life. Or people trying to tell me that they won't eat honey, which seems ludicrous (side note: I did just spend the last 5 minutes perusing the internet trying to educate myself on whether or not harvesting honey is really harmful to bees. It was hard to find an unbiased account so for the time being I will say my research is inconclusive. second side note: my family tried to raise two colonies of bees. one didn't last the winter, and the other one flew away and built a nest in the neighbor's yard, but we did get some honey beforehand. third side note: bees and other insects with caste systems are
really,
really interesting genetically. fourth side note:
colony collapse disorder is a real thing that we should be concerned about. one of my
college professors was a big proponent of spreading the word. Andrew Bird even has a
song about it. fifth side note:
they don't allow you to have bees in here).
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| mmm... cheesy?! |
Okay, I really hope you guys learned a lot about bees in this blog entry. But I suppose I should actually review the restaurant, which as I mentioned turned out to be a pleasant surprise. From the outside, Vegan Tree is deceiving in that it doesn't look like it has much room to sit or a kitchen. But upon entering, you are greeted by simple wooden tables, delicious savory smells wafting in your direction, and post-it notes and animal-friendly posters all over the walls. I think we established that the post-it notes had messages about how much they enjoyed the restaurant and/or loved animals. I thought it was a nice touch. I got excited to see a
PAWS bandana on the wall and then I realized I was eating in a vegan restaurant and had a total DUH moment.
The staff was very friendly, making sure that we all enjoyed our meals. They asked our dining friend Eileen several times if her meal was okay (it was a bit too spicy), but it seemed very much like they were concerned that their food wasn't living up to some predetermined standard and wanted to make sure we weren't unhappy. That can be a bit overbearing at times, but it's nice to know that the staff truly cares about the quality of their food. Speaking of food quality, everything here was excellent, and the portion size to cost ratio is fantastic. We ordered three appetizers: summer rolls (tofu, rice, vegan ham, lettuce, noodles, carrots, cucumber, wrapped in rice paper) with peanut sauce, "cheesy" bread, and sushi with avocado, cucumbers, and carrots. I enjoyed all three and was especially impressed by the flavor profile of the cheesy bread - while it didn't quite pull off being a substitute for cheese, it was just the right amount of salty and umami and the bread was toasted to perfection.
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sometimes all you need is a
clichéd saying |
For my meal, I got the Joy Fried Rice, which consisted of black rice (I've never seen this grain before, so it was exciting), tofu and vegetables. It was only $6-7, which is quite the bargain for the amount of food you get. I was pretty hungry so I ate everything, but you could definitely get a sizable amount of leftovers from it. Again, the salty/umami flavors were spot on, and the veggies were the right consistency (not too firm, not too soft). I would have preferred the rice to have been made a little crispier, but that's a personal preference - it was still fantastic. I tried a bite of Sandya's dish, which had a great vegan BBQ sauce on it. I also ordered a cup of Jasmine tea, which was a nice complement to the food.
I would definitely recommend Vegan Tree to vegans and non-vegans alike - the food is great, the service is friendly, and the portion size/cost is beyond reasonable. I also didn't feel like veganism was being shoved down my throat, which is always a plus for any type of restaurant that is touting itself as something trendy and/or "counter-culture."
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