Favorite Bay Area Vegetarian Restaurants?

[g***@pacbell.net]

I wonder if anyone would care to share the names of their favorite
vegetarian restaurants in the Bay Area?

If you have more information about the restaurant, that's great, but
certainly not necessary.

Thanks in advance for your contributions!

Here are two of my favorites in Oakland:

New World Vegetarian
Address: 464 8th St at Broadway
(a few blocks from the 12th Street BART station)
Oakland, CA 94607
Phone: [phone]

Website:
http://www.newworldvegetarian.com/

Map:
http://tinyurl.com/b8zb2

New World Vegetarian just has a wonderful ambiance. I suggest you try
their "NW Clay Pot" (NW="New World"), but it's a lot of food, so don't
stuff yourself!

Golden Lotus Vegetarian
1301 Franklin St at 13th St
(in the same block as one exit to the 12th Street BART station)
Oakland CA 94612
[phone]

A nice, cozy restaurant right across the street from the Oakland
Tribune building. Exiting the BART at 13th Street, you don't even have
to cross the street to get to it: it's in the same block. I would
suggest their "Spicy Potato Chicken Curry" to start with. Their
"Spring Rolls (non-fried)" are also wonderful.

Website:
http://www.goldenlotusvege.com/

Map:
http://tinyurl.com/asbyx

I think these two restaurants are run by the same people, though I'm
not sure. It's a pretty daring thing to have two vegetarian
restaurants within a few blocks of each other, but it seems to work for
them!

Thanks in advance for your contributions.

Happy Dining!

--
Brett
http://www.FreewareFriend.com/
"Discover freeware jewels on the World Wide Web!"

[serene]

Post by g***@pacbell.net
I wonder if anyone would care to share the names of their favorite
vegetarian restaurants in the Bay Area?

I haven't been to any that I can think of, oddly enough. I like a place
in Berkeley that serves vegan Chinese along with some seafood. It's
called Long Life Vegi House.

serene

[Steve Pope]

I second the recommendation for New World Vegetarian. About a
year ago they closed the place for a month and updated both
the interior and the menu. As mentioned serving size are
large, with adequate amounts of protein ingredients,
and generally non-greasy. I like the sweet and sour gluten
for example.

Steve

[Mean Green Dancing Machine]

Post by g***@pacbell.net
I wonder if anyone would care to share the names of their favorite
vegetarian restaurants in the Bay Area?

Do you care whether a restaurant is entirely vegetarian or are you
interested in restaurants that simply have large vegetarian selections?
Do you care whether they are vegetarian or vegan?

[g***@pacbell.net]

Hi Aahz:

Actually, "vegetarian-friendly" restaurants, not strictly vegetarian
restaurants, but ones which have large vegetarian selections, would
also be good to list.

Incidentally, probably the best international vegetarian restaurant
guide I've found is:

http://www.vegdining.com/

Very good coverage of U.S. vegetarian restaurants, and fairly good
coverage in many parts of the world.

My own site, http://www.veggielinks.org/ lists a few other restaurant
guides.

Thanks to all!

--
Brett
http://www.100bestwebsites.org/
"The 100 finest sites on the Web, all in one place!"
Widely-watched non-profit ranking of top Internet sites

[Steve Pope]

Post by g***@pacbell.net
Actually, "vegetarian-friendly" restaurants, not strictly vegetarian
restaurants, but ones which have large vegetarian selections, would
also be good to list.

You still didn't specify vegan vs. ovo-lacto vegetarian.

I'm happy with several Indian and South Indian restaurants for
their vegetarian selection -- Vik's and Ajanta in Berkeley,
Chaat Cafe in Berkeley, Fremont and elsewhere; I'm sure there
are plenty of others. Each of these places serve meat dishes
as well (although in the case Vik's, not to any great extent).

Steve

[Spam Gourmet]

Post by Steve Pope
I'm happy with several Indian and South Indian restaurants for
their vegetarian selection

Steve, now that you're working in Sunnyvale, you need to give Madras Cafe a
try. Great dhahi and sambar vada, dosas, uthappams, etc. Check out the
specials board. The kohtu paratta and madras paratta are terrific, but only
served Fri-Sun.

http://www.madrascafe.us/

El Camino and Bernardo, behind McDonald's.

--A

[Steve Pope]

Post by Spam Gourmet
Steve, now that you're working in Sunnyvale, you need to give
Madras Cafe a try.

Thanks. (It appears to be one of increasingly rare non-buffet
Indian lunch places. Cool.)

S.

[William Ahern]

Post by Spam Gourmet

Post by Steve Pope
I'm happy with several Indian and South Indian restaurants for
their vegetarian selection

Steve, now that you're working in Sunnyvale, you need to give Madras Cafe a
try. Great dhahi and sambar vada, dosas, uthappams, etc. Check out the
specials board. The kohtu paratta and madras paratta are terrific, but only
served Fri-Sun.
http://www.madrascafe.us/
El Camino and Bernardo, behind McDonald's.

That's next to Pho Quyen, right? I always walk past Madras Cafe, and the
food smells so good. I usually try to stay away from Indian places as a
general rule, ever since it became a fad and your co-workers try to drag you
to crap Indian places with crap quality food. Then they say, "Oh, he doesn't
like spicey food." Then you grimace and hold in the rage.

Anyhow, I'll definitely make a note to checkout Madras. I hope nobody else
finds out. ;)

Speaking of Indian food, we tried Shiva's in Mountain View the other day (my
yearly concession to my S.O.). They had possibly the best tomato soup I've
ever had (though I can't say I order it often). The okra side dish wasn't up
to par, so I don't know how Shiva's compares for vegetarian cuisine in
general. (Though, I think the okra was scrapped from the bottom of the pot,
so it may not be so smooshed and greasy for most people.)

Shiva's Sea Food Curry had perfectly cooked fish, though. A rare find.
Unfortuantely there were only two pieces/chunks. The curry was decent, but
since the only other ingredient was shrimp (which, along with Salmon I also
boycott as a general rule unless a unique dish picques my interest), I
couldn't make a solid recommendation one way or the other.

[Spam Gourmet]

Post by William Ahern

Post by Spam Gourmet
http://www.madrascafe.us/
El Camino and Bernardo, behind McDonald's.

That's next to Pho Quyen, right?

Yup. That's the one. Actually, there is a Halal restaurant which I've
never tried that's closer to Pho Quyen. Madras is to the right of that.
BTW, don't let the paper plates and plastic utensils at Madras scare you.
Yes, it's a dive, but the food is great.

--A

[William Ahern]

Post by Spam Gourmet

Post by William Ahern

Post by Spam Gourmet
http://www.madrascafe.us/
El Camino and Bernardo, behind McDonald's.

That's next to Pho Quyen, right?

Yup. That's the one. Actually, there is a Halal restaurant which I've
never tried that's closer to Pho Quyen. Madras is to the right of that.
BTW, don't let the paper plates and plastic utensils at Madras scare you.
Yes, it's a dive, but the food is great.

If it was paper plates and an empty dining area that might mean something
(more difficult to gauge cleanliness). But business seems brisk.

[Tim May]

Post by Spam Gourmet

Post by William Ahern

Post by Spam Gourmet
http://www.madrascafe.us/
El Camino and Bernardo, behind McDonald's.

That's next to Pho Quyen, right?

Yup. That's the one. Actually, there is a Halal restaurant which I've

Halal? Is that the stuff that Muslims won't eat because it's been
touched near a Jew?

Or vice versa? Something primitive and weird about a mere fork or knife
being "unclean" because some Imam or Rabbi didn't collect his shekels
in shakedown money to "drive the evil spirits away."

--Tim May

[William Ahern]

Post by Tim May

Post by Spam Gourmet

Post by William Ahern

Post by Spam Gourmet
http://www.madrascafe.us/
El Camino and Bernardo, behind McDonald's.

That's next to Pho Quyen, right?

Yup. That's the one. Actually, there is a Halal restaurant which I've

Halal? Is that the stuff that Muslims won't eat because it's been
touched near a Jew?

Hello? How can you expect to make rude ethnic jokes if you don't educate
yourself about different cultures? The jokes get old quickly unless you work
on your subtlety.

For instance, you can comment on how Halal slaughtering, while originating
in Jewish Kosher slaughtering, is practied so poorly it has the opposite
effect (well, at the effect tauted by secular folk).

Secular Kosher advocates argue that Kosher slaughtering is more humane to
the animal, with the added benefit of preventing bitter tasting endorphines
from contaminating the meat. A proper Kosher kill shouldn't agitate the
animal by shredding nerve endings, and should lead to a quick death. Kosher
butchers use very sharp knives and train to make a clean, lethal cut in one
motion. Halal slaughtering practioners, possibly because there are simply
more of them (but this leaves room for ethnic slighting) often are not
properly trained, and their cutting method can make the animal go nuts,
releasing all kinds of off-tasting chemicals into their blood stream and
thus into their muscle tissue.

At least, that's what I've read on the Internet. But careful generalizations
of possibly erroneous but plausible observations make for great fodder, and
provide an easy avenue to slip prejudices into people's psyche and habits,
especially when delivered properly.

[Tim May]

Post by William Ahern
For instance, you can comment on how Halal slaughtering, while originating
in Jewish Kosher slaughtering, is practied so poorly it has the opposite
effect (well, at the effect tauted by secular folk).
Secular Kosher advocates argue that Kosher slaughtering is more humane to
the animal, with the added benefit of preventing bitter tasting endorphines
from contaminating the meat. A proper Kosher kill shouldn't agitate the
animal by shredding nerve endings, and should lead to a quick death. Kosher
butchers use very sharp knives and train to make a clean, lethal cut in one
motion. Halal slaughtering practioners, possibly because there are simply
more of them (but this leaves room for ethnic slighting) often are not
properly trained, and their cutting method can make the animal go nuts,
releasing all kinds of off-tasting chemicals into their blood stream and
thus into their muscle tissue.

American butchering stuns the animal...it is not aware that it is about
to be killed.

Jew butchering is not much different, but sets up a system of taxation
or "rent-seeking" whereby priests collect fees for visiting a kitchen
and "blessing" the pots and pans.

A truly animistic, primitive system. Unchanged since 4000 B.C.

And the Jew claims this is its _advantage_!


--Tim May

[Steve Pope]

Post by William Ahern
For instance, you can comment on how Halal slaughtering,
while originating in Jewish Kosher slaughtering, is practied so
poorly it has the opposite effect (well, at the effect tauted
by secular folk).

That's complete bullshit.

Take your race-baiting elsewhere.

Steve

[William Ahern]

Post by Steve Pope

Post by William Ahern
For instance, you can comment on how Halal slaughtering,
while originating in Jewish Kosher slaughtering, is practied so
poorly it has the opposite effect (well, at the effect tauted
by secular folk).

That's complete bullshit.
Take your race-baiting elsewhere.

You're right, it is. It was a misguided attempt at sarcasm. (Did you even
read the rest of it before responding?)

Anyhow, I won't be following up this thread.

[Steve Pope]

Post by Tim May

Post by Spam Gourmet

Post by William Ahern
That's next to Pho Quyen, right?

Yup. That's the one. Actually, there is a Halal restaurant which I've

They were closed too.

Post by Tim May
Halal? Is that the stuff that Muslims won't eat because it's been
touched near a Jew?

No. You're maybe thinking of Sikhs, who will eat neither Halal nor
Kosher meat, because it's been ritually slaughtered and their
religion bans ritual slaughtering.

S.

[Steve Pope]

Post by Spam Gourmet
Steve, now that you're working in Sunnyvale, you need to give
Madras Cafe a try.

I tried. After checking their website, I walked over there
for lunch (a healthy 25 minute walk from my office in the
complex of buildings for which Applied Signal is the major
tenant). Alas, they are closed Aug 9-11 for remodeling.
So if you're planning to go there soon, better check first.

I noted there is a redundant Chaat Cafe across the street,
but I ended up getting a buritto from the permalunch truck at
the car wash.

Steve

[AC]

Garden Fresh
1245 W El Camino Real
Mountain View

Everything is vegan at Garden Fresh. Most of the food is Chinese, with
just a few other things tossed in (sushi, burger, hot dog). They have
the best scallion pancakes I've had anywhere. My favorite entree is
the veggie-stuffed tofu with black bean sauce. The sweet and sour
"pork" is really good. I also like one of the "beef" dishes -- I
forget which one, but it's the one made with shiitake mushroom gluten.
They make a good noodle dish with spinach fettucini. And everything
comes with brown rice, which I love. When I lived and worked closer, I
used to go there a lot, but now I don't get there nearly enough!

---

Tasty Vegetarian
2455 Winchester Blvd
Campbell

Good dumplings and some really good "pork" buns that may not be on the
menu -- just ask. It's been so long since I've been there, I don't
remember any specific entrees. The hot and sour soup is really good --
my husband calls it "the magic soup" for its amazing restorative
qualities. (I hope they're still around! It's been a while...)

---

And of course there are loads of places that are not strictly
vegetarian but are veg-friendly. If you're interested in a particular
cuisine or geographic area, please specify!

Anne Callery
Redwood City

[g***@pacbell.net]

Manzanita is relatively new. It is organic, vegan, and quite
wonderful:

http://www.manzanitarestaurant.com/

1050 40th St
Emeryville, CA
[phone]

http://www.veggielinks.org/

--
Brett
http://www.FreewareFriend.com/
"Discover freeware jewels on the World Wide Web!"

[Steve Pope]

Post by g***@pacbell.net
Manzanita is relatively new. It is organic, vegan, and quite
http://www.manzanitarestaurant.com/
1050 40th St
Emeryville, CA

Is this any different than the macrobiotic restauarant
that's always been on 40th street?

Is it just a name change or a different establishment?

Steve