During our 3 days in Los Angeles, we ate… a lot. We said, “bye-bye diets, this is vacation.” So, without further ado, here is our review of our culinary adventures in Los Angeles.
Hugo’s – 8401 Santa Monica Blvd. 323-654-3993
Hugo’s is a fixture in West Hollywood. Hugo’s has an extensive menu with ample vegan options. The menu has a key to help quickly identify Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten-Free, Can be Vegan, Can be Vegetarian, Can be Gluten-Fee and Contains Nuts. We truly appreciate a restaurant that does this as it makes reading menus much easier. The staff is very friendly and knowledgeable about the menu. If you have any questions, they can usually answer them without having to run to the kitchen to check. Hugo’s is a great option if you are dining with a mixed group of omnivores and vegans. The menu has something for everyone.
We had 3 meals at Hugo’s, 2 breakfasts and 1 dinner. For our first breakfast, we really didn’t need the menu. Having eaten here many times, we knew what we wanted. We each ordered the Blueberry Pancakes with a side of fresh fruit.
Blueberry Pancakes
Unfortunately, the pancakes were not as good as they had been in the past – very dense and somewhat lacking in favor. The blueberry compote served with them was nice, but a little watery. Even the maple syrup seemed devoid of flavor. As for the side of fresh fruit, it too was disappointing. The small bowl contained 2 slices of strawberry, 4 pieces of pineapple (that almost tasted canned), 2 grapes and chunks of apple. This is California, where was the citrus? Perhaps since perfecting our own recipe for pancakes, we have become jaded and all others now pale in comparison.
On our second breakfast stop at Hugo’s, I chose to steer away from traditional breakfast fare and ordered the Pasta Emilia, another dish labeled, “Can be Vegan.” The dish is pasta tossed with organic tofu, garlic, parsley, avocado, tomato, cilanto and some Daiya. I asked them to hold the Daiya. The portion was huge. The pasta was well cooked and the all the ingredients were very fresh. The overall flavor was a little mild, but with some salt it perked up. Many restaurants tend to skimp when adding tofu to dishes, but not Hugo’s. This was packed with tofu.
Huevos Rancheros
Ethan had the Huevos Rancheros which were marked as “Can be Vegan.” They simply replace the eggs with organic tofu served on warm corn tortillas, covered in a roasted-tomato chipotle sauce, avocado, Daiya vegan cheese (the other necessary substitution) and cilantro. It comes with a side of black beans and tumeric rice. Ethan thought it was decent, but also a bit devoid of a more robust flavor
On our dinner trip we shared an appetizer and then each had a separate entrée. We started with the Vegan Mac & Cheese:
Mac & Cheese
Pasta with garlic, mushrooms and peas in a creamy cashew and sunflower seed cheese sauce, topped with crispy onions. The sauce was very creamy, but not very cheesy tasting. The sunflower seed flavor is very strong. The crispy onions were a little on the soggy side. When it comes to Mac & Cheese, I like a thicker sauce with a cheesier flavor. This was good, but not outstanding.
For my entrée I ordered the Hugo’s Shepherd’s Pie (labled as “Can be Vegan”). I knew before we walked in that this is what I would be ordering. It was on a visit to Hugo’s many years ago when I had my first Shepherd’s pie that inspired me to create my own version. So, I needed to have it again. Hugo’s version is an herbed mushroom sauce with assorted mixed vegatable (broccoli, peas, asparagus) and organic tofu covered with mashed potatoes and tipped with Daiya mozzarella style shreds. It arrived somewhat burned on top and unfortunately the burnt flavor dominated the dish. The gravy was very watery and the flavor was weak, lacking any real depth. The dish is more of a cross
Shepherd’s Pie
between a pot pie and a shepherd’s pie.
Ethan opted for the “Create-A-Plate” meal. For this dish, you get to choose either 3, 4 or 5 items from their list and add a sauce. For an additional charge, you can “add a protein”. There is no need for the add a protein option as many of the items on the list are already full of protein. Ethan chose Sautéed Leafy Greens, Roasted Yams and Sweet Potatoes, Fried Plantains and Tomato Chipotle Black Beans. He opted not to add a sauce or extra protein. Everything was very well prepared and quite tasty.
Overall, we were sad to see that Hugo’s, which was once a great place to dine, was not as good as it used to be.
Gracias Madre 8905 Melrose Ave, West Hollywood, CA 90069 323-978-2170
Run, don’t walk to this new 100% vegan Mexican restaurant in West Hollywood! Seriously, this is without a doubt the best Mexican food we have ever eaten. We ended up having lunch here twice: once with Ethan’s cousin and once with our friens Nathan Runkle and Ari Solomon from Mercy For Animals. We went a little crazy ordering on our first lunch as everything on the menu looked fantastic.
First of all, I have mention the space itself. It is fantastic. Very open and airy with high ceilings and exposed beams. Dramatic light fixtures that look like giant lanterns hang overhead. And in addition to the interior, there is an outside dining area that almost doubles the restaurant capacity.
While perusing the extensive menu, we ordered some snacks: the spicy almonds and the house made chips. The almonds lived up to their name. Dry roasted and crunchy, they packed a little kick of heat at the end. I am very spice sensitive, so they were too hot for me, but Ethan really liked them. The chips were freshly made and crispy. They went well with the red and green salsas that are on the table for your enjoyment. The red sauce is the milder of the two and has a slight kick. The green sauce is really hot. But both are fresh tasting and incredibly delicious.
Repolitos con Queso Fundido
From the “Antojitos,” or appetizer section, we chose the Gorditas and the Repolitos con Queso Fundido. The Repolitos are brussel sprouts and caramelized onions baked in cashew cheese and topped with garlic breadcrumbs. The sprouts were excellently cooked, toothsome and not soggy. The cashew cheese was flavorful and rich. These were among the best brussel sprouts we have ever had. The Gorditas were equally as delicious: potato-masa cakes topped with warms salsa verde, avocado and cashew crema.
Gorditas
The cakes were crispy on the outside and soft and warm in the middle. The salsa verde added a little kick that paired beautifully with the creaminess of the avocado and the cashew crema.
Flautas
For our “Principales” we ordered Flautas de Camote and Chilaquiles. Both of them were amazing, but the Flautas were better. In fact, on our return trip we both ordered the Flautas again. The Flautas are rolled tacos filled with sweet potatoes and caramelized onions, topped with pico de gallo, guacamole, cashew nacho cheese and cilantro, served with refried black beans. They are simultaneously sweet and savory, spicy and mild, hot and cool, crispy and soft. The flavors and textures combine into a tantalizing dance in your mouth.
We first tried Chilaquiles in Mexico last year and fell in love with them. These however took them to a whole new level. Tortilla chips simmered in a spicy tomato sauce, topped with cashew crema, cilantro and avocado, served with black beans. A word of warning, these are spicy. I was only able to eat a little before it became too much for me. Ethan likes spicy food, but after a while said the heat was getting to be too much for him as well. They are very flavorful, but be prepared for heat.
For our “Postre” we tried the Flan, a homemade cashew custard with burnt sugar caramel. It was very smooth and creamy with a nice vanilla flavor.
I cannot say enough good things about Gracias Madre. This is a must do for anyone going to Los Angeles, vegan or not.
Sage 1700 West Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026 213-989-1718
This vegan bistro has 2 locations: one in Culver City and the other in Echo Park. We visited the Echo Park location for Sunday Brunch. The space is a small, so you might have a little bit of a wait. While Sage has a large lunch and dinner menus, the brunch menu is more limited, but contains a nice selection from the other menus.
Sweet Dumplings
We started out with the Sweet Dumplings and the TexMex Chimichanga Egg Rolls. The dumplings were great – crispy shells filled with mashed plantains and sweet potatoes served with a side of maple soy sauce. The crunch of the shell contrasts beautifully with the soft creamy filling. These would almost make a better dessert than starter.
TexMex Chimichanga
The chimichangas were filled with bell peppers, onion, black beans, cilantro, corn and Daiya, served with mango chutney. They are very flavorful and the two large rolls could be a meal on their own.
For entrées I had the BLTA and Ethan had the Spinach Avocado and Walnut Sausage Florentine. The BLTA is a tempeh bacon, tomato, lettuce and avocado sandwich served on a croissant with garlic aioli and Dijon mustard. Just having a vegan croissant automatically give a restaurant bonus points. This sandwich was great. A large portion that after the appetizers was almost too much food, but I managed to eat it all.
Ethan enjoyed the Sausage Florentine which is served over a fresh baked baguette and topped with Hollandaise sauce. It was very well seasoned and again, a very large portion.
Walnut Sausage Florentine
The friends who we dined with enjoyed their selections as well, the Biscuits and Gravy
Chia French Toast
and the Chia French Toast.
However, the main attraction at Sage is the KindKreme ice cream. The ice creams are either coconut based, or almond milk, cashew and coconut based. They have a wide variety of flavors and are happy to let you sample as many as you want.
The portions at Sage are huge. Two people can easily share and appetizer and an entrée and be full.
Doomies Home Cooking – 1253 Vine St, Los Angeles, CA 90038 323-469-4897
Doomies was not initially on our list of places to checkout while in LA, but we heard from numerous people that we needed to try it, so we did. This was a mistake. The restaurant does not have a website, so there is little information available. However, you can find the menu on menupages.
Before getting to the food itself, here are something to note: at night, valet parking is required, so right off the bat you are spending $6.50 before walking in the door. For a restaurant in a strip mall, this seems crazy. Second thing of note is the menu refers to the cheese used as either “vegan or real cheese.” Rather than saying, “dairy cheese” they choose to say, “real cheese” implying that vegan cheese is somehow not real. As vegans, we find this incredibly insulting. Lastly, the restaurant is very dark and not very clean.
Mac ‘N’ Cheese
We started with the Mac ‘N’ Cheese, extra creamy style and Chicken Fingers. The Mac ‘N’ Cheese was a huge portion. It looked like the stuff out of the blue box. The texture was great, very creamy. However, the taste was missing. While it looked like Mac & Cheese, it had almost no cheesy flavor to it. We only ate a few bites before setting it aside. The chicken fingers were crispy and coated in panko, but again were lacking any flavor. Moreover, the ranch dip served with them tasted more like tartar sauce than ranch dressing.
For entrées I got the Chicken Parmigiana Sandwich and Ethan got the Classic Burger. The Chicken Parmigiana was simply 2 of the chicken fingers, smothered in marinara sauce topped with vegan cheese. The sauce was bland and I have no idea what they used
Chicken Parm Sandwich
for the vegan cheese, but it was a tasteless white liquid. I ate it because I was hungry, but was left completely unsatisfied. Ethan said his burger was just an overcooked Gardein burger on a soggy bun. After 2 bites, he was done. While the food looked good, it simply did not have the follow through on taste at all. The only good thing we had there were the French fries. After spending almost $50 including the valet we were still hungry and went to get another dinner elsewhere.
Doomies? No please don’t do me.
Veggie Grill – 8000 West Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90046 323-822-7575
Veggie Grill is one of my favorite restaurants and where we should have gone rather than Doomies. In fact, it is where we ran to after the horrible experience of Doomies. I wasn’t vegan the first time I ate here, but as soon as I did, I knew I could be. This is vegan fast food the way is should be – freshly made, flavorful, and reasonably priced. There are Veggies Grill restaurants throughout Southern California and Northern California, as well as in Portland and Seattle. I NEED them to come to New York. Are you listening Veggie Grill? I promise to be your best customer if you come to New York.
The Veggie Grill menu is large, but not overwhelming, and everything is delicious. I typically- oh, who am I kidding- ALWAYS start with the buffalo wings. These are Chickin’ tenders breaded, fried and tossed in a spicy Buffalo sauce served with celery sticks and creamy ranch dressing.
Buffalo Wings
I challenge anyone to eat them and not proclaim their deliciousness. And now they added a Buffalo Mini Wrap to the menu: the buffalo tenders, lettuce and ranch dressing in a flour tortilla. They are a perfect snack. I paired one with the Steamin’ Kale for a great second dinner.
All Hail Kale
Ethan having barely eaten before started with an order of the Buffalo wings and followed it with the All Hail Kale salad. This salad is amazing: marinated kale, quinoa, red cabbage slaw, corn salsa, agave roasted walnuts with a ginger papaya vinaigrette. The ideal combination of an indulgence and something healthy. This salad is a work of art. All fresh ingredients and the dressing is spectacular.
Of couse, we couldn’t eat there just one time. We went back for lunch the following day. This time I started with the Buffalo wings and followed them with a Heart of Romaine Salad for a perfect lite meal. The salad is romaine lettuce, cucumbers and quinoa with a miso-ginger dressing sprinkled with sesame seeds. The dressing is great. And I love quinoa in a salad.
Ethan started with the Mac-n-Cheese and followed it with the Bombay Bowl.
Mac-n-Cheese
The Mac-n-Cheese is made with quinoa pasta and if you ask them to leave off the bread crumb topping it is gulten free. It is very creamy and tasty. If you are craving Mac-n-Cheese you won’t be disappointed in this one.
Bombay Bowl
The Bombay Bowl is one of the new items on the menu. It contains herb roasted veggies, super grains, steamed kale, cannellini beans, cilantro green curry sauce with coconut milk, almonds and hemp seeds. The portion is huge. Ethan loved it.
You cannot go wrong a Veggie Grill. Do yourself a favor and try it.
Real Food Daily – 414 N. La Cienega Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90048 310-289-9910
RFD has locations throughout Southern California. It bills itself as “Southern California’s permier organic plant-based restaurant serving a quality, authentic, creative, and nutritionally balanced menu. Since 1993, RFD has been a cherished destination where community happens around education, connection and hospitality, over delicious, accessible food that’s real.” The menu is huge and items are labeled to indicate whether is it gluten-free, nut-free or soy-free.
We brunched here twice on this trip. On our first brunch, we each started with pastry. Ethan had a cinnamon bun
Cinnamon Bun
and I had the blueberry coffee cake.
Blueberry Coffee Cake
Both were excellent. The bun was moist and had a generous swirl of icing on top. The coffee cake was very moist and covered with a walnut, streusel crumb. We ate them while deciding on our main courses.
For our main, we each got the Weekender. A large patter consisting of tofu scamble, tempeh bacon, with your choices of fresh fruit or hash browns, AND a choice of pancakes or French toast. I got the hash browns while Ethan went with fruit.
Weekender with fruit
We both got French toast. The tofu scramble contains onions and tomatoes and is topped with cashew cheese. The hash browns were a lovely patty of shredded potatoes that was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, in other words, perfect. The French toast was very good, but a little tough. The tofu scramble was delicious. The tempeh bacon is very crispy, as if it had been dehydrated. Overall it was a very happy meal.
French toast
On our next visit, Ethan opted for the Breakfast Burrito and I chose the Waffle Platter. My cousin Beth joined us for this meal and got the Breakfast Sammie. The burrito is a whole wheat tortilla, filled with scrambled tofu, roasted potatoes, black beans, sautéed peppers and onions, cashew cheese, guacamole, pico de gallo, served with a either hash browns or fruit. It is massive and filling.
The Waffle Platter is simply a waffle with tempeh bacon, or a choice of fruit or hash brown. The waffle was light and airy, with a crispy outside and moist inside. Just the way a waffle should be. The Breakfast Sammie is a marinated tofu, tempeh bacon, swiss cheese, avocado, tomato and veganaise on a sprouted grain English muffin, served with hash browns or fruit. This sandwich is huge. It takes work to press it down to bit into, but the effort is so worth it.
Real Food Daily is a great option for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Check it out.
Crossroads Kitchen 8284 Melrose Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90046 323-782-9245
Crossroads is the brainchild of acclaimed chef Tal Ronnen. On its website, Crossroads is described of offering diners, “Mediterranean-themed small dishes, salads, farm-to-glass cocktails, and desserts in a fine-dining dinner style that encourages exploration.” The small plates allow you to order multiple items to get a full sampling of the menu. Before getting to the food, I must talk briefly about the space itself. It is stunning. Although dimly lit, you cannot miss the fact that the upmost care was taken in picking out the finishes, artwork and overall design. As soon as you walk in, you know you are in for a great dining experience.
Artichoke Oysters
We ate with our friends Ari Solomon and Mikko Alanne who are friends with Tal, and soon as we sat down a plate of Artichoke Oysters appeared for us to enjoy while perusing the menu. It looked like a vegan version of oysters on the half shell, with Artichoke leaves serving as the shells that were topped with artichoke puree, crispy oyster mushrooms, yellow tomato béarnaise and kelp caviar, all beautifully presented on a bed of course salt. In a word, divine. It is a truly sumptuous dish. The puree is smooth and creamy and the caviar lends just a hint of brininess.
Ethan and I chose 4 items to share, 3 small plates and one “Comforting Classic.” For our small plates, we shared the Kale Caesar, “Crab Cakes” and Hearts of Palm Calamari. The fourth dish was the Pappardelle Bolognese.
Kale Casear
The Kale Caesar was a large mound of finely chopped kale tossed with a Caesar dressing and small garlic focaccia croutons. The croutons were small enough that they were easy to eat and large enough to give a good crunch. The kale was not coated in dressing, but rather they use the perfect amount: enough to fully taste it, but not so much to drown the kale.
Hearts of Palm Calamari
The Hearts of Palm Calamari was genius. Tal uses only the outer rings of the hearts to suggest the rings of calamari. The rings are lightly battered and then fried to golden perfection. They are served with cocktail sauce and a lemon-caper aioli for dipping. And to not waste the centers of the hearts of palm, they are chopped up, combine with Granny Smith apples and heirloom beets, formed into patties and fried to become “Crab Cakes.” They are remarkably reminiscent in seasoning and texture to ones made with crab. But these are so much better as no one was harmed to make them.
Crab Cakes
The Pappardelle was delicious. Freshly made wide noodles tossed with a hearty Bolognese sauce. I could have made meal out of that alone. In addition to the Pappardelle, the other “Comforting Classics” include a Scaloppini Parmesan and Scaloppini Moutarde featuring Gardein. These are definitely the more “stick to your ribs” options.
For dessert we had the Banana Bread Pudding with rum caramel and Dark Chocolate Mousse with coconut whipped cream. Both were amazing. Having not had bread pudding in years, this was like seeing a long lost friend. It was moist and delicious. I am still dreaming about it. The mousse while rich and chocolaty, was not light and fluffy. Instead it was very dense, like a thick ganache. No matter though, it was wonderful. The portions are also small plates, so you don’t have feel guilty about ordering more than one.
Crossroads is a must for anyone coming to LA, vegan or not. It is the epitome of fine dining.
We will be making more trips to LA and reviewing more restaurants, but in three days this was all we could manage. Yes, we admit that some of the places required repeat visits, and that did take away from going somewhere else. If you have any places in the LA area you think we should check out, let us know.
