Big Way Hot Pot - Vegan Options

OK, so I kind of fluked across this place too. I was looking on Google Maps for a place that had just opened in Richmond when I noticed that Big Way Hot Pot was nearby. I decided to review their menu to see if they offered vegan hot pot options. Typically, all you need is vegan broth, and then you add veggies, tofu, noodles, etc., which are available for everyone anyway, to cook in the said vegan broth. And there you have vegan got pot. While browsing their website, I noticed the soft opening of a new BWHP in Langley! How convenient!

We just showed up that first Sunday. Inside the front door is a screen where you can put your name on a waitlist. It tells you where you are in the line. There were 90 people ahead of us (or 90 parties, I assume), so we decided to leave and plan our visit for another day. On the second day, we showed up at opening time (11:00 am) and stood in line for a mere few minutes. By the time we were finished, the waitlist had grown to 46 parties! They will phone you if you decide to go shopping at Best Buy in the meantime.

They gave us a big brass (?) bowl and tongs, which are quite nice btw, and we lined up to choose from the grocery shelves of ingredients. There is a lot more meat and seafood, but fear not, as you eventually get to greens, veggies, tofu, and noodles. They told me which of the noodles are egg-free, and I took them at their word. I tried messaging them to confirm this for this post but they are not really good at responding. Anyway, they weigh your ingredients (mine came to around $17.50),  you choose your broth (there are two vegan broths), and they go ahead and prepare your soup and then deliver it to your table!

I should have taken a before picture, but here is the after. Full of interesting mushrooms and noodles and tofu with tomato broth and some vegan kimchee! Delicious!

And part of the appeal of hot pot is the dipping sauce bar. You can follow their directions and assemble sauces by recipe, or just go crazy like I did. I am such a sucker for sesame paste so there was a lot of that.

This is a large restaurant with plenty of staff who do a good job at making sure you have what you need. It was kind of fun, and I think it's pretty reasonably priced if you stay away from the heavy stuff like the meat dumplings and things that are soaking in water (at least that is the advice I got from the professionals in line ahead of us). The tables for 2 are a little cramped once you have all your food and close together but not everyone is trying to take pictures either.

Food                                      4 out of 5

Vegan Options Available       4 out of 5

Comfort                                 3 1/2 out of 5

Service                                  4 1/2 out of 5

Value                                     4 out of 5

Pizzeria Ludica - Vegan Options

I recently stated that I wouldn't be chasing all over Metro Vancouver for vegan pizza, as there are at least four places in Aldergrove (population approximately 15,500) that now serve vegan pizza. In other words, we would let the pies come to us! We have been walking past PL in Chinatown for a decade (?) and did not realize that there were vegan options and so we had to stop by their newer New Westminster location to see what was up.

Located at the corner of 6th and Carnarvon, parking was not a problem (at least early on Saturday evening) plus we were not to far from a nice walk on the New West waterfront after dinner.

PL actually has a separate vegan pizza menu, which indicates to me that they are serious about having the option available. We decided to order 3 and expected to take some home for Sunday lunch. The first that we ordered was The Everdell. Plant-based mozza, sausage and artichokes make up the most of the toppings. The crust is definitely special! Nice bits of charring (leoparding) and chew, and even the tomato sauce was above average.

For my wife, the closest we could come to Hawaiian was the Helios Pizza. This one comes with Cashew Mozza instead of the other plant-based (so you have a choice), which was also good. With some sun-dried tomato and Sriracha in addition to the pineapple, they definitely have a sweet and hot thing going on here. It was also very good!

Finally, we ordered the Stone Age. Balsamic caramelized onions and arugula were the highlight here. Another excellent crust, which is definitely their strength and more cashew mozzarella to complete another delicious pie.

Another feature at PL is the games! They have a whole wall of board games, and my wife and I quizzed each other using the millennial version of Trivial Pursuit. I asked our server about people staying all day and just playing games, and she said there is a time limit during busy times, but when it's quiet, players can go crazy. This is a nice big comfortable space with friendly, helpful staff and really good vegan pizza!

Food                                     4 out of 5

Vegan Options Available      4 out of 5

Comfort                                4 out of 5

Service                                 4 out of 5

Value                                    4 out of 5

Banana Leaf South Surrey - Vegan Options

Banana Leaf has been around for years, but the White Rock (or maybe they call it South Surrey) store has opened only relatively recently. We knew they had some vegan options on the menu (thanks, Vegan Twosome!), but we were more motivated to get there once this closer-to-home location opened. We stupidly rolled up on a Saturday evening but were told that no tables were available for over an hour. That might be the first time in years that we haven't just walked in and gotten a table owing to our non-traditional dining times (i.e. we show up whenever). So this time, we had to make a reservation for another day.

Reservation in hand, we showed up at Southpoint Exchange Shopping Centre and squeezed into the parking lot (wow! Popular mall!). As usual, we ordered too much and ended up with leftovers, but we don't consider that to be a problem.

We started off with a bit of a miss. The Eggplant Fries are an inspired idea, but they showed up a little soft in the execution phase. They were nicely curry-spiced and delicious, but eggplant is not a cooperative vegetable if you are thinking of something crispy. In the end, we took some of them home and tried the airfryer and that worked not too badly.

We also had the Tofu Goreng and this was a hit. The tofu was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. With sweet chilli sauce, peanuts, sprouts, cucumber and sesame seeds, it had a lot of flavour.

More tofu, but this was a main course and unfortunately, another miss. The Assam Curry Tofu and Vegetables brought a different set of flavours to the table. This curry started with a tamarind sauce which was very good. Unfortunately, the okra was tough and stringy. I'm not sure where they got it or what they did to it but certainly no one tasted it before serving it.

The Kung Pao Cauliflower was our favourite dish. Not sure why you would even need meat for this as the sauce is the feature. Very good!

Another really interesting dish was the Turmeric Coconut Spinach. The coconut definitely took the edge of the cooked spinach and the crispy shallots on top added some interesting texture. We would order this again.

They offer some of these dishes in small or larger portions. We ordered a couple of small and one large, but I can't remember which was which. We also ordered rice, which was a must for these dishes.

This is a very nice space with lots of light. Despite the fact that they were very busy, the serving staff did a good job keeping up! Despite the couple of misses, we enjoyed our visit to Banana Leaf.

Food                                    3 1/2 out of 5

Vegan Options Available     3 1/2 out of 5

Comfort                               3 1/2 out of 5

Service                                 4 out of 5

Value                                    4 out of 5

Desi Rasoi - Vegan Options

We first visited Desi Rasoi during the pandemic (May 2021) when no dining rooms were open and so everything was takeout. DR was in a different location then and didn't even have a dining room! Now they are in a sharp new space complete with dining, and we still ordered takeout!

It is not too difficult to make sure your order is vegan when you place it online. Under modifications, you just check 'eggless' sauce and mark 'vegan' under special instructions. In my case I screwed the order up, but the kitchen divined my intentions and made our whole order vegan anyway! Then I just cruised up to Scott Road Centre at 120th and about 80th to pick up our food!

I'm going to have trouble remembering what everything was, but for sure, this is Gol Gappe. This is a vegan standby as far as Indian street food is concerned. The picture is messy as Gol Gappe is partly an assemble-it-yourself project. One taps a hole in the crispy little ball, stuffs in a mixture of potato and chickpeas, and adds the sauce. It's messy but very nice. The crispy shell contrasts with the soft filling, and you have a treat.

Tacos! This would have been Aloo Tacos. So a potato croquette, some vaguely taco fixings like tomato, crispy noodles, cilantro and onions all in a hard taco shell reminiscent of the taco shells you get in grocery store kits! This was my wife's favourite.

Some kind of chaat, I am pretty sure this is Bhelpuri. A tasty mix of puffed rice, lentils, peanuts, crispy noodles, and what have you. Salad and chutney keep it from being dry and makes it more than a snack. We love this.

A burger of course! Indian food never used to mean burgers but this Noodle Burger with a potato patty and lots of messy fixin's is at least as tasty as its western cousin as far as we're concerned!

I think this is Aloo Tikki Chaat. We seemed to have ordered a lot of potato dishes but there are a couple of main ingredient soy dishes as well. Anyway potatoes are good for you and are a nice palate for Indian flavours. A couple of chutneys bring the flavour here. We asked for this to be vegan of course, so no yogurt as might usually be the case.

I will have to work on upping my tubular food photo game. This is a Frankie. Aloo, of course, but chutneys and salad all in a tortilla. Not the most exciting thing I have ever eaten, but a snack in a tortilla is certainly convenient!.

A nice big casual but comfortable room, if you choose to eat in. The counter staff was very helpful in verifying that everything was vegan. Indian street food is not a new thing, but it has become very popular in recent years, and Desi Rasoi has its game well sorted!

Food                                    4 out of 5

Vegan Options Available     4 out of 5

Comfort                               4 out of 5

Service                                4 out of 5

Value                                   4 out of 5                    

Hestia Veggie - Almost Vegan Restaurant

It's been a year and a bit since we were at Hestia Veggie. Of all the vegan options we have enjoyed over the last few years, this is one of the places that we remember the most fondly! Finally, we got back to try a few more delicious-sounding dishes off their creative menu.

It was still in the same place on Davie, adjacent to the Shoppers Drug Mart. We showed up in the early afternoon and had our choice of tables. It is still not a completely vegan restaurant as I guess there is egg in some dishes.

The Deep-Fried King Oyster Mushrooms were the first interesting menu item we were moved to order. We don't do much deep frying at home during the week, so we are partial to crispy hot treats when we dine out. These may look like scallops, but they are just firm mushrooms with a crispy coating and served with vegan mayo. Simple and perfect!

Eggplant is not prized for its attractiveness when cooked, but it is a very nice platform for additional flavours. The Smokey Eggplant is on the Shareables menu and boasts Impossible meat, saline (fancy salt, I assume?), peanuts, dried shallots, and pineapple sauce! I'm not sure exactly where the smoke comes from (maybe the salino?), but it was subtly present. Very nice!

We were quite excited to try the Vegan Crispy Duck with Pancake for 2! The crispy duck itself was some kind of tofu skin (cooked crispy on the outside), and mushroom. It was a pretty impressive mock meat. Take a pancake, add some 'duck', veggies, and the Peking sauce, and you are happy. There was enough for 2, but that didn't mean we weren't going to order something else!

Despite my making a fuss about cordyceps in my last review of this place (the concept of carnivorous mushrooms definitely freaked me out), this time we ordered the Cordyceps Chicken Claypot. I was assured by our excellent server that these were not strictly speaking, the cordyceps that I had read about that murder and consume ants, but more closely related to the fraudulent health food version of the shroom.  It was veggie chicken that was tasty enough, but not made out of the mushrooms as you may guess. The chicken was not deep fried but in tasty Asian sauced chunks that lent a sweet flavour to the pot. With greens, lemongrass, more veggies and rice, this was a fulfilling bowl and the cordyceps were really just an accent. Little skinny novelty topping guys that really didn't taste like much but didn't seem scary either.

Having started off our meal rabidly hungry, we even had room for dessert. We had the Hestia Banana Roll which was a little fruit spring roll with some vegan ice cream. Nice idea and the perfect end to a wonderful meal.

The place is only empty as we tend to dine at odd hours. It is quite comfortable here. Our server was very informative and close to being vegan himself. We don't hold that against him but encouraged him to go all in. After 2 visits, there are still we things on the menu we woould like to try and plenty that we would try again.

Food                                     5 out of 5

Vegan Options Available      4.75 out of 5

Comfort                                4 out of 5

Service                                 4 1/2 out of 5

Value                                    5 out of 5

Oddburger Truck - Mobile Vegan Fast Food

We've been to Oddburger on Main a couple of times, but this time, we were able to visit the Oddburger Food Truck, which showed up a little closer to home. One Sunday morning, we went to Vegan Supply in South Surrey, and there it was (OK. We knew it would be there).

The Oddburger menu is sufficiently extensive that we will need a few more visits to be able to try everything (and that is our intention). They don't serve the full menu from the truck but they feature a few things that we had not tried.

For example, we had not tasted the Famous Burger, which is essentially your vegan Big Mac. It was close to the BM as best I can remember, considering that I rarely went to MD's and even more rarely had that burger. The 'meat' used by OB is pretty decent, and even so, I think burgers are all about condiments and the other stuff surrounding the 'meat.' So, decent bun, decent cheese, mayo, lettuce and whatever else added up to an acceptable much less cruel sub for the other famous burger.

Well, we had already tried this but really liked it and ordered it again. This was the Sticky ChickUn—a chickun tossed in Korean sesame sauce. Also, pickles, lettuce, and a very good bun. Excellent!

We hadn't tried the Pretenders (like tenders...get it?). House-made seitan bites with 'buttermilk' batter and mild spices. Served with your choice of sauces. There is nothing wrong with these!

Finally, we tried a wrap as we had not so far ordered one. This was the Gyro. Thinly sliced gyro 'meat' (presumably seitan), tzatziki and some salad. The pita was not bad and the resulting wrap was decent. While this was OK, it was not what we came for.

Having been three times, we now consider ourselves Oddburger experts! Even prevegan, we were not fast food junkies but there is a place in the world for burgers and fries and everything else that they serve here. They are not the only place that serves this stuff but they bring it altogether in a way that makes me think that a "one billion served sign" is somewhere in their future! 

Food                                             4 out of 5

Vegan options available               5 out of 5

Comfort                                        NA although it was a nice sunny day!

Service                                         4 1/2 out of 5 (nice folks!)

Value                                            4 out of 5

Lonsdale Quay - Vegan Options

You may think it odd that we stay the weekend in Vancouver occasionally, considering that we only live in Aldergrove. It is not as far away as you city people think, and we regularly drive/transit to the city and can make it home easily before nightfall or at least before the next day! But a change of scenery is nice, and a place to take a nap in the afternoon is good, since cat napping has become an important part of my day. So this time we stayed at The Lonsdale Quay Hotel. They had pretty good pricing this time, and they are close to the water, which is always a priority. Sometimes we stay at the Pinnacle at the Pier, which is quite a bit fancier, but the price was too high and I am, above all, a cheap guy.

That is not to say that there is anything wrong with the Quay Hotel! It is nicely appointed, and we even had a bit of a water view! 

The fact is that it does not take a lot to make Mharie and me feel content. As long as we are warm and safe and have a plan for dinner, we are good!

Luckily, the sun was shining and the cherry blossoms were out, which meant that we would be outside roaming around and soaking up the sun like a couple of lizards. During the weekend, we ate at a few places that I am reviewing under separate posts, but it is nice that the Quay Market itself is not short of options for vegan eats.

Among other food stalls, Wela is known for their bowls, wraps and smoothies and has many vegan and healthy options. Hellcrust Pizza offers dairy free cheese for the vegans and large lactose intolerant crowd.

Anchor outlet and in the market forever is the Soup Meister's Nephew, which has a changing menu of soups. The menu always includes vegan options. You can get it served hot or in a container for home.

In fact, as we were leaving we picked up a container of Leek and Potato Soup from SN and an impressive vegan Empanada from Eldorado Pies & Treats. Don't forget about them!

The area around the market and hotel in addition to being on the water, is otherwise pleasant for my early morning walking. It is a nice area for a base of exploration of Vancouver and as far as transit is concerned, we love the Seabus.

So, we're big fans of North Vancouver and what it offers. Don't forget that it's there!