Sangham Restaurant & Catering - Vegan Options

How did we end up way out in Mission? I've mentioned before that  sometimes my search plan is to type "vegan" into Google Maps over a specific area. Since we're often in Abbotsford, Mission encroaches into my "vegan" searches. When I checked the website of Sangham Restaurant (in Mission), they indeed had a vegan section on their menu!

When we showed up on Saturday p.m., we were surprised to see the All You Can Eat Lunch Buffet sign! Not a bad thing but I really didn't expect the buffet to have a decent vegan selection. I had a plan to order off the menu but when assured by our lovely hostess, we decided to try the buffet.

It was not a huge buffet but when you pay $15 for lunch, a few tasty items may do the trick. I asked if they would have Veg Manchurian on the buffet (if not, I would have ordered it separately as it is one of our favourites) which they don't usually do but said they could for us!

And suddenly there it was! Mharie and I agreed that it might have been the best Veg Manchurian that we have had! A little spicy but definitely rich and savoury. We felt obliged to finish the big bowl that they made for us as we are definitely against food waste but this was not a hardship! Really though this and a little rice would have been a perfect meal all by itself.

Prior to the arrival of the Veg Manchurian, we had already made a trip to the buffet. The Samosas were very good and definitely on the large size. There was a very nice noodle dish, a dal and a cauliflower curry. All were tasty and satisfying.

They were good enough to bring us out some naan, which were hot from the tandoor and excellent.

Once the rice arrived on the buffet (we were at the beginning of their lunch service and not everything was out yet), I made a second quick visit to get some rice to soak up the Manchurian sauce. I tried a little more of the noodle dish and some salady raw vegetables to round things out.

Can you even eat at MacDonalds for that price anymore? And if you could, why would you with these wonderful flavours available? There was not a lot for vegans on the buffet but there were the main Indian food profiles covered. There was a little heat, a little curry, some rice, some naan and a choice of chutneys. You could not ask for more but we did, and they brought us Veg Manchurian! Dollar for dollar, this was the best value and experience that we could have expected! If I did not mention earlier our hostess was very hospitable and helpful!

Food                                      5 out of 5

Vegan Options Available       3 out of 5

Comfort                                 4 out of 5

Service                                  5 out of 5

Value                                     5 1/2 out of 5   

    

Vogue Cakes - Vegan Bakery

Worth a field trip! We got up early (for a Sunday) and made the trip especially to visit Vogue Cakes, all the way from Aldergrove. Don't worry as we drive an electric car and so our carbon footprint remains low. Anyway, that was our total Sunday adventure and we went crazy at Vogue Cakes. 

We bought way more baked goods than anyone should but we also tried to spread the results to friends and family. I am sometimes concerned about breaching the 200lb threshold but that won't happen soon...unless I keep going crazy in bakeries! Located near Blenheim on West Broadway, there is lots of parking, at least on Sunday morning at 9 am.

My goal was one of everything but that would have been a bit much. We started with Lemon Shortbread which was close to life changing. The lemon flavour was so forward. A Butter Tart and an Eclair which were rich and sweet and light and airy (in that order).

Donuts were next including Lemon and Strawberry. This was just a cross section as they had quite a few more flavours. Both were very good and the strawberry was my favourite.

My wife loves a good croissant. I used to think of them as obligate butter filled but if you buy frozen puff pastry in the store, you will see that quite a few brands do not use butter. I'm not sure how these are made but the result was delicious. These were Almond and Chocolate Filled Croissants.

Last of the sweets were Tiramisu and Chocolate Cheesecake. Neither of us has ever been a huge fan of Tiramisu so I'm not sure why I even ordered it. It was still creamy and tasty. Loved the Cheesecake.

Finally, we brought home a few savories and carefully followed instructions to reheat them for lunch at home (it worked well). On the left is a Calzone which was very good with a rich pizza like filling. The other two were savoury filled croissants, Ham and Cheese and Pizza. This made for a pretty good lunch!

In addition, they have sourdough bread (I think you are better off to order this in advance) and made to order cakes for birthdays etc. You can even order a non-dairy Ice Cream Cake! We barely scratched the surface. If it was a nicer day, we would have ordered a couple of coffees and sat at one of their outside tables. Thanks again to This Is Plant Curious! I'm not sure I knew about this bakery before the offer came up on their website!

Food                                      4 out of 5

Vegan Options Available       5 out of 5

Comfort                                 NA unless its sunny and warm!

Service                                  5 out of 5

Value                                     4 out of 5

Maple Thai Cuisine - Vegan Options

We've been here and posted before but this little local (and when I say local, I mean Aldergrove) Thai place manages to give space on their menu to a vegan section and I believe that deserves our support. As much as I kind of believe that I am the only vegan in a 20 square mile area, I know that is not true and if no one else ordered from vegan menus, they would disappear. So for the 10 or so people who actually read this blog, I want to remind you about Maple Thai Cuisine on 272nd just north of Fraser Hwy. 

This time, we tried a couple of standbys but I realized that there was possible a vegan dish on the curry section of their menu as well! So I checked in with the kitchen and sure enough the Yellow Curry does not have any animal products assuming you order the tofu.

So we did and it was pretty great. There were lots of vegetables and a good amount of tofu and when splashed over rice this was a satisfying meal all by itself. We ordered everything with medium spice which is our lazy answer to that question every time.

We also ordered the Vegetarian Lettuce Wrap. We decided that it could use more sauce. Actually, when we compared our photo with their website photo, we realized they must have forgotten the sauce altogether. The result was on the bland side. With the sauce, it would have been great...without it, meh.

The Vegan Tom Yum Soup was very good just as it was! This was my wife's favourite dish. It was a little spicy and a little sweet and loaded with veggies. We would order this again for sure.

This is a nice little family-run business that deserves our support. When I saw the piano, I knew somebody was coming to the restaurant and practicing piano after school. I told our hostess (Mom) that she shouldn't let her daughter quit after a few months as my mother let me quit and I have regretted it for 50 years. She confirmed that her daughter is not thrilled but I know she will thank her some day!

Food                                      3 1/2 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                                     3 1/2 out of 5

The Burrow - Vegan / Vegetarian Restaurant

We haven't been to The Burrow since the days when it was still Bandidas Tacqueria in Veganuary of 2021. I don't know if it is fully the same ownership, but things have not changed greatly as far as the interior and exterior of the restaurant. The menu has changed from fully vegan to vegan/vegetarian. I can't make any excuses for vegetarians who contribute to animal suffering in the dairy industry in a large way but I am not up to making a fuss about a restaurant doing what it has to to survive. If adding dairy to the menu helps this restaurant stay viable then at least my wife and I can still enjoy vegan Mexican-style food here.

The Burrow has a decent number of tables and we have never had to wait for one (they do get busy!).

We started with half a dozen Sticky Garlic Wings. These were decent wings but could have been a little firmer as far as the interior is concerned. They were as advertised, sticky and garlicky and we loved that. The house-made vegan ranch was good enough that I slurped up the rest even when we had finished the wings.

I couldn't help but order the Danny Trejo Burrito (currently a special) just because I am a huge fan. I can remember what the filling was but they were definitely great with a decent red sauce and there was an impressive of cheese (we ordered it baked). 

My pre-vegan standard order was always enchiladas so its fun that The Burrow has enchiladas. So, 3 enchiladas with spicy lentil-walnut filling and green sauce. They were wonderful. Lots of cheese on top is what enchiladas need. I loved the rice and beans that we chose as a side. I pay less attention than I should to prices, but $19.50 seems reasonable for all this delicious food.

We loved that they delivered a choice of salsas on the side. Pineapple, green, chipotle, mango-habanero and habanero salsas were lined up from mildest to hottest. They were all pretty decent.

A great meal with really friendly staff. This is still a vegan hotspot despite the fact that it is not strictly a vegan restaurant. Once our servers knew that we were vegan, they were completely in our corner. Great vegan Mexican-style food! BTW, This is Plant Curious was again one of our motivations to come here at this time!

Food                                      4 1/2 out of 5

Vegan Options Available       4 1/2 out of 5

Comfort                                 4 out of 5

Service                                  4 1/2 out of 5

Value                                     4 1/2 out of 5

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Parsley Berliner Doner Kabob, Brentwood - Vegan Options

Of the 4 words in the name of this place in the Amazing Brentwood food court, only the Parsley conjures up thoughts of any possible vegan eats. Figuring out that they were serving Turkish-style food led me to believe that falafel might be available at the very least and they deserved a closer look.

We showed up on a Saturday near noon. There are a few vegan things to eat at the Food Court (called Tables) but PBDK seems to offer the most variety. We ordered one of each plant-based item (other than the fries) that was recommended and sat down at one of the food court tables.

We started with the Hummus and Coban Salad. The salad, also known as Turkish shepherd's salad was simple and refreshing with lemon juice and oil dressing and plenty of parsley. We love hummus and this was very good being smooth and rich. 

We ordered Cig Kofte and Sarma. The yogurt (?) dip with the Sarma is not vegan. Other than that, our server was very conscientious once we told him we were vegan (at ordering time). I heard him checking with his manager and not putting white sauce on our Falafel Wrap, which was the right call. The Sarma (a rice mixture wrapped in grape leaves was simple and tasty. The Cig Kofte is basically a well-spiced bulgur, walnut, and bread mixture served in the manner of a steak tartar. To be honest, this kind of freaked me out as the texture really did feel like raw meat but the spiciness was very good and it is served with a pomegranate syrup for dipping that was wonderful. 

Where would vegans be without falafel? Many world cuisines serve falafel and this was a very good version. The falafel balls themselves were nicely crispy and substantial. This came wrapped in a tortilla which was good as bread to filling ratio was lower than with a pita. There was a decent selection of sauce and vegetable in addition to the falafel. I would order this anytime.

Decent for mall food. The folks working at PBDK were friendly and helpful.

Food                                          3 1/2 out of 5

Vegan Options Available           3 out of 5

Comfort                                     3 out 5

Service                                      4 out of 5

Value                                         4 out of 5

Red Swan Pizza - Vegan Options

Continuing on our recent policy of letting the vegan pizza options come to us, rather than chasing around all over the Valley (unless it's for something pretty special)  is our visit to Red Swan Pizza. RS opened recently on Fraser Hwy in Aldergrove adjacent to India's Most Wanted.

We ordered a couple of pizzas to go one chilly Sunday evening but they have a few tables if you choose to dine in.

The fact is that they offer 2 vegan pizzas and we ordered one of each. There are options, but you could easily veer off course with them and end up with a vegetarian pizza which would be a total waste of time!

 First was the Veggie Feast which for some reason only comes in 10". We did not feel the need to change their lineup of mushrooms, tomatoes, pizza sauce and vegan cheese. We ordered the standard crust on this one. The crust comes with sesame seeds which is not typically Italian but is an inspired choice. We loved it! The pizza is very decent and they use Daiya Cheese.

Next up was the also creatively named Vegan Pizza. This one comes plain and is all about your choices. We ordered pineapple for my wife but rounded it out with potatoes wedges which was pretty interesting, some mushrooms, red onions and some chilies. This one we ordered the thin crust which was still good but we couldn't tell the difference. That could mean that they missed that part of the order or its really just not that thin. Either way, we like their crust. If you get carried away with options on this one, the price can add up quickly. Still, it was a pretty good pizza.

So overall a decent small addition to what is available for the Aldergrove vegan population which might be just over 2. Red Swan is actually a pretty large chain in Canada but I had never heard of them before. The staff were friendly and our pizza was ready when they said it would be!

Food                                     3 1/2 out of 5

Vegan Options Available      2 1/2 out of 5

Comfort                                3 1/2 out of 5

Service                                  4 out of 5

Value                                     3 out of 5

 

The Happy Herd Farm Santuary

On our first snowy Sunday, a couple of weeks ago, we visited The Happy Herd Farm Sanctuary just south of Aldergrove. As we and they are all residents of this booming metropolis, we had seen their van around and at some point in the past, looked them up and discovered that we and they shared an ethic namely, to avoid animal exploitation and cruelty to the extent that it is practicable. Of course, I avoid eating said animals and blog about it, while they go all in and protect those who come to them who have been mistreated or exploited and allow them to live out their years in relative comfort and love. That is a wonderful and noble cause but you can imagine that it is a huge undertaking!

When we visited, I had not thought about writing a blog post so despite the great stories that we heard about the animals and their pathways to this forever home, this post will be short of details. Many of the actual facts in this post come right from their website which you should not fail to visit. One story that I do recall is about 2 pigs rescued by a Surrey RCMP officer and brought to the farm in the back of his police cruiser. The officer was afraid to leave the animals until morning lest they be further mistreated as the people who had them, had purchased them at auction with the intent of to slaughtering them at home. WTF?

This is Desi Moo Moo who was the first rescued resident of the farm. He was later joined by 2 more cows and a lot of other animals. He was pretty calm and enjoyed having his muzzle rubbed. Most of the animals here seem to have overcome the trauma of their pasts, but not all.

Some were on the shy side and it took slow movements to get close enough to meet them and other newer residents, we just left alone. Hopefully, they will get more tolerant of people with time. I have!

The goats are the most curious not to mention mischievous. I counted 45 animals on their website. The photos are much better than mine also. Can you imagine the work and cost of looking after all these animals? 

The co-founders, Dianne and Stephen, have had rescued animals here since 2012 and they established a charity in 2018. They have on average 7 volunteers a day (I hope to be one from time to time). The farm buildings that are added from time to time, are assembled, painted and even muraled by volunteers. They have an 8-person board of directors, who share in the decision-making and direction of the farm.

It was heartwarming to learn that much of the food donated to feed the animals comes from local grocery and feed stores.

You too can contribute as much of the expense is carried by donations. A farm where animals are not cruelly exploited does not actually make money. You can make a monthly donation, even a small one, that will make a difference and make you feel good about yourself. Next thing you know, you will be making the decision to go vegan, for the animals and for the planet! 

The mural above represents the animals who have come to the farm and finished out their natural lives in relative peace.

I hope to make more of a pest of myself at The Happy Herd Farm Sanctuary in the future.