Another eatery in what I have been calling the 'vegan triangle' (Kingsway, Main, Broadway) was on our subsistence plan this past weekend. Sushi Kaido is at the corner of Main and Broadway and they have that little green leaf thing on their menu in many locations but without a definition. I had decided that it meant "vegan".
It did not. It means vegetarian but our server was astute enough to help us order some vegan food anyway. It seems that the tempura batter that they use at SK contains milk or egg powder. I had always been under the impression that tempura vegetables were always a safe vegan port in a storm but such is not the case...live and learn and don't feel guilty about past mistakes.
We started with Agedashi Tofu. It was crisp, hot and delicate. It can't be taken for granted that the dipping sauce is vegan as it is often made with dashi but we trusted our server as she understood our plan.
Next up was the Vegetable Gyoza. This was pretty good with a nice vegetable filling. Hot and freshly browned on the outside, another safe vegan standby. 
Finally, we tried the Kimono Roll and the Green Hornet Roll. Here is where the expertise of our server came to the fore. Both these rolls feature a tempura vegetable centre namely pumpkin and purple sweet potato. To make the rolls vegan, she asked the kitchen to steam the vegetables rather than deep fry them in tempura batter. Of course, the nice little crunch of tempura would have been nice but it was still tasty.
It would have been nice to be able to order directly off the menu without horsing around. That is what we are aiming for in our dining out adventures these days. There are enough restaurants that are aware of the difference between vegan and vegetarian and that are willing to go all the way and create vegan options. They may also be aware that the dairy and egg industries cause as much if not more suffering than the meat industry. Our sever knew what she was doing but that might not be the case with all the staff.
Food 3 1/2 out of 5
Vegan Options 2 1/2 out of 5
Comfort 4 out of 5
Service 5 out of 5
Value 3 1/2 out of 5
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