Kokomo - The Best Vegan Burgers?

Our weekends are now lived according to the whims of This Is Plant Curious, but I mean that in a good way! This year our membership (which paid for itself approximately 5 minutes after we got it) is a series of offers which do not run for the whole year but have arbitrary dates for expiration of some while new offers appear. There is a certain amount of calendar-watching and fun juggling involved. Most recently a pop-up offer appeared which was only to be in effect for a couple of weeks! Now understand this, if the pop-up offer was for raw turnips, I would not alter my routine by much (although I love cooked turnips) but in this case, it was for vegan burgers making it hard not to make a little more effort to get in on!

We have been to Kokomo a couple of times before (Port Coquitlam, Chinatown) and enjoyed their bowls and smoothies and other things but this burger menu idea was new to us. Available only at the East Van location, we made our way to Commercial Street (nearby but not to be confused with The Drive). 

We ordered and picked up our order to go. I took a few pics but when we got home, we re-posed the food and mostly got better results except for the Chili Cheese Fries. I think we can probably all agree that CCFs are meant to be melty, and messy but that they remain beautiful just not in the traditional or  Cezanne sense. This was, however, delicious in the traditional sense with excellent faux meat chilli (as opposed to bean) and melty wonderful cheese. I had this all over myself by the time we finished it!

Mharie and I were both enamored of the Onion Rings. Nicely salty and crispy, one highlight is that the onion didn't get dragged away from the batter on the first bite. Mharie pointed this out and I had never really though about it before!

We were most excited about the Nashville Hot Chicken! While it could have been spicier, the chicken patty itself remained wonderfully crispy despite the trip home. It was a white meaty affair along the lines of McChicken but without the cruelty. Add some pickles and other fixins and put it all on a great vegan brioche bun and you have an amazing burger well worth bragging about.

For us, the Kokomo Burger was the highlight of our visit and perhaps the best vegan burger we have had. I confess to a certain amount of recency bias (what I am eating now is the best) as maybe we have had something just as good in the past but I don't remember. This burger started with an Impossible patty, the best of the faux meat burgers and all the fixins including caramelized onions! The same excellent brioche bun and enough Daiya cheese to make it messy and wonderful. I am going to say that since Daiya changed their formula to a base of "oat cream", their cheese has been some of the best of the plant-based cheeses. Top marks for the burger! Go get one of these!

There are a half dozen small tables here and some friendly staff. As I mentioned before, the 4 Kokomo locations are known for their bowls, salads, wraps and so on, and all plant-based. The burgers add a whole new dimension. Hopefully, they will soon be serving them at all their locations!

Food                             4 1/2 out of 5

Vegan Options              5 out of 5

Comfort                        3 1/2 out of 5

Service                         4 out of 5

Value                            4 1/2 out of 5