The Yoga Chef - Vegan Options

I admit that the name "Yoga Chef" kind of put me off at the beginning. I know that yoga is a legitimate practice, but it sort of invites woo and I get annoyed when people bring the crazy to veganism. Veganism is an ethical position that objects to the mistreatment of animals to the extent possible. It is not a diet or a health practice and does not promote tumeric or superfoods. The health benefits that do exist are a bonus for a vegan but not the main point. People who eschew animal products for their own health are plant-based and not vegan. But that is why you should not judge a book by its cover (or a restaurant by its name). The Yoga Chef turned out to be a woo free zone and have some of the best and most creative vegan eats that we have had in a while.

Located in an industrial area in Port Coquitlam, on Maclean just off Kingsway Avenue, parking was a bit challenging but not like Richmond strip mall challenging. We squeezed in inside the restaurant although there are a couple of shaded tables outside. It is clearly a popular place and was quite busy on Saturday at mid-afternoon.

When we arrived brunch was still being served (actually maybe they don't have specific hours for brunch) so we couldn't resist ordering the Buddha Benny. Built on a base of their chickpea-kale patties, with tofu, spinach and sauteed mushrooms, this was healthy (bonus) and substantial. The thing that really sold us was the beet hollandaise which was earthy and rich! And look how beautiful! The Garlic Corriander Potatoes on the side were impressive as well!

I am more a fan of house-made burger patties than the commercial faux meat things (Downlow Burgers smash Impossible patty notwithstanding) and YG's Plant Based Burger featured an excellent one. I and not sure of the exact makeup but it very much reminded me of a black bean, mushroom and walnut patty that I made at home recently. Everything about this burger was on point. The vegan Gouda, pretzel bun, avocado, pickles and vegan mayo were all very good. I was concerned about the avocado/pickle interaction as I thought there would be some fight between ingredients but somehow even that worked!

Next up was the Katsu Curry. Again, look at the beautiful plate. The katsu was a vegan chicken thing that was nice and crispy but the curry sauce could have used some punch. It didn't need heat as Japanese curry is not spicy but maybe just some salt and more curry flavour. Still, sauce on rice is a wonderful thing and this was served with some very good greens or salad or whatever you want to call it. Another excellent plate!

The Coconut Thai Green Curry Soup was another home run. Rich and full of flavour. This was part of a combo.

As if we hadn't ordered enough already, we wanted to try the Intention Smoothie. This was carrot, turmeric, mango, banana and orange juice which when all blended together was pretty amazing. It was not as sweet as you might guess but just slightly earthy because of the carrot and turmeric. It was a meal unto itself. Our server initially forgot it and then feeling bad, made us a double order. She didn't have to do that but it was a pretty impressive gesture. 

So we collected all our leftovers and waddled out. The Yoga Chef is not a strictly vegan or vegetarian restaurant but has many vegan options. Our server guessed that 75% of people order vegan so that is impressive. There is so much more here for us to try in the future. Call this a hidden gem, we were more than a little impressed and will definitely be back.

Food                             5 out of 5

Vegan Options             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

Firecrust Pizza - Vegan Options

Well, we've been to Firecrust Pizza before but in my pre-vegan days. We liked their wood-burning oven pizza. So when I figured out they had some vegan options, we decided to give that a try.

In Langley, Firecrust is located in the strip mall at the southeast corner of 200th and the Bypass. We ordered to go but this is a very nice restaurant with a nice patio that would have been perfect on this warm Sunday afternoon.

We started with a Veganeze Salad. This was definitely a salad I would order again. Spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, dried cranberries, pecans and other salad stuff. There was also some pretty good vegan Italian sausage and a sesame tahini dressing. To be honest, this is the only thing that I would return to Firecrust for.

We started with a Vegan Margherita. This used to be my measuring standard for a pizza joint and Firecrust didn't do too badly historically (and omnivorously). While this time, the crust was pretty good with decent leoparding and the tomato sauce and basil were good, the cashew based cheese was a bit of a disaster. It's not that it tastes bad but it has some pretty sad melting quality. Calling it a Margherita is maybe the mistake as it invites comparison.

The BBQ Chicken is the other "We Build" vegan pizza on the menu. Same strengths as the Margherita as in decent crust, well cooked this time with red onion and barbeque sauce. We couldn't actually identify the vegan chicken and aren't sure if it was forgotten or just was the same as the cashew cheese. Admittedly, we asked for pineapple (my wife misses Hawaiian pizza) but that seemed to blend with the sweet barbeque sauce. Again, the cashew mozzarella was not thrilling. If it weren't for the fact that there is so much good vegan cheese available now, this would not be a big deal and the pizza was tasty overall.

Firecrust has a nice dinning area and very good service. I know from past experience that they crank out very good omnivorous pizza. It is hard to criticize a place if they are at least making an effort to offer plant-based options but they definitely need to make the small step up to better cheese. If it is strictly a cost issue, vegan are used to paying a couple of extra bucks.

Food                                  2 1/2 out of 5

Vegan Options                  3 out of 5

Comfort                             4 out of 5

Service                              4 out of 5

Value                                 3 out of 5

 

Dilli Heights Café and Bistro - Vegan Options / 2023 Pride Parade

We loved the cozy downstairs location of Dilli Heights Café and Bistro! We've always been partial to the older buildings in Vancouver with the brick and stone construction, the old wood doors and windows and the beautiful architectural details. Just a few steps off the beaten tracks, DH is located just off West Pender on Richards. It's still an easy walk from Waterfront Station and we decided to grab a bite before trying to see the 2023 Pride Parade with the crowds in Yaletown.

We arrived just before noon on Saturday and had our choice of seating. Our front counter guy was quite helpful in navigating the menu to determine what was or could be vegan but it would not have been hard for DH to give us a few clues right on the menu.

We started with Gol Gappe which is a reliably vegan Indian snack. Crispy little balls get filled with potato and garbanzo bits and then a minty tamarind liquid. The liquid is served on the side and could have been mistaken for a cold soup or beverage if this was the first time we had tried this! You add the liquid to the balls yourself so they stay crispy! Always tasty and refreshing!

I always have assumed that Bhel Puri is full-on unhealthy but a closer investigation reveals that other than the noodles and crackers, there is nothing deep fried and there is actually quite a bit of veggie in this tasty snack! Kept moist with chutneys there is a nice contrast of textures and flavours and I feel better about it now that I have read a recipe!

The Soya Chaap Sandwich (which is actually a wrap) was also quite amazing. This came with a bit of spice, just enough to get me sweating mildly! Soya Chaap is an interesting soy-based product a little like seitan. It is tasty and healthy (we have tried using it at home) and as part of a wrap is a pretty good meat alternative and substantial food.

We loved the Aloo Tikki Burger. On the menu, it said that we could add noodles for a dollar! Who could pass on that? In my photo, I separated the noodles enough so that we could see the aloo tikki patty. It was a crispy and potatoey croquette on an excellent burger bun, some condiments and drowned in noodles! Excellent!

The low-ceilinged charming room has some comfy couches and what appears to be a setup for a singer or poet to entertain. Friendly folks and great food and reasonably priced. We are happy with DHCB!

Food                             4 1/2 out of 5

Vegan Options              3 1/2 out of 5

Comfort                        4 1/2 out of 5

Service                          4 1/2 out of 5

Value                             4 1/2 out of 5

After eating way too much (although we did take some of our Bhel Puri to go), we made the easy skytrain hop to Yaletown where we joined the enthusiastic crowd of onlookers for the 2023 Vancouver Pride Parade.

How can you not love Queer Vegans?

Many sectors and groups were represented and showed their support either as part of or in support of the local 2SLGBTIQA+ community.

We did our best not to get too much sun and had a great time. Thanks, Vancouver Pride Society for a great parade!

Kula Foods - Afro-Vegan Products

I've been wanting to try Kula Foods products since learning about them some time ago, maybe on Instagram? The problem has been that the opening hours for this commissary kitchen business are unfriendly to Fraser Valley 'working for a living type people' (sort of like Workshop Vegetarian Cafe which I will probably never visit). Also, we happen to be outside the delivery boundaries. Oh, I know there is probably a way, but I'm a little on the lazy side and as I have said, so many restaurants, so little time! So I hadn't tried too hard and just made an effort to get over it. More recently though, I decided to try and visit their retail partners starting with London Drugs. After a couple of misses, I did find their Pili Pili Sauce which was great and I ended up practically drinking it from the bottle. Then, after engaging the friendly and helpful KF people in a messaging back and forth, we made a trip to Vegan Supply in South Surrey.

At VS we were happy to find 2 of the 4 prepared entrees that KF makes and bought one of each. Now right up front, I have to admit that I was a little blasé about following preparation instructions and resorted to the microwave oven. This is not the recommended method. Not only that, on their website, there are recipes which start with their products as the basis for a more complete and probably authentic taste of Africa.

Despite my lazy-assed approach (well, we did make some rice) both of these turned out to be pretty tasty. We tried the G.O.A.T Curry first of all. It is a mild curry with hints of cumin and I'm not sure what. The texture was maybe a little on the spongy side but not unpleasant or off putting. We are not expecting (or even wanting) it to feel or taste so much like meat that we can't tell the difference! Still, next time we will follow the instructions.

We had the same feelings about the Chick-Un which was more of a barbeque flavour entrée.  At $10.99 per portion, the products are kind of where you would expect them to be priced. Vegan entrees do not tend to be mass produced and certainly KF does not occupy a factory. We feel like it was probably made with care, and is very unique. We would gladly have a couple of these in the freezer for the convenience and just because they were satisfying and tasty. As the company grows (if that is their goal) finding their products will likely become less challenging.

Food                         4 out of 5

Vegan Options         5 out of 5

Comfort                    NA

Service                     4 1/2 out of 5

Value                        4 1/2 out of 5

Downlow Burgers at the American - Vegan Options

The last time we visited The American was in the middle of the pandemic and in the midst of our omnivore years. As we munched on pretty good meat hamburgers, we were blissfully unaware that Downlow also offered cruelty-free eats. Obviously, that is why we are back.

Just a short walk from Main Street Skytrain stations, we arrived mid-afternoon on Saturday and were seated right away.

They have 3 items on their plant-based menu so this was pretty easy for us. We just ordered them all! We started with the Falafel which were amazing. They were fluffy inside and crispy on the outside and came with perfect tzatziki. They desperately needed salt. For some reason, we didn't ask for any. 

The Vegan Fried Chicken was also pretty good. Admittedly it didn't look like much but it was crispy and had good interior texture. I think it tasted like chicken but now that I've been religiously vegan for a year, I'm starting to forget! Let's just say it tasted pretty good. The Onion Rings were also pretty impressive. A little on the greasy side but big and solidly crispy. We loved the big slices of onion.

The real rockstar of this show was called, The Vegan. Double Impossible smashed patties and Chau Veggie Cheese were the basis for what might just be the best vegan burger that we have ever had!

Seriously, this should not be missed by vegans or omnivores. The CV is some of the best plant-based cheese around and I found myself picking melted bits of it off the wrapper rather than allow it to be thrown away. Nice pickles, a very good bun and a little lettuce for crunch made this very impressive. Well done DLB!

This is a nice big comfortable room with games and good music. The staff are top-notch and very friendly and didn't even mock me when I couldn't find the bathrooms (huge sign). A great place!

Food                          4 1/2 out of 5

Vegan Options           4 out of 5

Comfort                     4 1/2 out of 5

Service                      4 1/2 out of 5

Value                         4 1/2 out of 5

Oh yeah...there were fireworks later. I can't seem to load my video onto Blogger but I will post something on Insta. The Philippines was up for the last show this year and they did pretty well. Aren't all fireworks shows basically the same though? We walk and skytrain every year but this year felt pretty challenging as far as getting to and from. I'm not getting any younger.

John's Pan Pizza, Steveston - Vegan Options

Here is something interesting to try! Zero in on an area on Google Maps where you would like to eat a meal (say, Steveston). Then in the search bar, enter "vegan". You will probably be surprised by the number of restaurants whose names pop up on your screen. Of course, some are not vegan at all other than offering a green salad or having a previous review which said, "not a place for vegans!" but some may actually have some plant based options on their menus. We discovered John's Pan Pizza in Steveston this way. We had intended to check out the new Garry Point Grill and thought we could visit John's as well.

There are a couple of tables and a window counter bar inside but it was way too hot on this summer day to be comfortable. We managed to grab the one small outside table.

It is easy to find the vegan offerings here both on the printed menu and on the website version. We started with the Vegan Green Pizza which featured pesto, artichokes and garlic and was frankly an excellent pizza! The crust was decent and the Daiya cheese was melty and very good. It was also wonderfully garlicky! We would drive out of our way (except that this would not be the environmentally friendly thing to do) to eat this.

Next up was the Vegan Chicken Pizza. The basis for this one was similar with decent crust and cheese, good tomato sauce and a few veggies (not a big fan of green pepper). However, under the heading, "what were they thinking" comes the vegan chicken. The staff did not know what kind of "chicken" this was so we have no one to blame for it but it was comparable to over cooked and dried out French fires. Throwing this on top of the pizza added nothing to it. At the very least this should have been marinated or sauced to give it some kind of flavour. This was a sold fail.

We decided to try the Vegan Lasagna as well. Now admittedly, it does not say that there is vegan cheese on this lasagna (we know that they have Daiya in the kitchen so we took it a little for granted) and it turned out to be basically, sauce and noodles....We decided to take it home and add our own cheese. There was nothing wrong with the part that we were served but we were more than a little disappointed. Another near miss as the cost of the Daiya cheese is obviously greater than serving a decent product.

I try not to crap on places especially if they are making the effort to serve food to the plant based minority. I somehow hope that more and more people will make plant-based choices when they are available for the sake of the animals and the planet but John's needs to try a little harder. Still the Vegan Green Pizza was great! Maybe just a few tweaks will help.

Food                                  2 1/2 out of 5

Vegan Options                  3 out of 5

Comfort                             3 out of 5

Service                              3 1/2 out of 5

Value                                 2 1/2 out of 5

Garry Point Grill & Fish & Chips - Vegan Options

Was it about a year ago that Pajo's at Garry Point Park closed? At any rate, it was replaced by Garry Point Grill and Fish & Chips and I happened to notice that they had some menu choices that Pajo's didn't have namely vegan items. We happen to love Steveston and arrived Saturday in the middle of the Steveston Grand Prix of Art which we certainly could have spent more time absorbing had we anticipated it. Even with an event ongoing and it being a beautiful summer day, Steveston is still accessible with plenty of parking and places to eat.

Busy as it was, GPG seems to be well organized and we did not have to wait long for our order even though everything was freshly made. We were able to score a picnic table in the shade but be prepared to sit in the grass or on the beautiful beach to enjoy your eats.

We started with a Taco Salad. This was refreshing and pretty tasty. Black beans provided the substance and some tortilla chips provided the taco part. Other than that there were the usual suspects including corn, greens and lettuce. Sorry for the colour rendering! Between the sun and reflections and so on, it was a little tough even to make this presentable! It looked better in person.

The Chicken Strips and Fries were what you'd expect. These strips seemed to be tofu based and were pretty good. They were just nicely salty and even a bit crispy. My wife was not super keen on the fries but they are fish and chips appropriate and so that's what they serve.

They also serve a vegan Garden Veggie Burger. This was a commercially made patty (maybe Yves?) but not bad. I almost prefer this on a burger compared to a "meat " patty. It had some nice char and a bit of cumin taste. Rice and vegetables seem to be the main part of the patty and it was pretty tasty. The bun was good and it came with the usual condiments.

The Tempura Green Beans were a very pleasant surprise. Crispy outside but still pretty firm inside and tasting like green beans. Nicely done!

So it's not the most brilliant vegan eats we've ever had but we don't expect it to be! It was actually pretty good by fast food standards. We're just impressed that a beachfront food stand is giving some thought to feeding the vegans when most places stick with the high profit guaranteed sellers like hot dogs and fries and fish and chips. Thanks GP Grill!

Food                          3 1/2 out of 5

Vegan Options          3 1/2 out of 5

Comfort                     NA

Service                      4 out of 5

Value                         4 out of 5