Vegetarian & Vegan Asian Dining Scenes

Grasshopper: Vegan Restaurant

The Scene

The food at Grasshopper makes up for what it may lack in atmosphere and décor. Although it is a very simply styled restaurant, the uniquely vegan menu is what makes it worth the trip.

The Food

All vegan Asian cuisine, extensive menu. "Where the animals live to tell it all" is their slogan, and their recipes – some from Buddhist temples in Vietnam – bring non-violent cooking to great heights. Huge portions and great value come together to create a restaurant with heart. Their faux meats are known to please even avid meat-eaters. Super appetizers include Fresh Spring Rolls, Bean Cakes and Sesame Buckwheat Noodles with Peanut Sauce. The No Name from the specials menu is widely acclaimed, as is the Sweet and Sour Sensation, which heaps battered soy protein in a sweet-and-sour sauce over a bed of steamed broccoli. The Grasshopper Supreme bathes skinless, melt-in-your-mouth eggplant in a savory chili-basil sauce, served with asparagus, spinach, and portabello mushrooms. The Happy Family is great with asparagus and three different types of protein in a chili-basil sauce, and the hot and sour soup is perfectly spicy. Also, try the appetizers and desserts, which never fail to impress.

1 North Beacon St.
Allston, MA 02135
Tel: (617) 254-8883
http://grasshoppervegan.com

Pukk: Vegetarian Restaurant

The Scene

With a sleek modern look, Pukk offers simplicity and style that is as fresh as their menu. Decorated with a golden lounging Buddha and see-through décor, Pukk offers a unique perspective in Thai vegetarian dining. Pukk—the Thai word for vegetables—is a narrow East Village storefront cloaked floor to ceiling in miniature white tiles, with a little gold leaf applied here and there.

The Food

It is a vegetarian’s dream to walk into a restaurant knowing that all of the meats are vegetarian soy, which just happens to be the case at Pukk. Begin with the Brown Rice Salad, an amazing dish full of lemongrass, lime leaves, ginger, mint, onion, and peanuts over a bed of brown rice on lettuce topped with a tangy, refreshing dressing. Then move on to the Mushroom Puffs, which are deep-fried with a  a hearty mix of potatoes, onions, mushrooms and herbs inside. The earthy flavor of the mushrooms and the super-soft outside are amazing. The Duck Pad Thai is excellent, with scallions, bits of smoked tofu, peanuts and bean sprouts.

71 1st Ave.
New York, NY
Tel: (212) 253-2741
www.pukknyc.com

California Vegan: Vegan Restaurant

The Scene

Nestled in a Hollywood strip mall, you are seated along the row of blue upholstered booths, flanking the huge windows facing Sunset Boulevard. The service here is extremely attentive and friendly, which really makes the experience enjoyable.

The Food

California Vegan is an all-vegan Thai food restaurant that offers freshly prepared dishes, many of which include organic produce. The menu consists of some very tasty traditional Thai dishes that include seitan and veggie meat substitutes, and the sauces, dressings and soy meats are homemade. Try the Lentil Loaf, a mixture of cooked lentils, onions and diced red bell peppers served as a pancake; See Mee Noodles, a colorful combination of stir-fried wide rice noodles with sliced carrots, red and green bell peppers, onions, and soy chicken pieces; and the California Curry, with coconut milk, diced red and green bell pepper and crinkle-cut carrot strips, with generous portions of tofu chunks and soy meat strips included along with kaffir lime leaves that add the familiar Asian touch.

7300 W. Sunset Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90046
Tel: 323-874-9079
http://californiavegan.com

Golden Era: Vegetarian Restaurant

The Scene

Although it doesn’t look like much from the outside, as you enter this simple yet elegant eatery, you are greeted with friendly, unpretentious servers. Once seated, you're in for a fantastic vegetarian Vietnamese meal, in a pleasant, gilded dining room with attentive service.

The Food

Wheat gluten is the basis for Golden Era’s creative meat substitutes, and healthy brown rice is an option, and the food is light and highly satisfying. The broth in the pho is flavorful and complex. The eggless rice-flour crepe is crispy with tofu and veggies, which diners wrap in lettuce and fresh herbs. The clay pot entrees are flavorful and tender, with silken eggplant and creamy tofu. Some entrees reach elsewhere in Asia, as with the chow mein and curries, but the best plates are simply, authentically Vietnamese. Definitely try the spicy chicken curry, lamb clay pot and veggie fu young.

572 O'Farrell St.
San Francisco, CA 94102
Tel: (415) 673-3136
www.goldeneravegetarian.com

Papillon Vegetarian Cuisine & Grill: Vegetarian- and Vegan-Friendly Restaurant

The Scene

The restaurant's bright, cheery ambiance is warm and welcoming with accents of red and green against the all-white walls. Tables are dressed in colorful tablecloths with white overlays underneath glass tops, while the chairs, framed in white, have bright green seats and red backs. More green trim frames the door and the large, dominant picture window faces the street.

The Food

Though the focus of the menu is vegetarian, the restaurant does list some non-vegetarian dishes. For those who are strictly vegetarian or vegan, rest assured that we are vegetarian and vegan friendly. We offer egg-less noodles, dairy-free ice cream, soy milk, fresh vegetables, fruits and meatless substitutes made from soybeans. This eatery features the tantalizing flavors of Southeast Asia in their traditional dishes of the Philippines and China. Signature entrees like Vegetarian Pork Adobo, Vegetarian Homba, as is the Vegetarian Lumpia served as an appetizer.
The Vegetarian Escabeche, an attractive entrée that features a slice of deep-fried coral-colored mock salmon with julienned slices of onion and red and green bell pepper that dress the top. The highlight of this delectable entrée is the generous pool of Philippine sweet-and-sour sauce surrounding the vegetarian fish. The Vegetarian Pancit includes a heaping portion of tasty egg-free noodles with colorful stir-fried vegetables—pieces of chopped cabbage, long shreds of carrot, scallions, onions, and red and green bell peppers along with chunks of veggie chicken, veggie pork, and whole veggie shrimps. The Papillion's Choice is an ideal combination dish for the robust appetite, with thick wedges of deep-fried tofu, a skewer of grilled chunks of veggie pork and thick slices of fried plantain smothered in a pleasantly spicy sauce.
408 Main St.
El Segundo, CA 90245
Tel: (310) 640-0408
www.papillonvgcuisine.com