Reviews of Cafe Sangha, Golden Lotus, Herbivore's, Shangri-La, Stoa's

[Guest guest]

Hi folks,

 

We visited quite a few restaurants last month, and I thought I would share

my review of them with you. This is my opinion based on that dining

experience. FYI, I have no financial interest in any of the restaurants, my

only interest is as a customer who appreciates good vegan food.

 

Cafe Sangha

Golden Lotus

Herbivore's (brunch)

Shangri-La

Stoa's

 

We have had BAV events at Herbivore's for brunch as well as Shangri-La. If

there is sufficient interest, perhaps we should also visit the other

restaurants?

 

Cheers,

Tammy

 

 

Cafe Sangha

 

Much as carnivore's look askance at vegetarians, I have a similar

perspective of raw foods. This perspective was based on a less than

positive one-day experience of eating only raw foods last year. With this

in mind, I was a bit hesitant in agreeing to have dinner at Cafe Sangha, a

raw foods vegetarian restaurant that recently opened in Fairfax. But I

consoled myself with the reminder that Herbivore's is open until 11 pm.

 

Well, I am happy to report that the food at Cafe Sangha was most delicious

and very filling. The menu is about one page. You have your choice of a

variety of salads, appetizers, and desserts. There is typically one or two

selections available for the main entree. Per our wait person, this

typically changes a few times a week depending on the chef. On the weekend

that we visited, there was one entree selection, an Indian curry. So, my

dining trio shared 2 salads (a spinach salad and a Caesar salad), an

appetizer (stuffed chard rolls). An entree and dessert for each of us

completed the dinner. . This three-course dinner cost over $100 for the

three of us.

 

We all found the food delicious and amply filling. On the plus side, Cafe

Sangha does use organic ingredients and provides a pleasant decor to enhance

your dining experience (9/03)

 

 

 

Golden Lotus

 

When I lived in the East Bay, this was my favorite restaurant and the Fu

Young was my favorite appetizer. The proximity of the District Courts of

Northern California in Oakland to Golden Lotus was the only worthwhile

feature of my day spent participating in jury selection.

 

Golden Lotus has an expansive Vietnamese vegetarian menu. Nearly all the

dishes are vegan, with the exception of some of the drinks, desserts, and

one of the fake meats (the veggie ham). Recommended dishes: Fu Young,

Vegetable Chow Mein, Chinese Broccoli with Beef, Potato & Chicken Curry,

Lamb Claypot, Eggplant Sesame & Tofu, Imperial Rolls, Spring or Summer

rolls. If you're not full yet, be sure to indulge with the vegan desserts

available (from Black China Bakery).

 

Lunch is also a delicious option, with a special steam table offering 2

items for $4 as well as luncheon specials. But even at full price, most

menu items are in the $6-8 range for dinner. With easy access to 12th St

BART plus ample street parking, transportation is not an issue to reaching

this vegetarian dining haven. Another option is to visit their sister

restaurant in SF, Golden Era. (9/03)

 

 

 

Herbivore's (Brunch)

 

As one of the few restaurants in the Bay Area offering a vegan brunch on the

weekends, Herbivore's is a popular weekend destination. The food is

well-seasoned and typically delicious. I am a big fan of the food at

Herbivore's and the majority of my dining out dollars over the past few

years have been spent at this restaurant. My chief complaint with this

restaurant, though, is that service and serving size can be spotty. For

example, on a recent visit, the insignificant portion of scramble provided

on the " Southwestern Scramble " , perhaps a quarter cup, justified renaming

the dish to a more generic Southwestern Breakfast. On the bright side,

though, Herbivore's is completely vegan, and the breakfast menu offers other

delicious items not commonly available, such as french toast, tempeh bacon,

waffles, various scrambles, and sausage in a biscuit.

 

Herbivore's has 2 locations in SF on Divisadero and Valencia. They serve

Brunch only at the Divisadero location. Both locations serve lunch and

dinner. (9/03)

 

 

 

Shangri-La

 

While the storefront and ambience of the restaurant are nondescript, it just

goes to show that you can't judge a book by its cover. This is one of my

favorite restaurants in the city due to its consistently good food provided

in tandem with good service and reasonable prices. Shangri-La vegetarian

restaurant has been part of the local veg community for many years, so

obviously they understand how to run a successful restaurant: good food,

good service, good prices.

 

One of my favorites on the menu is the Won Ton Soup. For $2 (yes, that is

TWO dollars), you get a generously sized steaming bowl of won ton soup (with

good-sized won tons!) in a delicious soup base laced with fresh ginger. If

you're not a big eater, the soup alone could be a meal. They also offer

lunch specials 7-days a week at a bargain price of $5. Prices on their

regular dinner menu range from $5 - 8. Recommended dishes: (Appetizers)

Fragrant Dry Bean Curd, Potstickers, (Entrees) Home Made Dry Tofu with

Vegetal Pork, Cashew Chicken, Mixed Greens*, Sweet & Sour Spare Ribs, and

Vegetable Chow Mein. The Mixed Greens is not a regular menu item, but a

dish of yummy green vegetables served in a light ginger sauce.

 

I'm always so full after eating dinner at Shangri-La that I've never noticed

the restaurant's lack of vegan desserts. At our BAV fundraising dinner, we

ate and ate and ate and happily chatted away between mouthfuls, barely

noticing it was past the restaurant's closing time.

 

Note: They are closed the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month. This is

also the only restaurant that I know that displays a Kashrut certification.

(9/03)

 

 

 

Stoa's

 

Stoa's is one of the newest restaurants in the vegetarian community.

Incongruously located in an industrial park in Palo Alto, this upscale

restaurant provided a delicious vegan dinner to BAVRT participants. I made

special arrangements for a 5 course dinner for $38. Due to some changes

initiated by the restaurant, the actual dinner served was four courses for

$30. The menu served was:

 

First Course - Corn Chowder Soup

Second Course - choice of Fuji Apple salad, Heirloom tomato salad, or rice

paper rolls

Third Course - Butternet Squash " steak " with forbidden rice and caramelized

garlic cashew vinaigrette; Black-eyed Pea fritters with braised greens,

mashed potatoes & roasted pan juices; Grilled Abalone mushroom with balsamic

glaze, creamy polenta and olive oil cured tomato

Dessert - choice of chocolate sorbet with chocolate dipped strawberry;

apricot gallettes with port wine reduction

 

Based on that experience, Stoa's get high marks for overall quality of the

food served, the service, and restaurant decor and ambience. The corn

chowder soup was perhaps my favorite part of the meal, and the olive oil

mashed potatoes (surprisingly served sans gravy) was very satisfying to my

taste buds. I thought the peanut sauce accompanying the rice rolls was a

bit too thick for my taste. And I also was not enamored with the dessert.

The large chocolate dipped strawberry was good, but the 'sorbet' did not

live up to its name. It tasted more like a scoop of mousse. As I think

back, although I lingered over eating the scoop of sorbet, I'm not even sure

if it melted...

 

Personally, I would like to see more vegan options on their regular menu and

I'd like to see their desserts improved. In those two categories, they fall

short to their natural rival in the upscale dining category, Millennium's.

I should also note that Green's is another vegetarian establishment in the

upscale dining category. Based on the vegan criteria, however, Stoa's

already beats Green's, which does not have a reputation for being

vegan-friendly or having much interest in satisfying vegan appetities.

 

A typical appetizer and dessert at Stoa's is around $7 each, with entrees

priced from $18-20. So, a full three-course dinner is about $35. Folks

that missed the BAVRT four-course dinner for $30 really missed a great meal

at a great deal. (9/03)

 

Note:

BAVRT = Bay Area Vegetarian Restaurant Trek. To to this mailing

list, email: bavrt-sub

 

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