Lemongrass

I recently went to Lemongrass Vietnamese restaurant on 12th ave full of excitement for a bowl of vegetarian pho.

In addition to having a vegan broth, my current qualifications for what is a "good" bowl of pho include:

1. Soft (NOT DEEP FRIED!) tofu
2. Interesting selection of veggies
3. Broth that gets its goodness from more than just MSG

What arrived at the table looked exquisite... nice soft, white tofu, and a selection of veggies that included broccoli, baby bok choy, green beans, carrots and more. But I took one slurp of the broth and had a, wait, WHAT? moment on my tongue.

This ol' gal has gotten quite adept at tasting the foul or flesh (or fish) when it sneaks into my food. A check with the waitress confirmed that, in spite of the fact that vegan broth is standarly used in some OTHER soups, the "veggie" pho will be made with meat broth unless otherwise specified. Ah.

I'm glad to know this, and I would consider visiting again in spite of the broth confusion because of the surprisingly hard to find soft tofu and nice veggies.

Ballet

Had the recent pleasure of lunch out with my mom. She was craving some belly warming soup and we decided to forgo my usual Asian soup standbys (Vegan Garden, Moonlight Cafe, Pho Cyclo and Than Brothers) for a new experience. I had long seen the tempting words "Vegetarian" on the sign for Ballet Restaurant just east of Broadway on Pike, and we decided to give it a try.

Inside was simple and clean, and surprisingly busy in the middle of a weekday. The menu had an assortment of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian items, including no less than 4 varieties of vegetarian (meatless broth) pho.

We started with some salad rolls, which were large but otherwise not particularly remarkable.
My mom ordered the vegetarian Sate soup, which was a delicious idea (though a bit over salted for my taste). The soup contained tofu, tomatoes, cucumber, sprouts and roasted peanuts in a savory rich spicy coconut broth.
I ordered the most simple of the veggie pho options, which included broccoli, carrots and tofu. The more elaborate choices had various fake meats.
It was as could be expected. Nothing gross, but also nothing that made me rejoice in pleasure. They use fried tofu, which isn't my preference (but does seem to be the pho standard).

The prices were all very reasonable. My small pho was under $5, and her soup was just a bit more than that. The salad rolls were $1.50 a piece.

Thanks ma!

Pho on Broadway

The recent tiny explosion of summer inspired a trip up to Jetty Island in Everett for some kite surfing (him) and beach walking and kayaking around (me). Have you heard of Jetty Island??? Check it out. I don't tend to spend much time in Everett, but am stoked to report that there is at least one cheap, good eating option there with multiple vegetarian choices: Pho on Broadway. Excellent news for after Jetty dining!

Started off with a dip into the dining room fridge stocked with a nice selection of beers, both familiar and not.

The vegetarian part of the menu had a selection of the usual sort of miscellaneous Asian options... stir frys, Vegetarian Pho, etc, and one that stood out more than the others on a Vietnamese menu: curried vegetables and tofu, which I gambled on and was delighted with.

To begin with, the plate was beautiful in a bygone days type of way... there were four garnishes, a radish rose, a tulip carrot, orange slices, and basil leaves (all of which I eventually ate), the silver wear laid across the plate in a careful way, and the soft tofu (you can request it soft instead of fried) was arranged atop a big pile of soft white rice and perfectly steamed vegetables in a delicious, not too salty, not too spicy, not too oily curry sauce with a liberal sprinkling of crushed peanuts crowning the whole thing. I was thrilled at how good this was.

As we wrapped up our dinner, the very friendly waiter (owner?) brought out some unexpected creampuffs to top it all off.
It is always exciting to discover a vegetarian friendly place where you aren't expecting one, and even more exciting to find one with and actively delicious an unexpected dish. Yay!

Pho on Broadway
(425) 304-0879

Everett
1820 Broadway
Everett, WA 98201

Vegan Garden, v2

I went back to Vegan Garden to give it another try after a first visit where I had very specific expectations and they weren't quite met (duh), and thus didn't feel a representative assessment.

The second visit was excellent and my tongue is already watering thinking about going back.

I was in the mood for some spicy soup but wasn't quite in the mood for the oral MSG bath of Than Brothers (satisfying as it is), and ordered #53, Spicy Tofu Noodle Soup Bowl. This soup usually come with "various [vegetarian] hams," but it was no problem to special order it with soft tofu instead.
It was just about everything I could have wanted... fat rice noodles and cubes of silky tofu in a spicy and fragrant (but not sweet) broth, garnished with chopped green onion, and served with a plate of shredded cabbage, sprouts, lettuce, mint leaves, basil leaves, limes and jalapenos to add on top. I gave mine one more scoop of chili sauce and a good sprinkle of black pepper and it was incredibly satisfying.
My dining companion ordered a Lemongrass Beef Vermicelli bowl, and it was really good as well. I don't tend to like fake meats all that much, but the texture of the "Beef" was actually quite pleasing... not too tough, but still with a meaty resistance.
This is the kind of place that makes me a little bit nervous, like it is too good to be true and is going to disappear. I'm really eager to go back!

Vegan Garden

1228 S Jackson St
Seattle, WA 98144
(206) 726-8669
http://vegangardenrestaurant.com/

Green Leaf

The tableware at Green Leaf made our meal look special from the moment the waitress brought out the tea, which came in larger than normal pretty ceramic cups, and no pot. All of the dishes were beautiful Asian pottery, and the chopsticks were attractive dark wood.
We ordered two appetizers: the vegetarian spring rolls, and the Green Papaya salad. The spring rolls were beautifully presented, and we were each given our own peanut dipping sauce. There was something special in the spring rolls that made them stand out... it was some sort of little crispy fried something or other, not enough to make them feel heavy, but just enough crunch to make them taste extra good.
The Green Papaya salad was gorgeous also. It can be ordered with a choice of shrimp or tofu, and we ordered ours with tofu. The salad was a beautiful pile of shredded green papaya and purple cabbage, and it was heavily garnished with crispy browned shallots and chopped peanuts. The sauce was tangy and savory, not sweet, and the fish sauce in it was so light I could barely notice it (I still wasn't quite able to eat my share, but I tend to be especially sensitive to fish sauce)*. It wasn't spicy in the least.
The tofu that came on the salad was wonderful. It was fresh and firm and quickly grilled, then covered with some sort of delicious fried garlicky lime-y bits. A member of our party who doesn't usually like tofu enjoyed it so much he wanted to order it next time for himself.
The vegetarian main dishes exist but represent a small portion of the menu, and I chose the vegetarian soup. They didn't seem to have a vegetarian "pho", but the soup I ordered was similar (minus the tray of sprouts and basil etc). This particular bowl was full of rice noodles, bok choy, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, green onions, basil, fried tofu strips, fake ham pieces and a generous sprinkling of black pepper. It was garnished with the same fried onion pieces that were on the papaya salad, and they added a welcome richness to the soup. I was presented with a small plate of lime wedges and jalapeno to add as I fancied.

As one member of our party put it, these guys really know how to use fried ingredients. Every dish we ordered had a tiny amount of some delicious fried garnish: onions, garlic, shallots, lemongrass, whatever was in the spring rolls... not enough to make it feel greasy or heavy, but enough to add some intrigue to the otherwise very fresh and light feeling fare.

Green Leaf is a small somewhat cramped restaurant, but the ambiance remains pleasant. In addition, the staff was especially friendly and accommodating.

*I don't usually eat fish sauce, but this is the second time I've made a semi-exception for Green Papaya salad. I wonder if Araya's has a vegan version... I bet they do.

Green Papaya
Neighborhood: International District

418 8th Ave S
Seattle, WA 98104
(206) 340-1388

Pho Hoa

4732 Rainier Ave S
Seattle, WA
(206) 723-1508

Had a bit of an embarrassing experience at the Columbia City Pho Hoa on Rainier Ave. Went to the busy restaurant for lunch. Was seated and given ice water and menus. Looked through the menu once, then twice, for something, anything, vegetarian.

I don't mind eating the occasional boring or nutritionally incomplete meal for a dining experience, but even that wasn't an option. Double checked with the waiter, and he confirmed.

Folded our menus, apologized profusely, and under the amused eye of a restaurant packed with people slurping down noodles strewn with various beef accessories, left.

Vegan Garden

1228 S Jackson St
Seattle, WA 98144
(206) 726-8669
http://vegangardenrestaurant.com/

The lit-sign for the Vegan Garden beckons from the intersection of Jackson and Rainier at the east end of the International district. I notice it every time I pass by, but never fully believed that its promise would be true, and part of me even wondered whether there was even a restaurant associated with the sign. Found out this evening, and was delightfully surprised to turn into the parking lot sandwiched between two buildings, and find not only a real restaurant but some easy off street parking.

The feel inside the restaurant was large, open and clean. It looked like it tapered a bit towards the back, so there was possibly some cozier seating back there. We ordered our food to go, and the waiter was really friendly and offered water and tea while we waited.

The menu is huge, vegan, leans towards but not entirely to the Vietnamese end of the asian food spectrum, and includes all sorts of fake meats. I tend to shy away from most of the fake meats in these circumstances... not so much for reasons of principle as I just prefere the taste and texture of tofu. We ordered the Shredded tofu rolls and Mongolian Tofu. The Mongolian Tofu comes standard with deep fried tofu, but a substitution for soft tofu was no problem. There was the choice of white or brown rice.

The shredded tofu rolls were exceptionally tasty... full of thin tofu strip fried in some sort of delicious way so that they had a wonderful crunch and rich nuttyness, and a large bunch of dark green lettuce that poofed out one end like a fanciful tubeworm. They came with a sweet pineapple dipping sauce that had a bit of a smoky taste, as if some fake ham had been stewed in it. It was sweeter than what I generally like in a sauce like this, and I ended up just dipping the rolls into a little soy sauce, which was delicious.

The Mongolian tofu was unfortunatly a bit of a dissapointment. I know that anytime I request soft tofu in a dish that usually comes fried, I am sacrificeing some deliciousness and loosing some of the intent of the dish, so I should allow a little bit of softness in my assessment. Regardless, the tofu itself was actually my favorite kind... really soft and silky, almost the texture of firm jello (as opposed to the pourous, slightly spongy stuff you buy in the tub at the grocery store), so I appreciated that. In addition to the tofu were a few red bellpepper slices, and a bed of little whitish-clear fried noodles. The sauce was the unfortunate part... it fell into the sweet and oily category instead of my preference, the salty and spicy category. I initially look a dip into the sauce with my finger, and it came out with a coating of what tasted like pure canola oil. After I mixed it all together, I added some sriracha and a little bit of soy sauce (not the best of circumstances when the excessive sweetness begs excessive saltyness....), and it was edible, but not something I'd order again.

In retrospect, I probably should have ordered something different. I am a sucker for good soft tofu cooked in a spicy sauce, and often look past other intrigueing options to attempt to satisfy this. Some of the other menu options I look forward to ordering sometime are: lotus root salad, tofu congee, tofu curry, spicy tofu noodle soup, and the tofu pho.

While I was not thrilled with my main dish, I'm not ready to write this place off yet. Going to have to go back...

Pho Cyclo

Pho Cycle has an incredibly satisfying vegetarian dish: the Spicy Lemongrass tofu with noodles. It comes in typical Vietnamese noodle bowl fashon with a big bunch of basil and herbs, a nest of tender rice noodles, chopped peanuts, cucumber, shaved radish, carrot etc with some really tasty slightly smoky spicy strips of lemongrass tofu and a cup of soy (vegan) based broth to pour over the whole thing.

If I ate meat I'd likely go for the charred pork version of this dish, which looks similar but replace the tofu with large flat strips of really good looking charred pork and includes some fish sauce in the broth.

The staff is always really friendly too.

8/11/07 Addition...
Holy Cow, I just had the vegetarian Pho at pho cyclo and I don't know what took me so long!! Only the Broadway location has the vegetarian version (the 1st ave one has a bowl with tofu, but it has chicken broth instead of vegi broth). In addition to the regular pho stuff, this one comes with chunks of cauliflower and carrot, roasted garlic, and a little bowl of the MOST AMAZING spicy red ginger sauce that you can dump in. I am a big fan of Than Brothers, but I might have a new favorite. This bowl, with the ample vegis and tofu that somehow feels less fried than Than Bro's, actually feels more like a balanced meal. Delicious!!!

Than Brothers

Than Brothers specialises in Pho, and they have a simple but long menu of all the different (and allegeidly delicious) meat options available.

What brings me to Than Brothers is their vegetarian pho, which is sort of difficult to find and definatly difficult to find a satisfying versian of.

The soup comes in inexpensive and large portions... a bowl of steaming vegetarian broth with lightly friend tofu strips, thin rice noodles, and mushrooms, onions and cilantro. Accompanying this bowl is a large plate of fresh basil, sprouts, lime wedges and jalipenos, meant to be added to the soup at the table. In addition, there is also the requisit Seracha pepper sauce, hoisen sauce, and pepper oil.

The end result is a really tasty body warming experience of a soup.

The kicker is that a delicious homemade creampuff comes with each bowl of pho.

The ambiance is clean and relativly simple, with lots of mirrors and light, and a few plants and alters and a fish tank.