LA VEGAN4507 S Centinela Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90066
Phone:(310) 574-9888
Hours:Open Daily 11am- 10pm
www.laveganthai.com
I am now officially all moved into my new place. Easier than my last move but still much more work than I had expected. Anyway, on our way to Bakersfield to pick up some things from storage (aka my parents house),
I was getting in a mood because I was so hungry. Decided to google some vegan places and luckily- one came up. What a treasure it was! LA VEGAN. A thai vegan restaurant, the first I had ever seen. I was over joyed and so was my stomach.
Their menu is incredible. I mean,
INCREDIBLE. A variety of thai/asian dishes such as phad thai, orange chicken, different curries, beef and broccoli stir fry to american options such as wraps,
sandwiches and "chicken dinners." I opted for yellow curry with soy chicken. My mom and nick got phad thai with soy chicken. They have the option of soy fish, soy beef, soy shrimp, soy chicken or tempeh.
The curry which was served with a bowl of rice was delectable. Same taste as any other curry but more soupy than what my grandma makes. Nothing could ever compare but this was good enough for my deprived taste buds. My large bowl of curry had a generous amount of carrots and potatoes and soy chicken in it as well. The soy chicken was yummy. Different than what I had at The Veggie Grill in terms of texture and taste but still delicious. I would say the texture was less chicken like- softer and a tad chewy- and the taste was on the sweeter side.
The phad thai flavor was also great. Just not as "phad thai" tasting as what you may get at a regular thai restaurant. But each restaurant has their own recipe for phad thai so its not necessarily due to it being vegan. It came with a side of rice, salad and two curried potato puffs.
We got dessert for the road. Because I couldn't make up my mind, I ordered the black sticky rice (a classic and a favorite) with fresh ripe mango AND chocolate cake. The black sticky rice was fantastic of course. No complaints, nothing weird or "vegan" about it. The chocolate cake...I have to say I was disappointed. I thought it was going to be an in house cake but it was this scrawny little wrapped up/packaged thing. haha. It tasted great but it was chilled so it was not moist and soft. I was expecting a giant, gooey, extra chocolatey cake. ....for some reason.
Over-all, I was quite impressed, and so was nick actually. When you have to eat weird things, you have to make yourself like the way a lot of things taste. Appreciate it for what it is I suppose. But he thought everything was amazing and that says something coming from a guy and a guy who can always tell the difference between the "real" thing and the imitator AND a non-vegan/non- allergy person who doesn't have to have a funky diet like myself. It is a very cute and clean place. Our server was unbelievably sweet- great service. The down side is that it is a small restaurant, but if you go there and there happens to be a wait- it is well worth it.
Taste: *****
Selection: *****
Cost: $-$$
Staff: *****
Service: *****
Dessert: ****
