Lucky Creation Vegetarian Restaurant

We’re back! We have been traveling for the past 4 months and we are back with new energy for the blog. Keep an eye out for posts about the food in the countries we visited!

For now, we are trying out the delicious food San Francisco has to offer. One of the first restaurants we went to was Lucky Creation Vegetarian Restaurant in the historic Chinatown of this beautiful city.

The restaurant was small and very cozy. In fact, since we were only 2 people they sat us at the only available table where a family of 3 was already sitting. This was actually one of our favorite parts of the meal – sharing really interesting conversation with new people! We also took their recommendations on what to order.

This restaurant had a full vegetarian menu with mock meats. I am always hesitant about mock meat because of the texture and the way it looks but I’m usually willing to try something new (and I love Morningstar Buffalo Wings!).

We ordered:

• Lemon Chicken – special of the day. It was basically breaded pieces of mock chicken in a delicious tangy lemon sauce. I would have liked some more fresh vegetables in the dish, but overall the taste was really good.
• Vegetable Cream Corn Noodle Soup – The soup was flavorful but nothing special. The portion was HUGE and the vegetables and noodles tasted fresh. I would probably try a different soup next time.
• Eggplant Hot Pot – DELICIOUS. They used the small purple Chinese eggplants, huge pieces of tofu, and tons of fresh vegetables. This was our favorite dish.

The Verdict: The service was great, prices were very reasonable, and we enjoyed the food. There were lots of items on the menu that we would like to try so hopefully we will be back! There is also another vegetarian restaurant in Chinatown that we want to try – Enjoy Vegetarian 

Do you have any SF restaurant recommendations for us? Burma Superstar is  next on our list!

Lemon Chicken

Vegetable Noodle Soup

Eggplant Hot pot

Cafe Berlin

Karthik and I don’t really go to upscale restaurants but our anniversary was a few weeks ago and we had a coupon to use up (of course). We went to Cafe Berlin which is right near Union Station. As soon as you walk inside you feel like you are in a different country. Our waitress checked on the vegetarian-ness of items which was great but the food was quite a let down.

The meal started off well with bread accompanied by chive infused butter, and potato pancakes with apple sauce and sour cream that were a little heavy but still delicious.

We ordered a spinach salad with candied walnuts and homemade honey mustard dressing that was overly sweet. The walnuts had a candy shell that was bigger than the walnut itself and the honey mustard dressing just made the whole dish sweet through and through.

Myanmar Restaurant

Karthik and I love Burmese food and we each have our favorite places. We are finally getting around to sharing our favorite places with each other. My favorite is Mandalay in Silver Spring and Karthik likes Myanmar Restaurant in Falls Church so that is where we ended up there on a cold Sunday afternoon. When you walk in it feels like you have walked into someone’s home that they have transformed into a restaurant. The menu is extensive but just remember to double check about fish sauce in everything, even the vegetarian dishes

We ordered the coconut soup which normally comes with chicken but they made it with tofu for us. It’s kind of like the Burmese pho. It comes with a separate dish of egg noodles, lime wedges, and onions. It was delicious. Hearty and coconuty.

We got two tofu dishes – one was coconut crispy tofu and the other was a tomato tofu. Both were ok, a little soggy but generally good flavor. We are excited to come back and try the jackfruit curry, fried rice, paratha, etc.

Habesha Market and Carry-Out

Our friend  introduced us to this gem out on 9th and U street – Habesha Market and Carry Out. We were in the mood for Ethiopian food and this hit the spot. It is more of a fast food, cafe style place and it was quick and delicious. Karthik and I shared the vegetarian platter that had about ten times on it. It was the best Ethiopian food we have had in DC thus far. The greens were buttery, the red lentils were adequately spicy, and we even tried new dishes such as a tomato and onion stuffed jalapeño and a beet curry. We don’t have much to say about this place besides “why aren’t you on your way there right now?”

They also make their own injera and sell it in the little store inside the market. We use it as a substitute for naan or roti when we eat Indian food.

For two people, the huge platter plus a soda came to about $13.95.

Pho DC

Karthik thinks we are going to pigeon hole ourselves into being Vietnamese restaurant reviewers instead of general restaurant reviewers, but our default comfort food has become Vietnamese so we can’t help it (for now)! My addiction prompted me to buy an online deal for the new Pho DC on 19th and L NW. This is the second branch of Pho DC – the other one is in Chinatown.

Karthik and I were disappointed with this place compared to the other Vietnamese places we have been to in the area (our favorites are  Pho Viet in DC and Lotus Cafe in MD). We are glad we had a coupon. We paid $20 for 2 drinks (coconut water and a mango martini), 2 appetizers (cheesy asparagus and garden rolls), and 2 entrees (tofu vermicelli and vegetarian pho).

• Cheesy Asparagus = one stalk of asparagus wrapped in cheese and deep fried.  Interesting concept, but very greasy. Karthik thought you can’t go wrong with fried cheese.
• Garden Roll = loaded it up with tofu and vermicelli.  They served it with a really good tomato-based sauce – they were out of peanut sauce.  Wasn’t the best Garden Roll, about average.
• Vermicelli with Tofu and Vegetables = basically plain vermicelli, fried tofu, cucumbers, and carrots in a bowl with soy sauce.  We were really hoping this would have more taste to it, but it was too plain. Perhaps a good stir-fry at home will give it the kick we like.
• Vegetarian Pho = we have definitely had much better broth.  Its the broth that makes the Pho and this was kinda bland.  They had a good amount of vegetables.  They didn’t serve the usual bean sprouts, mint, etc. on the side.  Karthik was disappointed that there wasn’t a bottle of sriracha and bottle of hoisin on the table.  But they did serve it in a small serving dish and so were able to spice up the Pho.

The verdict: Nice environment, very accommodating staff, but the food was not exciting at all.

Lotus Cafe

Lotus Cafe in Silver Spring, MD is our favorite pho place in the area. When we have pho cravings this is where we want to come. During our first visit here we got the veggie pho, tofu summer rolls, and black pepper gluten hot pot Everything was delicious. The summer rolls were fresh, crispy, and had basil in them. The black pepper gluten hot pot was extremely flavorful, had great consistency, and came out piping hot. I like the way gluten picks up flavor much more than tofu. And….the pho. Finally, a broth that was not bland, boring, or clear. The broth had a great taste and was packed with noodles, tofu, veggies and came with a heaping mound of bean sprouts, sliced jalapenos, lime wedges, and sprigs of basil. Don’t forget to add hoisin and sriracha to your liking! We will definitely be coming here again….and again…and again. They have a whole vegetarian section on the menu to choose from!

V Falafel

Karthik and I have been meaning to try  V Falafel out since it opened but we never made it around to it. Finally, with some help from my mom and groupon we made it. The owner is extremely friendly and helped me order (aah everything on the menu was vegetarian!). They also have a running slideshow of pictures of the food so you can see what you are ordering. They have seating inside and outside. It was so pleasant to sit outside and enjoy the last few days of nice weather. We ordered a regular falafel sandwich in a pita and a falafel shwarma which is basically a grilled falafel in a wrap wit your choice of stuffing. We also got fries (not stellar). The falafel sandwich was delicious, really good salads, and good falafel balls. The falafel shwarma was GENIUS. We were talking to the owner and he said that he was getting all five star reviews on Yelp and then he got one 4 star review with the comment “all they have is falafel.” So, the owner decided to add something else to the menu – tada falafel shwarma!

The total came to about $17.00 for both of us (not including the $10 we got off with the Groupon). Not bad for a very filling and delicious dinner. Grainy ipad pics below. 

 

 

 

 

 

The Original Pancake House

 Original Pancake House in Falls CHurch

Karthik and I have been wanting to go here for ages. Our last attempt to make it out here ended in failure because the original location of the original pancake house was closed. We finally found a relatively free Saturday and made the trek out to falls church. We ordered a spinach crepe and original buttermilk pancakes. I was tempted to get pumpkin but since it was my first time here we decided to go with the original since that is supposed to be the best. Breakfast places are obviously great for vegetarians who eat eggs. But this places also has many sweet and savory crepes that don’t have eggs, even the crepe batter is eggless. (this piece of info might be worth double checking with your server).

Fresh spinach crepe – spinach and cheese in a crepe served with potato pancakes. The crepe was ok. It had a weird sweet taste though. The potato pancakes were pretty awful. Mushy, undercooked, no flavor and served with watery sour cream.

Buttermilk Pancakes – also a big disappointment. Mushy, doughy, dense, thick and served with bad tasting syrup.

The Verdict: we will not be coming here again. I am sure there are much better breakfast places in town. Our total bill including one cup of coffee and a side of two scrambled eggs (yes we like big breakfasts) came to 23.31.
                                                                   

Cheesetique

Karthik found this adorable place called Cheesetique right outside Alexandria, VA. It’s basically a cheese/wine store with a  bar/restaurant in the back. I wasn’t even hungry but we decided to have a quick bite because who can say no to cheese? The wait staff were incredibly friendly and very patient with us when we couldn’t decide between the many delicious sounding things on the menu. We eventually settled on a strawberry drink (Muscat Frizzante, strawberry puree, mint, lemon), chilled cucumber soup (creamy, peppery, refreshing), and a grilled cheese with 3 year cheddar, raw milk Dragon’s breath, Dubliner, and pimento peppers (appropriately gooey, packed with flavor, pure deliciousness, mixed greens w/ shallot vinaigrette was a perfect compliment).

• Menu: pretty easy to tell what is veg but you can always ask your waiter/waitress for clarification. Please note that not all of their cheeses might fit into your definition of vegetarian (microbial rennet vs animal rennet). Small plates (6/6), Leafy Greens (2/4 – not sure if their Caesar dressing is veg), Grilled Cheese (4/6), Large Plates (1/4),
• Total: $13.50 not including drink, tax, tip

The Verdict: GO NOW! They had a free wine tasting when we were there too. It’s fun, casual, and you will probably end up buying something that you don’t need.

5 Course Meal

So, I lost a game of ping pong to Karthik (best 2 out of 3 and we each won one game…and the final score of the 3rd game was VERY close). (‘Disagree’ by Karthik).  The bet was that the loser had to make the winner a 5 course meal. Really, there are no losers when there is food involved. I don’t know how to make 5 courses for 2 people so we invited both of our parent’s over. The proportions were perfect and we got to share this food with our lovely parents.

I knew I wanted to make vegetable manchurian because it’s Karthik’s favorite so I centered the rest of the menu around that. Disclaimer: I am not really a good cook. I can follow a recipe but am not really at the point where I can make my own modifications. Here are the results:

• Appetizer: Vietnamese Summer Rolls with Mango
• Appetizer: Sauteed Bok Choy with Crispy Garlic
• Salad: Mango Blueberry Quinoa Salad with Lemon Basil Dressing
• Entree: Mushroom Fried Rice
• Entree: Baked Vegetable Manchurian
• Drink: Iced Jasmine Mint Tea

Our comments/variations:

Vietnamese Summer Rolls = great recipe (it is Sala’s recipe of course), I just need to learn how to wrap the rolls better. I added jicama in here for extra crunch.  I love that these are not fried!  Karthik’s Comment – Delicious!!!  It was left up to me to make the dipping sauce.  We are still looking for a good recipe without sugar.

Sauteed Bok Choy = I loved this dish. Very little oil, no spices, just sauteed bok choy with lots of garlic. I added a little bit of sesame oil and sesame seeds on top.  Karthik’s Comment – Love me some garlic and bok choy.

Quinoa Salad  = Another great recipe from Sala. I added jicama because I had a lot of it and it is delicious.  Karthik’s Comment – wasn’t a huge fan of the blueberries in this recipe, but overall goodness.

Mushroom Fried Rice = This turned out pretty well. I would cook the mushrooms a little less so they stay fresher. You could also add more vegetables to this or even scramble an egg in it.  Karthik’s Comment – this hit the spot!  I wanted a bit more salt, but Aparna is right..less salt = better in the long run.

Baked Vegetable Manchurian = I really didn’t want to fry manchurian so I was so happy when I found this recipe for baked manchurian. I was skeptical while I was making it but it turned out really well. They were crispy and retained their flavor. The gravy was spicy and tasted just like the dish I am used to. I broiled the manchurian in addition to baking them and it made them extra crispy.  Karthik’s Comment – AMAZING!  Oh man, this totally made my day.  I loved that it wasn’t fried and I loved how good it tasted.  Wish Aparna made more!

Iced Jasmine Mint Tea = I totally changed this recipe because it wasn’t enough for 6 people. I steeped 7 tea bags (4 green tea, 3 jasmine green tea) in boiling water, let it cool, and then added one bottle of sparkling lemonade from Trader Joe’s. We like that one because it’s not too sweet. So, this became Sparkling Iced Jasmine Lemonade Mint Tea….still very refreshing.  Karthik’s Comment – Arnold ‘Jasmine’ Palmer!