Message: | You should be able to do okay at most Chinese, Indian (watch the use of ghee, though), Greek, or Middle Eastern restaurants, which usually serve vegan-friendly dishes. Here are a few other places that you might want to consider (I haven't tried many of these, so I can't vouch for all of them, though):
Vegan options:
Newsroom Cafe (Santa Monica and Beverly Hills)
Toi (Sunset or Wilshire)
P.F. Chang's
A Votre Sante in Brentwood
Paru's (Sunset Blvd., Hollywood)
Dasa Prakash (Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica)
Sante (N. La Brea, Hollywood)
Sushi Aki (Van Nuys, allegedly they serve vegan sushi items ?!)
Real Food Daily in Santa Monica and Beverly Hills is a vegan restaurant. I've some really good meals here (the Thai seitan) and some so-so ones (the pizza). There are some great vegan Chinese restaurants specializing in imitation meat dishes, but they're a bit of a hike from central L.A. Au Lac in Fountain Valley is an exceptional restaurant with many Vietnamese selections as well (I love their Spicy Soy Lemongrass "Chicken," but where's the faux Pho? ;-)) Veggie Delight in Granada Hills is also great, especially their fried "shrimp" (with fake tails made from carrots) and the orange "chicken."
To the vegan bashers out there (zora, ollie), lighten up! Vegan food does not always mean sprouts or steamed "veggies." A good, creative chef can do wonders without any animal products. I've enjoyed numerous tasty vegan meals (I personally make killer soy chorizo/tofu scrambler burritos that have won over many skeptics) as well as a few bland ones--about the same ratio as I've experienced in my episodes at "omnivore" restaurants. I'd love to see an episode of Iron Chef (the Japanese one of course, not the lousy U.S. version) where the chefs have to work exclusively with vegan ingredients.
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