[nwbywayofla]

We have some friends coming out to check out Portland as a possible future home and want to show them the best of PDX eats. One vegan, one pescatarian, the boyfriend and I are committed omnivores. Thankfully the vegan is also a bit of a foodie, so no restrictions as far as that goes. I know we've got Nutshell as a pre-chosen destination, but any other SE/NE/N suggestions are VERY welcome. Fully vegan enterprises as well as 'friendly' spots.

tia

[Jill-O]

With a phone call both Carlyle and Sel Gris can make sure to have a vegan-friendly meal for your guest. The pescatarian will do well at either place too.

Dove Vivi does vegan pizza: http://www.dovevivipizza.com/menu.html

I think Farm Cafe has vegan choices: http://www.thefarmca...rmcafe-food.pdf

I'd bet with a phone call Tabla could arrange something to please a vegan.

[loofahgirl]

Blossoming Lotus.

[scouty]

Kalga Kafe

[krispenn]

Bye and Bye for drinks (100% vegan bar) on Alberta. They make some great cocktails!
Bella Facia down the street does vegan pizza.

Sweet Pea Bakery (then duck into Food Fight!) on SE Stark.

[gustoeater]

farm

[ariel88]

Proper Eats in St. Johns, if you want to make the trek. Very cozy and casual, and the cornmeal tempeh plate and the lemonade of the moment are musts.

[Francine the Machine]

Black Sheep Bakery

I hit this place for lunch pretty often. They have a great Vegan meatloaf. It's also got non-vegan (ie meat) menu items too. Truly something for everyone.

[nwbywayofla]

Thanks guys, good suggestions.

[Markovitch]

Firm vote against Kalga, but I imagine that Nutshell, the once vegan now vegetarian place on Williams would be worth a shot.

[Amanda]

What's wrong with Kalga, Markovitch? I've always wanted to try the place, but if it's bad news then I'll think differently. Do tell, please.

Best regards,

Amanda

[vj]

If your friends are coming this weekend, check out the benefit dinner that Isa of PostpunkKitchen is putting on for the no-kill cat shelter, House of Dreams. That's happening Friday night and should be really good.

There are a few vegan/veggie options (Bay Leaf, Papa G's, Chaos Cafe, Van Hahn, Vege Thai, Vegetarian House, Backspace, Blue Moose, Nhut Quang, Red & Black, Vita Cafe, Paradox, Cafe) but unfortunately none of them are really in the foodie continuum.

I haven't heard great things about Kalga, and it doesn't sound like they have a huge vegan menu. But YMMV.

I've been meaning to go to Kinta (malay), but I haven't made it there. Sounds like there's an emphasis on vegetables.

I was really underwhelmed at Nutshell with their new vegetarian menu: the service was much better than it used to be, but the food was no longer inventive, and it was underseasoned and rather lackluster.

If you're trying to impress your foodie friend, I'd stay away from the vegan and lower-end veggie places. Jill's suggestions sound great. I bet you could get a really great meal at Tabla.

I'd recommend calling ahead to Lovely Hula Hands -- they are casual but pretty tasty and a number of their staff are vegan so they can accomodate.

Apizza Scholls will do pizzas without cheese (both their regular red pizzas and silician pizzas are vegan when cheese is omitted).

For a slice place, Hot Lips is great.

Autentica generally has a vegan dish on the dinner menu, but you could definitely call ahead -- Oswaldo has made vegan meals for me in the past. And the service there has radically improved recently.

For casual (overwhelming) mexican, Por que non? has enough vegan selections that you can easily cobble together a meal, and it's great for the $$.

I hear Trebol features vegetarian and vegan entrees on their menu, but I've never eaten there. You could take one for the team and report back

And of course, middle-eastern and east african restaurants always offer vegan dishes -- my favorite Ethiopian is Dalos, a total dive but really excellent food, but Queen of Sheba has a really impressive vegan sampler with 10(!) dishes in it, and a little bit more atmosphere. If you're into atmosphere, the Eritrean place on Killingsworth is as nice as east african comes in Portland.

For middle-eastern on the east side, Ya Hala is the one to beat.

Hope this helps.

[Markovitch]

Amanda, on Oct 23 2008, 11:01 AM, said:

What's wrong with Kalga, Markovitch? I've always wanted to try the place, but if it's bad news then I'll think differently. Do tell, please.

Best regards,

Amanda

I'm always wary of places that do the 'one dish from every country' thing, so maybe it's just me. But the 3 or 4 times I've been there the food has been average to poor, with slow service.

[loofahgirl]

I didn't enjoy Kalga. I found the food pretty mediocre. And I'd avoid Bay Leaf, too.

[Dan]

loofahgirl, on Oct 23 2008, 03:11 PM, said:

I didn't enjoy Kalga. I found the food pretty mediocre. And I'd avoid Bay Leaf, too.

Have you ever tried their dal? The last time I had it there, it was fantastic. So good, in fact, that one of my friends forced her boyfriend to trade his dal for her entree, and he sulked the rest of the meal. I agree that other dishes have not been up to the same standard, but I would be sad to hear that the dal had jumped the shark.

[alicia]

eh i went to kalga once and i was totally unimpressed. i had some overpriced personal pizza that was dinky and not that tasty. it was awhile ago but i've never felt compelled to go back.

[Markovitch]

Dan, on Oct 23 2008, 09:22 PM, said:

loofahgirl, on Oct 23 2008, 03:11 PM, said:

I didn't enjoy Kalga. I found the food pretty mediocre. And I'd avoid Bay Leaf, too.

Have you ever tried their dal? The last time I had it there, it was fantastic. So good, in fact, that one of my friends forced her boyfriend to trade his dal for her entree, and he sulked the rest of the meal. I agree that other dishes have not been up to the same standard, but I would be sad to hear that the dal had jumped the shark.

jumped like a coked out Fonz, as of my last visit last year.

[Hermes]

Almost any good restaurant should have some vegan options although there are some whose offerings are either accidental or obviously token i.e. the ubiquitous portobello mushroom burger (don't get me wrong, I like a good portobello on occasion but it's inclusion generally shows a lack of creativity in the kitchen). And there are a number of "meat Nazi" type places where even the salads and sometimes desserts have to contain meat for whatever reason. Yuck!

I for one, would recommend Bay Leaf. I've had one meal there that I wasn't that thrilled with but every other time I've eaten there, the food has been really good.

I've never tried Kalga. I've heard such mixed reviews, someday I'll try it.

Any Ethiopian place has plenty of vegan dishes, My personal preference would be for Dalo's Kitchen because it's good and it's cheap.

Ya Hala is good for Lebanese with lots of vegan selections.

the Tao of Tea is an often overlooked place to dine but their food is all vegan and all delicious. Highly recommended!

As for pricey shamacy spots that are super-friendly to vegan and restricted diets Genoa, Seratto and Grolla and Higgins come to mind.

And of course there are hundreds of Thai restaurants but do your research first, many of them are not to be trusted.

[Jill-O]

Markovitch, on Oct 23 2008, 03:03 PM, said:

Amanda, on Oct 23 2008, 11:01 AM, said:

What's wrong with Kalga, Markovitch? I've always wanted to try the place, but if it's bad news then I'll think differently. Do tell, please.

Best regards,

Amanda

I'm always wary of places that do the 'one dish from every country' thing, so maybe it's just me. But the 3 or 4 times I've been there the food has been average to poor, with slow service.

I've been there once and I had the same experience. Haven't felt the need to return...

[BaconLuv]

I'm surprised with all the negative comments about Kalga. I've been there quite a bit and never had a meal that I was dissatisfied with, except for maybe the burrito (nothing exciting really). I will say thought that I've never ordered their mini-pizzas and I think they were overpriced from what I remember. Their Indian dishes are probably their best, esp. the dal and chaat. Both got thumbs up from a Punjabi-raised relative. I also always liked their pesto-mozz panini and Thai curries too. I haven't been there in more than a year though so maybe it's gone downhill.