grabbing a take-out order from m café officially marked the end of the quarrygirl road trip to san francisco, and oh what a way to go out! lemme tell ya, nothing gets you through a 6+ hour drive like knowing you have dinner from m to come home to. for me, this meal meant finally trying the much-hyped bbq sandwich.

carolina-style barbequed seitan sandwich: thinly sliced grilled seitan basted with our own zesty barbeque sauce and piled high on a house-baked whole wheat bun with grilled onions, pickles, and creamy coleslaw. comes with a side salad. $11.45 (no pickles for me!)

omfg it was so good. i don’t know what has been up with my luck lately—i really looooove seitan (i love it with 5 o’s, so that means a lot) and it seems like every time i’ve ordered it within the past few weeks, i’ve winded up having the absolute best seitan dish i’ve ever eaten up to that point in time. this is true of m café’s carolina-styled sandwich—greatest seitan ever, full stop.

not only was there an enormous mound of my favorite thinly sliced wheat meat atop a freshly baked bun, but it was also dripping with the zestiest, lightest and most delicious bbq sauce. i’m used to eating big thick chunks of seitan, but these delectable slices were completely different and practically melted in my mouth.

did i mention it came with a side salad? of course i got the kale with spicy peanut sauce. i can’t bring myself to even try one of the other side salads at m. since ordering this on my first visit, i am totally hooked. i know, i may be missing out…i just can’t help it.

because it was so scrumptious, i just have to supply you with another completely gratuitous photo of my new favorite sandwich. look how big it is—it looks like it is about to eat me!

thanks, m café! places like you make me feel sooooo lucky to be a vegan during this day in age. i mean seriously, with all the crazy meatless bbq options that are popping up everywhere (from jackfruit to seitan), nobody should ever have to pull a pork again.

as you may well know, i’m pretty conflicted about m café. they have some of the most amazing food combined with the crappiest, trendiest atmosphere. small tables crowded onto a strip mall patio and pushy patrons tend to overshadow the amazing vegan fare—that’s why i often get my food to go. however, over the past few weeks, i’ve decided to give dining in another try and i’ve found that during certain times of the day, it can be tolerable. here’s some of the stuff i’ve been eating up from m café, on the premises and at home. 

panino tuscano: tuscan white bean spread, spicy seitan “salami”, caramelized onions & arugula on house-baked focaccia grilled hot & crisp to order. served with a side deli salad (kale!). $11.45

california club sandwich: a triple-decker of savory tempeh “bacon”, lettuce, tomato, avocado, carrots, sprouts & soy-mayo on your choice of house-baked toasted sourdough or multi-grain & seed bread. served with a side deli salad. $11.25

seitan katsu bowl: crispy seitan cutlet, tangy katsu sauce, shredded cabbage salad & steamed vegetables. $10.95

bi-bim bop: marinated pan-fried tofu, Korean-style vegetables, spicy miso sauce & house-made kim chee. $11.45

as i’m sure you can see, the food at m café is extraordinary. if this place served tap beer (or any alcohol for that matter), didn’t offer fish, and didn’t have such shit ambiance…it might be my favorite restaurant. i know that sounds like a lot of conditions, but what i’m trying to say is: the food kicks ass.

these dishes for example…

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on the way home from the airport after my trip to seattle, i decided to swing by m café to pick up something light and healthy—a salad, maybe, to make up for all the sinful vegan food i’d been enjoying over the past few days. i pulled up the m café menu on my mobile device and picked out what i thought would be a healthy salad. tons of vegetables and something called “tofu chevre”. i had no clue what that meant, but it had to be healthy, right? i’m pretty sure i was mistaken.

 
the bistro: organic mixed baby greens, slow-roasted beets, portobello confit, house-made tofu chevre, candied walnuts, red wine & shallot vinaigrette $10.95

the salad was pretty incredible, but i had no idea it would be covered in huge pieces of breaded and fried tofu! ugh, there went my healthy-dinner plan. of course the tofu was so delicious, i had to eat every last piece, despite its fat content.

i don’t know what m café does to their salads, but they are always flawless. the produce was top notch, and the red wine vinaigrette was a light, refreshing contrast to the heavy, filling tofu. a creamy dressing would have totally overpowered it, but as always, m café got it right.

oh, and for the record, i still think it’s better to get m café food to go (there was a huge line and tons of rude people when i picked up my food. it probably took about 15 minutes, even though my meal was pre-ordered)!

i promise to tell you when i decide to be brave and dine in again.

P.S. doesn’t that picture of the salad in the take-away container look like a tofu ghost suffocating to death? or is it just me?

at my job, i am that “weird vegan”. you know the one i mean. i don’t eat anything at company meetings because i’m skeptical that any of the catered food is vegetarian, let alone vegan (vegetables have been known to take baths in butter or chicken stock before making their way to your plate)! i don’t eat birthday cake on co-workers’ birthdays. when benevolent people leave a tray of homemade goodies in the conference room, i don’t indulge. i err on the side of eating nothing that’s given to me, trusting nobody, and finding solace in my grocery store noodle bowls when everyone else is chowing down on company paid for meals. since you have reached the bottom of a paragraph on this vegan blog, maybe you are that “weird vegan” as well, and you can identify.

well, imagine my shock when my meat-eating co-workers insisted that i join them for lunch at a restaurant that was “right up my alley”. a restaurant i’d never tried. a restaurant that was almost entirely vegan. a restaurant that ended up being so good, i’m pretty damn pissed at hadn’t already discovered it myself. a restaurant called m café de chaya.

m café is a macrobiotic restaurant, which means almost all its food is vegan. the only animal product they use is fish, which is marked clearly on the menu in some dishes—everything else is completely meat, egg, and dairy free….even the pastries!

gado gado: organic mixed greens, napa cabbage, crisp vegetables, golden tempeh triangles marinated with ginger, lemongrass & lime, frizzled onions & spicy peanut dressing $11.45

the food was so good in fact, that i emailed my husband from the restaurant and insisted that i bring home m café carry-out that very night. please note, i specified carry-out. the atmosphere in the restaurant left much to be desired (tons of pushy customers, tiny tables, long wait times). so i thought i’d see how the food held up on its own.

and that all begs the question…m café: to go, or not to go?

the m chopped: organic hearts of romaine & mixed greens, avocado, cucumber, chickpeas herb-baked tofu, scallions, ume-pickled radishes, carrots, beets, tamari-roasted almonds, crumbled tempeh “bacon” , tofu-peppercorn ranch. $11.45

the big macro: whole grain brown rice and veggie burger, special sauce, lettuce, tofu cheese, pickles, onion & sprouts on a house-baked whole wheat bun. $11.45

so what was the result? should you order food at mcafé to go and have to warm it up yourself and do your own dishes? or should you suffer the fools and claustrophobia, and eat your food at the restaurant?

keep reading…

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