quarrygirl eats nyc continues! more vegan-ness from our recent trip to manhattan.

franchia is a fancy schmancy 100% vegan korean restaurant in manhattan, which is a sister restaurant to the even fancier schmancier gourmet restaurant, hangawi. judging by the prices at franchia alone, you’d never guess that this was the lower-rung, cheaper of the two (my entree alone was $18). but the food was delicious and healthy tasting, the atmosphere elegant & traditional, yet clean & modern, and the service was beyond attentive. plus, it’s located on park avenue, which i’m sure drives the prices up. overall, the extra bit of money was well spent and we left feeling perfectly replete and re-energized at the same time.

when we arrived at franchia, the husband and i were full of three beers each from a local irish bar and feeling the drag of our recent 5 hour flight and various airport delays. we were thrilled when we peered through the windows and saw the vast, relaxing, beautifully decorated tea house beckoning us. we were escorted upstairs by a very kind host and seated at a quiet table in a dimly-lit section of the restaurant.

needing food immediately, we quickly ordered the vermicelli spring rolls, which proved to be an excellent choice.

vermicilli spring rolls: $8.95

as you probably know, great dinner ambiance usually makes for shitty photos. the food doesn’t have a chance of coming out in focus with all that moody lighting goin’ on. so bear with me and trust that it was amazing. the spring rolls came in a set of four with a tangy dipping sauce and a beautiful little radish cut up to look like a flower. although these were fried, they were still quite light. the skin was very delicate and thin, and the innards consisted of silky soft noodles and tender vegetables. they were just what we needed after the day we’d had!

my husband, being a noodle and broccoli fan opted for the spicy franchia noodles. we both agreed that they were pretty tasty.

spicy franchia noodles: $14.95

the spicy noodles weren’t actually that spicy, but then again i drink hot sauce by the bottle, so the fact i needed to ask for some extra shouldn’t be a surprise. the portion was small and dainty, especially for $15, but the quality of the ingredients made up for it. the noodle dish was covered in fresh, beautiful-tasting vegetables such as thick broccoli, succulent mushrooms, and even juicy tomatoes. the perfect blend of flavors and gourmet taste justified the price and puny-ness. for all you la-ers, this place totally reminded me of shojin, a fancy japanese vegan restaurant located in downtown los angeles. if you dig shojin, you’ll love franchia.

i opted for something a little more saucy and full of fake meat: the vegetarian curry hot pot. this turned out being by far the favorite dish on the table, and that’s a good thing because there was plenty to share with my husband.

vegetarian curry hot pot: $17.95

the hot pot was a scrumptious dish in a big stone container that was still sizzlin’ and bubblin’ away when it arrived at our table. filled to the top with the most rich and delicious curry sauce, it also boasted numerous vegetables and tons of protein, including both fake chicken and tofu. spooned out on top of a fluffy plate of white rice, this dish was absolutely divine. thick vegetables, tons of chunky chicken, soft tofu and incredible creamy sauce…it couldn’t get much better. the sauce was the perfect combo of hot spicey-ness, curry flavor and tomato undertones. i think it’s safe to say this is the best non-indian style curry i’ve ever had. our meals also came with a plate of kimchi for the table, which was so delicious, i forgot to get a picture of it! oops.

so, the bottom line is: for upscale dining in nyc, franchia definitely delivers. you won’t leave this place feeling stuffed or guilty, you will just leave feeling relaxed with some delicious quality food in your belly. you pay a little extra for fancy atmosphere, central location, and awesome ingredients. in my opinion, it’s well worth it.

sweet table at franchia. we opted for the more traditional chairs, but i still thought this was lovely.

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It’s no secret that I’m a HUGE fan of Indian cuisine. Growing up in the UK where it is, of course, the national dish has enabled me to be quite discerning when Indian food is placed in front of me. So, I was delighted at the prospect of visiting the Samosa House in Culver City this past weekend to try their extensive vegan selection (they have seven vegan and three vegetarian entrees).

a samosa with potatoes, chickpeas, lentils, potatoes w/ long beans, bitter melon, spinach tofu and jackfruit.

Well, I can tell you that the experience started off really well. The restaurant is deli-style, where orders are placed and served from heated containers right in front of you in a very clean and orderly environment. The service is excellent – the nice man behind the counter described all the dishes, including which were vegan. We could not decide which of the seven to taste, so we ordered them all as two 3-side samplers (with rice and bread) for $7.99 each, and one side (for the odd man out, final entrée: more to come on that).

The seven dishes were as follows:

Potatoes: Pretty much as the name suggests – lightly spiced potatoes served dry in no sauce
Chickpeas: Your common chickpea curry served in a light sauce
Lentils: Usually my favorite side, lentils served in a dark, creamy sauce, of which more later
Potatoes with Long Beans: The name says it all – again, not a very saucy dish
Bitter Melon: Seemed to be small fruits in a tangy sauce. Much more of a condiment than a side, if you ask me
Spinach Tofu: Creamed spinach and small tofu chunks (although there were al most no tofu chunks in ours)
Jackfruit: Pure Luck style jackfruit in a dry curry sauce

We also had a very hearty serving of rice with each sampler (in fact, the rice accounted for around 60% of the volume of each container) and two small chapatti breads. Of course, we couldn’t help but order two of their signature samosas which were wrapped and fried right there. No microwaved samosas wrapped in foil here!

We ordered the dishes to go, and hightailed it through West LA as fast as we could to get home – largely because carrying Indian food in your car leaves a lingering odor that lasts in direct proportion to how long you carried the food for. Although our journey was only about 20 minutes, I could still smell the curry in my car the following morning — even though we carried it in the trunk!

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curry can be a vegan’s best friend, especially if you get it from a restaurant where the staff is knowledgeable and straight up about ingredients. fortunately for us herbivores who live west of vermont (sorry, ¡yo soy!), the owners of the vegan-friendly hipster hangout electric lotus also have another fine, less trendy indian restaurant on san vicente: india’s grill.

the service at india’s grill is impeccable, the interior is lovely, and most importantly, the food is delicious. we often get our curry to go, however, because india’s grill is on the way home from my husband’s work. plus, i like to eat dinner and watch twin peaks at the same time.

because the portions from india’s grill are pretty huge, i usually end up with leftovers. hence takeaway breakfast curry. i assure you, it’s just as good the second time around.

whole wheat roti ($1.95) with pulao rice ($4.95) and aloo gobhi ($8.95)

i think curry for breakfast is underrated. it’s great to wake up with tons of flavor and food that sets your mouth on fire. gets you ready for the day, i tell ya!

while india’s grill specializes in several vegetarian dishes that can be made vegan, aloo gobhi is my favorite. potatoes in cauliflower in a light sauce blended together with the perfect spices. i always ask them to make it extra hot, because most curry dishes are too mild for me otherwise. this dish goes perfect with the pulao rice: saffron, grean peas and onions all sauteed together.

and don’t forget to wrap everything up with a big piece of roti to make a scrumptious curry burrito. i’m pretty sure the naan contains eggs, but the roti is a-ok. just a minute on the grill, and the roti will be as good as new, even on the following day.

so if you want an indian feast near weho or beverly hills, be sure to give india’s grill a shot. dine-in or take-out, they always rock my world.

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things were looking pretty bleak for pure luck, my favorite vegan restaurant, after a truck crashed through their window and they waited ages to repair the damage. that’s why it brings me great pleasure to report that they have a new window at last! yay! they’ve remained open through every stage construction, and now it finally looks like it’s almost over. last week they had brand new glass in, and even though half the restaurant was closed while the workers put on the finishing touches, things were looking up. i decided to celebrate with some curry fries.

curry fries: homemade french fries served with a bowl of curry gravy for dipping. $8

i’ve been looking forward to trying these fries for awhile, and they definitely exceeded my expectations. they even rival the wonderful potato pals as pure luck’s best appetizer. crispy on the edges and soft inside, the long fat potato wedges were perfectly fried and seasoned.

the fries were crazy tasty, but what made this dish exceptional was definitely the curry gravy. i am a curry freak; i know when sauce is good, and this sauce was off the fucking hook. spicy, garlicky, and super oily, i just couldn’t get enough of this dip. i drank it when i finished the fries. can you blame me?

ahhhhh. pure luck definitely hit the spot. i do gotta say, the portions are still smaller than they used to be—the fresh noodle salad seems to shrink by the day. but hey, the dollar is in the toilet. everyone is taking a hit i guess.

pure luck has also started offering daily specials. when i was there they had some new tacos and a burrito on special, plus a quinoa salad. they’ve also started printing a beer list, and have eliminated penne pasta from the menu. it’s a whole new world in there.

so get to pure luck and check out the new window, raise a pint and celebrate. hopefully they will be done installing it and the whole restaurant will be open by the time you go. oh, and i highly recommend the curry fries.

fixin' her up

update: curry fries have been taken off the menu

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don’t be scared when you see a ragged building on a shady stretch of sunset blvd. that looks more like a bails bond office than an eatery. after they buzz you through the creepy-looking door, you find yourself in a dimly-lit, cozy indian restaurant, where the waiters are well-dressed and the decorations are traditional. it’s like stumbling into an eerie cave and finding a perfect, warm hideaway. i avoided paru’s vegetarian for ages, and little did i know that i was completely missing out on the loveliest curry house in all of la.

i can’t wait to return and get a full-on slap-up dinner, because on this particular visit we just opted to split a few sides…all of which were amazing.

cauliflower with potato $7.95

spinach with lentils $7.95

sambar lentil gravy $1.95

the food at paru’s is a welcome change; much different to the indian food i’m used to eating. you see, i’ve been getting a little fed up with curry restaurants in la. none of them compare to london establishments, and since i have been spoiled by the best curry ever at home, i’ve had no reason to eat it when i’m out. so paru’s is officially the first indian restaurant i’ve been to since i got back from a vacation in the uk…9 months ago.

and it did not disappoint! paru’s totally redefined curry in my book. while my favorite dishes are usually full of oil and on the very saucy side, paru’s food was very light, a bit dry, but still full of flavor. paru’s really puts it best on their website when they state, “we specialize in the cuisine of South India, where cooks typically use rich spices and aromatic herbs to transform intricate conjurations of vegetables, lentils, and rice into tasty meals that are as fulfilling as they are filling.” i left completely satisfied and feeling energized. yum.

the cauliflower and potatoes were fantastic, but my favorite dish was the spinach and lentils. it went down perfectly with a side of pulau rice that was littered with peas and carrots. the paratha was also delicious—fluffy and warm, great for scooping up little bits of curry. i didn’t quite know what to expect from the sambar, and what i thought would be a gravy sauce turned out to be more like a vegetable soup. in any case, i loved it. we just passed the dish back and forth and ate it with a spoon until the bowl was dry.

the best thing about paru’s, for me, is that they are a 100% vegetarian restaurant, and definitely know the meaning of the word vegan. our waiter told us exactly which dishes contained dairy before we even ordered, so we knew just what to avoid. i highly recommend you go and support this place. they sure deserve it…even if their exterior makes me a little uneasy.

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a couple times a month, i like to hit up the los angeles farmers market, grab a few beers, and eat some fine vegan food. there’s so many little stands to choose from, and almost everything i’ve eaten there has been delicious, albeit rather expensive. unfortunately, for months, i managed to overlook one of the best vegan-friendly eateries that the food court has to offer, until reading about it on yourveganmom. singapore’s banana leaf serves fine malaysian cuisine that can be veganized upon order (woo hoo!)…and what i’ve tried tastes divine.

vegetable mee goreng fried noodles (NO EGG, please!) with tofu. $8.50

vegetable curry with tofu. $8.50

yeah, yeah, yeah, this place is pricey. especially considering the fact that you’re forced to eat your meal outdoors on plastic tables, sandwiched between “sticker planet” and a vile meaty deli. but in all fairness and with personal pet peeves set aside, i can’t expect the rest of the world to share my ludicrous “i don’t like to eat dead things that have been tortured & slaughtered” mentality. so, considering the fact that this open-air section of la’s famous farmers market is a mecca for midwest and european tourists alike, i really cannot complain about the $5 premium they add to each meal. and in banana leaf’s case, the food definitely competes with the most authentic of joints. so just close your eyes, plug your ears and ignore those loud-mouthed, overweight tourists. time to enjoy some food.

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coachella saturday was the day of technical difficulties. the screens went out during death cab for cutie’s set, when M.I.A. took the stage the lights broke, and the biggest technical difficulty of all made us several hours late for the festival, causing us to miss the beloved MGMT.

luckily, the food was even better than it was on friday! god bless vegan rockers—at coachella, i reap the benefits of their dietary choices.

combination plate: coconut rice with dal and tomato pea curry $8

taking veganism one step further than the night prior, on saturday we decided to eat dinner at the bombay station, a stand that proclaimed to be ENTIRELY vegan.
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friday morning we packed up our bags and headed to the desert for 3 days of festival madness. i must admit, i was looking forward to the music, but not much else. i figured the entire event would be a huge pain in the ass that i’d ultimately regret.

luckily, the food at coachella turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. it was definitely a highlight and one of the main things making me look forward to coachella 2009 (bear in mind, i have no idea who is on the line up yet, so that isn’t saying much!).

vegan tofu naanwich: curry sauce, vegetables and tofu served on a piece of naan. $7

friday night at around 9pm we were completely spent. we’d spent hours in the car, an eternity in the parking lot, and had walked miles around the polo field in hundred-degree-heat from band to band. when it came time to look for dinner options, i would have been satisfied with just a basket of fries or potato chips.
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We British love our curry. For sure, a vindaloo is the British national dish over fish and chips - factually, more brits eat curry on a regular basis than any other cuisine. They say “you never miss what you never had”. Well, I’ve had it and I miss it, yearning frequently for a rainy evening where I can pop out of my local pub into the Bombay Palace restaurant across the road, and order an onion bhaji followed by vegetable vindaloo with pilau rice and a roti. Don’t get me wrong – there are Indian restaurants here in LA, but none of them come remotely close to the taste, texture and experience of a British curry.

So, I set out to emulate the Great British Curry in my own kitchen, and I can tell you that I’ve come pretty close.

Here’s a close-up of what you can expect:

And here it is in a dish ready to be served:

Within an hour of prep time I can make a curry dish that tastes so similar to a curry house back home that I can close my eyes after eating it and hear the patter of rain on the streets of London.

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Mr Meaner’s mantra about restaurant food is “If they can make it, so can YOU!”. And the corollary is often “BETTER”. Here’s an example of creating a dish from scratch with nothing but the taste memory of some truly outstanding airport food.

On a recent trip back to LA from wine country, we happened to hang around in SFO for an hour or so while waiting to board. The post-vineyard pangs of hunger began to set in, so I was wandering between Baja Fresh, Subway and a minimalist food court in Terminal 3 when I happened upon “Tomokazu Japanese Food”. An unassuming little place with two very helpful Japanese serving ladies who were only too happy to explain that the only “non meat” thing on the menu was Curry a with a choice of Chicken, Beef or Tofu.

Moving on from the “non meat” Chicken or Beef curry, I focused on the Tofu option asking if it had anything animal-derived in it (chicken stock, cream, milk powder… The usual questions). One of the servers pulled out a flip book with the ingredients listed, and showed it to me. Indeed, it had nothing remotely animal in it, so I went ahead and ordered the dish.

Two minutes later I was eating one of the most satisfying tofu/sauce/rice bowls I’d ever come across. It was spicy, yet very flavorful and the bed of rice (which the sauce soaked into) was absolutely divine. After boarding my flight back I spent quite a while thinking about how to emulate the feast.

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What’s more British than Winston Churchill, Queen Elizabeth and the red ‘phone box COMBINED? the answer is an authentic Indian Meal (referred to as a ‘curry’ by my good countryfolks). Living in the UK it’s easy to get Indian food quickly and inexpensively - for under US$15 you can enjoy a three-course meal that will leave you bursting at the seams with enjoyment. And, if you order carefully, the food is naturally Vegan - butter and yoghurt are used, but only in certain dishes.

Unfortunately, stateside, there’s almost no customer demand for good curry in the face of ubiquitous ethnic foods of the US immigrant population (Asian, South American, etc.). Above all the lack of expertise to prepare Indian food (the British way, that is) means that it’s impossible to experience anything remotely like a British curry on this side of the pond. So, what’s a Brit over here to do?

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