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Vegan Dumplings & more at Gu’s Bistro in Krog Street Market

gu's bistro - home of vegan dumplings

About a week ago, we finally wandered into Krog Street Market for the first time to finally experience the vegan dumplings at Gu’s Bistro. Gu’s is a Szechuan spot that used to have a location up on the international food mecca, Buford Highway. We had already heard so many good things, it was just a matter of remembering to go there rather than default routing to our normal spots.

First, a little about Krog Street Market. It’s right off the Beltline, a fairly new mixed use path in Atlanta, and they are fully prepared. There is a ton of bike parking. And when we went by on a Saturday much of it was in use. Love to see that! As we walked in, it looked like seating could be a problem. But after making a lap to see what was there, we saw that there were seats further in.

Gu’s Bistro is what we decided to get. Of course, the vegan dumplings were going to have to happen. But we were hungry and needed more. We decided to get one tofu dish and one vegetable dish. I had to steal Kevin’s photo of the dishes because mine of the dumplings and green beans were just a blurry smear.

gu's vegan dumplings stringbeans and ma la tofu skin

The dumplings were swimming in a sweet and slightly spicy sauce. It’s delicious but it’s also a little oily. File this one under occasional food.

There were a couple of tofu options, but we chose the Ma La Sliced Tofu Skin, a cold dish. When someone says tofu skin to me, I picture Inari, the slightly sweet sushi. But this had a completely different texture. Like noodles but a little more rubbery. Don’t let my poor description put you off. We destroyed these.

We’d heard the lotus root was really good, but I felt like we needed something green, because I’m annoying like that. So we got the string beans. Also tasty. Plus, all this food was very chopstick friendly. I hate it when everything is cut small and you feel like you’re picking up one pea at a time. These dishes enable you to shovel large quantities into your face at a time, even if you aren’t a native chopstick user.

Now, this was not a cheap meal. I think everything you see here came to around $29. I’m not saying it isn’t worth it, but it’s definitely some thing to keep in mind. I’m sure the rent in Krog Street Market is out of control. Still, I’m looking forward to going back and trying the other tofu dish and lotus root.

Another Herbivorous Friendship Society vegan supper club

It’s about time to torture you with another flood of photos of fancy vegan food from a Herbivorous Friendship Society vegan supper club. I introduced the concept back towards the beginning of VeganMofo, so for this post I’m just letting the photos speak for themselves. Sadly, I don’t have descriptions. When each dish comes out, Chef Billy Cole tells us all about it, but it falls out of your brain while you enjoy the deliciousness and good company. And yes, there are four desserts this time. vegan appetizer

vegan appetizer

Herbivorous Friendship Society vegan dinner

vegan peppers

vegan onion

Herbivorous Friendship Society vegan dinner

vegan bread

Herbivorous Friendship Society vegan dinner

Eating vegan at non-vegan restaurants in Atlanta

While Atlanta does have a few all-vegan restaurants, we don’t have enough to keep me from getting bored. It’s a good thing we have lots of non-vegan restaurants with vegan options. Here are just a few examples:

So Kong Dong Tofu House

so kong dong tofu house

First, the Kimchi at So Kong Dong Tofu House isn’t vegan. So don’t eat that. But, there are a few vegan options on the menu. Get the Vegetable Tofu Dumpling Soup. If you ask for spicy, you will get spicy. They don’t mess around. You can get vegan Bibimbap. And this is the Bibim Gook Soo, a cold noodle dish that is amazing. Also, DONG.

bibim gook soo

Lee’s Bakery

At Lee’s Bakery, you can get vegan banh mi (ask them to leave off the mayo), tofu spring rolls and pho. Can’t decide? They have a half sandwich/pho combo so you don’t have to. Also, it’s super cheap!

vegan banh mi

vegan spring rolls

vegan pho

Chai Pani

Chai Pani serves Indian food snacks in Decatur. This is either the Bhel Puri or Green Mango Chaat. I’ve had and enjoyed both and both are filled with crunchy things so it’s hard to tell.

chai pani

This, this is a samosa. It’s fairly large and filling. The best thing to do here is go with some people, get a few things and then everybody eat all the things. Must haves: the Kale Pakoras and the Matchstick Okra Fries. If you don’t like okra because of the slime, try these. Slime free!

samosa at chai pani

Fuego Mundo

Fuego Mundo is a South American wood-fire grill in Sandy Springs. It’s kosher and they have vegan and gluten free options. Seriously, if you have a diverse group, this is a great place. I typically go with the tofu steak, grilled and seasoned. They have a bunch of vegan side options. Sometimes I’m good and I do quinoa. And then sometimes what you see below happens. Hey, at least I got a salad.

tofu steak at fuego mundo

Ammazza

Ammazza makes a vegan pizza with a house made cashew cheese sauce. We’ve actually only been once to have it and found it meh. But since everyone else raves about it, I figure we could be the problem here. I’m willing to give it another shot some time.

ammazza vegan pizza

El Myriachi

El Myriachi is kind of like El Myr except it’s filled with families instead of smoke. If you aren’t into screeching children, avoid during peak hours.

The food is similar to El Myr but not the same. They have a taco salad in a fried tortilla bowl, so that’s pretty awesome. The first time we went, the guacamole was diluted with stuff. It was just wrong. El Myr has the best guacamole ever, avocado lightly seasoned. That’s all you need. But El Myriachi’s guac has moved towards El Myr’s style in subsequent visits so I think it’s all good now.

el myriachi guacamole

My standard at El Myr is the tofu taco. It’s pretty much the same here except they don’t do the BBQ tofu.

el myriachi tofu taco

Kevin got a chimichanga because of the frying. It came with proper unadulterated guacamole on the side. Looked pretty good.

el myriachi chimichanga

Queen of Sheba

I’ve actually been going to Queen of Sheba since 1998, my very first night in Georgia. The food has been consistently delicious all these years. The veggie combo is where it’s at. Tofu tibs are great. And a few years ago they added a larger veggie combo with even more delicious things on it for when you have the monster munchies. This is the bigger veggie combo plus an order of tofu tibs. The far plate is the regular veggie combo.

veggie combo and tofu tibs at queen of sheba

This is by no means an exhaustive list. There are many more options, but these happen to be the pics I had on hand. Do you have any favorite vegan eats at unexpected places?

Vegan cheese grits

Despite growing up in the South, I never ate grits growing up. It was mostly a texture thing. I didn’t like anything mushy like that. Mashed potatoes don’t count.

Once I started making vegan cheese grits I felt stupid for not making them before. They’re so easy, cheap and delicious! So here’s my basic recipe. I use Daiya in these because the flavor is stronger than most of the other vegan cheeses.

Vegan Cheese Grits

Ingredients

5 1/3 cups water or unsweetened non-dairy milk
1 1/3 cups white corn grits
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 cup Daiya mozzarella or cheddar shreds

white corn grits

Bring the water or non-dairy milk to boil. Slowly stir in grits then add salt and pepper. Cook on medium until it starts to thicken. Stir in Daiya. Continue to cook a minute or two more until it’s the thickness you want. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Makes about 6 servings.

cooking vegan cheese grits

These particular vegan cheese grits ended up with sausage gravy on top. Perfect for a Breakfast for Dinner situation.

vegan cheese grits and gravy

The Herbivorous Friendship Society vegan supper club

New Year’s Day this year was the very first Herbivorous Friendship Society dinner. What the heck’s that? It’s a secret (well, not anymore) vegan supper club hosted in a home with amazing food by Chef Billy Cole. The motto is “Look fancy, don’t act fancy.” So, we dress up nicely, but will not hesitate to pick up our plates and lick them to get every last drop of goodness. See, Atlanta’s got crazy cool things going on, even for vegans.

So, while I have the bare bones descriptions of each, it doesn’t do justice to how complex and amazing each dish was. At the end, we each got a bag of cookies to take home with this recap of the night’s menu. After that, I’ll just post the dishes as they arrived for your drooling pleasure.

And if you’re counting, yes, there were three desserts and the last one was a “snack.”

vegan supper club menu

my place at the table

beet