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?

Korean broccoli fried rice

Last time I made a batch of brown rice, I froze the extra to use for quick meals. When making out my grocery list for the week, I ran across Korean Broccoli Fried Rice in World Vegan Feast.

The recipe calls for leftover tofu scramble. I was just going to skillet fry tofu, but the tofu I had went bad. So I used some May Wah chicken nuggets I had hanging out in the freezer instead, baked them, then chopped them up. We don’t eat a ton of fake meat products at home, but they are kind of nice every once in a while.

It doesn’t sound like there’s much by way of seasoning in the recipe, but it turns out great. Of course, sesame oil in anything usually pops it into the delicious category for me. Mine is also sprinkled with the gomashio that I keep on hand to sprinkle on whatever I can and a pretty squirt of sriracha. And at about 2 o’clock you’ll see a little pile of “seasoned parched seaweed” I found at Your Dekalb Farmers Market. It’s a little oily so I use it sparingly but it adds a great flavor punch. Oh, and it’s pretty good for you, or something.

Bibim Bap

Our last visit to Hankook Taqueria, I was craving more vegetables than the tofu tacos were going to provide, so I got the Bibim Bap instead. Fried tofu and various veggie piles over steamed rice with spicy sauce all over. I wasn’t feeling mushrooms that day, but downed everything else. And through some miracle of self restraint, I only pilfered a couple of Kevin’s sesame fries.

Kooksu at Takorea

While I do love the tofu tacos and sesame fries, the Kooksu (soba noodles, cucumber, cabbage, lettuce, Korean red pepper sauce – ask for no egg and it’s vegan) at Takorea hits the spot when you’re looking for a healthier option. Of course, I then end up destroying this and taking more than a couple of Kevin’s sesame fries. It cannot be helped. Heads up, they do trivia on Thursday evenings. It gets loud.

The lighting outside the window made the trees look all spooky.

Hankook Taqueria

Kevin didn’t get in from working out-of-town until Saturday evening. We wanted quick, inexpensive, unfussy food. Korean tacos? Yes, please. So we headed out to Hankook Taqueria for tofu tacos and sesame fries. Fried tofu, hot sauce, salad on top, squeeze of lime. The fries are tossed with red chili flakes, sesame oil, a hint of sugar? They remind me of the spicy fries from Java on Clement St. in San Francisco. The googles tell me Java has now closed. I hate that! Anyway, their fries were tossed in a vinegar, sugar, chili mixture. So good. Well, crap. Now I’m all bummed about Java being closed.

Sesame fries!

Oh, if Hankook isn’t convenient, look for the Yumbii food trucks. You can get these from the trucks as well.

This weekend we head to Seattle to see Portishead. So there will definitely be out-of-town food porn coming soon!