It's Not Easy, Being Vegan
As you know, we are certainly not vegan
ourselves.
But, some days, maybe we want a nice plate of veggies, prepared by people who only eat veggies and therefore understand that more options exist than just steamed. People who might even try to be innovative with their vegetables-only lifestyle. Plus, since we're pregnant, we tend to be even more interested in eating veggies lately, not for ourselves, of course -- if it were up to us, we'd just eat meat and cheese all day long, but for the baby...
So that's how we found ourselves at the newest outpost of the Bay Area vegan restaurant chain, Herbivore, now open on Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley.
We'd read that our colleagues over at the East Bay Express were not terribly impressed with the food, though they gave high marks to the style-y modern design. We, however, remember loving the pesto and roasted vegetables from visits past to the Herbivore on Valencia, so we figured, as long as we avoided the maligned lentil loaf, we could give the Shattuck Avenue site a try.
What did we eat? Read more after the jump...
We ordered the Linguine Prima Vera ($9.75) with roasted vegetables and pesto, substituting rice noodles for regular pasta, because that's what we like, and adding the optional tofu ($1). While the uniform gray-beige of the dish was less than appetizing, the flavor of the pesto was still tasty, lemony, and true to memory. The tofu added a not-unpleasant smokiness.
Our only complaints were that the veggies were not uniformly cooked through (raw eggplant being the least pleasant bite), and that the garlic bread was inexplicably soggy, almost like hot water had been poured on it -- when it easily could and should have been crisp. We also don't recall being served the accompanying salad. Although that may have happened. (We have pregnancy brain, so details do get lost.)
We also somewhat enjoyed our celery, apple, spinach, parsley, mint, ginger and lime drink ($3.25), though would have more-so if it had been served cold. Unfortunately it sat for too long between preparation and delivery. The very nice staff offered us some ice, but we opted not to dilute the juice.
There are many more menu options at this vegan haven: wraps, salads, sandwiches, not to mention vegan desserts, and even vegan cocktails (soy milk "Mad Cow," anyone?). Perhaps what most recommends this place is the effort they make to provide so many cultural variations on the vegetables-only dish.
Are YOU an Herbivore fan on either side of the Bay? Let us know which dishes you like -- or don't -- in the comments field below.
Herbivore
2451 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley
(510) 665-1675
Open Sunday through Wednesday 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., Thursday through Saturday 9 a.m. to midnight