Seattle - Vegan Friendly Suggestions

[negavert]

I'd just like to know if anybody on here is from Seattle. Are you with any of the local organizations, and would you recommend a particular one that's worthwhile? Thanks!

[ConsciousCuisine]

Hey Negavert! These guys are based in Seattle!

Action for Animals (http://www.afa-online.org/)

[gertvegan]

A Veg*an guide to Seattle.

The Pacific Northwest's most comprehensive resource for those interested in reducing the amount of meat and/or dairy products that they consume, for whatever reason and at whatever pace.

www.vegseattle.com (http://www.vegseattle.com/)

[mysh]

This guide was much appreciated on my recent visit to Seattle - thanks gertvegan!
I went to a Chinese restaurant named "Bamboo Garden" on Roy street (mentioned in the guide). The menu is 100% vegan! Well, except the fortune cookies which contain eggs, as is stated in the front of the menu to warn you.
And the food is very good.
A coupla doors down on Roy street there's a Mediterranean restaurant (looked Turkish), called "Mediterranean Kitchen" which has a menu section entitled "Vegetarian" with vegan dishes. It was very nice to see the word used correctly for a change! I had excellent Falafel there, with a creamy sauce which I first suspected of containing milk. Turns out it was made with tahini. It tasted fantastic.

[VeggieGirl]

I am from Seattle and my fav place is Arraya's Vegan Thai. Amazing! If you need anymore help just let me know.

:D

[my3labs]

I live in Seattle (well, Everett) but am fairly new to being a vegan so I don't have much to offer.
I did however, find a restaurant on Madison called "Cafe Flora". They claim to be vegetarian but maybe there are some vegan dishes as well.
I recently visited PCC and it was cool experience. Also, check out Central Market...they offer a lot of vegan stuff.
I would love to get more involved in AR, so if you find anything good, please let me know. :) I've actually being thinking of getting involved with PETA.

[my3labs]

negavert:
I just checked out your homepage. "The Vogue"?? Wow, that brings back some memories. I used to hang out there every weekend!!!

[my3labs]

We went to a strictly vegan restaurant for dinner tonight. It was so cool to be able to order whatever we wanted, without having to ask what was in all of the dishes.
I had a jerk tofu burger, mssara1214 had a taco tofu burger and hubby had a seitan sub. We also got some macaroni and cheese on the side that was pretty dang good.
We even brought home some goodies like cookies and a piece of chocolate cheesecake.
We also found a strictly vegan pizza place that we're going to check out very soon.

[Peas'nHominy]

That is so cool!! I would love to have that experience, getting to order anything off the menu! :D

I keep thinking there's GOT to be a vegan restaurant here in Houston, but I haven't found it yet. :rolleyes:

[my3labs]

It seems that we have about 15 or 20 here in Seattle. I found a vegoutguide for TX that's coming out soon: http://vegoutguide.com/upcoming.php

[my3labs]

Peas, check this out as well: http://www.happycow.net/north_america/usa/texas/houston/

[Roxy]

Right - well when I come down to Seattle for a visit, I will have to get your recommendations! :D

[my3labs]

Anytime Roxy. do you come down often?

[adam antichrist]

Yum! Taco tofu burger sounds delish

[foxytina_69]

ooohhh seattle is gorgeous. i went there once when i was five. (got deathly ill though so that ruined the experience but from what i remember it was GORGEOUS)

[sugarmouse]

That is so cool!! I would love to have that experience, getting to order anything off the menu!

i wuld love that aswell!! or even to have a few things instead of havin to order a side salad and bring my own dressing..lol
dont tink there is anything like that near me..i am not a big fan of eating outt so i havent suffered:)

[FR]

We went to a strictly vegan restaurant for dinner tonight. It was so cool to be able to order whatever we wanted, without having to ask what was in all of the dishes.
I had a jerk tofu burger, mssara1214 had a taco tofu burger and hubby had a seitan sub. We also got some macaroni and cheese on the side that was pretty dang good.
We even brought home some goodies like cookies and a piece of chocolate cheesecake.
We also found a strictly vegan pizza place that we're going to check out very soon.

With all the vegan restaurants in Seattle, it would not make sense to eat at any non-vegan restaurants. You folks are lucky.

[gertvegan]

No Dairy, No Eggs, No Problem

One old, one new: Two vegan cafes offer variations on old favorites.

by Neal Schindler and Laura Cassidy, www.seattleweekly.com (http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0548/051130_food_vegan.php)

Veganism isn't anti-food, and that's something many non-vegans don't get. Perhaps it's because all the ethical arguments still leave omnivores wondering how in the world you can make anything delicious without chicken stock or cheese. Forget proselytizing; if you need to convince someone that shunning animal products doesn't give you a tin palate, bring them to Wayward Cafe.

A humble gray box in a quiet residential part of the University District, Wayward isn't just a vegan cafe; it's one of Seattle's only collectively run restaurants. Before coming to town a year ago, Dylan Alverson and Sean Thomas owned and operated Minneapolis' Hard Times Cafe, a vegetarian collective that stayed open until 4 a.m. Last April, the duo opened Wayward in the space formerly occupied by Rainy Day Vegan Cafe. Since then, the restaurant has amassed a staff of more than a dozen volunteers.

According to Alverson, staffers undergo a lengthy training process. "Basically, we have people who are interested come in and start washing dishes, and people get trained on that aspect, and they go through a two-month period where they get a feeling for the restaurant, and we get a feeling for them," he explains. The aspiring collectivists who pass muster spend another two months taking on added responsibilities around the cafe; if the owners decide they're a good fit for the place (and vice versa), they become collective members.

At this point, you may be asking yourself why someone would work for months without pay just to get promoted to another unpaid position, albeit one with clout (all collective members get a say in how the cafe is run). The proof might be in the pudding, if Wayward served pudding; as it is, one dinner on a rainy evening almost convinced us to get behind the stove. Wayward's breakfast and lunch menus are constant; dinner, on the other hand, is whatever's scrawled on the "daily specials" blackboard. The night we were there, we tried the open-face tofu sandwich ($9.50) and the Wizard ($6.75), a Reuben-like combo of seitan (a high-protein, low-fat "wheat meat"), sauerkraut, perpperoncinis, and horseradish sauce.

There's an odd juxtaposition of punk aesthetics and stick-to-your-ribs home cooking at Wayward. Your cook may have a pierced septum and your waitress may be heavily tattooed, but the food they prepare and deliver is pure Americana—albeit vegan, free of hydrogenated oils and refined sugars, and mostly organic. The open-face sandwich was smothered in rich mushroom gravy—the kind you spoon up when it's all that's left on the plate—and accompanied by greens with a nice, sour tang. The Wizard, only half of which we had room for, satisfied our yen for a Reuben—a yen that often crops up in ex-carnivores raised in deli-friendly cities. It's not pastrami, but Wayward's seitan is chewy and salty enough to make an excellent substitute.

A real Reuben is a fixture on the eclectic lunch menu—well, a real vegan Reuben, made with fried tempeh, organic sauerkraut, and nondairy Russian dressing ($6). Also available: miso soup ($3.50), a seitan Philly cheese steak ($6.50), and an Italian-style "hot sausage sandwich" ($6.50) made with Gimme Lean sausage, marinara sauce, and fried onions and peppers.

Alverson says Wayward is a work in progress; accordingly, there are growing pains on display. Takeout containers cost a quarter apiece (perhaps to defray their cost, perhaps to encourage folks to bring their own; it's unclear), and the self-serve water tank was empty for 15 minutes during our visit. Yet these are signs of a bootstrap operation, and, for the most part, they make the place more endearing. Service at the counter and the table is unusually cheery; even before you talk to them, you get a sense from the volunteers that what they're doing is, in their minds, an absolute good.

ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY for proving to meat eaters that vegans and vegetarians have it good exists on the other end of town at Moonlight Cafe. This 10-year-old ID/CD Vietnamese restaurant offers both vegan/vegetarian food and meat dishes; among the various Asian/meat-free combo cafes in town to offer this cuisine type, Moonlight is the best.

There are two menus—one for omnivores, one for vegetarians and vegans—but the meatless menu lists its offerings as though they contain real meat. The English translation under co'm chiên gà reads "chicken fried rice." A note in the front of the menu declares: "The meat and seafood in the menu are for name sake only." So bring a steak lover, hide the meat menu as soon as you're seated, and order the bò rang mè, or "sesame beef" ($9.95), and wonton soup ($6.50).

Soon, a giant, shareable bowl of light, scented broth arrives; in the middle is a big mess of incredibly long, thin noodles. Little dots of sesame oil spot the surface. Baby bok choy swims with fresh cilantro, carrot coins, and deliciously filled—but not with meat—pastry pillows. The sesame "beef" plate is gorgeous, and also big enough for two. Shockingly green broccoli and bright tomatoes decorate a large mound of rice topped with nuggets of breaded and fried seasoned wheat gluten (so much better than it sounds, which is probably why they just call it beef). A tangy soy-based sauce and lots and lots of sesame seeds finish the plate.

If you're trying to trick a meat eater, don't order the cá thu xã t ($9.95). While the flavor of this fried-tofu dish is beautifully accented with seaweed, green onion, basil, and scallion, it really doesn't taste much like tuna. (We were fascinated by the dish pretending to be lobster tail, for $8.95, but in the end it just seemed like a bad idea.)

Similarly, the combo appetizer platter ($12.95) shouldn't be used to trick anyone, although the egg rolls that come on it sure could. More importantly, however, the "beef" skewers are fantastic, and the roll-your-own fresh spring rolls (use lots of the fresh mint leaves and plenty of those funny little "fish" sticks) are a delicious adventure.

[Zandi]

Hi! I'm from the Seattle area as well and I just discovered an Asian restaurant on the east side called The Teapot. It's in Bellevue and it's so good! It was a great way to bring my 10 yr. old daughter to a place and have her order things she is used to, yet they were all soy based. She loved it! The tea is really great too and I had an excellent jasmine green tea. The flower actually unfurled in the hot water and was more like a centerpiece than my drink! We liked it very much and recommend it if you find yourself on the east side! :)

[SeaWillow]

My daughter and I are planning a trip to Seattle, WA this June (2006) to scout for possible relocation. She is interested in attending University of Washington (so am I!). The duration of our trip will probably be about one week.

Any suggestions for good (clean & economic, yeah, I want it all) hotels, restaurants and any suggested points of interests (even those to avoid) would be very much appreciated. Also, we'd also be interested in learning more about the real estate in the Seattle area (apartments, houses, condos, yurts)

All ideas appreciated,

:)
Thanks!
Sea (aka Jean)

[Roxy]

Hi SeaWillow

I thought this article might interest you:



http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/food/262010_vegfest08.html

[SeaWillow]

{{{Roxy}}}}

You are so thoughtful! I truly enjoyed reading this article. It's encouraging; no matter what reasons folks need to dissuade meat-eating, events like VegFest prove there is hope for compassionate change.

I've sent a copy of this to my daughter. While we won't be out there for this weekend's VegFest, maybe in 2007?

Thanks again,
SeaWillow
(aka Jean)

ps: Roxy, I LOVE reading your blog; it always makes me smile.

[Roxy]

Oh Thank You!

Maybe when you are in Seattle in June, the list of Veggie restaurants at the bottom of the article will come in handy for you, when you and your daughter are looking to dine out.

[DianeVegan]

Thanks for the info. We will also be in Seattle in July, looking at eco-friendly floor coverings for out new home (there's a big store in Seattle where you can view and touch the products). I haven't looked much into our stay as yet but will post if we come up with any new ideas.

[Roxy]

That sounds exciting Diane! That is one of the beauties of having your own home: being able to fit it out with environmentally friendly, health conscious choices. :)