Vegan Glory is a Thai restaurant but I am so in love with their veggie burger I always order it. I usually make a beeline there from the airport as soon as I arrive in Los Angeles (the staff have asked me if I’m a flight attendant previously!).

My standard order
- Veggie burger (made from lentils, brown rice, veggies & spices)
- Extra vegenaise (outstanding vegan mayo that you can’t buy where I live)
- Soy cheese (doesn’t come as standard).

Either I order 2 veggie burgers or 1 veggie burger plus fries. The fries are delicious and it’s so nice to have hot fries and know they the oil hasn’t been used to cook any animal products.

The restaurant is a really relaxing place to eat. Unlike cheap NYC restaurants there is a bathroom! The service is good without being intrusive. The restaurant seems super clean and isn’t noisy. I’m often there outside of normal meal times

The prices are very reasonable. I think the burger is around $5.95 + tax. Fries are $2. It’s an extra $1 for a slice of soy cheese which is the only think that is steep.

There are quite a few different burgers on the menu and other non-Thai food items, making this a great choice if some of your party aren’t big fans of Thai or aren’t in the mood for Thai. Staff all appear to actually be Thai, including shift management.

During the day you can park in the surrounding side streets for free (you might need to drive around to find a spot and walk a bit). After 6pm the side streets become residents parking only but at night you can park along Beverly Blvd for free (metered during the day).

The Beverly Center mall is only a few hundred meters but the road from Vegan Glory and the Beverly Hills branch of Real Food Daily is also close by if want to get some takeout dishes from both places or head over to Real Food Daily for dessert. If you’ve never experienced US discount store shopping, their is a Loehmann’s right next to the Beverly Center.

No msg is used at this restaurant. My only complaint is that mango sticky rice is on the menu and listed as seasonal but I’m typically there in summer when mexican mangoes are abundant in LA and it’s never been available when I’m there.

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I had a one day stopover in San Francisco. I was jet lagged having just gotten off a flight from New Zealand and didn’t feel like dealing with a restaurant. So, I made a beeline down to the Wholefoods supermarket in central San Francisco’s SOMA neighborhood in search of their vegan cupcakes.

SOMA stands for South of Market, so I’m talking just around 15 min walk from the Mariott where I was staying.

One the way there, I passed FreshRoll. I am a massive fan of Spring Rolls and this was just what I felt like after the long flight. I was starving and thought I would want some extra food, not just spring rolls. From the salad bar at Wholefoods, I grabbed a big self-service container of grilled tofu, sliced red capsicum, spring onions, and piles of cilantro.

Ok, ok get to the point….. the review of FreshRoll

I got 3 giant vegan spring rolls, and two serves of their peanut sauce which they were happy to give me. The peanut sauce is vegan. I checked. They also don’t fry the tofu in oil that is used for non-vegetarian things, so that is all good too. I needed to ask them to use new gloves for my food, otherwise the same gloves would’ve been used for the vegan rolls as used for handling the meaty options.

The dinner was perfect. The extra salad and tofu made it a bit more substantial and I yummed up all the delicious peanut sauce. I will be making a beeline back their next time I’m in SF!

You get a choice of fillings for your rolls. I think it’s 3 fillings and I remember thinking I wanted to pick one more.

Next time you’re traveling alone and hanging out in a hotel in central SF, I highly recommend taking the 15 minute ish walk to get yourself some chocolate cupcakes and some spring rolls at FreshRoll!

Wholefoods San Francisco Vegan Cupcakes

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The official name of this restaurant is “Crossways Food for Life” but I always think of it has just “the Melbourne Govindas.”

It’s like any typical Govindas anywhere in the world in that it has a cafeteria style atmosphere, and is predominantly lacto-vegetarian (milk products, no eggs) with some vegan friendly options.

The main thing to say about this place is the food is delicious. The food is both nicer and cheaper than the Govindas in the Brisbane CBD. The desserts at Crossways are particularly delish. For example, egg-free trifle (an Aussie favorite!).

Eating at restaurants in Australia and New Zealand is considerably more expensive than in the US. However, this is a great place to fill your belly, especially if you’re staying at a nearby backpackers or need a pick me up after enduring the Melbourne weather.

There is a set meal option as is typical of Hare Krishna run restaurants.

The vegetarian lasagna is super good and has a rich, thick, flavorful homemade tomato sauce.

I usually make several stops here during any visit to Melbourne and have been known to get food from here as takeout (or “takeaways” as they say in Oz) to take to the airport for the flight home.

Gets busy at lunch times and is cash only.

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Note: That there is another Cafe Viva location all the way uptown on the Upper West Side. Other than the location info, this review is accurate for both locations. They’re both awesome!

I love this hole in the wall place where you can buy kosher, vegetarian pizza by the slice. The location is on 2nd ave, between 11th and 12th st, and it’s right by a movie theater. There are only a few tables but they’re comfortable enough. It’s extremely affordable for one of the basic slices. They have wholewheat or white flour crust with cheese (non-animal rennet), as well as a vegan option that is a thick spongy (approx 1 inch) crust with a spicy tomato sauce on it.

They have soy cheese for an extra charge but I believe it’s not vegan.

Other than the plain slices, there are lots of slices with diverse toppings and quite a few vegan options. These are piled high with veggies.

The slices are huge. If you’re a female, you will only need one, or perhaps get 3 slices between two people if you’re really hungry.

There is no bathroom so you will need to make arrangements. You can usually go at the movie theater if you leave an id with them. Otherwise, it’s a bathroom desert in this neighborhood.

I’ve always found the service friendly. Since the plain slices turn over the most often, these will likely be the freshest (often straight out of the oven). Otherwise they’ll put the slice back in the oven when you order it.

I’ve always found the service friendly, quick, and non-pretentious.

They sell vegan cakes and vegan cheesecake made by the Vegan Treats company. These get delivered weekly on a Tuesday afternoon, so your best bet for the freshest product is Wednesday. I like the vegan death by chocolate cake and the vegan cheesecake. The peanut butter bomb is popular but I don’t like chocolate with peanut butter. The Vegan Treats cakes here are priced cheaper than at some other NYC restaurants who carry the same product.

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I had an an all day layover in Brisbane on a flight from Los Angeles to New Zealand. I was super tired and even the glorious sunshine in Brisbane couldn’t perk me up. I just wanted to rest so I took myself off for a relaxing vegetarian lunch at Govindas in the central city.

Central location.

The location at 1/99 Elizabeth St is extremely central. You can easily walk there after taking the train from the airport to the central city train stop. Perfect for people who are on a layover or relying on public transportation.

There is a mall with a small supermarket right next door, where I also purchased a couple of things.

The location is also extremely close to the Brisbane river and South Bank area. There was even a fruit market the day I was there and Brisbane tropical fruit is fantastic. The market was on the north side right by the bridge you walk over to get to the South Bank.

Food + Vegan friendly.

Sorry I didn’t take pics but I greatly enjoyed a huge plate of “chips” (chunky french fries, fried to order) with homemade tomato sauce. This doesn’t sound like a very grown up order but I was jet lagged and chips are a rare treat for me given that they tend to be cooked in the same oil as fish and hot dogs in Australia and New Zealand.

I had a vegan chocolate pudding (basically chocolate + coconut milk) but found it excessively rich and it didn’t have any complexity to the flavors.

The staff were happy to advise about what was vegan, and do a vegan version of the set meal.

The menu was ample but not huge – I think everyone would find an option they wanted to order. A little limited in terms of vegan desserts.

Prices.

I can’t remember what it cost but restaurant prices in Australia are much higher than the US so it seemed both expensive + cheap for Australia!
They don’t take credit cards and I ended up changing $20 US into Aussie money at a nearby money changer. No biggie.

Ambiance.

The atmosphere was casual. It’s upstairs so not suitable for people with mobility issues.

I arrived right when they opened and stayed until the lunch crowd started to pour in. There were a few people who seemed to be having work lunch meetings there.

The Hare Krishna aspect was relaxed and not likely to be off putting to anyone from a different faith (I’m an atheist).
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