Thursday, December 1, 2011

Vegan Chicago: Restaurant Review of Urban Vegan Chicago

Before I being my review of Urban Vegan Chicago, I'd like to let you all know that they have a benefit going on throughout the entire month of December. If you order take-out or dine-in and mention Mercy For Animals, 20% of the proceeds go to MFA. This is a great opportunity for vegans (and non-vegans a like) to try out this newer restaurant in Chicago! It also helps with MFA's life-saving work in farm animal protection. Plus, it is nom.

I've heard many great things about this Thai vegan restaurant since it opened. I've been to and seen a few mock meat Asian restaurants before like ChuChai in Montreal (which I blogged about here), Golden Lotus in Oakland (there are a number of Asian restaurants in the Bay Area that specialize in faux meats), and Red Bamboo in NYC. Based off my previous dining experiences, I figured the place would be either fancier (like ChuChai and Red Bamboo) or sort of just a hole in the wall. It's the latter. That doesn't mean it is bad, it just means it is a small establishment and more reasonably priced! I would recommend making reservations because from how I counted, there are only 8 tables in the whole restaurant. It is also BYOB.

As far as having an Asian restaurant with an extensive mock meat menu, I'm glad Chicago now has one! It is definitely an interesting dining experience. If I wanted to get a veggie cashew stir-fry, I would just go to any Thai restaurant and tell them to hold the fish/oyster sauce and add in some tofu. I think the primary reason to go to Urban Vegan (or any of the other places I mentioned, really) is to eat the faux meat with vegan pride. It just isn't worth it to go for Buddha's Delight (other than to support a vegan restaurant). That being said, I'm curious as to what vegan meat company they use. There is always the ever popular May Wah based out of NYC. I'm pretty sure this is what Red Bamboo uses. The "fish" in the Tom Yum I had at Urban Vegan tasted a lot like the fillets they sell on May Wah. If anyone knows where Urban Vegan gets their mock meat, I'd love to know. I'm curious!

Grilled Veggie Dumplings
This isn't the best starting line for a review, but the food was cold which was really disheartening. I was looking forward to this dining adventure. I will go again to see if I receive a better experience as when I went, it was on a Sunday night and every table in the restaurant was taken. I'm assuming this had something to do with it.


The menu is very extensive. They have all the usual Thai foods gone vegan as well as veggie sushi, wrap, burgers, and smoothies. There is also a lunch and dinner combination menu. They include steamed brown rice, a spring roll, salad, and a choice of an entree with either tofu, soy chicken, seitan, pepper steak, or soy fish ($9.95/lunch and $11.95/dinner). Addition of bacon, shrimp, or chicken nuggets is extra ($11.95/lunch and $13.95/dinner). For those of you with gluten allergies, there is a wheat-free menu available.

Seafood Tom Yum Soup
For starters, my friend and I had the grilled veggie dumplings, the house salad, and seafood tom yum soup. The portions are big! The dumplings were about what we expected - your everyday vegan frozen dumpling that was grilled. I think next time, I'd like to try the crispy chicken or chicken satay instead. They sound interesting! The house salad was filled with lots of veggies and I went with peanut sauce for the dressing. There is also tahini and Italian dressing. I've never had a Larb salad before since they aren't vegan, but that's the next salad I'm going to try here. The tom yum soup with seafood was interesting, to say the least. I've had vegan fish fillets before and vegan shrimp... but never the fish in a broth. Personally, the best preparation I've ever seen of vegan fish was in a light sauce and the fillet slightly seared. The seaweed wrapped around it to be the "skin" gives it that fishy taste quality. Vegan shrimp, for me, isn't really worth it. It's chewy and doesn't add much to the mix.


Garlic Pepper Steak
Our dinner entree's were the garlic pepper entree with pepper steak and the pad won zen with soy chicken. The pepper steak was pretty good and it came with rice, though I would have appreciated a few more veggies tossed in there. I liked the pad won zen very much (it has more veggies), but it was cold which kind of ruined the appeal (was looking forward to hot noodles!). Next time, I think I'd like to try the P.E.T. (pumpkin, eggplant, tofu) and the wonton noodle soup (I've missed wonton soup since being vegan - it was my staple at Chinese restaurants since I was a wee one). 


Pad Won Zen (w/ Soy Chicken)
Overall, I think Urban Vegan is a nice change from the normal Thai vegan dining experience (no fish sauce! no oyster sauce! no egg! tofu!). I'm definitely going to come back and try it again. It seems to be doing great thus far and the Chicago vegan community loves it.

If you want to pick up mock meat in Chicago and make your own food, there are a couple of grocery stores in the city. I personally like the Uptown neighborhood stores to get this stuff. Broadway Supermarket is my favorite. If you go to the very back corner near the produce, you'll find all the veggie meats in the freezer. Golden Pacific Market has faux meats too. Lastly, Tai Nam Food Market seems to carry a lot of products as well, though I've never been (and now I must!).

Urban Vegan Chicago's Facebook Page here

4 comments:

Shaheen said...

There are not that many vegan eateries in Scotland, so I always enjoy reading about those in other countries - thanks for sharing.

Miss Lexy said...

Of course! Thanks for reading all the way from Scotland! :]

Marty said...

Just a word of caution when purchasing mock meats. Some of them contain egg or egg whites. If you're ever in NYC go to May Wah on Hester street and ask for help. They'll make sure you don't get anything that isn't vegan. And they have about a million products. (Well, almost).

Marty from
Marty's Flying Vegan Review.

PS When I get into Chicago I usually am at Midway. Any vegan suggestions in that neighborhood would be greatly appreciated as I can't always make it into the city. Chicago does have some amazing vegan options though, especially 2 soul vegan places on the south side.

Miss Lexy said...

Ah, yes! The mock meats at the Asian groceries here in Chicago also contain egg sometimes. You just have to read the ingredients to double check. Thanks for the tip!

Soul Veg and Yah's Cuisine, right? I've never been to Yah's. Been meaning to try it out.

As far as Midway goes, I wrote this up for Mercy For Animals several years ago. These are options within the airport itself. I'm not sure about places outside the airport. You'd have to Google.

Pegasus on the Fly

5700 S. Cicero Ave.
Midway Airport Food Court
Chicago
(773) 581-1522
www.pegasusonthefly.com

Several vegan options including the smokey harvest sandwich (request no goat cheese), the vegetarian pita, hummus & pita bread, fruit salad, french fries, and dolmas. Average cost of a meal is $7.

Hours:
Mon. - Sun. 12 a.m. - 12 p.m.


King Wah Express

5700 S. Cicero Ave.
Midway Airport Food Court
Chicago
(773) 582-1500

Only option is mixed vegetable dish with steamed rice. Average cost of a meal is $6.


Hours:
Mon. - Sun. 9 a.m. - 10 p.m.

King Wah Express

700 E. Grand Ave., Ste 120
Navy Pier
Chicago
(312) 595-5550

Only option is mixed vegetable dish with steamed rice. Average cost of a meal is $6.


Hours:
Sun. 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Mon. - Thurs. 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Fri. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 10 p.m.


Lalo's Mexican Restaurant

5700 S. Cicero Ave.
Midway Airport Food Court
Chicago
(773) 838-1604
www.lalos.com/locations/midway.html

Enchiladas de espinacas (without cheese, request no rice) and chips with guacamole are vegan. Rice and beans both contain animal stock. Average cost of a meal is $10.

Hours:
Mon. - Sun. 5 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream

5700 S. Cicero Ave.
Midway Airport Food Court
Chicago
(773) 838-4024
www.benjerry.com

All sorbets are vegan including Berried Treasure, Jamaican Me Crazy, Berry Berry Extraordinary, Lemonade, Mango Mango, and Strawberry Kiwi Swirl. All smoothies made with sorbet. Average cost of a meal is $5.

Hours:
Mon. - Sun. 6 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Potbelly Sandwich Shop

5700 S. Cicero Ave.
Midway Airport Food Court
Chicago
(773) 582-1234
http://www.potbelly.com

Both the white bread and multi-grain bread are vegan. Try the vegetarian sandwich with all the veggies (no cheese and no Italian seasonings) or a salad (no cheese, no croutons). The Potbelly vinaigrette, non-fat vinaigrette, and the Asian sesame dressings are vegan. The garden vegetable soup is also vegan. Average cost of a meal is $7.

Hours:
Mon. - Sun. 5 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Manny's Deli

5700 S. Cicero Ave.
Midway Airport, Concourse A
Chicago
(773) 948-6300
www.mannysdeli.com/

Hash brown potatoes, hot oatmeal, fresh fruit, fruit bowl, and assorted vegetable plate (no dip) are vegan. Request vegetarian sandwich with no cheese or have bagels, toast, or an English muffin (check the bread for dairy/egg, varies by location). Salads are available, but request the ingredients of the dressing to check for dairy and/or eggs as the ingredients vary by location. Average cost of a meal is $8.

Hours:
Mon. - Sat. 5 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Sun. CLOSED

 
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