Vegan Big Mac and Other Food

While in southern California, I had a vegan Big Mac. You read that correctly, a vegan Big Mac. And it was so many kinds of awesome I can't even begin to explain it. Like most meat-like things, it is the experience, the condiments that make it enjoyable. Basically, it is everything but the meat.

The vegan Big Mac can be found at Doomie's in Hollywood. I found out about Doomie's several months while Googling vegan restaurants in Anaheim or LA or something. I'm not really sure, but I found it. I emailed my friend Steve. Steve lives in Pasadena and we had planned on getting together while I was in the area. My basic question: "Do you know where this place Doomie's is? They have a vegan big mac. I want." He'd never been there but he knew where it was. I knew it was a haul from Anaheim, but Steve was more than willing to drive down to Anaheim and haul me back up to Hollywood.

Here's the deal with Doomie's vegan Big Mac: It's not on the menu. You have to ask for it. Why it isn't on the menu, I don't know. I can't remember the last time I had a Big Mac, but it was at the very least twelve years ago, and this smelled and tasted like I remembered... the pickles, special sauce, and a sesame seed bun.

I have been talking about this vegan Big Mac since I found it online--to Steve, to friends... I was so ready for a vegan Big Mac. It did not disappoint. It was spectacular and wonderful and I want one right now. Thing is, it was huge. I couldn't eat the whole thing. Steve got the vegan pulled pork. It was good, but I liked my Big Mac better.

Vegan Big Mac. And the fries? Perfection.

There was other vegan food, of course.

I had read about Thuyen Vien before leaving for Anaheim--and everything I read was spectacular. And they were right. It is almost all vegan Vietnamese food. The menu was at least four pages long. And like most vegans/vegetarians when faced with so many choices, I froze. I didn't know what to get. I ended up going with faux beef and mushroom pho.

Holy shit, it was spectacular. And it was so much like beef that I almost asked if they had made a mistake. And then I reminded myself that nothing in the restaurant had meat in it. I had cheesecake for desert, and it was, as Frenchie said, very lifelike.

Faux Beef and Mushroom Pho
that was so good and freakishly real.

I had planned on going back to Thuyen Vien the last day of ALA with another vegan friend, but when we got there, we found out it was closed on Mondays. Boo.

But, then I remembered Al-Omda Egyptian Cafe was in the same area. (I did my homework before arriving and even emailed Al-Omda beforehand to make sure they had vegan options.) Was it good? Yes. Hell, yes. It's in what used to be some sort of fast food restaurant. It's far from fancy and pretty bare bones. But they have a lovely patio and made sure we had the right mix of sun and shade (I wanted sun, my friend wanted shade). Everyone was so nice, and the cook was telling us about the other ALAers who had been in and how her daughter is a college student who works at the library and loves it.

An abundance of Egyptian food.

We each got the same thing: The Vegetarian Mix Plate (tahmaya--falafel made with fava beans and onions, stuffed grape leaves, rice, tahini, salad and pita). My friend commented that the falafel had a slightly different texture, my guess is that this is due to the use of fava beans instead of chick peas. We added some baba ganoush to the mix--I guess we decided we needed more food. Plus, we both like baba ganoush. We stayed there for a couple of hours, working through the tons of food we had ordered, rehashing the conference and talking about our future plans. I had one more meeting left that afternoon, but for the most part, I was done. It was an enjoyable meal and a nice way to end the conference. 

Earlier in the conference, Frenchie and I got together with RMM, another former librarian at Ye Olde University (Frenchie still works there, RMM and I don't). We went for Ethiopian food at Abssynia. RMM was new to Ethiopian food. Abssynia is tucked away in a run-down strip mall located between a liquor store and an Indian grocery store. Google maps on my iPhone said it would take two hours to go six miles. Frenchie's rental car GPS said it would take ten minutes. Thankfully, Frenchie's GPS was correct. It was excellent. Collards, beats and potatoes, yellow lentils, the tomato/lentil wot in the center was a different type of spicy. (The Ethiopian place in Madison served it with a dollop of sour cream because it was so spicy).

Two orders of the vegetarian platter. Beautiful and delicious.

Other food: Trader Joe's spicey lentil wrap, Thai curry, noodle salad, and PF Changs. Yes, PF Changs. They are vegan-friendly. They only list one item on their menu that they say is truly vegan: the steamed version of Buddha's Feast. The do not count their other vegetarian items as vegan because they use refined sugar in the sauce and they can't guarantee that it isn't processed with bone char. I went ahead with the non-steamed version, because, well, I wanted to and because I know other things I eat have refined sugar in them. But, when I asked the waiter about vegan options, he didn't even hesitate. He had all the answers and was super helpful and really great. He even assured me that their vegetarian "oyster" sauce did not have oysters in it. So... props to PF Changs and their staff for being informed.