Vegan101Girl Goes to (and Comes Back From) China! Part Two

Click Here To Read Part One of Vegan101Girl Go to (and Comes Back From) China!

Me at The Summer Palace

In Part One, I talked about some of the struggles Steven and I faced trying to live healthfully in Beijing. Now, to cheer you all up, let’s look at our favorite restaurants in Beijing.

First let me say that Air Canada has the best vegan airplane food. I have eaten a lot of absolutely disgusting vegan airplane food that has made me very sick. Air Canada did a decent job and served us edible, not horrendous food. I would recommend Air Canada for long flights where you will be served several meals. Our flight from Toronto to Beijing was 13 hours and they consistently served us decent meals.

One of my Air Canada meals. Quinoa and veggies, with a side of beans and a cookie.

As far as restaurant going goes, during the week, we eat breakfast at home, lunch was provided at our school, and we cooked dinner at home every night. Once a weekend though, we would venture out to a different vegetarian restaurant for lunch. Let me just say that all the vegetarian lunches on the weekends were better than our weekday lunch. We ate white rice, onions, and cabbage pretty much every day during the week at the school.

Typical lunch provided by our school. White rice, onions, and cabbage.

Living in the big city of Beijing did have its benefits. There were several vegetarian (and even a few vegan!) restaurants spread out across the city. Unfortunately, we lived on the outskirts of Beijing so getting to these restaurants was a weekend day trip (it takes a good 2 hours to get from one side of Beijing to the other). 

We tried a lot of different vegetarian and vegan restaurants. Some were great and a few were not so good. We ended up with two favorite restaurants where we were weekly regulars and three others that were decent that we would go to occasionally. I found all the vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Beijing on www.happycow.net. For directions to any of these and for a more complete list of veg restaurants in Beijing head over to Happy Cow.

 Here are the vegetarian and vegan restaurants that get the vegan101girl seal of approval!

The Veggie Table

Southwestern Bean Burger with Sweet Potato Fries and amazing coleslaw.

The ultimate winner of the vegan101girl seal of approval!!!! This restaurant was a light in a dark place and our savior when we were really struggling. We went here every weekend after our 2 hour Chinese lesson. I honestly don’t know what we would have done without this place. The Veggie Table was like a little slice (get it? cause there's a picture of a pizza below?) of home. 

Pizza, the crust is not gluten-free. I scrapped the toppings off. It was worth it. They were yummy...

This restaurant is all-vegan and serves international (meaning American) style food. We tried almost everything on the menu and it was all good. The most incredible yummiest dish was the Southwestern Bean Burger. I ended up getting this burger every weekend and thought about it all week long.

 Side Note: Many items on the menu are not gluten-free. When in doubt of what to get, please get the Southwestern Bean Burger (it will change your life and knock your socks off all at the same time!) and just skip the bun if you are avoiding gluten! 

Chili Spaghetti (not gluten-free). My boyfriend eats gluten.

Curry

Lentil Soup

Hummus (a bit on the oily side and didn't quite taste like hummus). Good, but not quite there.

Also be sure to try the lemonada drink which is a lemon/mint slushy thing. Oh my gosh. So good. Their chocolate peanut butter milkshake is also very good. So are their fresh pressed juices. And their hard cider. For heaven's sake, all their beverages are awesome!

Cranberry Juice and Apple Juice

Chocolate Peanut Butter "Milkshake"

Lemonada. A delicious lemon mint drink.

Jing Lian Zhai off Hepingli Street

This is our other favorite restaurant. It is vegetarian. It has a big picture menu which is great. We would regularly get fried lotus, bamboo, or the pumpkin soup. All delicious. 

Fried Lotus. Very Yummy. Probably not very healthy...

Bamboo. We love bamboo and ate a lot of bamboo while in China.

I think these are Chinese Sweet Potatoes.

 

Pumpkin Soup

An unfortunate example of ridiculously oily vegetables. Never ordered this again. Asparagus and mushrooms.

Xu Xiang Zhai near the Confucian Temple and Lama Temple

There are a bunch of vegetarian restaurants around the Buddhist Lama Temple (including The Veggie Table). This is a Buddhist-vegetarian restaurant with a big buffet of yummy vegetarian food. They have a large assortment of fake meats that are pretty good. The seating at this restaurant consists of these long giant tables, kind of cafeteria style, but much prettier. Be prepared to possibly sit right next to friendly vegetarian strangers.

Vegan, gluten-free Tiramisu cream thingy...in a dirty glass. Oh well. It was tasty.

My plate after scavenging the buffet.

Baihe Vegetarian Restaurant

This vegetarian restaurant is a bit tricky to find. It was totally worth the millions of years it took to find though. It has a nice atmosphere and the food is great.

Bamboo and veggies.

Vegan Hut

This all-vegan restaurant is also a slight challenge to find. It is all vegan though, so if you’re sick of possibly eating meat or dairy everywhere else you go, it’s worth finding. The food is pretty good. Sadly, I can’t find my food pictures from this restaurant. Sorry!

Golden Peacock

This restaurant is not vegetarian, or really even veg-friendly. In fact, there was nothing all that great on the menu, except the most delicious pineapple rice ever! I wouldn't recommend specifically seeking this place out, but if you happen to be in the neighbor, I would definitely pop in for some crazy good pineapple rice. This is the address: 16 Minzu Daxue Beilu, Weigongcun, Haidian District.

Pineapple Rice

There is one vegetarian restaurant that I DO NOT recommend. It is called Fairy Su and it is right next to the Lama Temple. The food is incredibly greasy and made me pretty sick.

Part Three of Vegan101Girl Go to (and Comes Back From) China will be out in a few days. I will be writing about what we cooked at home for dinner every night and what grocery shopping in China is like.

The Best Vegan Food and Restaurants in Asheville, NC

I don't usually share pictures of myself on this blog, but so much has been going on lately, I had to share just one. I haven't posted anything on my blog since March and I am so sorry for that! At the end of March I was hospitalized for a rupture in my abdomen that caused some internal bleeding. It was a rough month, but I am doing great now. Then in May, I graduated from college and that was incredibly surreal. A week after I graduated, I moved out of Asheville, which was really hard. I am seriously going to miss my beautiful, eclectic home of Asheville, NC. As a tribute to one of my favorite places in the world, where I was lucky enough to live for four years, today I am writing about all my favorite places to eat yummy vegan food in Asheville, NC. Unfortunately, because the food is so good, I usually wolf it down so fast that I forget to take a picture (some of the pictures I am using instead are down right terrible, and I sincerely apologize for this!), so you will just have to go to Asheville to see how amazing all the food looks!

Plant


Plant is all-vegan and a little more upscale. I went here for every birthday and special occasion celebration. The menu changes, but there is always some sort of risotto, which is what I get every time I go because it is sooooo good! The picture is of a slice of blackout pie and peanut butter crackle ice cream that I had when I went with my family to celebrate my graduation.
www.plantisfood.com

Rosetta's Kitchen





Rosetta's Kitchen is like healthy comfort food. My favorite is their house-made veggie burger and their sweet potato fries. They are mostly vegan, though they do have cheese in a few dishes, but everything can be "veganized". They have two locations, one downtown and one on the UNCA campus for easy access for college students. 
www.rosettaskitchen.com

Laughing Seed Cafe

This all-vegetarian restaurant is located on the adorable cobble-stoned Wall Street. Everything is good here, but I go for the raw spinach-pesto manicotti. It is filled with cashew ricotta cheese that is literally to die for.
http://laughingseed.jackofthewood.com/

Veghead

Veghead is an all-vegetarian drive-thru fast-food place. It is like healthy fast food...and it's really good. My favorite is the avocado hummus wrap, but they have everything from a korean bbq tempeh wrap to thai cabbage slaw.
www.vegheadsasheville.com 

The Hop Ice Cream
 
All of The Hop's ice cream flavors are homemade, including their large selection of vegan flavors! The flavors change every week and they have a lot of very unique flavors such as strawberry basil. 
http://thehopicecreamcafe.com/

Mela
 
Though not an all-vegetarian establishment, this restaurant is the best Indian in all of Western North Carolina. They have a huge vegan selection and my favorite time to go is during lunch when they have a big buffet that is, in fact, mostly vegan. 
http://melaasheville.com/

Salsa's


This restaurant I do have a picture for, of my favorite entree: the pom-pom-pom. This Mexican-Carribean restaurant is located downtown and is also not all-vegetarian. Everything can be veganized though, and everything is oh-so good and full of flavor. Their secret? That wooden bowl in the picture was hand-carved by the restaurant owner's cousin in Puerto Rico.
http://www.salsas-asheville.com/

Nine Mile 
 
Nine Mile is also not all-vegetarian and is also Caribbean food. Everything on the menu can be made vegan and is incredibly flavorful and full of spice. I love the "more fyah!" entree. It is located in Historic Montford in the heart of North Asheville. 
http://ninemileasheville.com/

Cafe Kathmandu

This Himalayan restaurant fits right in with all of the unique cuisine that Asheville provides. It is mostly vegetarian and like Mela, has a delicious lunchtime buffet with lots of vegan options.
http://cafekathmanduasheville.com/

Noi's Thai Kitchen, Thai Orchid, and Thai Basil

So there are a million awesome Thai restaurants in Asheville and of all of them, these three are my favorite. Noi's Thai Kitchen holds a special place in my heart because this was me and boyfriend's go-to takeout place that we ate at almost every week for four years. I love the food, the atmosphere, and the people there. My favorite dish is the horapa with tofu. The picture above is of the sweet and sour entree at Thai Orchid, another delicious restaurant that is located downtown. Thai Basil is also downtown and offers an array of lovely Thai dishes as well. As with all Thai and other Asian restaurants, be sure to ask if fish sauce is used in the sauce of the entree you want and if so, see if it can be substituted with something else. 
http://www.suwanasthaiorchid.com/
http://thaibasilnc.com/
(Noi's does not have a website, but here is their menu)
http://www.allmenus.com/nc/asheville/131264-nois-thai-kitchen/menu/

Urban Burrito











I have no idea why the logo is being weird and not going right under the name, but anyhow, Urban Burrito is the perfect poor (and vegan) college student eatery for a nice big burrito. There is nothing like a giant veggie burrito to make your day.
http://www.urbanburrito.com/

Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company
 
This place is no less than awesome. What is better than vegan pizza and vegan beer? Pretty much nothing. They also have all sorts of other food and, the best part, a $3 a ticket movie theater in the back that plays all the movies that have recently left the big theaters, as well as some weird movies haha (but what would Asheville be without a little weird?!). The walls of this restaurant are full of cool murals like the cantina scene from Star Wars. This is a great casual place to take your non-vegan friends and family. 
http://ashevillebrewing.com/

Lastly...
Be sure to check out The Chocolate Fetish for some vegan peanut butter cups and French Broad Chocolates for an assortment of delicious vegan chocolatey treats, like their vegan truffles. 
www.chocolatefetish.com
www.frenchbroadchocolates.com

If you need a health food store, Greenlife has you covered, as does Earthfare and the French Broad Food Co-op.  
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/asheville 
https://www.earthfare.com/ 
http://www.frenchbroadfood.coop/


Well, I hope by now you are planning your amazing trip to Asheville, NC. While you are here, don't forget to climb a waterfall in Pisgah National Forest, shop in the eclectic shops of downtown, hop on an historic red trolley tour, walk through the gigantic Biltmore House, and of course get a massage at the Grove Park Inn! 

 

California Makes Being Vegan A Breeze

Hello friends, long time no see! I've been soaking up the sun (and inhaling vegan food at lightning speed) for the past week, and boy was it fun. It was my first time in California and I spent the week in Pasadena, LA, Hollywood, and Santa Monica. While the most exciting part of my trip was probably happening into a shoe store that Reese Witherspoon was shopping in at the same time, the abundance of vegan food everywhere was definitely thrilling. For this post I'm going to highlight some of my favorite spots that I ate at. There was literally a vegan restaurant on every block and the restaurants that weren't vegan had so many vegan options! It was so easy being vegan there! The best part about eating at all these delicious restaurants, was the fact that I was with my family and they all got different and equally delicious dishes at all of these restaurants! All restaurants were all vegan unless I specifically say that they were not. Here are my favorite places:

(this is not the salad I got, but it sure does look good!)

The Veggie Grill
Santa Monica, California (They have several other locations)
www.veggiegrill.com
What I Had: Baja Fiesta Salad, Mac-n-Cheese
The food here was to die for! Holy moly, was my salad delicious and filling. And unlike a lot of vegan mac-n-cheese out there, theirs actually tasted exactly like mac-n-cheese! Soooo Good!

Golden Mean
Santa Monica, California
www.goldenmeancafe.com
What I Had: Garden Vegetable Wrap, Slice of Almond Vanilla Cake (i think)
Once again, this wrap was outstanding. It was huge and I ate the whole thing! I don't remember exactly what kind of cake it was, but I think it was almond and vanilla. It was so sweet (but not toooo sweet) and so moist. The best cake I've had in a long time, including non-vegan cake.

My Vegan
Pasadena, California

www.myveganpasadena.com

What I Had:  P.E.T. (a stir-fry dish with pumpkin in it!)
This was seriously the best stir-fry I have ever had. It was very different, because there was pumpkin in it, which I have never had in a stir-fry dish before. It was amazing! This restaurant was an asian/thai/fusion restaurant.

not what I got at Real Food Daily, but appetizing nonetheless!

Real Food Daily
Pasadena, California (There are several locations)
www.realfood.com 
What I Had: Living Wrap, Red Head Juice
My wrap was really good. The only thing I didn't like was that it was wrapped in a collard green. I am just not a fan of raw collard greens, so this was a bit hard for me to eat. The filling though was so delicious. The Red Head juice was really good if you like beets in your smoothies and juices. It was comprised of beet, carrot, celery, and apple. It was sweet, but personally it was too "beety" for me. When the rest of my family tried it, they liked it, so if you like beets, you will love it!

Mendocino Farms
Los Angeles, California (There are several locations)
www.mendocinofarms.com
What I Had: Traditional Vegan Club and a side of pesto pasta
While this restaurant was not completely vegan, there were a lot of great vegan options. My sandwich was great and so was my pesto pasta. The food also came out fast!

Pizzeria Moza
Los Angeles, California
www.pizzeriamoza.com 
What I Had: Farro with sungold tomatoes and cucumbers, and a cheeseless pizza
You know a restaurant is going to be good when the entire menu is in italian! This was also not a completely vegan restaurant, but there were so many cheeseless pizzas, there were no problems finding something to eat. The farro appetizer was the most incredible farro dish I've ever had in my life! Probably the best appetizer I have ever had. Seriously! The pizza was also just as delicious. The waiters were super friendly and nice, and the restaurant had a really fun atmosphere.

I almost got a donut, but that cupcake was just screaming my name!

Babycakes NYC
Los Angeles, California
www.babycakesnyc.com
What I Had: Brownie Cupcake with Mint Frosting
Holy crap. Let me say that again. Hooooly Crap. This cupcake was heaven. Literally. If you had to transform heaven into a food, it would be this cupcake. Wow was it good. You have no idea how excited I was when I found out there was a Babycakes in LA. I nearly died. I have known about the Babycakes bakery in NYC for years and have always wanted to go. I bought one of their cookbooks awhile back and have made several unbelievable desserts from it, including my boyfriends favorite chocolate chip cookies that I make him on special occasions. This was definitely my favorite dessert that I had while in California!

Violet's Cakes
Pasadena, California
http://www.violetscakes.com/
What I Had: Vanilla Cupcake with Vanilla Frosting
This bakery is not an all vegan bakery, but everyday they have one vegan/gluten-free cupcake. Though they don't specialize in vegan baking like Babycakes, they still do an outstanding job baking vegan desserts. This cupcake was fantastic!

Kind Kreme
Pasadena, California
www.kindkreme.com
What I Had: Coconut ice cream
This all-vegan ice shop was awesome! There were so many flavors to choose from and they had so much more than just ice cream. While I did not enjoy my ice cream as much as the ice cream that I get at the place I go to at home, the ice cream was still quite excellent.