Thanks, Mr. Brightside. The meals I'd be interested in are the vegan ones, so no paneer or cheese enchiladas. I'd be particularly interested in any North or South Indian restaurant where you can reliably figure out what's vegan and what isn't. Naan is almost always buttered but even if you request that it not be they often use milk in the dough. And every Indian restaurant I've ever been to swears there's no egg or butter in the Samosas or Pakora, but I don't belive that for a minute. I've given up on ever finding decent vegan Chinese food. The lettuce wraps and a few other things at P.F. Chang's are okay, but that's not even really Chinese food and I'd rather just go for the Vietnamese versions of most of those dishes as they're tastier. I'd love to find a Mexican place in Houston where I knew there was no lard in the refried beans and no chicken stock in the rice. That would be enough for me. I could be happy with good, vegan beans, rice, guacamole and tortillas. Any suggestions, anyone? There is some decent Middle Eastern food in Houston, it's true. I left that out. Droubi's is good as is Yildizlar. Alladin's okay too. But there's only so much falafel and hummus I can eat. I wouldn't eat the veggie burger at Beck's Prime or some other place like that just because I'm sure it's cooked on the meat grill. If someone can tell me otherwise, I'm all ears. Thanks for the Nit Noi tip. I ate there years ago and don't really remember it but I'll check it again. And keep the suggestions coming. When you live on this kind of diet for a time (and I've been on it for nearly 20 years) it's both a fetish and an important consideration. So I appreciate any wisdom anyone can offer.
Understandable, I generally avoid most cheese and butters since it is fattening and I don't digest them well either. For Vegan South Indian restaruants I would still suggest Madras Pavilion or Udipi Cafe. There are two locations of Madras Pavilion in Houston area. One is on Kirby and the other is Sugarland. The one on Kirby is strictly vegetarian. If you go to their lunch buffet they have an abundance of items without any butter or anything. Go with the idlis or wadas (sp?). Wadas are fried dumpling type items. You eat this with a turmeric curry, (sambar). None of these items have any butter to it. Instead of using the naan bread as your base for your items, you can make your idlis or wadas as the base to eat your curry dishes. Your best bet would be with lentil based daals. Also with the buffet comes an dosa (rice crepe). The onion chili utapam is a good item. It is cooked on oil though. Make sure you go to the one on Kirby, because you can be certain the grills are not used for meat preparation. Udipi Cafe in Sugarland is similar to Madras Pavilion, but I do believe the serve meat now as well.
Thanks, Mr. Brightside. I've been to Madras Pavillion on Kirby and enjoyed it. I believe Udipi used to have a restaurant on Richmond too. If it was them, I used to go sometimes for the lunch buffet. But, because of my vegan diet, I am always skeptical of Indian restaurants and can never have a fully enjoyable experience. Can you help me to understand which dishes are more likely to be strictly vegan or a restaurant where I can trust the staff to tell me which is which? And do you agree that I'm right to be skeptical of samosas and pakora?
Actually, I've made samosas and pakora's before at home. My gf taught me how to make them one time. Those two items have different ways to make them. One of the ways uses ghee which is clarified butter. The other way uses no sort of butter at all. I've made samosas without butter before. But at a restaurant it is hard to realize whether or not they use ghee or not. Alot of times if you ask them a question, they won't understand or they won't give you a straight answer. I can ask my gf about the Udipi Cafe since she knows the owner. I can probably get you a straight answer about them for sure. They did use to have a location on Kirby, but when Enron shut down they lost 50% of their lunchtime crowd as Enron employed many Indian employees and they used to have a direct shuttle bus to their restaurant. They do have a location in Sugarland now though.
I love samosas and pakora - naan too. I just wish I could find an Indian restaurant where I could trust the staff to tell me what's actually in the food. I always ask if they use ghee and I always trust them because I love Indian food so much and want to eat it and I almost always leave feeling sick from eating dairy. And if you don't eat dairy and haven't for as long as I haven't, you recognize the sickness that kind of (self-induced) lactose intolerance engenders pretty easily. I doubt I'll be getting out to Sugarland on my next trip to Houston as it's far as hell from any other place I'd have a reason to be at, but if you can give me some confidence about vegan fare at any Indian joint inside the loop I'll eat there several times on my next trip. I can't afford to eat Indian food or any other food I'm not sure about otherwise -- it's not just a preference, I actually become very ill from eating dairy.
I didn't read the whole thread but yall don't have a problem with patronizing restaurants that do serve animals as food as long as they have vegetarian alternatives?
Quan Yin is not as good as it was & Tien Rien is closing. There is a newer vegan place called Field of Greens that showed promise early but after the original chef left (apparently the guy behind the original Moveable Feast menu) the place is not as good. The woman who owns it formerly ran Soya Cafe. I must have gone to the wrong places because the two Austin vegan/vegetarian places I have had were pretty bland and crappy.
Nit Noi is pretty good; I ate there a few months back when I came home for a visit. Mr. Brightside, I assure you that Udipi does NOT serve meat. It's strictly veg. They cater for functions at the Hindu temple in Pearland. If you go down to the Sugar Land location (near the Kroger on Highway 6 between Williams Trace and Settlers Way), talk to the owner, Santosh. He's a very nice guy (usually working the counter), and if you have dietery restrictions, he'll take care of you. He also speaks very good English, so there won't be a communication problem. We use him when we have family in town. The Madras Pavillion in Sugar Land DOES have non-veg food. I was pretty shocked when I went in there the first time. I've never been to a MP that served non-veg. I guess they sold out to try and get in more money due to their location. Another Indian restaurants down there in Sugar Land is Siva's which is a sister store to the one in Rice Village.
I'm actually Pescatarian (no flesh, but will eat fish, shellfish) I'm also not vegan, so I'll eat cheese, etc. Places I eat: Mission Burritos - burritos, salads Chuy's - veggie enchiladas Cafe Express - pasta dishes Whole Foods - various stuff Goode Co. Seafood Ziggy's Healthy Grill - Best black bean burger in town Field of Greens - anything Mai's - tofu spring rolls, vermicelli dishes Scholtzsky's - veggie pizzas, salads Thai Gourment - tofu pad thai La Mexicana - breakfast, veggie tortas Auntie Chang's - veggie dumplings, egg drop soup Ming's Cafe - veggie fried rice, veg egg rolls, lo-mein Golden Hunan - best veggie General Tso's "chicken" (made from tofu) hands-down Yildzlar - great falafel Niko Nikos - falafel, spinach+feta pita, tzatziki, hummus, etc Pizza - lots of places I don't care for Indian food, so that eliminates quite a few options Plus there's always my good friends at http://www.b4-u-eat.com
I'm not vegan. Who fries in lard? La Mex's beans have no lard. Crushed bones? You just trying to be funny? Most salads and pasta have no lard or bones. I mostly stick to no beef, no chicken, no pork. I'm not hardcore.
I'm telling ya, you haven't lived until you've had a ceasar salad sprinkled with crushed bones...mmmmm!
Not all oils are 100% vegetable. I would think a majority are not at resuraunts. Some milkshakes contain gelatin for example. Sometimes fries are cooked in the same fryers as meat. Refried beans may contain bacon fat or rice contains a chicken stock. It just seems really hard to know exactly what you are eating.
Like I said, I AM NOT HARDCORE, I stick to not eating BEEF (burgers, steaks, etc), CHICKEN (fried, baked, roasted, etc) and PORK (pork chops, bacon, bacon bits, etc) - if something has chicken stock in it, I'll probably eat it and then if I found out, not eat it again. But I'm not militant. I'm not vegan and I'm not hardcore, I'm not gonna go around and ask everywhere that I eat "is this fried in animal fat?" I don't care. If there's bacon or ham in my beans, I just pick it out. I'm not gonna make a stink, throw up or get sick. I don't do this for any other reason than, because it's what I want to do.
Do you think a majority of veggies are like that? I do, but I really don't know. I'm just curious, it's nothing personal.
No, I do not think most vegetarians are like that (like me). Lots are strict and will not do chicken stock, they will ask if the beans have lard or bacon or ham, they will ask if stuff is fried in animal fat and that's their personal agenda, prerogative. Some vegetarians have to be for health reasons, so they have to be more militant. Some follow an edict or religous belief. Others like me, just don't want to eat the actual flesh, so I let other things slide, but if I become aware of it, I won't eat it. For instance, Chuy's queso has chicken stock in it. Now that I know, I don't eat it. But I didn't ask, someone else did and now I know. I'm just not that militant.
I don't know if you know me or not. I have done unpaid community theater since 96 ....mostly at Pasadena Little Theater...but I have worked at the defunct USA Theater in La Marque, I stage managed a couple of things downtown.
