Reviews written by BPG

Holy Moly, what an experience!

Cousins is a raw foods (none of the foods have been cooked at all), vegan restaurant. Those who haven't been to a typical raw foods restaurant should be aware that they will find many dishes attempt to imitate conventional dishes, but in name and shape only. I'm not talking about a veggie burger that somewhat tastes like a hamburger. I mean that you might order steak fries and received sliced, fresh avocado again. It's a bit absurd, and takes some getting used to.

That said, Cousins was something of an exception to this trend in that they have a large buffet that contains dishes familiar to those outside the raw foods community: hummus, tabouleh, bean/veggie salads.

My partner and I, however, chose instead the adventurous menu items. We ordered a burrito and burger. The burrito, which we agreed was the superior of the dishes, was a salty sunflower / sesame pate with avocado and mango slices, all wrapped up in tender leaves of chard. I could eat that rich, salty-sweet combo all day!! This was accompanied a corn-bean salad that seemed to exist to offer a respite from the burrito.

The burger, which also came with some respite salad, was tasty and chewy, but small. Curiously, it was served with an evil-twin burger sitting right next to it! This evil-twin was the complete opposite; mealy instead of chewy, bland instead of tasty, white instead of brown. I don't know if this was supposed to be the 'bun,' or what... My partner was unimpressed with the burger, and thought the pickled beets that garnished the plate were nasty! (I liked 'em)

Before I get to the gamechanger of the review, I'll say a few more things. We were struck by the choice of water or house clove tea as our complementary beverage. Classy! Our waitresses was friendly and helpful. The prices are lower than I expected $10-14 per entree, $12 for the buffet. One of our desserts--strawberry cheesecake--was outstanding.

OK, so the other dessert we got was durian pudding (consistently spelled 'darien' on the menu). As Cousins prepared our pudding close to our table, we thought there was a gas leak, and then as the pudding was brought to our table, the gas leak seemed to travel along with it--it was the pudding! Apparently, durian is a fruit from Southeast Asia that is prized for its creamy texture and slightly sweet flavor. However, it carries with it a little secret...it smells like rotten eggs!!!! So pungent smelling is this fruit, that it is banned from some airports in Asia--not kidding! Eating this pudding was like eating the tastiest, creamiest thing you've ever had in your life, which had unfortunately been left sitting in the fridge in an open container right next to a pile of dung. Every single bite was imbued with equal parts greatness and rankness. Whether you love it or hate it, you will never have an experience quite like this.

Cousins is a wonderful and filling restaurant. Their logo seems to accentuate the I.V. of 'incredible vitality'--appropriate, considering how dense and rich much of their food is. There areplenty of exciting dishes to warrant repeat visits, and their environment is equally suitable to both intimate and large gatheringas. Go now and enjoy!

My partner and I recently visited Joy Yee's at their new location in Chinatown (they just moved a few doors down). The waiter was friendly and helpful, especially in letting us know what was vegan / vegetarian or not. The place was PACKED and noisy--probably more of a family / friends place then a date restaurant.

We were most impressed by the Taro Milk Freeze. It had a unique, mellow flavor, and a rich, smoothie-like texture. We also ordered two dishes--Buddha's Delight and Japanese Tofu with Two Mushrooms. The Buddha's Delight was a mixed vegetable / fried tofu stir-fry; good, but not extraordinary. The Japanese Tofu dish, however, was a completely new experience for us! The tofu in this dish was silken, but deep-fried--it melted in our mouths. One of the two types of mushrooms used (Shimeji, as I later found out) was like a group of rice noodles joined together at the end, but chewier. If you've never had these kinds of foods, you gotta try em out now! Finally, we shared Vietnamese Spring Rolls; these were also fine, filling, and came in nice, big portions with a bunch of hoisin sauce.

From a vegan / vegetarian perspective, Joy Yee's is worth going to at least once, if for only these dishes.

This review is from a vegan / vegetarian perspective.

The decor in Opera is almost surreal! If you go, take a tour of the restaurant and delight in its visual pleasures. As a vegetarian, this is a real bonus -- it's hard to find 'nicer-casual,' intimate vegetarian dining. Add to this a separate vegan menu, and my partner and I were ready to add '5 stars' to the many geometric shapes found all over the restaurant.

We were impressed by the complementary pre-appetizer appetizers: spicy, sticky, sweet peanuts, and tangy cucumber-onion salad. They matched each other well enough that we asked for seconds :) Our wait staff was friendly and accommodating, and our food already very quickly (admittedly, we went during a slow time).

My partner and I ordered ma po tofu, and a spring vegetable / pancake dish. Although presented well, neither dish was unique or extraordinary. The garlic-black bean sauce in the tofu was very tasty, but after 5 minutes with dish, I was secretly pushing it to my partner's side in favor of the more blandly flavored spring vegetable dish.

The one vegan dessert on the menu is a mango sorbet / coconut custard combo, which is served in a sweet, thin syrup with fresh berries accompanying it. The justifiably expensive ($7) dessert we shared was tasty, and the coconut custard was the sole unique thing we had at opera. It had the texture of silken tofu, but was rich and coconut-flavored; barely sweet.

Opera would probably be worth returning 1 or 2 more times for its 4 remaining vegan dishes and repeat experiences of its design. However, I'm not sure I would crave any dish a second time.

P.S. To our surprise, these dishes were less than $10 each, so I guess we got what we paid for. Other meat-dish prices are in the $15-$25 range. This is one of the few omnivore places I've seen where the vegan / vegetarian items are significantly less than the meat dishes--a long-standing myth I've heard about, but rarely confirmed first-hand.

Consider the following:
*If you want a great vegetarian / vegan place -- the Chicago Diner is TWO BLOCKS from here. Particularly, they serve this same kind of food, but better.
"If you want a great place for both meat lovers and vegetarians, Ping Pong is about FIVE BLOCKS away, and serves exciting dishes!

My friends and I ate here recently. We found our server to be helpful (she made substitutions with no problems), and very friendly. We tried the vegan french toast (good, but inferior to the Chicago Diner's), the tofu scramble (greasy, filling, and flavorless). One friend said that the coffee was meh. We rounded things up with a vegan mocha milkshake--good, but thinner (i.e. less good) than the Chicago Diner's. I bring up the Chicago Diner, because again: two blocks away. The food I got seemed to be the best vegan / vegetarian stuff on the menu -- I wouldn't purposely go here again.

There're two reasons, however, that YOU might wanna go to this place:
*You're in Lakeview on a weekend, and you need an all-night food place that has some vegetarian options.
*You're with some people who absolutely need meat, and others who absolutely don't, AND your party absolutely needs diner food.