Lotus Vegan: Thai food plays it safe

I was confused that a Thai restaurant, Lotus Vegan, my friend Ayeshee wanted me to try was emphasizing the vegan aspect of the cuisine. I mean, with its rice noodles, coconut milk curries and use of tofu, isn’t that all that’s needed to make Thai food vegan-friendly?

Not enough apparently. Today’s vegans demand meatier textures. Thus, fake soy- or wheat-based “meats” are offered as curry or noodle additions, and vegan burgers and wraps can also be found on the menu.

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The tiny Lotus Vegan is a quaint place. The gaggle of Thai workers crowded at the cash register contrasts with the gigantic flat screen HD TV dominating one wall. I rather like the table condiments display.

The pièce de résistance? A rack of clothes for sale at the door. This is mom and poppery at its finest. If you get a cheap, colorful dress from me this holiday season, you'll know where I've been shopping.

When trying a new Thai restaurant, one of my go-to staples is the tom ka kai. I enjoyed the soy strips of chicken in it, but the soup was a bit too heavy on the coconut milk, making it too rich and sweet and too light on the galanga and lemongrass. What? That lemony flavor is my favorite part! I was robbed.

My other go-to: Green curry with more faux-ltry. Even though I ordered this as a Spice Level 3, this didn't have any heat to it whatsoever. It must have been an oversight since my tom ka was fine in the spice department.

I discussed this with the very friendly waiter, who was chatty with me because he at first thought I might be Thai, and he pretty much confirmed that all things are dumbed down in the spice (heat and flavor) department because of the North Hollywood clientele. Sigh. That's fine if the customers ask for it that way, but I specifically ordered my curry spicy.

A side of chopped peppers came out for me to doctor up my soup. Not the same as if it were cooked in, but better than adding the inappropriate sriracha to the mix. Once again though, the soup was just too heavy on the coconut milk and lacking enough of the flavors that make the curry "green."

I really enjoy a nutty, chewy brown rice, and there was plenty offered. Lotus Vegan doesn't truck with MSG, meat or white sugar.  Uber healthy, no? Well, if you really want to sin against your body, they have plenty of mainstream, high fructose corn syrup-laden sodas available.

Ayeshee got the dinner combo that started with a no-frills salad with the expected peanutty dressing. Just okay.

With her yellow chicken curry, she also got brown rice and a veggie egg roll. Also decent, although the egg roll was on the bland side. I wonder if the egg roll wrapper was truly vegan. It certainly wasn't a rice wrapper.

How vegan is Lotus Vegan? They get around the egg issue by using lavash bread for their wraps, but there's no indication on the menu what kind of bread they use for their burgers.

I wouldn't exactly say I was disappointed in Lotus Vegan. I mean, the place has vegan burgers and wraps on the menu, so it's not like I didn't already know it would be fairly Americanized. I guess I was just hoping for another Vinh Loi Tofu experience with exceptional Asian vegan cuisine flavor profiles.  This was playing it far too safe.

Obviously, this is no Jitlada, but I didn't expect it to be.  Then again, this might be an easy-on-the-stomach introduction to friends who aren't keen on the more stronger flavors.

I give them props on their friendly, almost obsequious service though. Hell, one of the girls even complimented me on my Target dress as I was leaving that night. Sweet folks, and I wish them the best. I probably won't be eager to return though unless it were with friends who were really craving this.

[Addendum: It happened. My friend is in training, so he wants to go here tomorrow. Maybe I should try their non-Thai fare?]

Lotus Vegan Restaurant
5038 Vineland Ave
North Hollywood, CA 91601
(818) 760-8088