quarrygirl.com

Do you know if it's generic Indian style or South Indian style? I went to a South Indian style restaurant in San Jose, which was great - no meat at all, because South India is basically vegetarian, so you only had to watch out for dairy. But in the Bay Area, and especially Silicon Valley, I was told it's pretty common for restaurants to identify themselves as South, North, etc.

Unfortunately, Gangadin is not strictly vegetarian; however, they do understand that vegan means no dairy. So, you can be sure that anything ordered off of the vegan menu will not contain dairy. For good South Indian food (strictly vegetarian), I recommend Woodlands in Chatsworth. However, I'm not sure whether they can or will prepare vegan dishes; They definitely use paneer and some curries appear to be creamy. Most importantly, they might prepare all of their dishes with ghee. I would definitely be interested to know whether they will accommodate a vegan and prepare their dishes without ghee.

Most everything at Woodlands is indeed made with ghee, but they are pretty cool about it and will make some of the dishes without it if you ask. Depends on who's working... I've had the nice guy serve us before who was very accomodating and knew exactly what vegan meant, and I've also had the woman who pretends like she doesn't understand what you're asking for even though she speaks near perfect English. Their food is delicious so it's worth the hassle if you can get them to do it right.

Even better though is Paru's on Sunset, southern Indian style cooking (giant amazing Dosa's!), also all vegetarian, mostly vegan- and the staff is super awesome and will make just about anything there vegan for you, and with a smile. Just tell your server at the start you're vegan and they will hook you up.

have you been to local on sunset in silverlake? they are an omni restaurant but have some vegan options, including a vegan sloppy joe!

No I haven't had the chance to go but the omnis cancelled so now I'll probably be going to Purgatory Pizza or Sky's Gourmet Tacos depending what the day calls for. I'll consider Local for next time.

also good in Silverlake is Casbah Cafe. i had a fantastically fresh salad there one day. tomatoes, avocado, olives and mixed greens in a delicious balsamic vinaigrette. it's kinda small, but there's seating outside, which can be nice if it's not too hot out.

I can't believe I forgot to mention Astroburger! It's great if you something fast and cheapish. It's more expensive than other fast food burger places, but less expensive than most sit-down restaurants. I personally prefer the location at Melrose and Gower, since they have a HUGE veggie selection. They use gardenburger products, and have soy mayo and soy cheese (which I assume is FYH, but I'm not 100% on what the cheese is). Anyway, they have TONS of options, from veggie ham and cheese, to the gardenburger deluxe (lettuce, tomato, mayo, cheese, avocado), to the a veggie beef fajita. And of course they have the normal dead animal stuff your friends and family can enjoy!

As of Saturday, April 10, 2010 they only offer 3 vegan sausages: Italian, Mexican Chipolte, and Smoked Apple Sage. Though their menu labels them as 'vegetarian' they are vegan because they are made by Field Roast, but this fact is not stated anywhere at the restaurant. But it's obvious since the names and ingredients in their menu are identical to the Field Roast's labels. Now if this is your ONLY reason for going here please note that they can be purchased at most health food stores for a significant discount.

Also if you ask them they will gladly cook the sausages in foil to avoid animal contamination on their grill.

i wrote into wurstkuche awhile back, and they told me the buns are not vegan. i wonder if that has changed.