The Unvegan

Recent Posts

10 Years of Unvegan
A Quick Bite at Burrito Express
Serendipity at Northern Waters Smokehaus
Twerks and Burritos at Casa Amigos

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3/9/2010 Los Angeles

Eating the Desert at Nick’s Coffee Shop

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Hmm what’s the ruling on cactus?

For a nice little Sunday brunch, the girlfriend and I headed over to Nick’s Coffee Shop at Pico-Robertson. Coffee shop is kind of a misnomer for this place, since it’s really more of a diner in the S & W vein. The place is pretty small, so there was a bit of a wait, which wasn’t a big deal on the sunny morning. By the time we took our seats, I was hankering for some food. I perused the extensive menu and found an omelet that looked pretty good to me. It was called the Cactus Omelet and the menu described it as being packed with nutrients. This was confusing, but then I saw that the ingredients included Hebrew National Salami and Jack Cheese. It came with a side, so I got myself some grits.

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3/4/2010 Los Angeles

I Could Use More MoMo Sushi

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Gimme some mo’

They say mo’ money, mo’ problems. And by they I mean Puff Daddy and the Family. But for me, MoMo Sushi is less less problems. To start off, MoMo Sushi is anything but trendy. It sits in a tiny little corner strip at La Cienega and Olympic with 3 or 4 other shops and a 7-11. Although the inside is certainly Japanese, it doesn’t have any of that overdone Japanese decorum that makes trendy places look more Japanese than Japan itself. So for a sushi place, MoMo already had me happy before I looked at the menu.

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2/24/2010 Los Angeles

Like Bacon at Pico Kosher Deli

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Looks like a bacon burger.

When some Kosher cousins of mine came to visit LA, it was time for me to pay another visit to Pico and Robertson, also known as Little Israel. Once again, it would have been a waste to go to a Kosher place on the dairy end of the spectrum, so we went to Pico Kosher Deli to get some meat going. Sometimes it’s hard for me to get meat without topping it with a cheese of some sort, but the deli had something interesting to top their meat, while still staying Kosher.

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2/10/2010 Los Angeles

Keeping Kashrut at Haifa

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100% Kosher

As a Jew who clearly doesn’t keep Kosher (see any entry on bacon, cheeseburgers or shellfish), I sometimes find it fun to eat a meal the way my Kosher brethren do. In LA this means a trip to Pico and Robertson, which my girlfriend affectionately calls “Little Israel,” although actual Israel can hardly be called “big.” Kosher restaurants either serve meat or dairy, so to take care of my unvegan needs, this Kosher pilgrimage took me to the meat-based Haifa Restaurant.

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12/4/2009 Los Angeles

A Fast Bowl of Beef at Yoshinoya (CLOSED)

Onion-free as it should be.
Onion-free as it should be.

EDIT: This location is closed, and I mean really all the other ones outside of Asia should be too.

For a quick little dinner I made the executive decision that my girlfriend and I should go to Yoshinoya, a Japanese fast food place. There is one painfully close to where she lives and I thought it was pretty sad that she had never been before. Plus, I had only been to one in China and that was years ago.

We walked into the Yoshinoya and it was pretty empty. This wasn’t a good sign, but we proceeded to the counter to figure out our order. I decided to keep it simple and order a beef bowl. This came with onions, but I asked for it without. Thinking this wouldn’t be enough food, I also ordered the chicken wings. My girlfriend ordered her own bowl of unspeakable vegetables and our bill came out to under $10.

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7/30/2009 Los Angeles

A Multi-Meaty Sandwich from Factor’s Deli

These colors don't run.
These colors don’t run.

Over at the Pico-Robertson area is Factor’s Deli, a Jewish-style deli with delivery! Sometimes I wonder why more restaurants don’t deliver, but luckily I don’t need to wonder about that for Factor’s.

For some reason, I wasn’t in the mood for pastrami, so it took some time to figure out what I wanted to order. Eventually, I found the multi-meaty sandwich to conquer my hunger. This was the combination sandwich entitled No. 1, featuring turkey, corned beef and swiss cheese to ensure that it is un-Kosher. It also had Russian dressing and was served on triple-layer rye bread. As a bonus, it also came with a choice of two sides, so I chose the unhealthiest of all, fries and homemade chips.

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4/14/2009 Los Angeles

Keepin’ it Kosher at Jeff’s Gourmet Sausage Factory

Spicy AND Kosher?!
Spicy AND Kosher?!

When I first heard the name of Jeff’s Kosher Gourmet Sausage Factory, I was quite thrown off. It’s not often you hear the words Kosher and sausage in the same sentence. Usually the closest you get is Best’s Kosher Hot Dogs. Needless to say, it was with great excitement that I approached this Kosher sausage fairyland.

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3/4/2009 Los Angeles

Subway

Is there any meat in there?
Is there any meat in that mess?

A few years ago, Subway changed the name of the “Meatball” sub to the “Meatball Marinara.” I’m not sure why this particular change occurred. Maybe it was to placate healthy people who would be more attracted to the word “marinara.” I never felt this was a particularly bad thing, after all, rebranding to increase sales is a huge component of our capitalistic system.

That all changed when I went to the Subway at Pico and La Cienega. I ordered a Meatball Marinara sub on Italian herbs and cheese bread, with provolone and parmesan cheese. It seemed like such a great idea, until I started watching the man behind the counter make my sub.

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12/4/2008 Los Angeles

Coco’s (CLOSED)

 

Fruit makes for an excellent vegetable replacement.
Fruit makes for an excellent vegetable replacement.

Coco’s and I have a long and interesting history. A few years ago, I lived in Japan and a Coco’s was attached to my building. Coco’s (pronounced Cocosu in Japanese) was a Japanese attempt at American food and despite the fact that it wasn’t at all like American food, it was still pretty decent. We had a healthy relationship and I even had the frequent diner card. When I returned from Japan, Coco’s and I took a break, we couldn’t handle the distance and I had no knowledge of Coco’s in America. That all changed when I found a Coco’s on Pico and Robertson in LA. I went in with great expectations that would be impossible to meet.

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