The Subtle Vegetarian

I’ve got a signature dish that I order at most restaurants – something that really shows off the abilities of the kitchen. I usually pick something that is somewhat subtle – anyone can make a firey Arrabiata, but only a great restaurant can make a great Pomodoro!

My Thai signature dish is Pad Thai, but this one can be tricky for vegetarians (and vegans). Ask whether they use fish sauce (nam pla), other seafood ingredients, or egg. Many Thai restaurants will happily modify their ingredients since this dish is always prepared to order, but they may scratch their heads about the nam pla since it’s such a staple of local cuisine!

The excellent pictured Pad Thai was the creation of Pacific Thai, located on Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz, CA. It exhibited just what I’m looking for in a great Pad Thai:

• Light and delicate but still somewhat sticky sauce
• Al dente (but not chewy) noodles and veggies
• Good firm tofu with light seasoning
• No overpowering ingredients – the flavor of the peanuts, sauce, veggies, noodles, tofu and sprouts were all evident, and none overpowered a quick squeeze of fresh lime

I ordered this with a smoothie made of green tea ice cream and tapioca pearls. This was delicious, too – I became a fan of green tea ice cream after trying some at Steve’s (now Herrell’s) in Northampton, MA years ago. I first encountered tapioca pearls as a drink ingredient in a Taiwanese pearl milk tea I was fond of at EO Noodle in Framingham, MA. Combining the two was a pleasure!

We were fortunate to have a Thai au pair join our family for a year, and I was surprised to learn that the Pad Thai she was used to was quite different from my (Americanized?) concept. Hers was much more noodle-centric, with very little sauciness, no veggies, and a stronger flavor. Not to mention much spicier, as was everything she cooked!

But comparing it to my American ideal, Pacific Thai’s Pad Thai is an excellent dish. Not quite as good as the old Thai Coconut in Marlborough, MA, but nothing else has been!

Pacific Thai Santa Cruz
1319 Pacific Ave
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Just a quick pointer this morning to two posts over at 60 in 3 about healthy restaurant choices. They categorize restaurants and discuss the healthier options at each…

• The Healthiest Restaurants
• The Healthiest Restaurants, Cont.

Frank, over at A Vegan’s Life in Southern California did a little Subtle Vegetarian-style snooping about veggie foods at Trader Joe’s and The Cheesecake Factory, and I wanted to point to his site for the info…

As expected, Trader Joe’s has lots of great vegetarian and vegan foods, and all of their cosmetic products are free of animal testing!  I love that place, but we found it hard to do all of our family shopping there.  Plus, they’re sparse here in Ohio…

As for The Cheesecake Factory, they’ve got a few veggie choices to trumpet, as well as excellent customer service from the staff and kitchen.  I love their portobello sandwich – have been getting it for years!  It’s most certainly not vegan, but the lettuce wraps (sans chicken) are a great vegan choice, too.  Watch out for the strong Long Island Iced Teas!

I already waxed enthusiastic about the eggs at Dunkin’ Donuts, but one of my readers asked about eating vegan there, so I did some research. They have a nice site with detailed nutrition and ingredient information, and it turns out that there are lots of vegan options there, including some you might not expect.

If you’re a vegan, go for a bagel (but not a multigrain or blueberry) without cream cheese, or maybe an english muffin. Add a hash brown on the side, and drink a flavored coffee (but not pumpkin or vanilla). For lunch, get a fruit coolatta and the oriental salad. But vegans have to skip all of the eponymous donuts and munchkins, as well as all coffee coolattas.

Read on for the details…

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