Urban Vegan (tasty vegan Thai food...who'da thunk?)

A few disclaimers & revelations before I launch into this review...
1. I realized the other day that it's rare--almost unheard of--for me to eat at a restaurant in Chicago that hasn't been written up and recommended on LTH. Even on my recent travels to Morocco, Ireland, Japan, Hong Kong and the Netherlands, I ate at several LTH-suggested restaurants. (One observation: Even as the distance from Chicago increases, the quality of the recommendations remain the same.)
2. I found this place on OpenTable & Yelp. Yeah, it shocks me, too.
3. After a couple months' worth of not enough exercise and too much great (rich) food, I'm jokingly saying, "I'm a vegan when I'm not eating pork belly." In other words, I'm trying to eat a lot more natural, healthy, low fat, etc., when I'm not out enjoying pork, seafood, etc., etc., etc. And given all of the great produce in season, why not limit my meat intake at the same time.
4. In my limited experience over the years, I'm of the opinion that there are a lot of lousy vegan places. And I've never particularly understood the appeal of eating fake meat. If you want something that looks like chicken & tastes like chicken, why not eat chicken?
5. Yeah, I'm also shocked that I'm recommending a vegan thai restaurant on LTH.

Yesterday I was with a friend who was looking for restaurant suggestions for an upcoming birthday dinner. Because he has a large group and has some time restrictions, I turned to OpenTable for ideas. One place I noticed was Urban Vegan, allegedly in Lakeview. (It's not...it's next to Mixteco, at 1605 W. Montrose just west of Ashland.) Given my recent vegan proclivities, I dug a little deeper & found a bunch of Yelp reviews raving over this recently opened vegan Thai place. So we (me + a carnivorous friend) decided to check it out...

I was happily surprised! Granted, we had 3 dishes between us, and this isn't Thai food on par with TAC, Spoon, etc., but Urban Vegan offers really tasty Americanized Thai food--and it just happens to be vegan.

The menu is available here. Most dishes are offered without "meat" or with your choice of soy chicken, soy pepper steak, seitan, soy fish, tofu, "bacon," soy
shrimp or soy chicken nuggets.

No pics, but here's what we tried:
Freshy Rolls (thai spaghetti, soy chicken, romaine lettuce, bean sprouts, and fresh herbs, wrapped with rice paper, served with hoisin sauce, 4 for about $8): This is your basic Vietnamese spring roll. My complaint is that a lot of places pre-make theirs so the spaghette/vermaccelli gets a little tough. These were obviously rolled to order. I also liked that they seemed to have a higher proportion of romaine lettuce to them, so if you have a smaller appetite, you won't feel as if you've filled up on spring rolls before the entree even arrives. The soy chicken tasted like, well, chicken.

Mushroom Steak (marinated minced shitake with soy meat served with salad and fries, about $12): My friend ordered this, subbing brown rice for the fries. I tried a bite and it was solid, though I don't think I'd order it again. It was served in a Thai brown gravy with a fair amount of what seemed black pepper. My friend's only complaint was that the sauce got a bit tiring at times, so he ended up mixing hoisin sauce (left over from the freshy rolls) with some chili-garlic sauce & dipping in that.

Spicy Eggplant with soy chicken (eggplant, onion, garlic, sweet basil and bell pepper sauteed with chili paste), $13 dinner included 2 spring rolls, brown rice & salad: Years ago I used to work across the street from Thai Room 2 on Huron & my go-to dish was spicy eggplant & basil. I love the flavors of this dish, but I only ate it rarely because it gave me heartburn. When I saw it on the menu here, I had to try it. The waitress suggested soy chicken to go with it. This dish rocked...it had the spice, it had the great basil flavor, all seemingly done without fish sauce. My only complaint was that when I hit the bottom of the bowl I realized that the sauce was pretty salty.

The spring rolls were small but tasty. (I have relatively small hands, and I'd say each was just slightly bigger than my pinky.) According to the menu, they are stuffed with cabbage, carrot, mung bean noodles, and shiitake mushrooms. Mine were definitely fried to order and came out hot & crispy.

The rice that came with each meal was flavorful and interesting. I wish I'd asked the waitress a few more questions about what it was and how it was cooked. (I was coming home from Mitsuwa with a new Zojirushi rice cooker...) Looking at it, it almost appeared to be brown rice with red beans, but I don't think it is. (The menu just says entrees are served with steamed brown rice.) It was, however, variegated in color & really tasty.

Salad was a nice touch. Nothing out of the ordinary, but good.

It's BYOB, and for everything mentioned, the price was $42, including tip. Portions aren't huge--we left with one freshy roll--but because spring rolls and salads are served with most(?) entrees, I felt like it was the right amount of food. Since I was looking at the "dinner" (entree+rice+salad+spring roll) menu & my friend got a dinner special, I'm not sure how big a standard-sized entree is. Folks with a bigger appetite or who want leftovers might want 3 entrees for two people.

The restaurant only seats 16 people and seemed to be doing a brisk takeout business at 8 pm on a Saturday. Reservations are probably recommended.

Bottom line: I'll go back, even after falling out of my vegan phase (and I know I will fall out of it). And it will definitely join my rotation of Asian delivery places (which include PingPong, Kanok, Wakamono and PS Bangkok II).

Urban Vegan
1605 W. Montrose
773-404-1109
http://www.urbanveganchicago.com

Sounds like a perfect outing, hmmm wonder if the Vegetarian Exchange is game for an outing here.

It is barely in Lakeview. Between Clark and the Union Pacific North Line the northern boundary of Lakeview is the centerline of Montrose. Urban Vegan is on the south side of Montrose and so is in Lakeview, not Uptown.

Communities bounded by Montrose are frequently mischaracterized in the press. Between the Union Pacific North Line and Chicago River, the north side of Montrose is in Lincoln Square while the south side is in North Center. West of the river the same division applies to Albany Park versus Irving Park.

I'm game for an outing there!

Great stuff! I had lunch here last weekend and though I'd not seen (or remembered seeing) this thread, Pigmon had enthusiastically told me about the place some months ago. Since then, I'd wanted to try it, and a lunch meeting with a vegan friend seemed like the perfect opportunity. We shared 2 appetizers and 2 main courses . . .


Urban Vegan - 1605 W. Montrose, Chicago



Steamed Veggie Dumplings
Really tasty and a very satisfying texture on the wrappers.



Spring Rolls - cabbage, carrot, mung bean, noodles and shiitake mushroom
These were perfectly fried, to order. They were still crispy on the outside and piping hot on the inside 5 minutes after they came to the table.



Spicy Eggplant - eggplant, onion, garlic, sweet basil, bell pepper and chili paste
I really loved the eggplant here but honestly, there just wasn't enough of it. The flavors were great but there were way more bell peppers than eggplant.



Spicy Noodles - stir-fried flat noodles with fresh chili sauce, garlic, mushrooms, sweet basil, tomato and bell pepper
Another winning dish. It was essentially pad see ewe and it was done very well. Typically, this can be a sweet dish but this rendition's sweetness was balanced very deftly with some serious heat.

I was impressed by Urban Vegan because the food was extremely well-prepared, bursting with flavor and never seemed like it was lacking anything. With the main courses, we opted for tofu instead of faux meats and both were very delicious. I think there's some serious skill in the kitchen here and the Thai aesthetic is no small part of that. Even without fish sauce or meat, there were layers of flavors in these dishes. I look forward to returing and exploring more of the menu.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:Great stuff! I had lunch here last weekend and though I'd not seen (or remembered seeing) this thread, Pigmon had enthusiastically told me about the place some months ago. Since then, I'd wanted to try it, and a lunch meeting with a vegan friend seemed like the perfect opportunity. We shared 2 appetizers and 2 main courses . . .

I was impressed by Urban Vegan because the food was extremely well-prepared, bursting with flavor and never seemed like it was lacking anything. With the main courses, we opted for tofu instead of faux meats and both were very delicious. I think there's some serious skill in the kitchen here and the Thai aesthetic is no small part of that. Even without fish sauce or meat, there were layers of flavors in these dishes. I look forward to returing and exploring more of the menu.

=R=

I'm glad you posted some pics, because I haven't thought to take any when I've been there. It really is a fantastic little joint & has become one of my go-to takeout/delivery spots. At the risk of sounding silly, their dinner combos--2 egg rolls, salad, soup, rice & entree for about $15--are too good of a deal (and tasty food!) to pass up if you don't have the ordering power to get a lot of items.

I'm sure a lot of people see the "vegan" label & are immediately turned off, but I can't stress enough: This is a Thai restaurant that just happens to be vegan, not a vegan place that serves Thai food. I don't know how they do it without the fish sauce, but however they do it, it works.

I've only been there once since I originally posted, but it's become one of my go-to take out/delivery places. So glad others are

chgoeditor wrote:I'm sure a lot of people see the "vegan" label & are immediately turned off, but I can't stress enough: This is a Thai restaurant that just happens to be vegan, not a vegan place that serves Thai food. I don't know how they do it without the fish sauce, but however they do it, it works.

You are 100% correct and it's funny that you mention it because one of my partners at work says he goes by this place at least 10x per week and has never once thought of stopping in...because the name is so stupid and he just couldn't imagine the food there being very good. Hopefully, my raving about it has convinced him to give it a shot.

It's clearly got a following, though. At 3 pm on Saturday when we were finishing up our lunch, every table was occupied and carry-out orders were being picked up. Granted, the space is not very big but still, it was nice to see them operating at capacity.

Without putting words in his mouth, even Pigmon, who recommmended it to me, told me that his initial visit was essentially prompted by how completely unpromising the name of the place was. Luckily for me -- and hopefully others -- he took one for the team and was rewarded for the effort.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

chgoeditor wrote:I'm sure a lot of people see the "vegan" label & are immediately turned off, but I can't stress enough: This is a Thai restaurant that just happens to be vegan, not a vegan place that serves Thai food. I don't know how they do it without the fish sauce, but however they do it, it works.

You are 100% correct and it's funny that you mention it because one of my partners at work says he goes by this place at least 10x per week and has never once thought of stopping in...because the name is so stupid and he just couldn't imagine the food there being very good. Hopefully, my raving about it has convinced him to give it a shot.

It's clearly got a following, though. At 3 pm on Saturday when we were finishing up our lunch, every table was occupied and carry-out orders were being picked up. Granted, the space is not very big but still, it was nice to see them operating at capacity.

Without putting words in his mouth, even Pigmon, who recommmended it to me, told me that his initial visit was essentially prompted by how completely unpromising the name of the place was. Luckily for me -- and hopefully others -- he took one for the team and was rewarded for the effort.

=R=

The name is horrible. Nothing about the name or the logo says "Thai Food." But you're right...it obviously hasn't hurt business! Both times I've been in, the place has been packed & they seem to do brisk take-out business, too.

They've gotta be kidding with that name, right?

Being the butt of numerous jokes, trix & I felt a need to at least give Urban Vegan a fair shake. Going into it, I’d say we gave them about a 10-20% chance of pulling off a decent meal let alone a good one. But, surprise, surprise! Urban Vegan easily covered our cynically imposed 5:1+ odds.

The first time there, it reminded me of something one is apt to find in a place like L.A.; squeaky clean and totally chill (“A world become one of salads and sun…”).

When talking to the owner, he told me that he was working feverishly for several weeks on some sort of new vegan recipe (ramen?) but hadn’t quite yet nailed it down to his liking. It was pretty obvious after our discussion that he's not one to casually offer up items on his menu without researching and testing them for his customer’s optimum satisfaction.

Not all items are home runs but, for the most part, everything on this menu is, at least, respectable...which I think is saying a lot for almost any vegan/vegetarian restaurant (sans Indo-Pak cuisine). I particularly enjoyed their beautifully vibrant tom yum soup with its steely clean hot and sour broth coupled with its ultra-fresh, pristine veggies/tofu and their "P.E.T." (pumpkin, eggplant, and tofu stir fried in garlic sauce with bell pepper, basil and chili). I'm from the camp that can't stand fake chicken, fish, bacon, whatever (shocking, I know). But even these thoughtful efforts were relativistically noteworthy.

chgoeditor's comment that "This is a Thai restaurant that just happens to be vegan, not a vegan place that serves Thai food." nails it.

In spite of it being a vegan restaurant, I bet your average carnivore would be more than happy to make an occasional visit to Urban Vegan...lame name and all.

Urban Vegan isn't going to replace any of my favorite Thai restaurants in my dining rotation, but if I'm going out to dinner with a vegetarian friend in the future (as I did last week), I'm pretty certain I'll consider a return visit.

Let's first talk logistics. As noted, there are only 16 seats. There are 4 tables, 2 by the window (where I found out it can get quite cold), and 2 near the food prep area at the counter, but it's regular table seating). One of the 2 tables near the counter is a bit unpleasant in that it's right by the cash register and people getting take-out (or delivery persons) stand right over you to pay (this happened three times in one hour). So that leaves you with the table in the corner - oh well, not perfect, but that's probably the table you want on a cold night.

As for food, we started with the steamed dumplings which we liked quite a bit. Less successful was the faux chicken satay - the faux chicken here (had it in two dishes) is too chewy, the peanut sauce curdled and a little too much peanut and not enough other flavors, and the cucumber salad too sparse.

Our favorite dish was the spicy eggplant. I agree with Ronnie that the dish could use a little more eggplant, but the flavors were great. Surprising funk, excellent heat, and altogether delicious . . . a must order in my book. I'm not a big fan of the tofu they use, but it's not objectionable. We also had crispy phat see ew. Unfortunately, the dish was overcooked and way too dry, muting what might have been good flavors. Red curry was better than many versions around town that I'm pretty sure use shrimp paste - shocking really. I wish I was permitted to order it hotter, but it was still good.

All in all, I liked Urban Vegan. Service was very friendly and for a true vegetarian/vegan, I don't know of other places in town that deliver the funk without any fish sauce or shrimp paste (and they definitely delivered some funk). Again, it won't replace my favorite Thai spots in town, but I'd choose it any day of the week if eating with a vegetarian/vegan friend . . . and I'd take it twice a day if the choice were between it and non-veggie neighborhood spots of the Opart Thai quality.