Vegetarian House
3239 E. Indian School Rd.
Phoenix, AZ 85018
602-264-3480
Review #1
Special thanks to Rob Branch-Dasch, Spike, and Chloe for this review.
To visit them, click here.
Get this: everyone there knows what "vegan" means!! That in itself makes this restaurant a gem, but the food is great too - a double whammy and well worth a visit.
Everything on the menu is vegetarian or vegan; everything can be made vegan just by asking. That includes desserts like creme brulee - when was the last time you had that? The menu looks like many other Asian restaurants, with kung pao chicken, sweet and sour pork, and others, except that the "meats" are all soy-based (usually seitan). Many of their ingredients are imported directly from the far East, so the flavors are authentic. One employee proudly showed me a large plastic-wrapped tofu "lobster" as she unpacked it.
Now, vegetarians and vegans can eat such things knowing that no lives are being negatively impacted in any way. This makes Vegetarian House a great choice for people who have only recently converted to veganism and still get the occasional craving - here's a safe place to fill that need.
In the small entrance lobby they display some pamphlets related to the restaurant owner's Eastern religion, and have also displayed animal rights material.
The average appetizer is about $4, and average entree about $7.
Vegetarian House
Review #2
Reviewed by Jason GaiusIII@aol.com
The Vegetarian House is almost unique, in that it is one of only three
restaurants I know of in all the Valley that is Vegan (barring about five or six
items that contain milk and/or cheese out of sixty or so dishes to choose from.)
Go Vegan restaurants! Another plus for The Vegetarian House is its
large selection to choose from, all reasonably priced. Expect to pay just
under $10 for an entree, drink, and tip. As for the dining experience, the
categories below should pretty much cover everything. If you're mostly
going there for good food and some good conversation, I'm sure you'll find what
you're looking for. Of course, The Vegetarian House is BYOC (Bring Your
Own Company.) ;-)
Service: The service was, unfortunately, not very good.
They paid little attention to us. It started with our server taking an
inordinately long amount of time to take our order and only continued from there
until the final disappointment of the night (in this category.) They were
out of vegan deserts! While this was not the worst service I've ever had,
it was down there. 2 out of 5.
Atmosphere: Typical for an Asian restaurant that isn't just a
fast food joint. Sometimes it seemed like a nice veneer that was trying to
overlay a cafeteria, but it really wasn't too bad. Even the TV near the
front was pretty unobtrusive. 3 out of 5.
Presentation: Kudos to The Vegetarian House for their
presentation. Most Asian restaurants I've eaten at simply bring out a
mound of food slopped onto the plate or bowl, but The Vegetarian House actually
took the time to arrange the food on the plate and add some color with beds of
lettuce and other garnishes. Good for an Asian restaurant, average for a
standard restaurant. 3 out of 5.
Food: Finally, the food. This was by far, aside from the
great company, the best aspect of the meal. Most of the dishes I tried
were good, and some were even better. Personally, I had the ginger
mock-duck, the mushroom soup, and the sizzling rice soup. The mushroom
soup was decent, but nothing special, while the other two were tasty, indeed.
My only real complaint with the mock-duck was that there wasn't enough of it!
Sure, I could see where some of the dishes could be improved, but all in all,
the food was excellent. 4 out of 5.
Overall Group Rating: 4.7 out of 5
My Rating: 4
As you can tell, the food weighed most
heavily in everyone's decision, including mine!
