Best Vegan Selections '98

Best Vegan Selections

Govinda's Natural Foods Restaurant & Boutique
711 E. Blacklidge Drive

READERS' PICK: Lacto-vegetarians, pure vegans and kosher-keepers rejoice and get in line. The buffet at Govinda's has Heaven's own salad bar, including several housemaid dressings (at least one usually nut-based). A variety of more major tuck-ins are offered including organic pastas, housemaid soups, vegetables, several casseroles and fresh-baked breads. All ingredients are prominently listed. It's all spa-clean. You can eat at the cafe-style tables inside by the buffet, or in a side room (you'll see the shoes lined up outside the entrance) where you can sit on cushions on the floor at low tables. Outside, a high, pink wall surrounds a dining area done in Southwestern-compatible desert rose and turquoise. So what if they have plastic forks--the grounds feature strutting, shrieking peacocks and a gushing waterfall. This is a place, says one Govinda's fan, where you feel holy just by eating there.

READERS' POLL RUNNER-UP: Sundance Café and Juice Bar, 621 N. Fourth Ave. (See Vegetarian--Best Lunch Under $5, page 94.)

CLUE IN: Tucked away down a narrow walkway between two buildings midway down Fourth Avenue, the secrets of the Casbah Tea House (628 N. Fourth Ave.) are well worth exploring. The decor is early Bedouin, with colorful pillows and low tables inside, as well as a lovely tent-covered courtyard for those who prefer to be more in touch with nature. The meatless menu includes Gypsy Stew (red lentils in coconut curry), tempeh burgers and even vegetarian versions of salami and bologna. Follow that with a selection of sinfully delicious baked treats, and wash it all down with any of an endless variety of organic juices, coffee variations (plain, Turkish, non-dairy organic cappuccino, etc.) or herbal, medicinal and traditional teas.

CLUE IN: "I often sent pictures of the hills of Guilin which I painted to friends back home, but few believed what they saw." --Fan Chengda, Song-Dynasty

The Lijiang river flows serenely through the Chinese province of Guilin, where steep limestone hills rise imperially over mist-enshrouded fishing villages. The region's natural beauty makes it one of China's hottest tourist attractions.

Closer to home, Guilin Chinese Restaurant, 3250 E. Speedway Blvd., has recently thrown open its doors to throngs of happy vegetarians. The modest Chinese cafeteria is strongest where others are weakest. Our advice: Eschew the typical chop suey and fried rice and order instead from the more eclectic menu items, like the seaweed finger rolls. Other stand-outs include the vegetable dumplings, and lettuce rolls, the latter a mixture of tofu, black mushrooms and rice noodles which you wrap in a leaf of lettuce, burrito style. The brave can try the "meatless meat" entrees, which come in chicken, duck, ham, shrimp, and pork flavors. If you have room, finish with Guilin's unique desert the "snow flake"--crushed ice, topped with syrup and Chinese fruits.

1997 Winner: Govinda's Natural Foods Restaurant & Boutique
1996 Winner: Govinda's Natural Foods, Restaurant & Boutique