I stopped by Loving Hut, an organic, vegan, fast-food chain restaurant in Palo Alto. Don’t ask me why, it’s just what it’s called. It’s a little space with bright lights and a cafeteria-like ambience, where you place your order at the counter.
I got the Crumbed Sensation – deep fried yam flour pieces, served with vegan tartar sauce and a small heap of cole slaw. Not too greasy and it has a firm texture that it reminds me of fried shrimp. I thought it was great, then again most fried food taste good.
I also tried the Shepherd’s Pie. That was just ok, seemed a bit on the dry side, like it needed gravy or some sort of sauce. It had soy crumbles, eggplant, carrot and onions on the bottom with mashed potatoes on top. It came with your choice of soup or salad. I got the soup – butternut squash and navy bean. Beautiful color on the soup, but not a real strong squash taste to me. It’s more beany than squashy. At least it wasn’t overly salty like some restaurant soups.
This location has a limited menu compared to the ones in San Francisco and Milpitas. It doesn’t seem like they do much actual cooking. It’s more heat and serve or scoop into a container for to-go. Still it’s nice to have an all vegan place right there in downtown Palo Alto.
I always wondered about that place. Thanks for the review.
Ha, that name alone is great! I’m so jealous of all the vegan options you have over there.
We have Loving Hut (about 3)in Singapore too … The menu is slightly different … cheers :)
I live in San Francisco but luckily, I have a dentist appointment down the street from this place soon. I will have to check it out. Is the one in San Francisco good? I’ve had some bad experiences with vegan resturants in the city.
Amy – You’re welcome!
Hannah – Yup, we’re definitely spoiled here. :-)
crystal – I think the Loving Hut started over there, or somewhere on that side of the world. Seems like their menus are all slightly different depending on location.
Karen – I haven’t been to the SF one so I don’t know. But yeah, I’ve had some not-too-good food at some of the vegan places in the city too. :-(
We recently visited the local Loving Hut. The food was great! I can’t believe you didn’t mention the Supreme Master in your review, though.
Laura – You mean the religious thing? At first, I thought you were talking about some dish. :-)
There was a flat screen tv on but with the sound off. That to me is no different than if some other program was on, I usually just ignore it. And the workers there don’t preach or try to get anyone to join or anything so to me it’s a non-issue.
I couldn’t manage to eat any of their food. It absolutely terrified me for some reason. It looked far too close to the real thing for comfort. However, my boyfriend loved it.