Cuisine Scene: Vegan
Long Beach’s vegan foodscape is in a constant state of growth and evolution, encompassing widening cuisine types and styles, whether for breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert. Who wants brownies!?!? Here’s a delicious array of some of the most popular vegan dishes in town.
VEGAN HANGOVER RAMEN, Sura Korean BBQ & Tofu House
What exactly qualifies this as a hangover cure isn’t clear, though it is very clear you don’t have to be suffering from one to appreciate the many layered flavors that inhabit this, one of Sura Korean BBQ’s (621 Atlantic Ave.) most popular dishes. Filled with all manner of veggies–mushrooms, carrots, spinach, onion, etc–with lots and lots of yummy noodles and the option to include a vegan fried egg.
PURPLE TAQUITOS, Seabirds Kitchen
This is arguably the most popular dish at arguably the city’s most popular vegan restaurant. Seabirds Kitchen’s (975 E. 4th St.) takes purple potatoes and combines them with housemade curtido (Salvadoran cabbage slaw), creamy chipotle sour cream and housemade almond feta. The result is an irresistible combination of flavor profiles and mouth feels; crunchy crossed with creamy. By the way, many people like ordering an extra side of the chipotle sour cream. It’s that good.
BROWNIE A LA MODE, Hug Life
Everyone’s favorite vegan ice cream shop has a wide roster of treats and flavors, and its Brownie a la Mode is one of its most spectacular. Hug Life (2707 E. Fourth St.) allows you two ice cream flavors to be piled on top of a brownie that you are then able to dress with toppings such as vegan marshmallow, nuts, sprinkles, etc. It works well since, at the base of it all, is the brownie with its gooey balance of sweet, a bit of savory and plenty of richness.
GRILLED BURRIZO, Wild Chive
Wild Chive (2650 E Broadway) marries soft-scrambled tofu with soyrizo, sauteed kale, slow-roasted peppers, sweet onions and shaved herb potatoes inside a flour tortilla that’s then grilled and served with a smoky chipotle aioli that some people can’t get enough of. For lots of fans of this burrito, the star is the thinly sliced potatoes that are big on flavor. For others, it’s simply how the whole production comes together to produce one big flavor.
