(See also: Part one)
I slept in on Friday morning while Matt went exploring and breakfasting. When I finally got up around 2pm, we had only enough time to go buy ibuprofen and do a second round of Lip Service bargain basement shopping, and then we already had to prepare for the evening ahead. We met Matt’s friends Bobby and Mary at the downtown loft of their friend Dahna, then hopped over to Little Tokyo and a restaurant called Shojin.
Situated quietly on the third floor of the mall, I would never have guessed this little Japanese fusion restaurant was such a veg paradise. The lengthy menu (all vegan and all organic) made it very hard to choose just one thing. I started with tofu-okara cakes, since I’d never tried okara. They left a little to be desired—I don’t know if they were underseasoned, or if okara is just not my thing, but I found them kind of bland, and unfortunately the vegan mayo-like dip didn’t help. Oh well.
Mary got a salad, and Dahna got some tofu-pumpkin croquettes that looked amazing.
Just imagine—an all-vegan sushi menu! It pains me to say I did not partake (but you’ll see why); however, Matt did...
...as did Mary and Dahna.
Bobby got a fried tofu appetizer...
...and a fantastic-looking "beef"-and-tofu noodle bowl.
I got my first-ever restaurant seitan dish—a noodle bowl with spicy sesame seitan. Aaahh, SO good! I want more!
Matt and I had already noticed during our drives around town that frozen yogurt is BIG in LA. On the bottom floor of the Little Tokyo mall, we found a just-opened place called Cherry On Top offering buy-one-get-one-free frozen yogurts. One entire wall was made up of self-serve yogurt machines, and the two huge islands in the middlle of the store held dozens upon dozens of topping options, from fresh fruit to candy to nuts to cereal. And at 39 cents per ounce, the price was very non-LA.
We spent that night at Das Bunker, another industrial dance night at a sprawling club (we’re talking three dance floors, three full bars, two lounges, and a patio) called The Catch One on Pico Blvd.
Two more days of LA fun are to yet come!
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I've never come across seitan on a restaurant menu before - I don't think I could have passed up your meal either! And I wish Australia would cotton on to frozen yogurt. I don't think we have a single store selling it (apart from supermarkets with dodgy in-a-pint versions, but that hardly counts). Ah well, here's to gelato in Florence, hopefully! :)
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