Native Foods - Restaurant Review

For lunch Mr. Insomniac and I went to lunch at Native Foods in Westwood, CA.

It's billed as California Vegan restaurant and they proudly point out that even the mayo is Vegan!   Mmm... vegan mayo - is your mouth watering yet?  The last time my father was in Westwood, he wanted to take us to Native Foods, but he couldn't find it and I was extremely relieved.  Remember the old Insomniac was anti-plants, but the June Insomniac thinks that they are tasty.

Entering the storefront, we placed our order at a cash register and were directed to a loft upstairs to wait for our server to come with trays of food.  I could look down and see the coo

ks prepare the food, as we were seated on the edge of the loft, behind the counter.  

[I should have taken a picture of the view.  It would have went here.  Oh well.]

I always find it unsettling to watch someone cook my food.  I keep waiting for them to drop something on the floor and then throw it onto the plate or something, I guess.  Most people who have that fear would probably relish the notion of keeping an eye on their preparation.  But for me, ignorance is bliss.  

The loft was a little cramped and hot, but it was fine.  They had a pitcher of water with lime, lemon, mint, and cucumber that was incredibly refreshing.  At first I thought that there was a melon in the water, but the server explained that the sweetness all came from the cucumber.  Go figure.

And here's the food!  I got a Malibu veggie burger with a side of seasoned fries.  The veggie burger is made on the premises and consists of soy, quinoa, oats, veggies, and seasonings.  Sprouts, carrots, onion, a slice of tomato and the infamous vegan mayo dressed the burger.

It was really tasty.  A dollup of organic ketchup (no high fructose corn syrup here!) and I was in heaven.  It's amazing how satisfying a non-meat meal can be.  I'm a believer!  (I was starving and immediately stacked my burger - but then I remembered that I had to take pictures for the blog.  So that's why 

the burger looks a little messy.  It was much neater looking before I got my grubby little hands on it.)

Mr. Insomniac got some sort of "chicken" wrap.  It was also really good.