Veggie Grill

720 Allied Way
El Segundo, CA 90245
(310) 535-0025

www.veggiegrill.com

With all these cheap eats, it’s easy to pack on the pounds during this gluttonous journey. Thankfully, there are a few healthy options to practice some temperance. Veggie Grill, a recently opened vegetarian chain with locations in Irvine, El Segundo, and West Hollywood, is billed as a health-conscious, organic casual eatery.

$9 Grillin’ Chickin’ Sandwich (6)
'Chickin', avocado, lettuce, tomato, red onion, cilantro pesto, chipotle ranch on a wheat roll.
The chicken is actually a pressed combination of soy, water, and wheat gluten. Its flavor can generously be described as light with the texture of a Boca burger. If anything most of the flavor came from the guacamole and ranch dressing. I did like that the bun was soft.

$2.25 Side of Sweatheart Fries (8)
Very comparable to the the sweet potato fries at Father's Office. They were fried enough to give it a good crunch and served with a side of the same 'chain' quality chipotle ranch that was on the sandwich.

$9 Carne Asada Sandwich (7)
Grilled veggie-steak, marinated in spices, with southwestern spiced vegan mayo, red onion, on a wheat bun. They may have something in this veggie-steak, a very convincing substitute for beef. Their website list the ingredients to the proteins. Oddly enough, of the 10 ingredients in the steak, all 10 are in the 'chicken'. The better of the two sandwiches mainly do to the additional seasonings in the protein.

$1.50 Side of Steamin’ Kale (6) (1.50)
Dressed with sesame dressing and a blend of black and white sesame seeds, it tasted pretty good for a simple side. They use the same strategy as M Chaya of serving greens with a heaving dressing.

Initially walking out of the restaurant, I had it pegged high in the Cheap Eats list. If I was having an engaging conversation while eating the Carne Asada sandwich, I probably would not have even questioned whether it contained beef. But, the more I read about the nutrition and lack of a comprehensive nutritional guide at a place self labeled as healthy, the more I found their concept pathetic. How can you pawn yourself as healthly and not provide a nutritional guide to customers. I wrote to the company and have yet to hear back. When and if I do, I’m sure it will be in line with Cheesecake Factory’s Corporate line of, “Committed to serving fresh food, blah, blah, blah…”

So, I'll do the math since they won’t. On the calories and the fat since I suspect that is what they are hiding:
Grillin’ Chickin’ Sandwich

Ingredient Calories? Fat?
grilled chillin’ chickin’ 120 2g
avocado 40 3g
lettuce 5 0g
tomato 5 0g
red onion 5 0g
cilantro pesto 110 11g
chipotle ranch 120 12g
wheat roll 240 2g
sweetheart fries 330 15g
Total 975 45g

That's about the same as a McDouble and large fries. For that, I'll wait until more transparency before I return. I will give them the fact I didn't feel sleepy or excessively full after eating there.

The Park

1400 Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(213) 482-9209

www.thepark1400sunset.com

In its quest to become the next Silver Lake, Echo Park's dining scene is evolving and taking a no frills approach to gastronomy. The Park opened in 2008 fetching some surprising, yet needed attention to the area. The L.A. Times reported that it only cost $100K to open, that being on the very low end to start a restaurant with chef Joshua Siegel and manager Ruth Kim doing most of the opening renovations. As I contemplated appetizers and surveying the dining room, I couldn’t help but wonder where the other $80,000 went. The facade had a single coat of paint, the furniture was old, and the interior walls were merely stenciled with trees. They couldn’t even invest in pictures for the frames. At the end of the day, I could care less as long as the food is good, but you can easily see why ‘taco’ trucks are sprouting throughout the country.

$4 Sautéed Sugar Snap Peas (6)
I’ve been eating grilled vegetables at home since screening Food Inc., so I can appreciate a simple sauté with a finish of salt and lemon. Butter was used instead of olive oil; I do find butter tends to mask the flavor of fresh vegatables and I’m still getting accustomed to snap peas. Even cooked; it has a raw taste that I find unappealing.

$8 Fried Green Tomatoes (4)
Sitting on a bed of greens, it comes topped off with cheddar gougères and Creole buttermilk dressing. To my recollection, this is the first time I’ve tried the Southern dish and I’ll wait until I visit the South to try it again. These were made in the traditional fashion with cornmeal sin egg or alternatively a flour coating. The dish was slightly bland and with the fancy ranch dressing, it reminded me of the fried zucchini fries at Carl’s Jr.

$12 Grilled Polenta & Asparagus (3)
tomato sauce, gorgonzola cream, & crispy onion garnish
With a menu that caters to vegans and future heart attack patients alike, we decided to give a veggie option a chance. I’m still having trouble coming to terms that polenta can be the central focus of a dish. Had they switch the amount of polenta with the amount of gorgonzola cream on the plate, this may have hit the spot.

$15 Albacore “Abruzzi” pan-seared Albacore (2)
white wine-rosemary sauce, warm orecchiette salad, with pine nuts, tomato & arugula
I expected more out of this dish; it came lightly seared and the sauce did not have a definitive flavor. I wanted a strong sear on the tuna, this resembled an almost poached preparation and I hate poached meats. The orecchiette salad was ok, slightly better than what you could toss together at home.

Based on the dishes I had, I’m still baffled at how LA Times gave it a 1.5 stars, maybe price was the only consideration given. In defense of the restaurant, the chicken and the hanger steak came recommended, and I made the ill-advised decision to pass on the two.