"Making Vegan Sexy" is the tag line of Karyn's on Green. And while I've never really thought of food as "sexy" I'm all for a place that focuses on unique vegan cooking, while not depending too much on processed fake meats or tofu. This is the third venture for Karyn, after Karyn's Cooked and Karyn's Raw. I've been to each and they are both good, though I've found I have a limited appetite for "raw" food. Beyond a nice salad, things get a bit odd for me.
Karyn's on Green has a little fake meat and tofu, but they are by no means the primary focus which I was pleased to see and there are enough options on the menu to craft yourself a nice diverse well rounded vegan meal. And they have cheese, though cashew based instead of soy (which I further appreciated). From the maki role with red beet, avocado, cucumber, jalapeno, carrot and rice which made me think "Why haven't I tried to make this at home" to the vegetable salad with corn and hearts of palm to the pumpkin risotto, it was a good and fairly affordable vegetarian variety.
The chopped vegetable salad was good though as my dining companion noted, nothing overly unique. I'm also partial to anything pumpkin this time of year so the creamy risotto with a hint of pumpkin was just what I expected and very filling. I sampled some of my companion's steak fries (dark, crispy and well seasoned with a barbecue sauce and some kind of unidentified strange orange aeoli) butternut soup (which had a great rich taste), roasted foraged mushrooms (a nice unique combo of Japanese eggplant, fava bean, cashew sherry purée) and coconut curry (which when compared to a Thai curry - which may not be a fair comparison - didn't quite stand up) to round out the meal.
We were too full for dessert though there was a good looking sweet potato pie on the menu, which I would have tried if I had the room.
Perhaps my favorite part of the meal was the non-alcoholic elixir I tried, the Chairman's Cobbler, made of organic green tea and pomegranate juice, ginger syrup, muddled lemon and mint, goji berries, fresh raspberries. It was just right, not too sweet or strong. My friend had the Blueberry Mint Fizz with lemon juice, simple syrup, blueberry, mint, soda water. It was subtle, but perhaps too subtle. It could have used a burst of flavor.
I'm excited to try another meal there and see how they develop their food. And regardless of the tag line they choose I'm glad to see a nice place offering a variety of vegan options, without too much fake meat or tofu, making a name for themselves and drawing a veggie and non-veggie crowd alike.
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