More unique green restaurants

This is an addendum to the last post about vegetarian and vegan friendly restaurants that are near Ventura Blvd.

• Hugo's Tacos: Catty-cornered to Hugo's Restaurant (mentioned in the last veggie post), this popular taco stand off the 101/Coldwater on-ramp serves up breakfast/lunch/dinner with excellent fillings. You can fill your tacos, burritos, tortas, and more with either zucchini, corn, string beans or soy chorizo, potato, zucchini. For carnivores, there is, of course, the choice of chicken, steak, or grilled fish. Breakfast items can include the soy chorizo as well. Another nice thing about this taco stand is the use of authentic Mexican cheeses like oaxaca and cotija.


• Kung Pao Bistro: With all the meaty hallmarks of all Chinese restaurants, their vegetarian menu goes beyond soft or fried tofu. Check out their Veggie Tea Smoked Duck or Veggie Shrimp with Lobster Sauce. Not all items are vegan, so ask before. There are three locations: West Hollywood, Studio City, and Sherman Oaks (their website does not have this updated info yet, but here it is - 15025 Ventura Blvd./(818)788-1689)


• Vegan Express: I haven't been to this one, but Zel and Rueben Allen of Vegetarians in Paradise give tidbits about this small cafe/restaurant: "It might have been someone's home sometime during the 30's, but now a bustling kitchen cooks up tasty meals... doesn't have the sort of atmosphere that invites one to bring special out-of-town guests, it does offer wholesome meals with that home-cooked flavor--the kind Mom would have served--if she were a Thai vegan."


• Madeleine Bistro: First of all, thanks to Ilene for reminding me of the name of this restaurant. Secondly, kudos to Madeleine Bistro for having their website in a Blog Format. It's actually a really interesting and genius way to organize information flow on a website. Anyway, this vegan restaurant in Tarzana turns vegan food into an art form. I have yet to visit, but Daily News gave a good illustrative review from a non-vegan standpoint.