Souley Vegan

August 6, 2008

This is an entry about Food with 2 comments

Warning: this post mentions “tofu” a lot.

Souley Vegan, located right next door to Radio, is currently my favorite place to eat on a Tuesday night. I was worried that since I liked it so much…it would close up and some weird copy shop or bail bonds place would take it place. This worry now seems silly since it was packed with normals and vegan freaks alike last night. SV also upgraded their ambiance from “that vegan soul food place with the bare light bulb as decor” to “that charming little vegan place right near 12th Street Bart that offers baskets of fried okra amongst other things like tofu spinach pie and two kinds of delightfully prepared tofu.” (SF Weekly writes well on the experience.)

I honestly don’t know how they do it (probably frying? baking?): the crispy tofu is coated in some sort of delicious, crunchy shell in portions that dares you to finish either two large pieces or a basket of minis (attention fatties! I feel like the basket gives you more. I struggled to finish all six or eight pieces, though I regretted not wrapping the unfinished one in a napkin and eating on the drive home).

With The Breakroom doing what it does so well, Golden Lotus doing its thing with flaky service but the best Gourmet Chicken, New World doing its thing at a higher price with sometimes erratic results, and Souley Vegan coming into its own, I’m totally pumped to see Oakland turning into a vegan wonderland. (Note: sorry to end this entry like a 5th grade essay.)