Restaurant Review: Dharma Kitchen

Have you ever heard of Dharma Kitchen? Yah, neither have I. What a bad Vegan Vancouverite I am. But I guess in my defence it doesn't have a website. But this place is vegan Thai gold. My friend Lauren lives in Kits and has been wanting to try it for a while and since I'm vegan, well yah! She took me! Stoked cuz as you may or may not notice, I love eating. And I love trying new restaurants. Since I've gone vegan I'm trying to try as many vegan or vegan friendly restaurants as I can. Which is surprisingly a lot. I never really have a problem with it. The only problem is a lot of them aren't downtown and I don't drive. So that really hinders it for me.

Anyways, Dharma's Kitchen is in Kits and is this super cute, modern Thai style restaurant. What really impressed me wasn't the awesome food but the fact that they have tempeh on the menu. That is unusual. Typically the vegan protein is always just plain ole tofu. Which they have, and I love but its nice to have something else to choose from that isn't tofu. We got 3 items and shared. Family styles. My fave. It was very hard to choose as everything sounded so amazing.

Protein Salad

This had a tempeh steak on top that was to die for!!! I've never had tempeh like this before. Its usually softer and more beany but this was way more texturized, like a burger. Not like real meat but just that consistency. SO GOOD. The salad had romaine, grated beets (YUM), carrots, sprouts, sunflower seeds and this amazing dressing. I love salads and eat them pretty often, but this salad was awesome!

Red Curry Tofu

I'm a HUGE fan of curry. Any curry. Indian, Japanese or Thai. I could eat it every day. There are so many ways to make it. But a fave is Thai curry because of the coconut milk. It makes it so flavourful and creamy.  The tofu was firm and the sauce was tasty. I could def have had it a bit spicier, but that's what hot sauce is for. I hogged it all and got scolded. LOL As soon as he put the tiny little thing of hot sauce down, I was like we're gonna need more. I'm a hot sauce whore. lol

Green Goddess Brown Rice Bowl

This was a very cool dish. It had brown rice on the bottom, then a layer of mashed avocado, then nori (seaweed) strips then tofu, broccoli, spinach and ginger. It had a tahini sauce on it too. It was delish and green. I love green vegetables and usually dishes just have a couple, this was great because there was tons. Like how I cook! LOVE it!!! I also thought it was cool how they put the layer of mashed avocado and the nori sheets. I'm def gonna start that. Its like how Kevin and I stole the bed of spinach idea underneath our food from Foundation. Great idea.

SO all in all, I loved this place. They do not have a website and they do not advertise. They go on word of mouth so here I am spreading the good word. Check it out!!! Its seriously yummy. The menu is awesome. They also have a pretty good list of organic beers and wines. AND just an FYI the first Monday of every month they have a $7.50 dinner special. It would be a good date place too. Its got a great vibe and dim lighting. And doesn't have music blasting. Super cute. The owner was adorable, attentive and very sweet.

Peace

xoxo

K