Starting the Tiger year with Herbivore
Being a blatant ruthless carnivore all year round, I know that going vegan one day of the year won’t help me redeem myself in hell, but I still follow my mom’s tradition on the first day of Tet. No cheese, no animal milk, no bone marrow, no lard, no skin, no fishy business. It’s the first day of the new spring, everybody deserves to live, so we believe it’s nice to spare the lives of yummy things that can move. Or at least we should try not to cause their deaths. That means I have to find a vegan restaurant in Berkeley. Mudpie was estatic. (Mudpie has been fighting to go to Herbivore down the block for months, and I’ve been “gently” suggesting other places all this time.) Mudpie went online and picked his order even before we got there: the Indonesian noodle salad with tamarind dressing (pictured above).
When we got there the place was packed to the roof. Lucky for us, we got the last free table, and some folks who came later had to wait for at least an hour to be seated. If you wonder how I knew how long the wait was, it’s because that’s also how long we had to wait for our food. I had nothing to do within that hour except looking at other customers and eavesdropping on their conversation. The table arrangement is quite efficient, everyone’s utensil is within everyone’s neighbor’s reach. We ordered a yerba mate tea to sip boredom away. The hot kind comes in three choices: organic (plain, no sugar, no milk), organic latte, and chai spice tea; the chilled bottle kind is flavored with either raspberry or mint. The plain kind wasn’t anything spectacular. It’s just commonplace bitter like any other unflavored tea. I don’t want to sound snotty, but yerba mate is just another overhyped foreign substance, worthy of seeking after only for its novelty and cultural value.
Moving on to the food. The Indonesian noodle salad was like a garden harvest. Cucumber slices, pineapple and orange cubes, a few streaks of bean sprouts, lettuce, cilantro, cabbage, onion, whole peanuts, carrots, all partied up in a spicy chili pepper tamarind sauce. It was sour and refreshing. The thin rice noodle got lost in the jungle. For a salad, it scored well. For an entree, it needed more warmth and more substance.
What the noodle salad didn’t have, the “curry-coconut udon noodle” had: warmth and substance. I don’t know why it’s not “coconut-curry,” and I don’t know why it’s called “udon noodle,” because this was not udon. Texture aside, the curry noodle didn’t have what the noodle salad had: flavor. It was coconuty, but a pinch of salt and a few tablespoons of sugar would be a nice boost. After all, vegan food doesn’t have to be unseasoned food.
It’s not clear to me why Herbivore has gained such popularity in the region. The two entrees we got did not make us oomph and aahh. Looking around at other tables, we saw many sandwiches, italians and happy faces, so was it just us not picking the right plates? Being on the verge of disappointment, I almost decided to leave without dessert, but Mudpie and a second thought made me grab the waitress to order a wedge of vegan pie with one scoop of ice cream. We heard that strawberry rhubarb was good, but since it was out, we opted for the olallieberry pie (just because of the name). According to Wikipedia, the olallieberry is half blackberry, a quarter raspberry, and a quarter dewberry. The pie filling was more tart than sweet, which is always nice. The crust was thick, dense, and plain enough to shelter us from a sugar flood. The mudslide vegan ice cream swept me off my feet with its creamy texture, chocolaty sweetness, and sneaky coconut shavings. If anything, this awesome dessert assortment would draw me back to Herbivore.
Address: Herbivore the Earthly Grill
2451 Shattuck Avenue (the corner of Shattuck and Haste)
Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 665-1675
Click for Herbivore’s Menu
An order of 1 curry tofu noodles, 1 Indonesian noodle salad, 1 yerba mate organic tea (plain), 1 vegan pie + a scoop of ice cream set us back by $30. Overall, a decent and healthy catch. But in all fairness, dessert aside, Herbivore is not in the least comparable with Garden Fresh in Mountain View.
Thanks to my father who informed me about this weblog, this weblog is genuinely
1awesome.
Hello Dear, are you truly visiting this web page daily, if so then you will absolutely obtain pleasant
2knowledge.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on studying abroad in University of Birmingham.
3Regards
I am in fact delighted to read this web site posts which contains plenty of helpful facts, thanks for providing these statistics.
4Hi to all, for the reason that I am truly eager of reading this webpage’s post to be
5updated on a regular basis. It contains good material.
I have been browsing online more than 4 hours today, yet
6I never found any interesting article like yours. It is pretty worth enough for me.
Personally, if all website owners and bloggers made good content
as you did, the internet will be a lot more useful than ever before.
I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you make this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you?
7Plz answer back as I’m looking to construct my own blog and would
like to know where u got this from. appreciate it
Just desire to say your article is as astounding. The clarity for your
8post is simply great and i could think you’re knowledgeable on this subject.
Well with your permission let me to grab your feed to stay up to date with coming near near post.
Thanks a million and please keep up the gratifying work.
Howdy fantastic blog! Does running a blog similar to this require a lot of work?
9I’ve absolutely no understanding of coding however I had
been hoping to start my own blog in the near future.
Anyway, if you have any ideas or techniques for new blog owners please
share. I understand this is off topic but I just had to ask.
Thank you!
Saved as a favorite, I really like your blog!
10What i don’t realize is actually how you are not actually much more well-liked than you might be now. You’re so intelligent. You realize thus significantly relating to this subject, made me personally consider it from so many varied angles. Its like women and men aren’t fascinated unless it’s one thing to accomplish with Lady gaga! Your own stuffs great. Always maintain it up!
11I like this weblog so much, saved to bookmarks. “To hold a pen is to be at war.” by Francois Marie Arouet Voltaire.
12Hi, i feel that i noticed you visited my website thus i got here to go back the choose?.I am attempting to to find things to enhance my site!I suppose its good enough to make use of a
13few of your ideas!!
When I originally commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox
14and now each time a comment is added I get three emails
with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service?
Thanks!
Hi mates, its wonderful piece of writing concerning educationand fully defined,
15keep it up all the time.
I’m impressed, I must say. Rarely do I come across a blog
that’s both educative and interesting, and let me tell you,
you have hit the nail on the head. The issue is an issue that not
enough folks are speaking intelligently about.
Now i’m very happy that I stumbled across this in my search for
16something concerning this.
Hi there every one, here every one is sharing these kinds of knowledge, so it’s pleasant to read this website, and I used to pay a
17visit this webpage daily.
Hey! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and say I
18truly enjoy reading your blog posts. Can you recommend any other
blogs/websites/forums that deal with the same topics? Thanks!
Wow that was unusual. I just wrote an extremely long
19comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear.
Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again.
Regardless, just wanted to say fantastic blog!
Great post. I was checking continuously this weblog and I’m impressed!
20Very helpful info specifically the ultimate section :
) I care for such info much. I was looking for this particular info for a long time.
Thanks and good luck.
Hiya very nice site!! Guy .. Excellent .. Wonderful ..
21I’ll bookmark your blog and take the feeds additionally?
I’m satisfied to seek out so many useful info here in the put up, we’d like
develop extra techniques on this regard, thanks
for sharing. . . . . .
Peculiar article, exactly what I needed.
22Hi! I realize this is sort of off-topic but I had to ask.
23Does operating a well-established blog like yours take a large amount of work?
I am brand new to operating a blog however I do write in my diary on a daily
basis. I’d like to start a blog so I can easily share my own experience and feelings online.
Please let me know if you have any kind of ideas
or tips for new aspiring blog owners. Thankyou!
Its such as you learn my mind! You seem to know a
lot approximately this, such as you wrote the e-book in it or something.
I feel that you can do with a few p.c. to drive the message home a bit,
but other than that, that is fantastic blog. A fantastic read.
I’ll certainly be back.
24You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation however I find this topic to be actually something which I believe I would by no means understand. It seems too complex and very large for me. I am looking forward for your subsequent post, I’ll attempt to get the dangle of it!
25I want to to thank you for this very good read!! I definitely enjoyed
26every little bit of it. I have you book marked to
check out new things you post…
Wonderful beat ! I would like to apprentice at the same time as
you amend your web site, how could i subscribe for a weblog website?
The account aided me a applicable deal. I have been tiny bit acquainted of this your broadcast offered vibrant clear idea
27Have you ever considered about including a little bit more than just your articles?
28I mean, what you say is important and everything. But just imagine if you added some great pictures or video
clips to give your posts more, “pop”! Your content is
excellent but with pics and videos, this website could definitely be one of
the very best in its niche. Excellent blog!
I’m not that much of a online reader to be honest but your sites really nice, keep it
29up! I’ll go ahead and bookmark your website to come back in the future.
Many thanks
My family always say that I am killing my time here at web, but I know I
30am getting experience every day by reading thes good posts.
Howdy just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let
31you know a few of the pictures aren’t loading properly. I’m not sure
why but I think its a linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different
browsers and both show the same results.
I pay a quick visit every day some web sites and
32blogs to read posts, but this web site offers feature based posts.
Hey just wanted to give you a brief heads up and let you know a few of the pictures aren’t loading correctly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different internet browsers and both show the same results.
33you are really a good webmaster. The website loading speed is incredible. It seems that you’re doing any unique trick. Furthermore, The contents are masterpiece. you have done a great job on this topic!
34It is really a nice and useful piece of information. I am satisfied that you shared this useful info with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing.
35Hello there, I found your blog via Google while looking for a related topic, your website came up, it looks great. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
36Enjoyed examining this, very good stuff, regards.
37I consider something truly special in this site.
38Have you ever considered creating an ebook or guest authoring on other sites? I have a blog centered on the same topics you discuss and would love to have you share some stories/information. I know my readers would value your work. If you are even remotely interested, feel free to send me an e-mail.
39I always was concerned in this topic and stock still am, thanks for putting up.
40certainly like your web-site but you have to test the spelling on quite a few of your posts. Many of them are rife with spelling issues and I find it very troublesome to inform the truth on the other hand I’ll certainly come back again.
41Appreciate it for this post, I am a big fan of this site would like to continue updated.
42Great web site. Plenty of helpful information here. I’m sending it to several buddies ans also sharing in delicious. And naturally, thank you for your effort!
43I and my guys have been analyzing the excellent tactics on your site and so at once came up with an awful feeling I had not expressed respect to you for them. All of the young men were definitely excited to read through them and have now absolutely been using these things. We appreciate you indeed being so accommodating and also for picking some exceptional issues millions of individuals are really wanting to know about. My very own honest regret for not saying thanks to you earlier.
44Hi there! This post couldn’t be written any better! Reading through this post reminds me of my previous room mate! He always kept talking about this. I will forward this article to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read. Thank you for sharing!
45Hello, i think that i saw you visited my site thus i got here to “go back the prefer”.I am trying to to find issues to improve my website!I guess its good enough to use some of your concepts!!
46I like the valuable info you supply on your articles. I’ll bookmark your weblog and test again right here frequently. I’m reasonably certain I will be told many new stuff right here! Good luck for the following!
47Hmm is anyone else encountering problems with the pictures on this blog loading? I’m trying to determine if its a problem on my end or if it’s the blog. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
48What i don’t realize is actually how you’re not really much more well-liked than you may be now. You’re very intelligent. You realize thus considerably relating to this subject, made me personally consider it from numerous varied angles. Its like men and women aren’t fascinated unless it’s one thing to accomplish with Lady gaga! Your own stuffs outstanding. Always maintain it up!
49I will right away grab your rss as I can’t find your email subscription link or newsletter service. Do you have any? Kindly let me know so that I could subscribe. Thanks.
50