Vegetarian

Vegetarians out there always complain that I don't comment about any vegetarian restaurants in Alameda. Well, one important factor is that there is only one vegetarian restaurant in Alameda, Central Vegetarian Cuisine on Park Street. Of course a majority of all restaurants in town have vegetarian dishes, but Central Vegetarian Cuisine is strictly vegetarian.


Recently, I walked along Park Street one Friday evening. I passed by Central Vegetarian Cuisine, and noticed the place was closed. The night was early and definitely during normal business hours for a food establishment. There was no sign on the door. I wonder if this is an indication of the economy or that Alamedans are not into vegetarian cuisine. I have not walked back to the restaurant since then to see if the owner is still in operation.


Other food that is popular in the vegetarian realm is Indian food. Most Indians are vegetarians, but Indian restaurants in the US serve meat. India Palace serves great vegetarian dishes that are not side plates. I definitely enjoy the cauliflower entree in curry sauce with peas and potatoes. The rice at India Palace is really tasty with the slight hint of saffron. Yummy!

Chinese restaurants also serve vegetarian dishes, but it is mostly stir fry. I find stir fry to be one-dimensional at times; I guess it depends upon what type of sauce is served with it. What I do love in Chinese vegetarian dishes is the tofu. Love tofu! Hong Kong East Ocean on Webster Street prepares a great deep fried tofu dish with stuffed shrimp. Unfortunately the stuffed tofu is really a side dish and not an entree. I will not even go there with the imitation (soy product) of pork, chicken and beef served in some Chinese restaurants. I ate a few of those meals in a vegan, Buddhist Chinese restaurant in San Francisco and found the few experiences to be odd. It tastes like meat, has a slightly different texture than meat, but it suppose to be meat. I don't get it since it is a vegan restaurant?

The other option is pasta at Italian restaurants. Cera Una Volta has a few decent pasta dishes sans meat. The eggplant parmesan is entree worthy.

Alamedans may have find it difficult to support a truly vegan restaurant (no egg or milk product, or no seafood) on the island. I don't think there are enough vegans or vegetarians on the island to be able to financially support a restaurant.