Yesterday i visited my second Vegan restaurant in Phuket. I came just after a free meditation class that was held up the road with a nice American man called Tobias. He has been living in Thailand and holding workshops and retreats for many years. It was a great class that lasted an hour in total, and i learned a few things about meditation. It was a small class with just three of us attending, and by the end of it i was feeling quite calm and centered and happy.. as is usually the case with meditation classes! :)
It was interesting to note that this restaurant was situated on a road that had many Thai Kick Boxing schools.. They were all outdoors and you could watch people kicking the crap out of each other as you passed by. Its not something I've ever tried, although i think it could be fun.. but definitely not today! At first i found it a little strange as i wouldnt imagine that these beefy guys and girls would be interested in Vegan food. but i was quite surprised to see a couple of super strong looking dudes did in fact eat at The Pure Vegan Heaven!
Maybe times have changed, and people are wising up that being vegan does not mean that you are frail and weak.. in fact many studies have now shown than if you eat a high protein vegan diet you can be even stronger and healthier than people who knock back chemical laden protein shakes and high fat red meat. OF course it takes some effort to eat well as a Vegan and these restaurants definitely help!
The entrance was all green and happy looking, very clean and cute. The staff were again all Thai and clearly someone has trained them up well.. i have to assume it is a westerner who leads this but they were not around. I asked the women who were there if they were vegan and they said they weren't, but were able to cook what looked like amazing food nonetheless.
So i started with a refreshing fruit shake to rehydrate and cool down.. its pretty hot and humid here in THailand right now, and i wanted to take some time checking the menu out. This menu was slightly less incredible than the Vegan Table menu i had seen a few days ago, but still very inspiring and it was hard to choose what to have.
I decided to go for two main courses since it looked very cheap to me, and i was feeling pretty hungry with no breakfast and a few activities during the morning. The mexican bowl was first. I love mexican food, and this one looked like a good balance of fresh veggies and hearty beans and some brown rice hidden underneath it all. It arrived quickly and i wasted no time tucking in!
The tastes were very good, with the veggies mixed with a nice salsa sauce and well cooked so it wasn't hard to chew or digest. Those few slices of cucumber and lettuce leaves balanced the whole dish off very well and i ate nearly the whole thing. Interestingly i hardly touched the three sauces that came with it, which is unusual for me.. i normally go wild on dips.. but somehow these dishes were enough on their own! A good sign really! Just as i was finishing I was interrupted by the staff who brought me my next dish, a falafel wrap!
It looked amazing, and i like how they cut it into two pieces so you could see exactly what was inside before you even started. Presentation is so important, and i think Thai culture knows this only too well. I have had many dishes with carrots and tomatoes carved so intricately that i didn't know if i should eat it or frame it. When food looks too good to eat, you should eat it right away!
Zooming in a little you can see again a great mix of raw salad, red cabbage, carrots, lettuce and maybe something else hidden in there. It had a few falafel balls also to give it some depth and protein, and was accompanied with a tahini sauce which i drizzled on top as i ate.
These were so well wrapped, almost like a sushi roll!
Half way through my first wrap and you can see those veggies nearly bursting out the wrap! Even though it was a fairly simple wrap it really satisfied me and i didnt feel like anything was missing from this dish.
I manage to eat one half and decided to keep the other half for later as i was feeling pretty full.. SO much so i didn't even have dessert, again! Wow! That is a good sign that you have eaten well.. as i normally love a sweet dessert after a simple meal.
Value for money was very good! The mexican bowl was just $5, and the falafel wrap was also around $5.. SO thats just $10 for basically two main courses with enough to take home for dinner! That is much cheaper than just about any other place i have been to, including the cheaper thai local food places.
I had a look at what other people were eating and everyone was happily tucking in to their dishes. Looks like our Thai beefy guy was having the beyond burger! OOh im always having burger envy even if i just ate!
You can check out the entire menu below.. As you can see there are a lot of options to please just about anyone.. and those desserts looks SO enticing! Maybe ill have to come back just to try them! As tempted as i was to over do it and order the Date Sticky Toffee cake, i decided to call it a day and got the bill. Its not worth feeling overfull as then i just want to sleep and feel very heavy.
SO i hope you enjoyed this little tour of the Pure VEgan Heaven Restaurant! BIg thanks to the staff and the owner, whoever they are and wherever they are.. I think they are opening many more branches around Thailand.. I wonder, if you are a meat eater would you eat here anyways? Let me know in the comments! I like to inspire and encourage us to all try new things.. I am not even a vegan myself, but i don't eat meat that often either.. maybe once a month unless im travelling.
THanks for stopping by, and don't miss the next Vegan Restaurant.. coming soon to a hive post near you! :)