Ok, so I’m a bit obsessed with finding great vegan restaurants.  I recently attempted to visit all of the vegan restaurants I could find while driving across the USA (I’ll have more on the outcome of that later).  I had the pleasure of living in Toronto for the last year, and was able to visit virtually all of the vegan eateries in the city.  For those looking for vegan places to go in Toronto, I recommend Hogtown Vegan, Fresh, Fressen and, finally, Live Food Bar – the restaurant reviewed in this post.

I’ve been to Live more times than I can count, and I’ve had it delivered for dinner at home a few times as well from www.orderit.ca.  I really appreciate the fact that Live Food Bar is on OrderIt, since there usually aren’t too many options for vegans when ordering delivery.

Let me start by saying I’ve tried pretty much all of the juices here and they are all really good (and healthy!).  The two I always go back for are the Vitamin See (orange, ginger, lemon) and the Green Kick (kale, ginger, pear, dandelion, lemon).  Fresh fruit and vegetable juices are a big part of how I stay healthy, and I gravitate towards anything with ginger if I’m starting to feel sick for any reason.

Ok: On to brunch.  I need everyone to go to Live and try the Mac Muffin. Immediately.  It’s really, really great, and I couldn’t tell the difference between it and the last real egg mcmuffin I had (which, to be fair, was a few years ago).  I gave some to my (non-vegan) boyfriend and my friend (also not vegan), and they loved it.  While they both said it didn’t taste like eggs, they thought it was still a great dish on its own.

Next we tried the Tofu Omelet. This wasn’t as good as the Mac Muffin, but I thought it had a really fantastic flavour, and it was full of avocado, cherry and sundried tomatoes, arugula and almond parmesan.  It was a bit dry, but definitely something I would try again at brunch.

Finally, we shared a Brunch Club, a triple-decker sandwich with tempeh and eggplant bacon, tofu, tomatoes, greens and avocado.  Again, it was tasty, but nowhere near as good as the Mac Muffin (an opinion shared by my fellow diners).  I think the problem with the Brunch Club was that it’s very similar to something I make at home, and when I go out for a vegan dinner I want to be blown away by something I’ve never thought of making, or haven’t been able to make properly.  That being said, none of us had any real problems with the dish, and I would happily enjoy it again … but I would make it myself.

The next meal I had from Live Food Bar was something I ordered from OrderIt when I felt like having a night in.  I ordered the Antipasto Platter (not shown) and the Tofu and Chips.  The antipasto platter consisted of olives, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, pumpkin and sunflower seed hummus, cashew herb chevre, flat breads, and an almond seed breadstick.  It was delicious.  We ate it really quickly since it was so good, which left less room for dinner than we would have liked!

 Next we tried the Tofu and Chips, which was described as: battered tofu steaks over cornmeal chickpea fries and creamy, cashew slaw.  When it arrived, however, it was lacking for chick pea fries.  This was a shame, since this was the aspect of the dish to which I was most looking forward.  Quite apart from the missing element, however, this meal was the most disappointing of any that I have ever had from Live Food Bar.  It was difficult to pinpoint exactly what was off about it, but I think it may have failed owing to its being a bit mushy. There was also too much lemon on the tofu.  Perhaps it was because it was delivered, and therefore sitting out for a while, but I can safely say that I wouldn’t order it again (I’ve tried it twice, and didn’t like it either time).

I’ve also purchased a few items at Whole Foods (they carry a few of Live’s items) to eat at home.  When I was gluten free for about six weeks I purchased the corn tortillas to make wraps and was quite impressed with the taste and texture.  They were a bit thicker than my usual wraps, but they didn’t break when I rolled them (bonus points!).  Overall, I would definitely recommend these to anyone who is gluten free.

Finally, I impulse-purchased the basil pesto spaghetti from Whole Foods, and I’m glad I did; it was incredible.  It’s obvious that it’s not pasta (the “noodles” are made from zucchini) but it honestly doesn’t matter.  Even though it was pre-packaged, the noodles weren’t mushy at all and the flavours were amazing together.  At home, I often attempt to replace pasta with spaghetti squash or zucchini for a healthier dinner, but it has never been anywhere close to as good as this was.  Plus, we ate it without adding anything to it, which almost never happens.

Overall, I would highly recommend Live Food Bar to anyone who wants a fun, interesting and slightly different vegan food experience. Much of the food is raw and almost everything I have tried has been totally worth the price.  I hope you’ll go and let me know what you eat, and what you think!

Laura.