Happy cow. Happy vegan.

In these past months, I really have enjoyed my vegan journey. It has not been as difficult as I thought it might have been, though eating out (especially with meat-eaters) has been my biggest challenge. I am learning, however, to navigate those dining experiences as I discover resources on-line, which are making it easier for vegan-me to find food anywhere. One important resource I recently discovered: HappyCow.net

HappyCow's Vegetarian Guide offers an international, searchable directory of vegetarian and vegan restaurants and natural health food stores, and includes recipes, cookbooks, and information on vegan and vegetarian issues related to nutrition, health, diet, and travel.

With reviews, ratings, and a brief description of the menu, the restaurant search has become the most valuable resource on the site for me. I used it to find Bean Sprouts, a Chinese vegetarian restaurant in Arcadia, when visiting a friend in Southern California last month. I used it to find Udupi, a vegan-friendly Indian restaurant in Berkeley, when friends from London were in town. And most recently, I used it on Thursday.

In a last minute decision, the camp where I live and work needed me to drive 2 people to Oakland airport through rush hour traffic. They offered to reimburse my gas expenses and dinner before I head back up the mountain. With a free dinner at a restaurant of my choosing, how could I refuse? I immediately logged onto HappyCow, and discovered Central Vegetarian Cuisine in Alameda. They had no link to a website or menu, but from the airport, I could get there via surface streets and avoid freeway traffic. With "vegan-friendly, Chinese, Thai" as the description, it seemed like it would be the right place for me. And it was.

A grand re-opening sign was still up on the front of the Park Avenue entrance, near Lincoln. Street parking around the corner was easy. Though the restaurant is a single store front and small, the décor was clean, contemporary, airy, and inviting. With only a few customers, I snagged a table with a view of the street and proceeded to enjoy my solo dinner down from the mountain, courtesy of the camp.

Though "fake meat" selections were listed throughout the menu (I don't do "fake meat" when I have the choice), there were plenty of other options. A note on the bottom of the menu ("Majority of our dishes can be made Vegan") made me smile. No worries about what I would eat here, even though the grand re-opening menu was more Vietnamese than Thai in its selections.

Since it was just vegan-me, it took a while to decide what one dish to order. I toggled between a few as there were many I wanted to try. I selected the Sesame eggplant tofu with brown rice on the side, and within minutes, it came out on a good size platter. The Japanese eggplant tasted fresh and was not mushily overcooked. The tofu was firm, lightly pan-fried and pleasantly seasoned. Though the sauce was a bit heavy in garlic, overall, it was a very nice entree. With good food and pleasant environment, I'll definitely go back to Central Veg in Alameda.

The best highlight of the evening, however (and another reason why I'll return), is the unexpected dessert on this ethnic food menu - Vegan mocha chocolate cake.** Seeing it, vegan-me was happy. Enjoying it with a glass of cold soy milk, vegan-me was VERY happy. Knowing the camp would reimburse me for it, priceless!


**THE CHOCOLATE CAKE REVIEW:
Though the vegan mocha chocolate cake at Central Vegetarian was dark and moist, it was on the lighter side and lacked the dense texture and rich taste I appreciate and prefer. It was not overly sweet, which was nice, but it did lack the subtle bitter chocolate bite that I associate with superior cake quality. It was a nice cake, but the cake needed the mocha and chocolate frosting to give it a full chocolate depth. My grade: B.