Holier-Than-Sow

Vegan or vegetarian restaurants have a reputation for healthy food and clean living. The Hogtown Vegan, which recently opened at Bloor and Shaw, aims to "change" that by offering a vegan take on greasy diner food. As such, you'll find dishes including fries, nachoes, wings, mac and cheese, reuben sandwiches, poboy, and biscuit sliders. Desserts were a flourless chocolate torte and a key lime "cheese" cake. All dishes strive to be gluten-free, nut-free, and sugar-free.

With the restaurant packed on Saturday because of the street festival, I returned to a smaller crowd on Sunday. The restaurant is a medium-size room with chocolate-coloured padded seats and dark wood tables. However, the walls were a bright teal that can be distracting. Tattoed hipsters abound.

I ordered the burger ($11) but opted for the sauteed collard greens because I was trying to eat healthy. The collard greens came out lightly oiled and tossed with garlic. It was fresh and retained just a hint of bitterness. This was a nice side. The burger was substantial and the soy patty had a good mouth-feel, but it would have been better if the fried onions were part of the patty mix. The only negative was the extra sourness. I couldn't tell if it came from the pickles or the vegan cheddar. The latter, according to the waitress, is composed of tapioca and coconut milk, as well as other ingredients. It didn't taste much like cheese though.

It wasn't a bad lunch but next time I'll stick with the fries because otherwise, it wasn't quite a substantial enough meal. More photos can be found at this blogto post.