I stopped by after dinner with a friend so it was dark out… here’s what the outside looks like.

Some shots of the inside… as you can see, it’s bright and happy.

Here’s the main ice cream freezer.  If you decide to forego looking at the main menu on the wall, make sure you note which flavors are marked with a (V) in the case because those are VEGAN, and they’re made with NUT MILK.

Here’s the main wall that lists all of the flavors. Again, pay attention to which flavors are marked with a (V), because those are vegan.

I’m not a vegan, but I’m not opposed to trying vegan things. I think if you’re a vegan you definitely lose your taste for non-vegan things and acquire a specific taste for vegan things, so for vegans, these flavors are probably very delicious, but for a non-vegan like myself, I just can’t do it.  The first time I visited Curbside I accidentally ordered a vegan flavor (peanut butter) and didn’t realize it at the time, until I tasted it, and something was just not right… just a little weird, like, not creamy and rich, but a strange bland weird non-dairy flavor. Then I realized I ordered the vegan flavor, and everything made sense.

My regular flavor here (and everywhere) is mint chocolate chip. Hard to go wrong with a good mint chocolate chip, and this one definitely does not disappoint. It’s minty – the fresh kind of minty, and the chocolate chips are very small (shaved). It’s really good!

I like how they serve sugar cones too, classic!

Curbside Creamery
482 49th St, Oakland, CA 94609 (Temescal Alley)
www.curbsideoakland.com

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Anyway, everytime we go there on a Sunday when they have brunch I always order the same thing.  The Basil Pesto Tofu Scramble.  I can pretty much depend on this dish being pretty spot on each time – salty, pesto-y… the homefries are also pretty good although I usually add alot of salt… and the toast is pretty good too, usually pretty crunchy and sliced thick.

So there it is in all its glory… the scrambled tofu is the closest thing to eggs as you’ll get at Herbivore. All in all, this is a pretty good dish… so good in fact that I am afraid to venture off and try other things on the menu.

Just an FYI if you order coffee or a latte with your breakfast, they don’t have real milk or half and half.  It’s soy milk.  And they don’t have Splenda or sweet and low… only natural sugar and agave nectar.  They also don’t have coke or sprite or any of your favorite sodas.  Just San Pellegrino Aranciata and Limon and some other natural sodas… so don’t get your hopes up if you’re thirsting for a freakin Coke, you won’t get it.

Herbivore
2451 Shattuck Ave
Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 665-1675
www.herbivorerestaurant.com

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Anyway, the food is good. I am a massive carnivore, and I honestly can’t complain about this food. I’ve eaten at alot of vegetarian restaurants, and I can tell you that the “meat” at Golden Era is the most “meat-like” out of all the different variations of seitan and tofu/soy products out there. The “beef” even has a stringy meaty texture, and the “chicken” is soft and tender and you can also see the “fibers”.  The thing I hate about most vegetarian food is that I’m always left feeling an unfulfilled void after my meal – but my void is filled at Golden Era, especially with the fried stuff.

I started off with the steamed veggie bun. It’s pretty good, I usually get it every time I go there. The photo isn’t as good as the normal ones because I had my lens baby on my cam – wasn’t really planning on eating out so I didn’t have my “food lens” with me…

This steamed veggie bun is very good.  The bun is soft and warm.  It kind of looks uncooked when it arrives (as most steamed buns look)… it’s dough-y and the inside is stuffed with a bunch of veggies, including black beans, tomato chunks, corn, peppers, onions… it has a nice, mild vegetable flavor.

This is the Spicy Gourmet Chicken.  I never had this dish before – I think it is new.  I think it’s supposed to be the “General Tso’s” version minus the battered fried balls of chicken because it was both a little sweet and had a nice little spicy bite to it.  I ordered brown rice with it but I didn’t eat much of it… the chicken was enough.  It doesn’t come with sauce though so to me it’s hard for me to justify eating it with rice.  It was good though, I would probably get it again.

Golden Era Vegetarian Restaurant
572 O’Farrell St.
(between Jones St & Leavenworth St)
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 673-3136
www.goldeneravegetarian.com

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