REVIEW: Souley Vegan

Souley Vegan (Restaurant) Oakland, CA

Ask a vegan or vegetarian where their favorite local restaurant is and a large majority of the time that restaurant will be serving Asian cuisine. Whether its part of the culture or just the popularity of dishes that are easily made veggie friendly, Indian, Chinese, and Thai restaurants often have plenty of options.

With that in mind, I am always interested when a restaurant covers new territory. That is what brought me to Souley Vegan, a Southern-style soul food spot on the corner of Broadway & 3rd in Oakland.

As I entered, I was greeted by several kind ladies who were eager to help me with my order seeing as it was my first time. Their menu contains a large variety of southern dishes such as corn bread, collard greens, red beans with rice, and many others. From these you can cheese 1-4 to be served on a plate or you can choose a sampler which gives you a taste of nearly everything. They also have burgers/sandwiches. Toast, the bass player for Bay Area Hardcore band Ceremony, even has his own menu item.

I ordered 3 sides: the fried tofu, the potato salad, and the mac-n-cheese. To drink I ordered the Cayenne Lemonade.

The food took a little while to come out seeing as it was their peak dinner hour. This was fine for me but if you are in a rush you may want to call ahead of time.

When the food arrived I was not disappointed by the portion sizes. For $14 I had received a normal size drink with 2 heaps of mac-n-cheese and potato salad as well as 2 large pieces of catfish-style battered tofu served with lemon and herb-butter. The batter on the tofu was crispy and delicious and not too greasy. Although the tofu inside had not had much else done to it, it worked perfectly in the context of the dish.

The potato salad was excellent and had red skin potatoes, black olives, and green onions with just the right amount of creaminess.

The mac-n-cheese had a good peppery kick to it and was certainly better than other vegan versions of that dish I have had, but as someone who hasn't made the jump from vegetarian to vegan yet I found the "cheese" to be a little too creamy and too salty for me. I also felt like the noodles were slightly overcooked.

The Cayenne Lemonade was tasty but as someone with a sweet tooth I could have used a little more sugar in it. The cayenne was subtle and worked well with adding some depth to the beverage.

Overall I had a very good experience although next time I will make sure to order some greens or other veggies. I found myself crazing a salad after I ate and I believe that that was no fault of the restaurant but rather my lack of balance when ordering. I am eager to come back and try their Strawberry Ginger juice and their fried okra.