Real Food Daily

Andrew and Lauren introduced us to another Los Angeles vegan restaurant: Real Food Daily, Organic Vegan Cuisine, located at 414 N. La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles (West Hollywood), CA (310-289-9910).

It was a place they'd never been, but wanted to try. There are also RFD restaurants in Santa Monica and Pasadena. In the pantheon of vegan restaurants, as we currently understand it, Cafe Gratitude, Flore Vegan Cuisine, and Sage Organic Vegan Bistro all have a place with special honors. Any non-vegan could go to one of those restaurants and find food they would enjoy and appreciate. RFD is not on the same level, but is definitely a step above the Loving Hut, but a restaurant that just a vegan would appreciate. The dishes are not as oily as the Loving Hut, and the food quality appears better, but the combinations, the creativity, the taste and even the quality of the food are not on the same level as the others. The best thing we got was the Not-Chos, which had tortilla chips, melted cashew cheese, black beans, pico de gallo, guacamole and tofu sour cream. It was a dish we shared and all enjoyed. 

I got a Spicy BLT Wrap which was tempeh bacon, avocado, lettuce, tomato, and spicy vegenaise on a spinach wrap. 

I particularly enjoyed the small pieces of crispy tempeh that added nice texture and flavor to the wrap. I got the best of the main courses in our group.   I also got Veggies of the Day which included some greens, broccoli, carrots, zucchini and green beans. 

It was basic and straightforward, not flashy or unusual. Judy and Lauren got the Real Food Bargain which came with soup

and

a slice of corn grain bread and spread,

brown rice, beans, greens, land and sea veggies, pressed salad and a dressing or sauce. 

and

Both of them were kind of disappointed. Again, pretty basic, nothing fancy or special about it. Andrew got what I believe was called Hunk of Burning Love, a special, which had brown rice, broccoli, lotus root, green peas and some other items I can't find a record of or discern from the picture. 

Again, he was disappointed. Finally, I ordered a dessert we shared, which was a coconut cake covered with chocolate. 

Again, very ordinary. We all left disappointed. This was the first out of four vegan restaurants we'd tried with Andrew and Lauren in Los Angeles that we were not all raving about.