Restaurants
Hogtown Vegan
The Hogtown Vegan is the second restaurant in a little over six months from the vegan restauranteur trio responsible for Kensington Market's all vegan doughnuts and burrito joint, Hot Beans. Having already amassed a strong following, these vegans are multiplying fast.
Upgrading from take-out style counter service to a causal dining sit down model, Hogtown Vegan is a deep South comfort food restaurant. Entirely animal product free version of seriously meaty American foods like chicken n' waffles, mac n' cheese and a classic Reuben are now available for those who have renounced carnivorous ways.
Apparently vegan Hogtonians were eager for a dose of comfort cuisine causing a food shortage on opening day. I have one friend who can already boast three visits in their first 10 days open.
We came in for lunch on an obscenely hot day but the weather outside and, though the A/C was undetectable, we were brought a plastic jug of water to sip. Dark wood trim and black tables are set against awkwardly bare turquoise walls leaving a sparse interior that will hopefully soon be filled.
We started with the "unchicken" wings ($7), a generous euphemism for deep fried tofu triangles. They were pretty good for slabs of tofu; the light batter, dill and hot sauce dip gave them a needed kick of heat.
The Reuben sandwich ($11) was the first dish that made me remember these were indeed the same people who make some of the best vegan burritos known to Toronto. A a mound of thin, tangled fries sits tall on the plate so intertwined you could easily pick up the whole lot with your fork. They were as delicious as they were innovative. The sandwich was packed with sharp and creamy notes, the pumpernickel rye layered with nippy sauerkraut, house-made strips of seitan (or wheat gluten strips) with horseradish mayo and garlic butter.
The staple of many a Canadian childhood, mac n' cheese ($7) was a disappointing and bland dish with thick white pasta noodles and a thin 'cheese' sauce. There's nothing non-vegan about white pasta, but for $7, I sure would have like wholewheat noodles with a thicker sauce.
The most disappointing dish of the day was the biscuit sliders ($12). Their unfortunate appearance reminded my friend of the food she used to serve in a seniors home and translated into a similarly drab tasting dish of mushroom gravy and veggie sausage over a dry biscuit. The tasty collard greens on the side were definitely best part of the dish.
We were all pretty full but decided we had to try both of the desserts. We started with the key lime 'cheese' cake ($6 plus $2 per scoop of ice-cream) that left us all emphatically making "mmm...mmmm!" sounds with each bite. The thick custard was soft and tangy while the ice cream refreshing. A moment later my friend firmly declared, "you /have/ to try this," after taking the first bite of the flowerless, gluten-free, vegan chocolate torte ($7). We were all blown away by the obscene richness of the soft chocolate and professed we must return one day soon to have it again.
We came out torn about our meal; some of our dishes were phenomenal while others were confusingly bad. Tainting the experience even more was the off-putting service from our waitress who kept all customer interaction to a bare minimum even when I tried to ask about some of the food.
I decided to go back and try what I nearly ordered the first time around, the roasted sweet-potato sandwich ($10) with Caesar salad on the side (lead photo). A tender layer of sweet-potato was topped with marinated red onions and a tangy smothering of kalamata tempenade, a Mediterranean olive spread. The sweet and savoury combination on the sandwich was delicious but in the in salad the sharp taste of romaine lettuce came through more than the Caesar dressing.
Transforming traditionally gritty dishes from the American South to vegan form is a mighty undertaking. Our favourite menu picks, the Ruben, fries and both deserts, were outrageously delicious while other dishes left us scratching our heads. The menu is playful and imaginative leaving me curious to see more of their dishes and how the restaurant will settle in as new genre of vegan dining in Hogtown.
Discussion
30 Comments
Sort By Oldest First / Newest First
Subscribe
Also, why is everyone always so shocked by how good flourless chocolate cake tastes? All it is, is coco, sugar, oil and vanilla. Of course it will taste good!!!
This food does not look particularly enticing.
Best of luck, HV.
It's possible to eat a vegan diet that is low carb, it just takes more effort, as does any healthy diet. There are PLENTY of vegans who eat as few grains as possible, instead emphasizing greens (raw and cooked), fruits, and nuts & seeds.
Good things about Hogtown Vegan:
-Pretty decent size menu
-Prices are good
-"Comfort food" (something you might not find at some of the other vegan places around the city)
-They know how to make fantastic collard greens
-The Reuben sandwich is one of the best dishes in the menu
-Their deserts are delicious
-They just opened; they have plenty of time to improve
Bad things about Hogtown Vegan (right now):
-Decor is awful - you don't need to spend a lot of many to make a restaurant look inviting and interesting
-Lack of AC - it's really hard to fully enjoy your meal when you feel like you are in a sauna
-The Mac n' cheese and the Caesar salad dressing needs some tweaking
-The food presentation could be better
All of that being said, please don’t let any review stop you from going to Hogtown Vegan. Go check it out, try as many dishes as possible and then decide for yourself.
I plan on returning many times, enjoy their food and watch them evolve and reach its full potential. When they do, they can be one of the best, if not the best, place in Toronto to enjoy some delicious comfort vegan food.
None of those dishes look great. Especially those biscuits. Where in Southern USA do they make shit like that?
http://www.yelp.ca/biz/the-hogtown-vegan-toronto
if this business is going to thrive, there MUST be a focus on honing their customer service skills. so far, it is mostly terrible. i know it can be hard to work in a customer service environment (i have done it myself), but she was really awful to me for no reason. if she can't hone those skills, then she shouldn't be out front and should hire people who are there to give customer service. this only brings down your restaurant because you lose customers, and word spreads.
The Good:
- Key Lime 'cheese' cake and flourless chocoloate torte were awesome
- Jack Slaw, Reuben and Fries were enjoyed
- Po'boy was delicious (although I would have preferred a smaller but - ended up being 2/3 bun 1/3 filling)
The Bad('ish)
- everyone at our table felt the dishes were overly salty (particularly the collard greens)
- roasted sweet potato sandwich - flavors just didn't seem to mesh (was enjoyed more after the tapenade was removed so it could just be personal preference)
In the end the bad wasn't so bad and could easily be improved in the coming months. Hope that the staff at Hogtown are looking at reviews and comments like these so they can make the place even better!
Carbs are good for you. They're the only food that feeds your brain. Vegetables and fruit are carbs. I suggest you get educated on nutrition before making such bold statements.
The food is grossly over salted and the strong flavours would be at home at the CNE fairway or any hot dog stand or drive through fast food joint. I could not get the taste of curry powder mayo out of my mouth even after mouthwash! My partner who is not a picky eater couldn't finish half of her dinner because of the salt. we both took two days to recover from the indigestion. Very disappointing but other people seme to like it but then again people love KFC as well.
The food is definitely heavy and comforting, and not at all what you'd expect to see at a vegan restaurant. I wouldn't go there all the time, but it's definitely a nice treat when you want some comfort food. Yeah, the lack of vegetables was surprising for a vegan restaurant, but that's what makes it different, I guess. It's a nice treat once in a while to get vegan food that isn't a magic tofu wrap from Fresh (although I do love Fresh).
The waiter I had was really nice- we were a little overwhelmed by the non-traditional menu, but he had some good recommendations and the service was quick.
So, I'd say check it out if you feel like comforting greasy diner food instead of the usual salad or rice bowl!