Restaurants
Hot Beans
Hot Beans has recently opened in Kensington Market. The idea to open a vegan taco restaurant in the area is such an obviously brilliant idea, it's surprising it has taken this long to happen. Located on Baldwin Street near Spadina, this new restaurant takes over the space from the short-lived Harapeko.
Inspired by the prevalence and variety of vegan cuisine in cities like New York and Portland, co-owners Madeleine Foote, Scott McCannell and Ross Corder have created a restaurant that caters to both Toronto's vegan community and the city's foodies.
The deliciously tingling aroma of hot sauce fills the air as we line up to order, and I find my eyes watering slightly. Taking our order, Foote smiles and patiently explains the menu to our group of non-vegan diners, answering our questions about the taste of certain meat substitutes.
The menu is small, with a selection of three types of both burritos and tacos. The latter come with one side, a choice of rice and beans, chips and salsa or creamy slaw. Breakfast options are also available on weekends.
I decide to take my chances on the jackfruit "pulled pork" taco with a side of slaw ($8.50), while my dinner date orders the yuba "chicken" taco with the rice ($8.50).
We wait for our meals in the small dining area, a few steps up on a mezzanine overlooking the kitchen. Perched on a tall stool, we watch our tacos coming together like vultures waiting for their prey. Very meatless, vegan prey.
Our food is delivered in biodegradable containers - a wonderful detail, Hot Beans does not have a garbage can, just a green bin and a recycling box.
The jackfruit tacos are full of juicy bits of fruit, doused in delicious BBQ sauce with a small dose of cashew sour cream and pico. The texture is not as chewy as I was expecting, but the taste is pleasant. The coleslaw is finely ground, refreshing and creamy, without the vinegary aftertaste slaw so often has. This side dish is the perfect pairing for the generous helping of housemade habanero sauce I pour on the entire meal.
The yuba tacos are incredible, savoury and meaty, and we all agree the faux-chicken's consistency is better than the jackfruit's. While quite tasty, the rice and beans are slightly dried out. We got the last scoop of the batch though - from our seats, we can see the fresh portion, which looks much more appealing.
We are then privy to the frying of a fresh batch of lime and coconut donuts (UPDATE September 11, 2012: Hot Beans no longer serves donuts). As we watch Foote dipping the warm pastries into the silky lime frosting, we give in to our urge to rush down and try one. Perfection - they are dense and soft, topped with a dusting of toasted coconut shavings. Accompanied by a glass of tangy homemade limeade, it's the ideal way to end our experience.
Hot Beans is open daily from 11:30am to 8:30pm.
Discussion
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D-Boom
I like this place, but I feel like it could be better. I was bummed out by how carb heavy everything was, and wished there was more veggies. I don't like tomato that much, so adding some lettuce or something would have been a nice choice to balance the rice in the burrito I had.
can't wait to try :D
Now, I'm just waiting for someone in TO to open up an all-vegan burger joint, like Winnipeg's awesome Boon Burger.
Anyone ever been to "Chicago Diner" in Chicago? A vegan diner like that in Toronto is much needed. Their brunch is legendary.
In addition to making all their own toppings (a rarity with the bigger burrito spots), they also make their own hot sauce, which was especially amazing.
Though the burrito was truly awesome, the donut was even better. At $2 a piece they're pricey, but I suppose that's the cost of hand-made, quality goods.
I am an omnivore who loves all sorts of food. I cure my own bacon, but I also get all excited about an awesome chickpea salad, i.e. well made vegetarian/vegan food. Fake anything just turns me right off, from margarine to fake chorizo.
Compared to mystery-"meat" places like Cafe 668, what I see is quite straightforward, and in my view, nutritionally reasonably balanced.
I look forward to trying them out. I'm tired of getting screwed at Big Fat Burrito.
A proper all-vegan diner would be amazing!
To answer your question, I gave up meat over issues of animal cruelty and climate change, not because I didn't like the taste. So fake meat is a delicious substitute.
Btw, what's up with the American spelling of doughnut ('donut') in this review? This isn't BlogNY.
I work in the Market and frequently partake of the great vegetarian food that's on offer there. But when I want to eat chorizo, I go to Salsas on Augusta.
What I specifically don't get about meat substitutes is that they treat meat as something faceless and uniform, they reduce it to the lowest common denominator in a way that is not dissimilar to what happens with cheap and flavorless supermarket meat.
There are huge differences between meat that's been humanely raised - i.e. no hormones, no antibiotics, free range and local - and the stuff that most supermarkets sell for cheap. There's no such thing as a meat substitute that mimics a well cured pork belly, or even organic minced beef. The texture might be similar, but you can't fake real flavor.
Please understand that these are only my observations. Eat whatever floats your boat, I would never dare to tell you what you can or can,t do.
Also, I hardly think I'd ever get the feeling of nostalgia from eatign lasagna with TVP in it that I would if I'd had a meat lasagna, the comfort part fo the comfort food isn't really there. I think people that get that feelign are lying to themselves, as they are when they say we're not supposed to eat meat.
I checked this place out and although I'm not even close to vegetarian, I thought it was good and certainly better than a lot of the mediocre conventional takes on Mexican food here (basically most of the places with 'burrito' in their name). Not amazing, but certainly a step in the right direction.
The drinks selection was disappointingly mainstream, though.
I know just the thing to settle the internet bloodlust.... an impossibly delicious doughnut from Hot Beans.
I went there today and it blew my mind. The coconut. The lime.
I KNOW, I know. Everybody loves getting all bothered on the internet. Just go have a doughnut, you fucks.
What natural nutrients?
"You would have to take a less effective supplement to get?"
Supplements are not less effective. Supplements were invented to buttress omnivorous diets! Supplements were not invented for vegans.
"Like creatine, for example."
Creatine is not an essential nutrient, see here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creatine
"The protein dereived from beans isn't a complete amino chain"
This is true, but it doesn't matter. Amino acids can be consumed in varying quantities and combinations over a number of meals in order to achieve recommended daily amino acid intake. You seem to be referring to the nutritional philosophy known as "protein combining", which was debunked several decades ago. See here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_combining
"it's [not] as valuable of a protein."
This is a complete fabrication. Sorry, but it's completely false.
"Every vegan I've ever spoken to has said they usually feel a bit of malaise being vegan"
You do not know many vegans. I have been vegan for five years, met countless vegans, and I have never heard a health complaint. My wife is vegan. My parents are vegan. We are all in perfect health. Then again, we're also smart enough to search for answers to nutritional questions rather than simply give up at the first sign of confusion.
I recommend that you read the joint American Dietetic Association/Dietitians of Canada position paper on the subject of vegetarian and vegan diets. See here (PDF link is at the bottom):
http://www.eatright.org/about/content.aspx?id=8357
Also, veganhealth.org is a fantastic resource for dispelling myths about vegan diets.
"the comfort part fo the comfort food isn't really there."
Comfort food is simply food that you have eaten for a while and grown accustomed to. Good memories are associated with the food, and so you turn to it in times when you require comfort. Ceasing to consume animal products does not eliminate comfort food in any sense, since you will develop new comfort foods in a very short timeframe.
"I think people that get that feelign are lying to themselves, as they are when they say we're not supposed to eat meat."
It is not necessary to consume animal products. This is abundantly clear from the available scientific evidence. If animal products are necessary for optimal health, then why are nutritional supplements a booming industry? This industry does not sustain itself on vegans. The answer is that evolution selects for reproductive fitness and not maximum lifespan. People consume nutritional supplements because scientific evidence suggests that supplementation may be able to improve their overall health *above and beyond* what a standard omnivorous diet can provide.
I am glad that you care about this issue enough to lend your voice to the discussion, but it is clear that your entire knowledge of vegan nutrition and culture is built on shaky foundations. Somewhere along the line I suspect you met a vegan who was sketchy and gave you a bad impression of vegans in general. Please, if you care about justice in a truly nondiscriminatory sense, read some serious vegan resources and reform your notion of veganism. It's a great idea whose time is long overdue.
I'm going to go and try Hot Beans now.
My chorizo burrito was dry and without the freshness that can make a good burrito great. You could taste the raw spices in the beans and the coleslaw was workable but unimpressive. Neither of us finished lunch.
If you want a great vegan burrito I'd suggest Salsas on Augusta. They've got cactus burritos that will blow your mind, with fresh avocado and excellent home made salsas.
Very disappointed with Hot Beans. I won't return.
Also, did the beef industry put an ad out on craigslist for ppl to hang around posting stupid comments on veg*n posts?
Pro:
-Another addition to cruelty free food options.
-Location (shopping in the area of Kensington Market)
-Price and Portions. (cheap eats on a large scale)
-Speed (In and Out, great for on the go meals)
Cons:
-Lacklustre Service
(One man behind the counter who seemed to wish I had not bothered to walk in. When he finally got around to acknowledging my existence I simply stated, with a smile, that I had never been here before and if he could recommend something that seems to be a hit...Stare down ensued...I did not know what to make of it. My face of bewilderment must have woken him up for him to reply with "Oh the TVP is usually good for first timers"...Okay, I will go with that then thank you. DO NOT GO THERE FOR THE USUAL SMALL BUSINESSMAN CHATTER)
-Texture
Okay so, since I stuck with the TVP this is all I can really comment on in regard to texture. It was horrible, absolutely nauseating and I should have known just by looking at it. It is cut into these "meaty" chunks. And while I am not one to have any sense of a weak stomach I think it is quite the testament to this "burrito's" texture that it nearly made me throw up.
-Flavour...or lack of.
Bland, just bland. Sauces were dripping everywhere but magically seemed to have lost any flavour once held. I do not know how it is possible to go into business without having a good palette for flavour but somehow this has happened.
And really its a burrito, literally made for layering and having fun with flavour combinations.
...I definitely see potential in this business, they have somehow made a decent following with less than optimal offerings.
All in All I will not be returning unless I follow up with my intrigue with those Jackfruit Tacos. Never had it, sort of want to try it.