Herbivore San Francisco

After a great day hiking in Angel Island, V and I started our drive out of the City, debating where to go for dinner in our grungy hiking clothes. We needed a down-to-earth place which served good vegetarian grub. Herbivore struck us to be the perfect choice. A cafe' type casual setting serving great food. (Right next door is the more upscale "Dosa", a South Indian restaurant, that was already getting crowded at 5:30 in the evening.)

http://www.herbivorerestaurant.com/valencia.html

Our wait for a table at Herbivore was around 10 minutes, and the time passed quickly because we met a charming couple. The wife had been to India several times to teach psycho-drama (need to look that one up!).

Now to the food. We ordered the green papaya salad to start with. V really loved it, it was tangy because of the shredded raw papaya and spicy because of the sauce.

For the main course, V ordered the Kung Pao which I ended up eating and I ordered the Wasabi Soba noodles which is another story.

The Kung Pao was unlike any other Kung Pao we had seen or tasted. It has char-grilled vegetables, like peppers, mushrooms, brocolli, tomatoes, etc. in a sauce, served over quinoa. I liked the taste, but V wasn't sure he liked the taste of the partially blackened veggies.

About the Wasabi Soba noodles, I think we got the Curry Coconut Udon noodles instead eventhough we didn't realize this until much later! However V liked it very much and gobbled it up. The coconut sauce with cilantro was very flavorful and the noodles were well-cooked.

All in all, a very good meal after a day of light hiking. The check came to around $25 for the two of us. Herbivore would be a great place to grab lunch or dinner if you are in the City.