Ito Burrito

Cultured beans, macadamia cheese, guacamole, heirloom tomatoes, lettuce, onion, sprouts with jalapeño puree

Ito Burrito ($7) is a speciality of the Au Lac DTLA, at least I haven’t seen it on the Fountain Valley menu. It is a delicious wrap filled with beans, guac, & macadamia sauce. The bean paste was made I would say of cooked and cultured beans, miso style. Some raw foodies consider would miso raw, some not. It tasted like a Teewurst, thick, creamy, salty, flavourful reddish paste. My husband simply loved it, I don’t enjoy the starchy texture of cooked and mashed food at all any more, but in the wrap it was ok and a definitely different from everything I’ve tried recently.

Crimini Pesto

Stuffed mushrooms with Thai basil, pine nuts, bell peppers, sprouts.

The macadamia cheese filling and the pesto these mushrooms ($8) were stuffed with were delicious. These larger than site size mushrooms are a great starter and a very good value.

Cheesy Kelp

Kelp noodles, macadamia cheese sauce.

I would say the best and the most surprising dish today were these kelp noodles ($11). I really would not have ordered them as kelp is not raw (more on raw and non-raw ingredients in the tips section below). But today, I’m taking recommendations from Chef Ito and this is one of them. The macadamia cheese sauce is divine. Cheesy, creamy, like a great tasting egg salad dressing, not too salty, not too savory, perfectly delicious and comforting. The noodles were soft and without the kelp crunch, which was amazing. Next time, I’ll ask for a big bowl of zucchini zoodles with this same macadamia cheese sauce.

Pho

Anise and clove broth, sawtooth herb, mushrooms, bean curd, side of bean sprouts and Thai basil.

I’m not a big soup fan and would not have ordered it if Chef Ito didn’t suggest it so persistently. The pho ($12) was a warm, very flavorful salty broth with mushrooms and veggies that tasted slightly marinated, topped with crispy sprouts. I loved the fact that it was warm and not too oily. This soup really inspired me to make more liquid fat free soups for us at home.

Curried Rice

Wild rice, spiced macadamia sauce, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, corn, avocado, cucumber, olives, onion, marinated mushroom, carrots, cilantro.

We just had this rise couple of days ago ($16). This time, we asked for no cauliflower, so my husband could eat it too, and it was no problem. This curried rice tasted even better here than it tasted at the other Au Lac, something about the sauce and the flavor. The curry was more prominent and the sauce creamier. You can’t go wrong with this curried rice. That’s for sure.

Baklava

Not that we were still hungry, but we decided to try baklava ($9). We asked for no maple syrup on the side. My husband loved it, the many pistachios alone make his heart beat faster. He loved the flowery taste of it. To me, it tasted a little like soap at first, but it got better with every bite, I got used to it. Seems to be one of the dishes some of us like, and some not so much.

Donut holes

Warm macadamia and spirulina dough filled with liquid palm sugar. Coated in coconut powder.

The donut holes ($7) are without a doubt my favourite item on the menu at Au Lac.
We ordered the larger serving size twice. These are just divine. A healthiest version of a chocolate lava cake. The warm liquid palm sugar oozes out as soon as out bite into the powdery soft ball. You have to try them!

Curried Rice

Wild rice, broccoli, cauliflower, peas and corn in spiced macadamia sauce. Served over avocado, olives and cucumber. Topped by marinated mushroom, crisp onion, carrots and cilantro.

I had a small serving of the curried rice ($15) for dinner. I was blown away by the tantalizing presentation seeing it earlier that day and my favorite server recommend it as well as we told him that we will stop by for dinner. Taking the first bite, my first impulse was to share this goodness with our friends. We were fascinated by the texture of the rice and the veggies, the creamy macadamia sauce transformed this raw dish into a cooked tasting amazing curried rice. I’m glad my husband was here to eat the avocado that is a little too much for me, besides, I enjoyed every single bite of the curried rice and would not hesitate getting the full size dish if it was the only dish I were eating.

Cream Cheese

Flax seed chips topped with avocado, pesto, basil, bell pepper, marinated mushroom and crisp onion.

We are huge fans of the garlic bread they have here, so we substitute crackers in any starter by the garlic bread. We got the cream cheese ($6 + $3 for the garlic bread substitution) for lunch and dinner, the one we got for dinner had amazing marinated mushrooms on it. There is no cream or cheese on it though. I do not enjoy the large balls of avocado, but my husband does. I love the onion chips on top, it thy very flavorful, light and crispy.

Madeleine Flax

Flax seed chips topped with macadamia cheese, bruschetta and microgreens.

I love the macadamia cheese they make here. Onion bread topped with this cheese is amazing ($6 + $3 for the garlic bread substitution). The bruschetta topping consisting of marinated tomato, onion, fresh cilantro was light, refreshing, with a touch of sweetness that gave this italian classic a vietnamese spin.

Chimichurri

Flax-based garlic bread. Served with herbed olive oil dip.

This garlic bread ($5) with a garlicky, herby oil is terrific. I’m not a fan of oil, don’t get me wrong, but if you go to a raw vegan restaurant and are not ordering just a salad without any dressing, you will end up eating oil, pure on the salad, hidden in a dressing, soups, crackers, cakes or burger patties. So eating out, I say yes to oil. Especially combined with this amazing bread. Soft, fluffy, it even has a darker crust. A raw vegan masterpiece. The oil is seasoned very well, I enjoyed the garlicky taste a lot. Great value too.

Risotto

Wild rice, zucchini and coconut in marinara sauce. Topped by avocado, marinated mushroom, carrot and rice paddy herb.

We had the small serving of the risotto ($13) for lunch. The texture and the flavors are amazing, especially the marinara sauce had plenty of flavor and a great savory tomatoey after taste. The young coconut chunks hold the dish together and give it a soft, cooked like finish. The coconut meat hater in me rejected the whole dish at first, blaming myself for not reading the manu carefully and picking something mainly consistent of coconut, but the rational me took 4 big spoons of all the goodness, covering the coconut chunks in marinara sauce and enjoyed every single bite a lot before giving the other half to my coconut loving husband.

Tostada

Crisp cornmeal shell, shredded cabbage, macadamia cheese, ground mushroom, salsa, dill-ranch sauce and cilantro. Served with spring mix greens in balsamic vinaigrette and topped by hemp seeds.

The Tostada ($17) sounded so good on the menu, we just had to get it. We ordered it without the cabbage that my husband doesn’t eat. We got this huge tostada with the salad on the side and were impressed by the crispy tostada shell that stayed crispy throughout our meal. The filling was exceptionally flavorful, light and seasoned very well. I loved the marinated mushrooms in the filling, they are much lighter that the nut based meat that one usually gets on a raw vegan tostada. And the corn shell was organic of cause.

T-Anh Fried Rice

Wild rice, bean sprouts, peas, corn and carrots tossed in ginger-tamari, garlic and spices. Topped by dulse, mushroom, crisp onion, cucumber, tomato and cilantro. Served with macadamia ranch.

T-anh fried rice ($14) was a great take on a fried rice dish my husband used to love so much before starting eating healthy 8 years ago. What they make with raw rice, veggies, sprouts, nuts here, is simply impressive. It was my husband’s dinner, and even we share everything, I barely got a bite of it, he liked it that much. Compared to curried rice that I had for dinner, this dish was more on the souvery site than creamy, which made it light and easy to eat.

Scotch On The Rocks

Chilled pie with butterscotch-macadamia filling and a rocky walnut crust. Dotted with raspberry sauce.

We finished the meal with the scotch on the rocks ($7). Coming back from taking a photo outside, I passed couple of tables with people staring at the huge pile of pie bites. The women at the last table established such a strong eye contact with our dessert, it made me stop just in front of her. For 10 seconds we would be staring at the dessert and at each other, then again at this dessert. We enjoyed the dense texture of the pie, a great alternative to the soft cheesecakes raw places usually serve. I love the butterscotch flavor and it came out pretty nicely. The berry sauce was a great contrast to the sweetness of the cake. Wow.

Baba ganoush

Zucchini, tabouli, zaatar crackers.

This hummus ($6) was rich and flavorful. I loved the many crackers it came with. The best starter for a very great price.

Cheese

Pickles, fennel crackers, cheese.

The little cheese plate ($6) was beautifully presented with some delicious mustard seeds. The cheese is as we remember it from M.A.K.E., great texture, the pickled fennel maybe a little too salty.

Pistachio guacamole

Daikon, pickled chili, micro cilantro.

Beautiful little daikon reddish chips topped with avocado ($6). Not much more to say about them.

Almond kelp

Carrot, sesame, lime, almond, ginger, kelp.

The kelp noodles ($11) technically not raw, but often eaten by raw foodies were beautifully made. The creamy nut sauce was just amazing. The ginger enriched the dish with the exotic flavor. Should I ever eat kelp noodles, they should be like these.

Thai collard roll

Spicy almond butter, mango, basil, lime.

The wraps ($6) are a nice tiny starter. Rich in flavor, fresh, colorful.

Chocolate chip cookie.

I was never a cookie fan. So me loving this chocolate chip cookie means a lot! It tastes buttery, has a great texture, almost like a freshly baked cookie.