Urban Vegan Thai Cuisine — Restaurant in Lake View Township

#30daychallenge As the world's most vegan-friendly flexitarian, I was thrilled to see a new option for vegan cuisine, so I made a special date to check it out for dinner.

The small space immediately seemed smaller because of the mega-uncomfortable chairs, but I pushed onward.

As a lover of Thai food the menu seemed very doable with an emphasis on noodles popped with a soy-based protein. Fair enough.

The appetizer I ordered took a bit to prepare, and the server was very helpful in alerting me to that fact.

When the meals arrived, they were totally satisfactory without any real complaint or kudos. The portions were more than generous and I had a huge amount for leftovers the nest day.

So why just the two stars?

However, and this is where things get extremely bizarre...the entire time I was there, and I mean the ENTIRE time, from the moment I stepped passed the threshold to the second I fled back through the door, one song was playing on the PA.

One song. ONE SONG! Over and over and over and OVER AND OVER...

...and the song was "The Wanderer" by Dion.

For the hour I was there, I was driven slowly, inexorably, and utterly insane by this golden oldie that looped, relentlessly, again and again and AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN!!!

Sure, it's a good song, but no one needs to hear The Wanderer approximately 25 times in a row while eating perfectly average Thai fare in a very uncomfortable chair. Trust me on this.

I would definitely give them another chance...and I would absolutely order take-out, otherwise I fear I will go around and round and round and ROUND AND...

Urban Vegan’s orange chicken is delicious! It was a staple takeout meal while I lived in Chicago. Better than any real orange chicken I had! The taste, texture, and portion size are all top notch. All at an affordable price.

The "chicken" itself is coated with a breading that's not overly crispy or soggy. Biting into the chicken has a perfect crunch leading into the savory chicken bit. I believe they use some form of seitan for the chicken itself. It's soft and has a similar mouthfeel to actual chicken. The chicken bits have a variety of sizes so you get large chunks mixed with smaller crispy bits.

The sauce is sweet and tangy. They put just the right amount on the chicken so that each nugget is well coated, but not drowning in sauce. The sauce's consistency helps it stick to the chicken. Usually they'll include two small orange slices which adds a fun aesthetic touch to the meal.

The chicken is paired with a serving of purple rice that provides a neutral flavor to balance out the chicken. The rice is cooked to be soft, but with enough structure to not be mushy.

If you can call it a downside, the portion size is too large. I would highly suggest saving half of the serving as leftovers. As a takeout meal, it would usually work as dinner plus tomorrow's lunch.

I moved from Chicago to Seattle 3 years ago and this was one of my favorite takeout dishes. I finally made it back to Urban Vegan for a visit and it held up well. Even though I'm not vegan, some days I wish I could teleport an order of the orange chicken to my...

There has been 2 occassions where I've had a bad experience at this restaurant. I will share both experiences. (1st time) The first time I dined in. There was a small bug in my glass of water and piece of hair in my food . I was really frustrated by this. I left food at the table and left out. This happened probably about 2 years ago. (2nd time) I really enjoy there food so I decided to try again (stupid me) this time I ordered through Grubhub. I placed my order at 6:15 on tonight. ETA was between 7:20-7:30. At 7:50 I called Grubhub who called the restaurant and they said that they spoke to the cashier and she just kept saying "it's raining". At around 8. I decided to the call the restaurant myself. To make a long story short she said that the delivery guy left out 15 min ago and that he is being more catious because of it was raining. (I understand being a safe driver however I had been waiting for so long and it was not like it was a rain storm). After waiting over 2 hours 30 minutes I decided to cancel my order. I no longer will be dining at this restaurant. Food is good but the service is horrible. I will stick with Veggie Express and all the other vegan restaurants in Chicago that are more accommodating to...