Yak and Yeti - restaurant review

 
Fresh from Vida Vegan Con and so many lessons learned for blogging, I decided to take some of what I learned and write a restaurant review.

A couple of hours after returning from Portland Mike and I headed to Yak and Yeti for a bite to eat. We have been going to their Arvada location on Ralston Road for several years. Our love for the began when they created a separate vegan menu and has just grown. A couple of years ago it felt like there were new owners (not sure if that is the case) and service got pretty bad. Now, everything is back to wonderful service and amazing Nepalese and Indian cuisine.

For those of you unfamiliar with Arvada, Yak and Yeti is about a mile west of Wadsworth at Ralston, and Ralston is about a mile north of the I-70 at Wadsworth exit.

First things first. Order the mango shake. The server will give you a puzzled look but don't back down. No, you don't want the mango lassi. That has dairy. You want the mango shake, something they have prepared for me many times, made with soy milk. Trust me, it's delicious.

Depending on how hungry we are, we may or may not order the Veggie Pakora. it's perfect. We order it without onions as in the past we have gotten orders that were more than half onions. This hasn't happened recently but just in case we still order it without onions.

Mike's favorite is the Chana Saag. He loves it, and it's one of the reasons he loves going to Yak and Yeti. It's rare when one can find vegan Chana Saag and it is done superbly.

Sometimes I share with Mike and sometimes I get my own. Last night I got the Bhindi Masala and LOVED it. The okra was perfect and I ordered it medium so I could get just a little kick from the heat.

The vegan options are plentiful. There is no longer a separate vegan menu, and the vegan choices follow the vegetarian choices towards the back of the menu. If you want vegan bread, they have Roti and we enjoy that as well.

Service is great at Yak and Yeti. Always a welcoming greeting. Always filled water glasses. Everyone is very friendly and the staff knows all about vegan food. Typically a manager swings by just to make sure all is perfect with your meal.

Finally, I have to let you know that they also brew their own beers and on any given day they offer five or six of them to accompany your meal. As I don't drink, I don't have a recommendation. I will say that I see many beers being served with dinner so that has to mean something.

For those of you new to our reviews (we've also reviewed on Yelp), we typically will visit a restaurant at least three times before we consider a review and the review is equally based on food and service. Gone are the days of us accepting poor service in any way. I am pretty much done with a server acting as if I am in their way by coming to the restaurant to eat.

I haven't decided on a restaurant rating system yet, so I will just say that we definitely recommend Yak and Yeti. Check them out and let us know what you think!

Yak and Yeti
7803 Ralston Road, Arvada, Colorado
303.431.9000
http://www.theyakandyeti.com/

Thanks for reading!

Road trip to Portland and Vida Vegan Con 2013

It had been 10 months since I purchased my registration for the 2013 Vida Vegan Con.

I decided (no surprise) that I would drive to Portland. Nineteen hours, no sweat. I was totally thrilled when Ryan Patey said he would fly into Denver and head out there with me! Ryan is the editor of T.O.F.U. Magazine and has become a great friend.

Car was packed and we set out for the road. Our goal was to try to make it to Boise, Idaho and spend the night there. A bigger goal was to make it to Boise by 7pm so we could dine at the fabulous Shangri La restaurant, a mostly vegan establishment (if not totally vegan, I honestly can't remember!).

We made it! It was so worth getting into Boise and being able to eat at Shangri La. Only about 10 minutes off of I-84, we were immediately welcomed by staff. Live music also welcomed us.  Shangri La is a wonderful vegan haven in Boise. I was surprised!

The menu had a lot of raw options and several soups. I was hoping to get a hot tofu dish, and I certainly wasn't disappointed after enjoying the mock tuna and crackers plate with a bowl of miso soup. Ryan loved hi mock tuna sandwich. Shangri La is the perfect place to be able to spend a little time after  along road trip. I highly recommend it. Oh, and a shout out to Tristan for telling me about it!

From Boise it's about a half an hour to the Oregon state line. My first time in Oregon and now I am down to six states that I haven't been to (Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, Maine, Rhode Island and New Hampshire).

The main thing that you just have to know is that the drive along the Columbia River Gorge is one of the most beautiful drives I have ever taken in the U.S. Holy Cow! I loved every mile of it. Even if you are in Portland but flew there, somehow make a trip out to this amazing drive.

 We pulled into Portland mid-afternoon on the day before Vida Vegan Con began, plenty of time to check into our hotels and I had a chance to clean up before catching a cab to the unofficial welcome reception. I will go more into food and sessions in another post but I just HAVE to tell you about the White Owl Social Club bar and restaurant in Portland. All I have to say is fried mac n cheese sandwiches! Oh my! Simply mind blowing. And of course I had to try the loaded potatoes. To go with all of this was my new favorite drink, Cock & Bull Ginger Beer. Mmmmm! For non-drinkers it's not always easy finding something different and tasty out there, and Cock & Ball was it for me!

Believe it or not, the food was not the highlight of the party. I started to meet many of the hundreds of other vegan bloggers that had come to Vida Vegan Con and I immediately knew that there were going to be many new friendships! Indeed there are!

Remember, this was just my first night in Portland. Vida Vegan Con hadn't even started. More on the conference in the next post.

Thanks for reading!

Reinvigorated hope

Many times I have written about not giving up, about keeping strong in the fight to be a voice for the voiceless and in making the world a better place for all living beings.

After a few days with vegan bloggers from around the world at Vida Vegan Con 2013 in Portland, Oregon, my hope is higher than ever!

If you read any vegan blog, most likely the blogger was at Vida Vegan Con, or really wanted to be here.

And this amazing group of bloggers who are changing the world in so many ways inspired me and filled my heart and head with hope.

I am sure that the blogosphere will be filled with stories of Portland, mind-blowing vegan food (and lots of it) food,  as well as notes from sessions that covered the entire universe of what bloggers need to know to become better bloggers.

What I want to make sure you know about is that the conference rooms were filled with sweet, compassionate people. People who take time out of their lives everyday to blog about vegan food, animal rights, nutrition, recipes, human rights and so much more.

I met people from all walks of life, from small towns and big cities. People who have been vegan for a decade plus and people who have been vegan for three weeks.

The common theme was compassion and kindness.

One of my biggest surprises was how many people here actually know our blog and even asked me "Didn't you two just celebrate an anniversary?"!  I was thrilled to know that other bloggers read our blog!

So be warned people who think vegan food sucks. Be warned all of those who make a living off of the suffering of animals. Be warned those who don't want the world to know that a better world is one filled with amazing vegan food and a thought process that does not include the torture and misery of any living being. These hundreds of bloggers are going to leave here and continue to change the world. They will never stop writing about compassion and how even the simplest of actions make significant change.

To all of those who attended Vida Vegan Con 2013, thank you for the love and kindness you expressed to meet over the past few days. You changed me. You reinvigorated my hope that we indeed are making the world a better place for all living beings.

Can we disagree with courtesy?

Prairie dogs.

Recently one of our local TV stations wrote a Facebook post about 500 prairie dogs being in danger of a new transportation project. The station asked for people's opinions on whether or not people cared about the plight of the prairie dogs that would be affected.

Holy cow.

Maybe I have not been paying attention, but when did it become OK to write such disgusting things about people you happen to disagree with?

I honestly couldn't believe some of the responses. As I read them, I realized that any conversation around prairie dogs had long been dismissed.

I wonder how often this happens. I wonder how this became acceptable.

Because it's not. It's certainly not how I ever want to be, and how I hope people who try to be a voice for the voiceless are not either. There is no good that comes out of disrespect towards other people simply because they have an opinion that is different than mine, or our.

So how can we change? Or can we? I definitely believe that we can change this. I believe that if we kindly call folks on their responses and always be a beacon of courteous comments, even when we disagree.

Please understand that I am not saying that we become passive with our beliefs and around what we fight for. I'm simply saying that we can disagree with people and honor our cause or whoever we are fighting for. Being mean in a public forum does no good for the voiceless we are trying to be the voice for.

This is something I continually work on. Simply put, discourse can by polite. Who knows, people's minds have changed over much less than being greeted with kindness.

Thanks for reading!