Veggies star in every dish -- and on your palate -- at Araya's

[Guest guest]

Last updated September 11, 2008 9:47 a.m. PT

 

 

Karen Ducey / P-I

Avocado curry served at Araya Vegetarian Place in the University District includes tofu, beans and bell peppers.

Veggies star in every dish -- and on your palate -- at Araya's

By KRISTEN MILLARES YOUNGP-I REPORTER

 

Two words should suffice in steering you to Araya's Vegetarian Place: avocado curry.

 

 

 

CHEAP EATS

 

ARAYA'S VEGETARIAN PLACE

ADDRESS: 1121 N.E. 45th St.

PHONE: 206-524-4332

HOURS: 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday --Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday, closed Sundays

Yes, it is $13.95, but the soft, teasing green curry is loaded with avocado chunks, soft and fried tofu, two bean compositions (the owner's awkward term for the Thai equivalent of soybeans pressed together to imitate sausage) and red bell peppers.

What's more, it's enormous: Two big eaters -- a friend and me -- split one order and walked away from the table sighing and swollen, having cooed over the last bites.

It's true we also split a $7.50 "vegetable cake" -- a rice-flour pancake the texture of mochi's outer layer, stuffed with Chinese leeks.

It was my most memorable restaurant meal of the summer. Plus, it was vegan and I barely noticed.

Maybe I was dazzled by the $7.99 lunch buffet, loaded up on a recent visit with spring rolls, tom kah, house salad, mushroom soup, shredded green papaya salad, phad thai, tofu satay, black beans in coconut cream for dessert ... and that's only the half of it.

Could it have been the ease of parking in Araya's designated side lot that did it? (I usually bike to work, but you can't deny the appeal of a free parking space in the U District.)

When I think about it, I can only return to bite after luscious bite of the avocado curry, a recipe created by owner Araya Pudpard in 1994, seven years after she opened her restaurant.

Is it strictly Thai? No, and that's a good thing, Pudpard said.

"I do not want to be only Thai vegetarian food. I want to be international vegan food," said Pudpard, who sprinkles the menu with personal touches, such as her garden's mint or homemade curry paste (involving galangal, lemongrass, green chile, fresh hot pepper and basil).

Pudpard said she uses mostly organic produce during the summer, even extending her earth-friendly ethic to the peanut butter for her satays.

"Every dish, we cook fresh, so if people have a problem with sugar or are allergic to wheat, we have everything to substitute," Pudpard said.

Some of the vegan substitutions are hard to fathom -- how to replace the funky base note of fish sauce? -- but she nails it with a thin soy sauce she orders from Thailand.

"In the past 21 years, I've been adjusting this, making that, adding those, so now, 21 years later, it works," Pudpard said, adding that the $7.25 fresh rolls of fried tofu, spinach, bean sprouts, carrots, bell peppers and fresh basil wrapped in rice paper are her favorite.

I could spend days -- weeks even! -- sampling Araya's 51 appetizers, salads and entrees under $9, but I think I know what I'll be getting the next time. Please don't judge me for being a bore: I am helpless against it.

Post-Intelligencer food critics arrive unannounced and pay for all meals and services. P-I reporter Kristen Millares Young can be reached at 206-448-8142 or kristenyoung.

 

Peter vv_._,___

[Guest guest]

time for a road trip up to Seattle

Peter VV Sep 12, 2008 11:17 AM Re: Veggies star in every dish -- and on your palate -- at Araya's

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last updated September 11, 2008 9:47 a.m. PT

 

 

Karen Ducey / P-I

Avocado curry served at Araya Vegetarian Place in the University District includes tofu, beans and bell peppers.

Veggies star in every dish -- and on your palate -- at Araya's

By KRISTEN MILLARES YOUNGP-I REPORTER

 

Two words should suffice in steering you to Araya's Vegetarian Place: avocado curry.

 

 

 

CHEAP EATS

 

ARAYA'S VEGETARIAN PLACE

ADDRESS: 1121 N.E. 45th St.

PHONE: 206-524-4332

HOURS: 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday --Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday, closed Sundays

Yes, it is $13.95, but the soft, teasing green curry is loaded with avocado chunks, soft and fried tofu, two bean compositions (the owner's awkward term for the Thai equivalent of soybeans pressed together to imitate sausage) and red bell peppers.

What's more, it's enormous: Two big eaters -- a friend and me -- split one order and walked away from the table sighing and swollen, having cooed over the last bites.

It's true we also split a $7.50 "vegetable cake" -- a rice-flour pancake the texture of mochi's outer layer, stuffed with Chinese leeks.

It was my most memorable restaurant meal of the summer. Plus, it was vegan and I barely noticed.

Maybe I was dazzled by the $7.99 lunch buffet, loaded up on a recent visit with spring rolls, tom kah, house salad, mushroom soup, shredded green papaya salad, phad thai, tofu satay, black beans in coconut cream for dessert ... and that's only the half of it.

Could it have been the ease of parking in Araya's designated side lot that did it? (I usually bike to work, but you can't deny the appeal of a free parking space in the U District.)

When I think about it, I can only return to bite after luscious bite of the avocado curry, a recipe created by owner Araya Pudpard in 1994, seven years after she opened her restaurant.

Is it strictly Thai? No, and that's a good thing, Pudpard said.

"I do not want to be only Thai vegetarian food. I want to be international vegan food," said Pudpard, who sprinkles the menu with personal touches, such as her garden's mint or homemade curry paste (involving galangal, lemongrass, green chile, fresh hot pepper and basil).

Pudpard said she uses mostly organic produce during the summer, even extending her earth-friendly ethic to the peanut butter for her satays.

"Every dish, we cook fresh, so if people have a problem with sugar or are allergic to wheat, we have everything to substitute," Pudpard said.

Some of the vegan substitutions are hard to fathom -- how to replace the funky base note of fish sauce? -- but she nails it with a thin soy sauce she orders from Thailand.

"In the past 21 years, I've been adjusting this, making that, adding those, so now, 21 years later, it works," Pudpard said, adding that the $7.25 fresh rolls of fried tofu, spinach, bean sprouts, carrots, bell peppers and fresh basil wrapped in rice paper are her favorite.

I could spend days -- weeks even! -- sampling Araya's 51 appetizers, salads and entrees under $9, but I think I know what I'll be getting the next time. Please don't judge me for being a bore: I am helpless against it.

Post-Intelligencer food critics arrive unannounced and pay for all meals and services. P-I reporter Kristen Millares Young can be reached at 206-448-8142 or kristenyoung (AT) seattlepi (DOT) com.

 

Peter vv_._,___

 

 

 

 

 

you're bored in retirement cuz your energies drained away, your money had no answer, you just still want more! your life was never different then the guy next door!

all your neighbors are competitors, where'd you all go wrong? there never was a mountain to climb. potential friends are now your enemies, where'd you all go wrong? there never was a mountain to climb.