The Bay Leaf Cafe is not your average vegan restaurant … it’s better

By Anna Luskin

Turning down Ramona, off of University, The Bay Leaf Cafe sits right in the middle of a Spanish style neighborhood. Small, cute, little neighborhood boutiques line the street. The darling atmosphere of The Bay Leaf Cafe fits in perfectly with the setting.

The large door to the Cafe opens up into a single room lit by the natural sunlight coming from the many big windows. The white walls are adorned with brightly colored, lavish paintings ranging from impressionism to flowers. The seven tables spread out evenly on the tiled floors with little green cups filled with napkins in the center of each table. A book case is stationed at one end of the Cafe with books on vegetarian diets and the new age life style. The whole set-up is very simple, yet it looks nice. Even the bathroom is really clean with a single rose hanging off the mirror. The Bay Leaf Cafe evokes the feeling of a small town, laid back and comfortable.

Rovi Schivanna, the manager, greets the customers with a genuine smile. He, along with Cindy Liang, opened the Cafe in November 2002 in hopes to create a place where vegan eaters can get a good meal. "Originally, it was going to be a vegan ice cream shop, but eventually it evolved into a whole cafe," Schivanna says.

The food is affordable and satisfying. The appetizers range from $3.50-$6.25, while the soups and salads range from $3.80-$5.60. The main courses range from $3.50-$10.00 and the desserts from $2.75-$5.25.

To start off the meal, the pita with hummus ($4.75) is brought fresh out of the oven. The warmth of the pita is enough is soothing to the throat. The texture is not too thick but not too thin. The hummus has a tint of lemon and garbanzo beans which give it a zingy taste. The nice thing about the hummus, is it tastes good with other breads besides the pita. It tastes delicious with their excellent sourdough bread.

For those who like Mexican food, the artichoke quesadilla with salsa ($4.75) is definitely something to try. Because The Bay Leaf Cafe is a vegan restaurant, the managers decided to use soy cheese. The cheese has an interesting texture. It sticks to the top of the mouth and it is not as stringy and gooey as regular cheese. The quesadilla is something new to try.

The Cafe’s curried carrot soup ($3.80) comes in a small white bowl on top of a woven basket. The soup itself is a vibrant orange and it has a very thick, milky texture. It has a certain spice to it that adds a spark to the flavor. Compared to their yellow lentil soup ($3.80), the curried carrot soup is delicious. The curried carrot soup is exotic and original while the lentil soup is bland and bitter.

For the main dish, the grilled portobelo mushroom ($8.50) is definitely the highlight of the meal. It is similar to ordering a bruschetta in an Italian Restaurant. The vinaigrette bread is already moist from the tomatoes and the mushrooms. The meal is cooked to a point where the bread is toasted, but not burnt. However, the bread is difficult to cut, but once its cut and a bite is taken, wow.

The specials are displayed on an easel when you walk in and the eggplant curry with tomatoes (9.50) is one of the specials. It comes in a large portion, good for sharing, with lettuce and curry with eggplant on top. The dish is very gooey, but that makes it all the more fun. The curry is fresh from the stove, so it is very warm. The taste is a mixture of tofu and mushroom. Another special that is not as taste-worthy are the samosas ($4.50). They are really spicy and the taste is simply of potatoes.

Even if someone wants to come just for a cup of tea or a glass of juice, The Bay Leaf Cafe is a good place to go. Their homemade lemonade ($2.75) is refreshing, not too sweet or too bitter. A perfect blend of sugar and lemon. Their ginger tea ($2.75) has a tangy feel. At first it is sweet and then has a pretty bitter aftertaste. The ginger is very prominent.

For the cynics who think that a vegan dessert is not a real dessert, think again. The banana sesame crepe ($5.25) is a very satisfying dessert. Not meant for just one person, it comes on a large plate. The bananas are covered with a soft crepe, chocolate syrup, sesame, whipped cream, and powdered sugar. It has the perfect amount of sweetness. The forbidden rice sundae ($4.75) is made with rice cream and has a very exotic taste. It is completely different than real ice cream, although the sundae looks exactly like an ice cream sundae.

The food here is definitely a new experience, one worth having. However, the service is below standards. There is one waitress for all the tables and that makes it harder to get good service. She forgot the drinks and she brought the desserts out 40 minutes after we ordered. We also had to persistently ask for the waitress to come over to our table. They did not check up on us at all. It was frustrating, but the food definitely makes the situation and the experience worth it.

All in all, the Bay Leaf Cafe is a place to go to experience something new and exciting in a quaint little downtown cafe.