| "What was the last dude smoking?"
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My Rating |
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2 |
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Posted on: Monday, April 20, 2009 |
Review: First I talked to the very considerate gentleman who takes the orders. The menu is now all vegan - don't take my word for it, go there.
Now to get started everything on the menu is pretty much the or next to the best tasting food I have ever encountered - personal bias of course. The portions are good and while the staff isn't "friendly", they get your orders to you quickly, like a few minutes after sitting down.
This restaurant is the best vegetarian restaurant bar none in Santa Cruz and likely puts up a good fight against others in the larger bay area. I don't want to give out cows like they were nothing, but this is definately at least a 4 out of 5 restaurant, and because of the very very reasonable price, and the fact that the food is so exotically good I'm going to put 5 stars.
Pros: tastey * healthy * very reasonable
Cons: no home delivery * not open for breakfast * |
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| "Wish I could enjoy it more without potential guilt"
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My Rating |
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2 |
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Posted on: Sunday, December 14, 2008 |
Review: First off I have to state my one major complaint about Malabar, for a vegetarian and vegan friendly restaurant, those two words are not mentioned anywhere, especially where it is most important to me, on the menu! I'm a very strict vegan who just won't accept any animal products entering into his body and there is a certain amount of accountability of the restaurant that is lost when the items on the menu do not state that they are vegetarian or vegan.
I normally don't even eat at such "veg friendly" restaurants unless they specifically make known exactly how cruelty free their food items are. However tonight was a special occasion for a friend who wished to eat there so I joined her and some other friends in eating there.
And so tonight my greatest fear in vegan dining came true. I have eaten at Malabar a few times before, almost always ordering the same exact dish because I was assured that it was vegan. Only tonight to have the waitress insist that the dish I had previously consumed at other visit's had eggs in the noodles.
This is unacceptable!
I understand waiters and waitresses and even cooks can make mistakes, but this is why I stay away from such establishments that would even have the leniency for such mistakes by including eggs and dairy in their kitchen.
Malabar, please indicate which items can be made vegan and which ones cannot by having it written on your menu. Thank you.
With that being said, the atmosphere was nice, the waitress was as helpful as could be, the food arrived within a good amount of time considering there were like 14 of us there. And the actual vegan dish (I hope) I got which was tempeh goreng, was delicious.
This is a great restaurant for vegetarians or an animal eating friend of a vegetarian who \"just likes the taste too much to be vegetarian\", but vegan's be super cautious upon ordering.
Pros: Service * *
Cons: Lack of vegan/vegetarian indication * * |
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| "had take out"
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My Rating |
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112 |
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Posted on: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 |
Review: wanted to sit in since it looks really comfy but we want to enjoy the sun on the beach. next time. food is good.
Pros: * *
Cons: * * |
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| "Most Creative and Unusual Vegan Fare"
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My Rating |
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3 |
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Posted on: Sunday, July 20, 2008 |
Review: I've eaten at Malabar twice now---both lunch and dinner. WOW. Their menu is incredible! What unique dishes and flavor combinations! It's so refreshing to have Asian fare that is not the standard Thai, Indian, or Chinese. Lunch is an amazing bargain. You can have great variety for $7.50! Dinner is more expensive but still reasonable for what you get. I personally loved it.
Pros: unusual food * delicious * nice ambience
Cons: none * * |
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| "Nicest Veggie Restaurant in Town"
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My Rating |
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24 |
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Posted on: Tuesday, February 05, 2008 |
Review: Malabar is IMO the nicest vegetarian restaurant in town. I've had most of the entrees that can be made vegan, and most of those are delicious. I highly recommend the Sri Lanka Platter, an assortment of five Sri Lanka curries for $10.50. This dish varies frequently, but is a good sample of their talented chef. If you're in the mood for a sweet dish, I recommend the Mango Almond Curry. I also like the the Tahu Java, "tofu, eggplant, mild peppers, portobello mushrooms and cashews wok'd in a Javanese basil sauce," although this dish is rather oily. There are a couple of clunkers on the menu though that neither I nor my omni partner liked: Roasted Garlic and Poppyseed Curry, and the Mangla Pahie "sweet and tangy eggplant as prepared for weddings."
I'm not big on the Small Plate dishes and tend to stick to the entrees, although the Fresh Salad Rolls on someone else's plate looked awesome. The soups are good but not spectacular. Still, I like the both soups I've tried: Butternut Squash Soup and Malaysian Corn Soup.
They have a number of beverages, some of which are smoothies, but none are organic. I like the Blueberry Hill and the Tropical Bliss. With my American tastes, I'm not used to the Persian Nights which contains pomegranate, rose water, almond milk and banana--it seemed like I was drinking hand lotion!
The folks who run this place are as nice as can be. A staff member noticed my partner wasn't eating any of the eggplant in his Green Curry Gnocchi, and brought him a side dish on the house.
Other things to know:
* Entrees and some of the other items can be prepared vegan. However, if you don't specify, they'll give you non-vegan as the default. While you can often tell which dishes are vegan by reading the description, always ask to be sure.
*They have a small parking lot that they share with other businesses, which is quite dark at night. People often create their own spaces in the lot by parallel parking next to the building, making it very difficult to pull out of a parking space. We generally find it easier to avoid the lot and pay for street parking.
*The chairs in this restaurant have no padding and can be quite uncomfortable.
*Wait times for food are average.
Overall, however, we love Malabar and visit whenever we're in the area.
P.S. If you come here during the day, Asian Rose restaurant is in the same physical space as Malabar.
Pros: Most entrees quite good * Friendly helpful staff * Lots of tables
Cons: Parking can be challenging * Uncomfortable Chairs * Wish they labelled vegan items on menu |
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| "Interesting"
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My Rating |
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296 |
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Posted on: Wednesday, September 28, 2005 |
Review: This is one of the few nice all-veg places here, and the food is interesting... Sri Lankan-American. The Colombo dumplings in tomato sauce was overly salty. Go for the spicy eggplant/tofu/peanut sauce instead. The hibiscus cooler drink is nice.
Pros: cozy setting * live music some nights *
Cons: pricey * * |
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