• 4
• Shockingly vegan-friendly

Sometimes "vegan-friendly" restaurants are so designated because they have one or two items that they can modify to make vegan. Not Mint Bistro. This is one of the most genuinely vegan-friendly non-vegetarian restaurants I've ever been to. I went here in 2014 almost by accident, without knowing about the vegan offerings, because it seemed like an Indian place might be able to figure something out. But the menu was enormous and was replete with clear, explicit indications about dietary restrictions, including vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, and several others. And there were not just a tiny handful of dishes satisfying the dietary restrictions; there were dozens of them. And most of them were *not* modified versions of other dishes! I ended up eating here twice and both dinners were excellent. I only got to try a small fraction of the vegan dishes they offer. They also offer some extremely (and some exceptionally) spicy dishes (including vegetarian and vegan items). At the high end the waiters will try hard to talk you out of ordering them, maintaining that the most extreme spice levels on the menu aren't worth it: that even chili pepper fanatics won't be able to finish the dishes. I also appreciated that this restaurant takes the customers' spice preferences seriously, from "quite mild" to "so hot that you really, genuinely will have physical difficulty eating it", and anywhere in between. This is a good restaurant for folks who regret not being able to get food as spicy as they want it elsewhere.