I want to love Real Food Daily. I really do. But there’s something about it that annoys me (and perpetually disappoints me). Maybe it’s how overpriced it is. Or how every meal needs something extra added to it (for an additional $3 fee). Or how the ambiance is often holier-than-thou. Grrr.
But it’s like Vegas. I have amnesia and after a few months hiatus I go crawling back…only to remember why I vowed I’d never return.
Well. I’m happy to say, RFD finally got it right.
With Mexi-fare.
My date was my FPIC, Ethel.
This was her first time trying RFD, and I wanted her to have the best vegan experience possible. We chose to go the Mexican route with our orders. Because it’s hard to mess up Mexican food. And it’s nice to take advantage of lard free tortillas.
We started with tortilla chips and cashew cheese sauce.
For your main courses, she got the Tac-O the Town which has corn tortillas, seasoned seitan, onions, peppers, guacamole, pico de gallo, tofu sour cream, spanish rice, and black beans.
Instead of the black beans she got the Pressed Salad, which is similar to a Cole slaw but with less dressing flavor.
I ordered El Bandito Rojo, which has two corn enchiladas stuffed with seasoned tempeh and topped with salsa roja, pico de gallo, tofu sour cream, and guacamole. It comes with Spanish rice and black beans on the side, but I swapped the beans out for the Pressed salad.
We both nixed our beans in an effort to reduce our meal’s FODMAPs.
Having already dined at RFD, I knew to expect skimpy portions of guacamole and tofu sour cream (why are they so stingy with the best parts of the meals!?!?), which is why I got cashew cheese sauce on the side too.
Lots of cheese!
Now that I’ve kinda bashed RFD, let me back up and give them the props they do deserve.
The enchiladas were awesome. And so was the Spanish rice. I rarely care about restaurant rice, but this was not your average (read boring) side grain. Back to the enchiladas though. The tempeh stuffing was exceptional – flavorful and just plain delicious. The corn tortillas on the outside were crispy but not hard and the various sauces made everything sing. My mouth was very very happy.
I didn’t really like the Pressed salad, but once I added the cashew cheese sauce to it, it was good enough.
Our waiter, Brett, also deserves a shout out. When I first asked about subbing the beans for something else, he was helpful and went to ask the kitchen right away. And even though first thing I wanted wasn’t possible, he came back with other suggestions that they could do. Costumer service for the win.
Ethel got the Faux-stess cupcake for dessert (gooey white filling in chocolate cupcake with fudgy icing). I didn’t have any since my meal was wheat and gluten free, while the cupcake was not. [Trying to be a good FODMAPs girl]
So the moral of the post is stick to Mexican themed dishes if you want a solid lunch or dinner experience at Real Food Daily.
And if you’re in search of a good vegan brunch spot, hit up the Santa Monica location because I’ve heard iffy things about the WeHo location, whereas I’ve had consistently awesome experiences in Santa Monica.
For previous reviews of Real Food Daily see these posts.
As always, I’m super jealous of all those awesome restaurants near you!
oh yum that looks so delicious!! you’re right, it’s hard to mess up mexican food…the flavors on their own are so delicious! and i mean — it involves guacamole:) thanks for sharing!
Phew! I think this is the first positive RFD review I’ve read! You have actually made me consider giving them another shot – if not just for that cupcake! Maybe I’ll binge on sweets & coffee!!
glad to hear that RFD finally got it right with you! The enchiladas do sound amazingly good 🙂
We were planning to hit up the WeHo location for brunch this weekend since it’s closer to home, but maybe we’ll head further out instead. It’s the last place I need to try from the list of brunch suggestions I got on Twitter. (In case you care, my ranking of the suggestions: 1. Flore, 2. Larchmont Bungalow, 3. Hugo’s, 4. Sage Vegan, but I honestly would return to all of them.)
Finally they did it right! Good to hear. All the food looks scrumptious, so jealous of the foodie spots by you!
Gah!!! You posted that foto of me! JAJAJAJAJA!
Totally a fantastic dinner with my fabulous FPIC! I’ve extended the life of that cashew cheese on two instances as I made homemade nachos and added tons of avocado for umph. Thanks for being one of the best dinner dates ever!!!
This looks delicious! I haven’t gone out to a vegan restaurant in ages, I miss it!!!
Because I had to hop the country and move to Spain my twice a year LA tours were put on hold. Not only am I missing my best friend but RFD as well! Every time I see RFD my taste buds smile. I am counting down to my next trip. So happy to hear they are shaping up. Just in time for me:)
as always…im still waiting for you to visit me in la 🙂
as far as i am concerned, avocado is an ingredient that can make dirt taste good.
i know…they are seriously disappointing 90% of the time. but mexican fare is a safe route. although to be honest, they have nothing on native foods’ nachos…
i still have to try a few of those places myself!
fyi, its not a brunch place, but if you havent made your way to native foods yet, definitely add that to your list. it is probably my number one (for the nachos, the kale macro bowl, the scorpion burger and so much more!).
girl, you best let me know when youre in town!!! we will do this town up proper 🙂
I LOVE Native Foods! It’s a favorite in our house.
Mexican it will be then! (followed by a slice of that outrageous coconut creme pie!)
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