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Eat this: Kadai bhindi at Namaste Indian Cuisine
Over the past month, I’ve been exploring vegan meals at restaurants throughout Santa Cruz County. My goal was to discover plant-based meals that would satisfy anyone, regardless of dietary preference, and I found rich, harmonious mole negro; thick, vege-focused Detroit-style pizza with maitake mushroom “wings”; and a satisfying and homey sweet potato and avocado sandwich on homemade bread.
One thing I never wanted to eat: meat substitutes. Many menus, I found, relied on fake meat to create vegan options on their menu, which at best didn’t sound very appealing and at worst seemed kind of lazy.
So I’m thrilled that Santa Cruz’s Namaste Indian Cuisine’s vegan options are vegetable-focused, with no Impossible beef or CHiKN in sight. And there are a generous number of them, enough that my guests and I were able to order several dishes for a vegan Indian feast, with more to try next time we go.
We will all be returning for the kadai bhindi ($15.50), a dish of fried okra, tomatoes, lime and mango powder. The chopped okra is smoky and earthy, its innate slipperiness tempered but not completely banished, and coated in a warm, tangy-sweet sauce. It’s not a meal on its own – we rounded ours out with baigan ka salan ($17.95), silky Indian eggplant with coconut milk and curry leaves, and chana masala ($15.50), garbanzo beans in a rich, buttery tomato sauce, plus coconut rice and appetizers – but it should be an automatic addition to any meal.
Namaste Indian Cuisine is located at 1501 Mission St., Santa Cruz; 831-316-7032 and NamasteIndiaBistro.com
Best of the Week Ahead
Below, find a curated list of the best food and drink events in Santa Cruz County for the coming week. At the top, I share my picks of unmissable local happenings.
News of the week
ICYMI – Here are the food news stories from Lookout that you might have missed, plus important news from beyond our borders picked by yours truly.
- ‘Books shouldn’t gather dust’: Chef David Kinch to sell personal culinary library at Bad Animal (Lookout)
- Laurie Love on Wine: The trails, tribulations and inspiration of 2023 in the vineyard (Lookout)
- Humble Sea Tavern reopens with SC Bread Boy as pop-up in residence (Lookout)
- Winners and wonder from a wild Big Sur Fungus Face-Off (Edible Monterey Bay)
- Here are the San Francisco Bay Area’s 2024 James Beard Awards restaurant and chef semifinalists (Eater SF)