Donna Jean (vegan restaurant), 2949 Fifth Ave, San Diego, California 92103
By Sandi Masori
SAN DIEGO — My friend and I went to the Donna Jean vegan restaurant the other day. Let me start by saying that I am a proud meat eater, and while I like vegetables, I don’t think that they make up for meat. My friend on the other hand seems to prefer vegetarian or vegan food for some reason. Since it was her turn to pick, we went vegan.
The restaurant is nestled in the Hillcrest / Uptown area. It’s an indoor/outdoor restaurant next to a drive-through “fast food” vegan restaurant. I think that the venue may have been a Hare Krishna restaurant back when I was in high school.
It’s a little bit hipster and I was a bit surprised when I took a sip of my ice tea and felt the metal straw clink against my teeth.
Many of the dishes were with tempeh (fake meat made from fermented soy). We asked for recommendations and were told to try the Nashville Hot Shrooms and the Mushroom risotto. I generally try to stay away from mushrooms as they don’t really agree with me, but my friend is a mushroom fan. So we took the waiter up on his recommendations. I ordered the smoke and sprout cavatelli.
The “Nashville Hot Shrooms” were breaded oyster mushrooms served on a vegan white bread with hot sauce drizzled over it. It had a thick crunchy breading that reminded me of KFC. It was actually pretty good with a satisfying crunch and pleasant texture. I’m not sure what the point of the bread was, and I’m further unsure why someone would make bread, with alternative ingredients (no egg), that tastes like Wonder Bread. I’m of the opinion that it’s better to make dishes that explore natural flavors than to try to make something taste like something else. Anyway, vegan or not, I didn’t think the bread added anything to the dish.
For the main course, the risotto was pretty good- with notes of thyme, basil and oregano as the main flavors. The texture was as you would expect from the risotto. It was a dish that didn’t try to replace the meat, it just didn’t need it.
The cavatelli was really interesting. I liked the smoke flavor, though my friend thought it tasted like fake bacon. The texture was interesting but a little too squishy for me. I cut some Nashville Shrooms into it, and the added crunch did wonders for the dish. I think that it needs something that has a bit more crunchy or firm texture.
The real star of the show though was the dessert. We shared the New Mexico Chile Chocolate Pie and it was ahhhh-mazing! I could see this in a 5-Star meat restaurant and it wouldn’t be out of place. It had a silky sweet chocolate flavor and texture that had a surprise after taste of the chili flavor. It’s worth the trip all by itself.
All in all, for a vegan restaurant, it was pretty good, but I think a couple of grilled steaks would make it way better. For those who are non-animal product inclined, it’s probably one of the best though. For my scale, I’ll give it an 8 out of 10.
*
Sandi Masori is the restaurant and food reviewer for San Diego Jewish World. If you have a favorite restaurant you’d like her to review, please send her the details at sandi.masori@sdjewishworld.com
Sandi,
Thanks for a fun review. I really enjoyed your description “a little too squishy…” That definitely doesn’t sound like a characteristic one would want in his/her food!