Healthy Vegan Cuisine at Dr. J's Vibrant Cafe (Downtown LA)

Being a food blogger is hazardous, so a healthy, vegan dinner is a welcome change once in a while. Recently this came to me with a preview dinner at the new Dr J's Vibrant Cafe in downtown LA.

The owner of Dr J's is the young man in the picture who opened this cafe to honor his mother and her cooking. His mother is the cute little woman next to him. Story was that he got really sick after attending college and was supposed to go on life long medication, but his mother, Dr. J, told him to try eating her pure, clean eating lifestyle before going on the medication. As you can guess, he got better and no longer needed his medication. Now he wants to spread this lifestyle by opening the cafe.

What I liked about Dr. J's Vibrant Cafe is that the food is not only vegan but actually healthy - as in low sodium, low sugar etc. Some vegan or vegetarian places around didn't actually seem that healthy to me because they tend to be overly salty to make up for the lack of meat or dairy. The food here, like the kale salad, quinoa spring salad, or brown rice medley, tasted healthy but still has enough flavor (the rice noodle one was still a bit bland to me)

Of the ones I tried, I really liked the brown rice medley (with peas, onions, carrots, and tofu) and the Curried Potatoes with carrots, green beans, and peas.

It's curry so it's plenty flavorful. I also liked the spring roll. I tried it with and without the dipping sauce and liked it both ways.

Without being overly sauced or salted, the savory dishes were pretty good and I felt really good and healthy after eating them.

They also serve detox teas and smoothies here made with Dr. J's various powder mix.

The one I tried was made with banana and soy milk. I'm not sure what the detox tea was made of but I enjoyed it.

All the desserts are not only vegan but also gluten-free. The "brownies" are made of carob and walnuts. The Dr. J's "supersnacks" are made of rolled oats, sunflower seeds, and dates. Sweet-toothed that I am, they're not quite as satisfying as chocolate brownies, but they're enough to control craving for sweets and I'm sure they're much, much healthier for me.

Dr. J's Vibrant Cafe
334 South Main St, Unit 1101
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 537-0905
http://www.drjsvibrantcafe.com/