Today we went to another fabulous vegan fonda!
Hello, again. My dad and I, and sometimes my mom comes along too, have been going out on the town to find some of the best not so well known cheap eats, mostly family-owned, restaurants that we can find. We go out almost every day, finding some new little place, or big place, to tell you about and review the food and prices.
I’ve been very busy with school lately, as it was recently the end of the semester for me, and I had lots of work to do with finals and all that, so before I even talk about the food or the place we went to today, I want to say sorry for not posting very consistently, or at all for that matter, the past couple weeks. But now, on to the restaurant! Once again, today me and my dad were planning to go a different restaurant that was recommended to us, Charley’s Wok, but they were closed, so we found a new place to go to! Actually, it was right across the street, and it’s a vegan restaurant. My dad at first was hesitant to go there, as he isn’t very fond of vegan places, but we had found one other vegan place that was absolutely delicious, Planeta Vegetariana, so he thought why not, and we decided to try it. It’s Called Mr. Vegan, and it is located on Niza 171 in Versalles.
Mr. Vegan is a little vegan fonda, that sells low-cost meals like you would get at any other fonda, except here they are all healthy and 100% vegan. The food here is actually quite healthier than you will find at other vegan places, since most of them mainly use soy, which isn’t all that healthy. But anywho, not only is the food nutritious, it is also delicious! Furthermore, the menu changes almost every month, though sometimes the menu will last two months. But even if it didn’t, there are so many different dishes, and lots of variety! This month they have enchiladas, chilaquiles, fajitas, Mexican seitan, sopes, tacos dorados, chiles rellenos, chop suey, garbanzo omelet, and the chef’s specialty, which is the only item that never changes. It is kinda like stuffed pork, and let me remind you, it’s vegan! All of it is!
My dad decided to get the chop suey, which wasn’t good at all… it was great! It had many different components to it, and each one of them had a different flavor that all went together really nicely, and overall it tasted like it had pork in it, though, of course, it didn’t. Actually, my dad handed me a piece of broccoli, and I didn’t know why, so I tentatively bite into it, and then I did realize why! The broccoli had the flavor of pork, as if it was cooked in the same pan as pork. And the broccoli and other vegetables were all cooked perfectly and super crisp, and the rice noodles were also cooked perfectly! Also, the seasoning was on point, and there were so many different levels of flavors that you could tell the chef spent a lot of time preparing this meal. All in all, everything about it was amazing!
I got the enchiladas because, if you haven’t been able to tell by now, I love enchiladas! They’re one of if not my favorite food! I was expecting them to be vegan cheese and oregano, as that would be easier than creating something that tasted like meat, but I was more than impressed, because the seitan had the texture of and tasted exactly like chicken, except maybe a little sweeter. Either way, I was surprised, and I loved it! And Michi either just liked the taste of it or thought it was chicken because she snatched a piece of the seitan out of my hand and was meowling for more! She acted as if she’d been starved! But anyways, the sauce was really yummy, and it too was well seasoned, and the cheese and crema on top tasted just like the real deal! It was all super good, even to my dad, who’s super picky and kinda biased when it comes to enchiladas.
So, the food is great, but what bout the people? What about the atmosphere? Well, it’s just as great! As soon as we sat down Markcus, the owner of the restaurant, walked up to our table in a friendly and fun manner and started chatting with us. I asked him how he got into the food business, and he said he actually wasn't every in the food business. He used to always get sick when he ate meat, so his doctors would prescribe for him to stop eating meat and dairy products for a while, and he would stop, and then go back to eating meat, which just led to him being more sick. Then one day he said he heard his conscious telling him to go vegan, and he did. But, at the time there were only 1 maybe 2 vegan restaurants here in PV, and they were all expensive, not very good, and actually pretty unhealthy. So, he decided he wanted to open up his own restaurant, where you could get healthy and yummy vegan food for fonda prices. He wanted to open a vegan fonda! He first opened it in early March of 2020, but then Covid hit, businesses had to be shut down, and 13 days later he ended up closing. Then he was able to open up again for about a month, when he was forced to close in October, and remained closed until May 2021, so for 7 months! And, when he opened he soon had to close down again, though not because of Covid, but because of the fact that the road his restaurant is located on started to get work done to it, so no cars could pass, and he lost his customers. But, finally, he opened in November 2021, and he’s been open since! And you may be wondering how he was able to keep reopening while getting no source of income, and the answer is that his restaurant is also his house! So, he doesn’t have to pay any extra bills.
Markcus already makes his own vegan products for the restaurant, but he told us he has plans to mass produce them and open up a vegan store on the second floor of his house. He wants to sell cheese, milk, cream, and other vegan products such as tofu, to the general public for a low cost! And, he's trying to focus on keeping everything healthy. Also, on the third floor he wants to start hydroponic and aquaponic projects! So, he really is a man with plans!
Mr. Vegan's Phone Number: 322 150 4265
If you enjoyed this article, and would like to recommend a place that you know about, then please let me know. Or, if you are an owner yourself of a place that you would like to see written about, contact me.
And to see the rest of my food reviews go to the Dining Out section here in Vallarta Bay Times.