The Naam Restaurant - Vegetarian Cuisine
One thing I have noticed about Vancouver is how healthy a lot of people try to be the closer you get to the downtown core. I guess it is trendy to be healthy these days right? Anyway, eating healthy isn’t horrible and I should try to eat healthier too. Though becoming a vegetarian probably would not happen because I enjoy beef too much to not have it. Don’t get me wrong, you can eat healthy and not be a vegetarian, but it seems people believe it is healthier to not eat meat. I am sure people can tell me why I should not eat beef or pork we as humans are designed to eat meat!
Okay well perhaps I don’t know a lot about being a vegetarian but from what I gather vegetarians do not eat meats such as beef or pork, but they do eat products from animals such as dairy foods. Please correct me if I am wrong though.
I am also not the best food critic and perhaps one day I can review a restaurant as well as Raul of Hummingbird604.com as well! His food establishment reviews are well done and make me want to check out the other various restaurants in Vancouver!
The Naam Restaurant
One of Robyn’s best girl friends is a vegetarian and has been so for many many years and we though it would be great to get out and have dinner with her and her boyfriend. We headed over to Kitsilano (a district of Vancouver) to a popular vegetarian restaurant called The Naam.
I was a bit reluctant to go because I love to eat meat (chicken, beef, pork, venison etc) and was a bit worried there would be nothing on the menu that I might like. Though I did not complain because I am sure there is something there I would like as my mum has previously made various vegetarian and vegan dishes I have always stuffed my face with.
Looking over the menu I found that they did happen to have Enchiladas and that is something I have been craving for that day. I was looking over some photos from our Dominican Republic trip and we had dinner one night at a Mexican themed restaurant where I ordered some yummy Enchiladas.
Another aspect of The Naam that Robyn always wanted to try was that they serve sesame fries with a Miso gravy and it sounded interesting enough to try as well.
Santa Fe Enchilada Platter
My choice for the evening was the Santa Fe Enchilada platter. Their Enchiladas are made with organic corn tortillas, salsa, yogurt and cheese. The Santa Fe consists of organic Tofu (which to me tasted like grilled chicken), grilled veggies, a delicious black bean chili and lightly spiced with chipotle peppers. The platter includes the sesame fries (with miso gravy), and their Naam salad. I couldn’t finish my food which means that the Enchilada filled me up quite well. I left he salad and eat a couple of the fries but found that I stuffed myself eating the Enchilada.
Teriyaki Stir-Fry served over organic brown rice
Robyn’s choice was their Teriyaki Stir-Fry which sounded good and Robyn assured me it tasted great. The Teriyaki Stir-Fry had onions, garlic, ginger, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, green & red peppers, organic tofu (is tofu already organic??), cashews, teriyaki sauce and served over organic brown rice.
The other couple ordered the Gold Dragon bowl and a Veggie Burrito with the Soup de Jour (which I think was a vegetable barley creation) and they both really enjoyed their meals as well.
I have read other reviews for The Naam and I do not agree with people saying the service lacked. I could understand on the weekend when it is jammed pack full of people and the lineup goes down the street but what do you expect? The food is all hand made (or at least seems to be) and the waitstaff was quite cheerful and pleasant when we were there.
If you like vegetarian cuisine and are ever in the Kitsilano area of Vancouver I would recommend heading over to The Naam for a delicious creation that will fill you up! They also have live music, and an outside eating area. I know we will be heading back there for some more food, even if they do not serve meat!
The Naam Restaurant - 2724 West 4th, Vancouver (between Stephens Street and MacDonald Street)
The above photos were taken with the Apple 3G iPhone hence while the photo quality is lacking.
Thanks for the kind words, Tyler! I think your food reviews are good
On the restaurant itself, I hated the Naam although I love their food. It’s a weird love/hate relationship!
How come you hate the Naam but love their food?
Man I’m missing the Naam now.. haven’t payed it a visit since May. And though I’m not a vegetarian, it is one of my favorite restaurants in the city. A little slow sometimes, and yeah there ain’t no meat, but the place feels completely genuine, and the portions certainly fill me up.
I love when people realize that vegetarian is not necessarily synonymous with hippie, weird, unsatisfying meals. If it’s done well, it’s delicious and you never feel like you’re missing something. And you shouldn’t leave feeling hungry still!
(I’m not even vegetarian anymore, though I was for 2 years, but I still try to eat veggie at least a couple of dinners a week.)
I love the food but hate the service
and the air of presumptuosness 
I did the ‘just vegetarian thing’ for a few weeks and although I love my meats, I did actually feel much better not eating any and more alert/awake.