Raw Pad Thai from Cru

We only went to one raw vegen restaurant while in California, but I had the pleasure of visiting twice: once with a local friend of mine and again with Stewart in tow.

Here is the first dish I tried at Cru, formally the Jade Cafe: Raw Pad Thai. The noodles were described as “root” on the menu with no other specifics, and they were impossibly long and unbelievably thin. It came with bell peppers, cucumbers, cabbage, cilantro, lime wedges, and a spicy sauce which my server informed me was not peanut based. Whatever they used, it was sure tasty. I finished my entire meal, washed down with a glass of watermelon juice.

My friend had the Bento Box:

Lots of tasty marinated vegetables including collard greens, mushrooms, avocados, sprouts, cucumbers, carrots and red cabbage. She at all of hers as well.

Desert! Desert was amazing. A raw key lime pie:

It had pistachio “crust” which wasn’t crusty at all, but was still appreciated. The filling was tart, smooth, and unidentifiable. It was topped with fresh kiwis and coconut cream. This was so good I ordered it again when we stopped in the next day, but the second iteration was way too tart for my liking.

We also got a scoop of their chocolate gelato after a strong recommendation from the server, and it was delicious. I was afraid it’d be gritty or have a disturbing vegetal aftertaste, but it was perfectly chocolaty and creamy: