Tag Archives: Vegetarian Calgary Restaurants

Best Vegan Indonesian in Calgary

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Padmanadi co-owner Maya: it’s a family business

Want a unique Calgary dining experience? How about a vegan take on Indonesian cuisine?

That’s what Padmanadi delivers at its immaculate restaurant, in a busy Macleod Trail mall. All its “meats”—chicken, beef, mutton— are plant based. There’s lots of veggies to round out savoury curries, stir fries and stews.

I go for a lunch special ($18), choosing a mildly spicy curry chicken that comes with two spring rolls and a large mounding of rice. While the plant-based “chicken” pieces taste great, it’s the yellow coconut curry that’s the real star, soaked up by all that jasmine rice; for $1, it’s probably worth upgrading to coconut or brown rice.

Vegan “chicken curry lunch special

Co-owner Maya explains that Indonesian food is distinct in, for example, typically not using any onion or garlic. The vegan focus at Padmanadi is not integral to the cuisine but reflects how her family eats.

A spotless place in a busy Macleod Trail mall

And this is certainly a family business, stretching back several generations to Jakarta (her grandmother’s name translates into English as Padmanadi). Maya’s parents opened their first Canadian restaurant, in Edmonton, more than two decades ago, eventually turning it over to her sister and brother-in-law. About a year ago, Maya and her husband traveled south to open the Calgary location.

In a largely carnivorous city, it’s nice to see a fine vegan addition, let alone something this unique.

Padmanadi Vegan Eatery
100, 8835 Macleod Trail SW, Calgary
Daily 11:30 am-9 pm
403-300-2270

A Vegetarian Upstart in Calgary’s Cattle Country

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Roasted artichokes with pear and chestnut is just one of the innovative vegetarian dishes at Calgary's White Rose Kitchen

Roasted artichokes with pear and chestnut is just one of the innovative vegetarian dishes at Calgary’s White Rose Kitchen

Calgary is cattle country, as much for mythological reasons as for all the area ranches and feedlots. So from a culinary perspective, it’s no surprise to find an abundance of steakhouses and hamburger joints.

Or, conversely, a scarcity of vegetarian restaurants. In a city of a million carnivores, you’d be hard pressed to find half a dozen places serving tofu, tempeh and turnips.

Thus, it’s nice to see a new restaurant—White Rose Kitchen, in a onetime Bowness gas station—devoted to creative, flavourful dishes like roasted artichoke, pear and chestnut; braised broccoli rabe and fig; and fennel confit salad.

White Rose is named for an old Bowness gas station that once stood here

White Rose is named for an old Bowness gas station that once stood here

It’s not cheap. Small (mostly appetizer sized) plates are $12 and big plates $18. But chef Dwayne and partner Alberta Ennest (who also operate Big Fish and Open Range) have certainly upped the ante on the often-staid veggie world.

A veggie flatbread is one of the day's lunch specials

A veggie flatbread is one of the day’s lunch specials

This being Calgary, however, the world of beef hasn’t been entirely abandoned. A sister, attached operation is The Coal Shed Smoke House, a stationary truck where meats are smoked, grilled and braised. The resulting chorizo sausage, beef short ribs and bison burgers are mostly intended for take-away dining, though there are a handful of tables in the hallway leading to White Rose.

The carnivorous Coal Shed Smoke House sits next door

The carnivorous Coal Shed Smoke House sits next door

But this commingling has its limits. You’re not allowed to smuggle your Coal Shed beef brisket, on a paper plate, into White Rose’s calm vegetarian space.

White Rose Kitchen
6512 Bowness Road NW, Calgary
Monday to Saturday 11:30 am-9 pm, Sunday 10 am-9 pm
403-455-8055