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Ananda Fuara
Categories: Restaurants Vegetarian Restaurants Indian Vegetarian, Indian [Edit]
1298 Market StSan Francisco, CA 94102
Neighborhood: Civic Center/Tenderloin
(415) 621-1994
- Hours:
Mon 11 am - 3 pm
Tue-Fri 11 am - 8 pm
Sat 9 am - 8 pm
Sun 9 am - 3 pm
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch
- Alcohol:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Dogs Allowed:
- No
560 reviews for Ananda Fuara
Review Highlights
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"Love their salads with their Lemon-Tahini dressing." In 24 reviews -
"Ananda Fuara is a Sri Chinmoy divine enterprise." In 41 reviews -
"I also love the vegan chocolate cake." In 21 reviews
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- A Yelpy Insight: Vegetarians go nuts for this spot. See more places they like.
560 reviews in English
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Review from Evelyn N.
San Francisco, CA
5/23/2012
This place is right around the corner from my apt and I love it sooooooo much! So happy to have a restaurant with so many Vegan options in my hood! I almost always order the salad, but here's the view of what I've had here.
Enchanted Garden Salad: Soooo huge and sooo yummy! They top the veggies with about 4 tbls of salty/flavored toasted sunflower seeds and the lemon tahini dressing is great! It's the perfect combo of sweet (tomato, carrot, beet) and salty (seeds and dressing). I consider myself somewhat of a salad connoisseur, and this one is simple but fantastic.
Dahl: Very good. When I'm very hungry I add a cup to my salad. It's perfectly spiced and not drenched in oil. YUM! Just like my mom makes at home.
Neatloaf: My husband usually orders either the Vegetarian or the Vegan neatloaf. He likes both and he says they taste about the same. He finds the sauce too sweet. I tried a bite of his vegan neatloaf and thought it was super tasty! (ok, ok, he ordered the vegan version for me so i could try a bite! LOL, I'm a bad wife and he's a nice husband!). I also found the sauce too sweet. I'd order it without the sauce and maybe get the vegan gravy instead. I always want to add the neatloaf to a salad, but the dal is so yummy i never get around to it.
Curry Special: I had the curry special of the day and thought it was good but not memorable. I just found it ok. Maybe i wasn't so excited because I like the salad so much.
Scrambled Tofu: My husband is omnivore but he ordered the tofu anyways, he really likes tofu scrambles. He thought this one was REALLY good, he had it with the californian topping. He said this was his favorite breakfast in the city so far and will come back any time for breakfast. That says a lot.
This place is an amazing neighborhood location, uniqueness is quantified by the unusual atmosphere. From the decor I always feel like i'm in a cheap Chinese restaurant, except that they don't service Chinese food and the female servers all wear saris! Somehow the uniqueness works, I couldn't imagine this restaurant being any other way and still offering the food that they do. -
Review from Zach R.
Oakland, CA
5/14/2012
Being a vegan my whole life, I've had an enormous amount of vegan cuisine. San Francisco is one of the best places on earth for vegans with so many incredible places to eat out. However this is one place i will not be returning to. The food is overpriced and the culturally misappropriated atmosphere is nearly as uncomfortable as the food is to eat.
I ordered the "roasted veggie raviloli" for $10 and i got NINE, count em, NINE raviolis with canned tomato sauce. I think if I were mugged in the tenderloin i'd feel less ripped off. I know the place is known as an "indian" restaurant, but they serve mexican, mediteranian, italian, american, and indian. So I assumed they're transitioning to some kind of multicultural menu, which I think can be awesome if done right. But what i was served, was loveless and bland.
My date had a similar experience with her vegetable curry. Not to mention all the plating was sub-par. And the wait staff were all wearing saris. This had nothing to do with the room decor of framed preschool art, a couple cheesy water fountains, and cheap, crappy looking furniture.
Still, my or my dates' stomach did not turn later that evening, it's in a very convenient location, and their vegan orange chocolate cake was good. Overall, i'd say check it out if you're in the neighborhood, but don't expect anything amazing. -
Review from Barry H.
Updated - 5/7/2012
Love this place. Simple, healthy food, served by charming, smiling hosts and great value too. I always order too much. Stagger back to my hotel and sleep it off. Today was no exception.
Wonderful.
Ps the food is more old style veggie not "fiddled with and clever or trendy".
Go, eat, enjoy and leave smiling and full to bursting.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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5/8/2010
An update to my previous review and based on what i have read from others.
The restaurant is a bit… Read more »
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Review from Kris L.
Culver City, CA
5/23/2012
I ordered take out from this place since it was close to my hotel. The staff was very friendly and made some great recommendations. The food was delicious and a great value. Huge portions. I would definitely eat here again and I'm not a vegetarian.
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Review from Andrea B.
4/19/2012 2 Check-ins Here
I loved this place so much yesterday that I want to go back for lunch on my birthday next week.
Stopped in before heading to the Orpheum just down the street for dinner before Spamalot, and it was super busy - I took it as a good sign.
Restaurant has a very homey feel to it - no fuss or pretensions. Servers were helpful and kind, and the prices are super reasonable.
Menu has tons of options, as well as smoothies and teas.
My fiance had the curry dinner of the day, which was Moroccan. It was different than we were used to, but we liked the hearty chickpeas, veggies, and raisins on saffron rice.
I had the "Neatloaf" sandwich, since it was a "bestseller" and it did not disappoint! the Neatloaf was really flavorful, and sauce was super tasty. My only critique would be that the bread used wasn't substantial enough; I hate sandwiches with soggy bread. I would substitute for a sprouted roll or something.
Next week I plan to try the BBQ tofu burger and get their vegan cake with ice cream! -
Review from Eric Q.
Union City, CA
5/20/2012
My wife and I were nearby, at the Bay to Breaker Expo/Asian Heritage street festival, and saw this vegetarian restaurant. Ordered the "chicken" nuggets, "neatloaf" sandwich and the veggie burger. I really liked the chicken nuggets. They were hot and fresh. The servers were really friendly too. After getting our chicken nuggets, it went downhill however. My wife and were talking, and it took me awhile to realize that other folks who came after us were getting their food. Also, it was getting difficult to get the attention of the servers. After I finally flagged down our server, our food came out. The order should've had one pasta and one salad (instead it had two salads). We suspect they forgot our order, but it was really strange, since we got the chicken nuggets. By this time we were so hungry, we ate the food, and didn't want to take the time to correct it anymore. As for the food, the neatloaf sandwich was better than the veggie burger. The neatloaf sandwich had more flavor. I really wanted to give a better rating. Overall, the food was ok, but I've had better. Since we don't live nearby, I doubt we'll be back
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Review from Chrys H.
San Francisco, CA
5/14/2012
This used to be one of my favorite places, until they changed their menu, removing two of my favorite items, the spinach salad (as a meal, not as a side) and the California pizza, and the prices have gone *way* up, to the point of being very overpriced for what one gets. On my most recent visit the chocolate cake was rather dry and ordinary, in contrast to how it had been in the past. The service was never very prompt, but I tended not to go there when I was in a hurry, and so it didn't bother me so much until I started paying a lot more for a lot less. I just can't recommend the place any more.
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Review from Katrina v.
San Jose, CA
I can't hang with all these glowing reviews.
This is one of those sorta faux-Indian vegetarian places. There are also some American style vegetarian options like sandwiches.
I had the samosa lunch special. The samosa was really dough-y in a bad way. The insides were just OK. The samosas sat on a bed of uninspired yellow, flavorless rice. The meal came with naan that was tasty, but literally minuscule.
Service is nearly non-existant. You practically have to jump up into someone's face to get attention.
Thanks but no thanks. -
Review from Yuhao L.
Indianapolis, IN
5/8/2012
Good, but not great. This place was recommended by a friend, so I came here for lunch AND dinner in one day. I went for the famed items - for lunch I had the samosas appetizer, which comes with 2 samosas; for dinner I had the neatloaf sandwich (vegan version). Both were good, but not mind blowing. If I went there again, I would try something else - the mushroom sandwich/burger for example sounds appetizing. Both staffs I interacted with were friendly and helpful. This is a busy place at lunch time. Located close to Civic Center BART.
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Review from Soojin L.
Campbell, CA
4/8/2012
This place is kind of hidden among market street. Right when you walk in, you get this home-y kind of feel. All the staff members were wearing saris and there was pictures and books on this guy which I'm assuming was Ananda Fuara all around the shop. That was a little eerie.
Sadly, the service was quite slow. There were quite a few people working (probably about 6 or 7) and the restaurant isn't quite big either, but no one was moving with any sense of urgency. It took a while for the food to come out as well.
However, I had the super burrito with the pasta salad on the side, and I do have to admit, to me, that food was amazing. I just recently turned vegetarian, and that was the perfect restaurant choice to eat at by far, just food wise, but the service and decor could use a little work. -
Review from Clara H.
San Francisco, CA
Best chocolate cake in the city. Light, moist and delicious -- I can't believe it's vegan and would really like to know who bakes these! So far, I've tried orange chocolate and almond chocolate (amaretto?)... Can't wait to see what other variations there are.
As for the food, it's simple but hearty for being vegetarian. No frills. I usually go with the curry dinner featuring the daily special on the board. The neatloaf is good too, especially the tangy bbq-type sauce they put on it.
Service is quick and pleasant. My only qualm is that they close at 8 and aren't open for dinner service on Sunday/Monday. -
Review from GreenEyez M.
Redwood City, CA
Updated - 3/10/2012
Every time I go here, it just gets better and better. The food is always good and it has just such a nice peaceful/hippie vibe. I love their specials. Once it was fake chicken with cashews and peppers and was yummy.
Get the neatloaf--it's awesome!1 Previous Review: Show all »
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12/16/2011
I've been going here for years and really like it. Sure, they have literature and photos of a… Read more »
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Review from Kim L.
Berkeley, CA
3/13/2012
Decent Prices.
Hippy Dippy atmosphere.
My waitress today doubles as a yoga teacher around the block, so local staff!
Great place to go for a hearty vegetarian meal!
Their neatloaf (vegetarian OR vegan upon request) is tastey and reminds me of the same reaction that I used to have to my Mother's meatloaf (equal parts delight and confusion as to what makes it so tasty.)
Prices ain't half bad, and they have lunch specials and now 2 for 1 brunch as well! -
Review from Anne Marie M.
Oakland, CA
1/30/2012 1 Check-in Here
Seeing as how Cafe Gratitude and Gracias Madre are beginning to shut the doors (the one in the Oakland Whole Foods is closing at the end of February..boo. Although, I've heard there's hope for the Berkeley location. I digress...) I juuuust may have found a new veggie restaurant to fill the large hole in my heart left in it's closing. It's hard to do veg and vegan right but enter Anada Fuara to fill me with some healthy goodness!
It's not exactly on my favorite strip of Market street but tucked away in this modest storefront are delicious treats. Make sure to save room for desert.. the best part.
So the restaurant itself is reminiscent of Gratitude in many ways minus all the "I am pretentious" names. A little less cult and a little more spiritual. A good friend once told me, you can judge a lot about a restaurant by the bathroom and it's a rule I've generally held to be true. At Anada I would argue the design in the women's bathroom is actually nicer than the decor of the rest of the restaurant. The main dining room is a plain powder blue with diner seating and borderline creepy pictures of Sri Chinmoy staring at you in the main dining room. The live flowers and rushing fountain are honestly a nice touch. By then end of the meal I greatly appreciated said fountain. It really drowns out the noise from Market and ups the value in my book.
Whatever you do, make sure to start with the samosas. My insider veg girl Micah didn't steer me wrong with these wonderful stuffed treats. Light crispy and fluffy on the outside, these potatoes, peas, curry and raisins were wonderful and tender on the inside. Mmm and the mango dipping sauce we smothered them in paired perfectly with our mango lassis.
I ordered the True Blue salad. Incredibly filling, it was the perfect balance of grains and carrots beets etc. The lemon tahini dressing all you yelpers are blabbing about didn't live up to the hype. While I liked my salad, I was jealously eyeing my girls Taco Salad. Darn that thing looked good and with about a quarter of the calories you'd get from a deep fried taco salad bowl anywhere else...
Desert was dee-lish. The chocolate cake was moist and delicious. I had a bite of the rhubarb pie too--mmmmmm.....
The service was a little slow but we did the waiter dance and were able to sneak out pretty quickly. All in all a satisfying healthy meal. Hooray cult like veggie and vegan restaurants. You always make the best food. Seriously.Listed in: Vege-licious
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Review from Camille R.
Somerville, MA
2/18/2012
So what if they're all part of a cult and worship some crazy old dude whose portrait is on every wall? And who cares if they wear what looks like saris and retro Reeboks? The food is good, the people are creepy.
But... the food is good.Listed in: HEAVYWEIGHTS (San Francisco)
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Review from Jayme C.
Miami, FL
4/13/2012 1 Check-in Here
This has to be the most unique restaurant that I've been at. It was right across the street from my hotel and was surprisingly impressed by the service and quality of food here. The quiet and tranquil ambience def draws a certain crowd here. I would recommend this to anyone interested in vegetarian food.
I liked the meatloaf sandwich. -
Review from Naomi K.
4/3/2012
I never thought much of this place- you pass by it all the time driving down Market. It's tucked in a corner near civic center. My friend told me it was vegan, so I wasn't jumping to go there. However, I finally decided to check it out and yes, what a great place to discover! It's unassuming from the outside, but quite spacious with a high ceiling and plenty of light from the surrounding windows. It's peaceful the moment you step off the busy SF streets, and into a hidden world. The soothing wall fountain cascades tranquility in the sound of running water. The service of course, friendly and polite.
I had to go with recommended meatloaf sandwich- tasty and quite filling. It was served with a carrot slaw side. The ricotta lemon pancakes were delicious with raspberry coulis and if you crave bacon, even the vegetarian bacon isn't a bad substitute.
For teas, there's quite a selection. The hot yogi tea was spiced like a chai (cinnamon, ginger, etc) but caffeine-free and quite tasty with soy milk. The mocha teeccino (herbal espresso- chicory, carob, barley, figs, dates & almonds) tasted more like chocolate then anything.
I was surprised to see that even the bathrooms were nice! All around, excellent atmosphere. It was so calming just to relax there. It didn't feel like the fake thankful mother-earth type hippie place.
Talking with the cashier who was friendly and informative (and quite grounded) was fun and helped make the experience enjoyable. They were welcoming of new customers and non-vegetarian or vegan eaters, and non-judgmental. -
Review from Albert H.
1/23/2012 2 Check-ins Here
Well, that was better than I expected from the pictures. It's actually very bright, clean and professional inside.
This is - as has been said many times - "a vegetarian restaurant with a spiritual mission." Meaning that basically, it's run by a religious cult. But they don't seem like bad folks, don't proselytize, are friendly and calm, and make some decent food, including lots of vegan options.
In fact, the clientele seemed more militant about their vegetarianism the night we were there than did the restauranteurs.
Though we waited a bit to get our orders taken, the waitstaff was both accommodating of our odd requests ( can we get the neatloaf sandwich, but one slice vegan and one slice not? ) and serene.
The famed neatloaf comes in two different versions - a vegan one that to my taste was sort of like stuffing for a thanksgiving turkey - and a not-vegan one that was more dense and gummy and surprisingly not as good.
We had a slightly unexciting corn chowder, curry of the day was a pretty normal mattar paneer which we found out later was available in both vegan and non-vegan versions until they ran out of the former. A "cup" of soup is actually a smallish bowl, which probably explains the price. Dessert was an excellent chocolate mocha cake with a delicious and strongly flavored ginger sorbet.
Decent vegetarian food, served fast and friendly in a bright, clean environment. Not exactly cheap, but not horribly expensive either. I am, as they say, a fan. -
Review from Talia G.
2/7/2012
I'm all for vegetarian restaurants. My parents are vegetarian, so I grew up on a mostly veggie diet. I truly believe that vegetarian restaurants are some of the most interesting restaurants because they have to be more creative with the food, but this was not one of them. First of all, no restaurant should attempt to master every type of cuisine. I should have known that a place offering American, Middle Eastern, Mexican, AND Indian would be sub par, yet I gave it a chance.
When you walk in, all the waitresses are wearing saris and the waiters are wearing normal clothes. I suppose this isn't all that odd since I used to live in India and it was the same there...the women wore saris and salwar kamis' while the men wore pants and shirts. But Ananda Fuara isn't an Indian restaurant...
Sorry, I'm getting off topic; what they were wearing is irrelevant.
After an extreme amount of indecision because the menu is SO scattered, I ended up ordering the Neatloaf sandwich since people on Yelp claim it's the best. My friend ordered a pizza, though I'm no longer seeing it on the menu. First disappointment of the night: they completely forgot about our order. We waited for over 30-45 minutes for our food while we watched people that came in a good 20-30 minutes after us receive theirs. Often, they'd even ordered the EXACT same things! But these things sometimes happen at most restaurants, someone gets lost in the shuffle. I can forgive them for their oversight this one time.
But then they finally brought the food, and it was just NOT good. The neatloaf was overly moist and made the bread soggy. Not to mention it was quite overpriced for what it was. Overall, the experience was just unpleasant. I hate to hate on a veggie place, but I just can't stand behind this restaurant. -
Review from Ed U.
Now I know if I treated my body like a temple, I would probably come to Ananda Fuara more than once a decade, which has been my batting average with this place. But alas, I treat my body like the food court at Costco where I can down a gigantic slice of pizza for two bucks and still have room for a foot-long for another dollar-fifty. I guess I'm just not Zen enough to find spiritual enlightenment among Sri Chinmoy's followers. I'm also not a fan of its 1970's-era motel-breakfast-buffet decor here, but my conscience won out and here I was before going to the opera on a rainy Saturday evening.
It's still pretty popular among the health-conscious, so I pretended to be one of them and perused the menu as I was turning over a new leaf in my culinary existence. I started off with an unqualified hit, the cup of the Soup of the Day, which was a creamy-tasting Carrot-Ginger (see photo). It was the perfect balm for this rain-drenched opera patron. Now this was followed by their signature dish, the Neatloaf Dinner where they replicate a couple of thick meatloaf slices by mixing together grains, eggs, ricotta cheese, tofu and spices (see photo). Sounded good in theory and in fact, it looked a bit like pound cake, but...
The bland, bready taste was just not satisfying enough for me even covered with the tomato-based sauce which was inexplicably brown. Much better were the mashed potatoes with the mushroom gravy - which in actuality was mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy. No tofu-like substitutes for this one. The dinner plus soup cost $15.20. I was actually surprised I could get a Diet Coke here as I thought they would think it to be too impure to serve. The rest of the menu looked semi-appetizing, and maybe Jamie W. would be willing to try the vegetarian chicken nuggets with barbecue sauce. Oh maybe not. After all, he is a purist about his McNuggets.
FOOD - 3 stars...good start with the soup, the neatloaf is not that neat
AMBIANCE - 2 stars...country kitchen during the Watergate years
SERVICE - 3.5 stars...very calm
TOTAL - 3 stars...if I were a vegan, I'd be one skinny bitch -
Review from Michael W.
San Francisco, CA
1/5/2012 1 Check-in Here
Had the Neatloaf Sandwich with salad and of course, the Yelp-recommended Lemon-Tahini dressing. Didn't quite have the consistency I was hoping for. I was even wondering if perhaps I was served the wrong dish because it tasted nothing like meatloaf. Just too wet and so loosely packed, it didn't even want to stay together. And the dressing? Bland.
It's rare that Yelp steers me this far off course, but it happens. -
Review from Mark A.
3/7/2012
as others have noted, this isn't a strictly indian restaurant, but they do indian food really well here. when one of my indian friends raved that this is the best daal he'd ever had, i knew i had to get over and try it.
and he was right; it is the best daal i've ever had. and while the place does have a very "holistic" feel, it's not all in your face like some other places that won't be named.... -
Review from Customer L.
San Francisco, CA
2/21/2012
Yummy food. Really enjoyed the carrot and ginger soup and salad. Great customer service and the most important food was fresh.
Highly recommend this restaurant. -
Review from JD D.
South San Francisco, CA
3/16/2012
Dropped by here as an after-they-broke-my-glasses at Urban Flow Yoga and on-my-way-to-the-BART lunch, because I was hungry and wanted to stew, slow down, and have lunch! Perfect locale and I'll remember it next time I go to yoga.
Anyway great lunch place. I would definitely go back. Just a breath of fresh air for that section of Market Street! Very reasonable prices and portions so large some of it is take-away. I had the portabello mushroom with black beans and salsa. I had them add a little side salad and they gave it to me instead of the black beans, no extra charge. Total was $12.00 including tip, very cheap. Service was perfect, place is clean and comfy (welcoming, inviting). And I'm Buddhist so I recognized the decor....anyway everyone should try it. Great place. Based on other reviews seems I need to go back for the daal! -
Review from Harley C.
San Francisco, CA
12/22/2011 1 Check-in Here
As a meat-eater, I was really impressed by the Neatloaf. It was extremely tasty, and my dining partner kept stealing bites.
My only gripe with it was that it was not quite hot enough. Lukewarm Neatloaf? Not as appetising. -
Review from Amanda S.
San Francisco, CA
12/29/2011
It's a vegetarian restaurant with a spiritual mission (see Golden Era, Loving Hut).
The vegetarian restaurant part means a cruelty-free menu of soups, salads, curries, burgers and the speciality 'Neatloaf'.
The spiritual mission part means many pictures on the walls of their guru (Sri Chinmoy), his terrible art, a library of books by Sri Chinmoy and a waitstaff with an air of calm serenity.
The salads are always delightfully fresh and crunchy. The neatloaf is quite good, but I prefer it without the sauce. Their deserts are fabulous.
This is definitely a lunch spot, not a part of town I would hang about in after dark. -
Review from Nik G.
San Francisco, CA
12/1/2011
Ananda Fuara is a good spot for a vegetarian lunch downtown. They have a pretty big menu, and quite a few vegan or vegan-possible items. I nearly always get their veggie burger because it's just so darn tasty (if messy). Other excellent items on their menu are the hummus & "pita" (it's really whole wheat tortillas but it still tastes good), the samosas with mango chutney (OMG the samosas), the blue dream salad, and their dal is always yummy. Rotating specials and soups are worth checking out, too, and if the garnish of the day is the tabouli, GET IT. It's minty and good. They also have a great smoothie that I enjoy every now and again.
They also have a dessert case with a large variety of daily cakes and cookies and bars, most of them vegan. -
Review from Rebecca A.
San Francisco, CA
12/7/2011
Can I say NEATLOAF! I do not normally eat meatloaf, but this nutty vege-meatloaf has made me a convert as to its awesomeness. At least, to neatloaf only, and only this one. It does seem to vary slightly - get it fresh and vegan and you won't regret the meaty, moist and flavorful slices you get, nor the delicious barbecue-style tangy sauce on top. If I moved away from SF, Ananda Fuara's neatloaf would be one of the cravings I'd find hard to fill.
It's in my neighborhood so it's easily accessible and affordable too. Highlights include the neatloaf (now a staple treat) and their red lentil dal. The curries are a little on the mild side (Moroccan in mildness, admittedly not my kind of thing), their Greek salad portions are fresh and generous for the price, and I am a fan of their lemon tahini dressing and the fresh chapati. All in all I love that I can pop in here whenever I feel like it, and if you're the sort not to be put off by the fact it's a religious center or the decor, this is the vegan/vegetarian place for you. -
Review from Vira P.
Five stars on their "Neat"loaf. If you're afraid to try it, don't be. I think it's way better than the meat version.
Get their early because it gets crowded quickly.
If it's you're first time, you'll notice the large shrine to their spiritual leader. Don't worry, they are not trying to convert you or anything. They focus on good food and good service, and they exceed in both.
http://sexydishes.blog... -
Review from melissa n.
San Francisco, CA
10/26/2011
I was arouond Civic Center for a training and they recommended this vegeterian place in the neighborhood.
Interesting experience.
They have photos of their Guru pretty cheesy with brigh pink and blue outfits, lying on the grass , all around teh restaurant. And they have his books and the funniest shit is they have videos of him lifting weights and running around and playing music, looking pretty narcissistic to me. The decoration, the outfits and hipster lookign girl wearing sari...all these look pretty cheesy and funny and annoying to me but the prices are cheap and they were fast and the food was ok... so why not?
I had a neat loaf and it was fine.. nothing spectacular like some mentioned here but ok...
if you're in the neighborhood and vegetarian is ok for you go, but don't go out of your way to try something that is just ok... -
Review from Jasmin L.
San Francisco, CA
Eating a meal at Ananda Fuara is like stepping into a Freudian dream where everything is surreal, appears misplaced and does not really make sense at first.
DECOR/AMBIANCE:
The baby blue walls with the waterfall on the wall would be a good starting point to explain things to your therapist. Then try describing Sri Chimoy's portraits on the wall -- the spiritual leader of Ananda Fuara. AF is his "divine enterprise." Then try mentioning that you were served delicious vegan/vegetarian food by android women wearing colorful saris and men in blue shirts and khaki pants.
Luckily, we are in SF and Berkeley is just across the bridge. Your therapist would just say, "You did not dream it. You just smoke some heavy stuff and you had the munchies at Ananda Fuara." Now if you told this to a therapist in Kansas, you might end up on some heavy psych meds or even locked up.
On a serious note, a "different" and bizarre AF's ambiance and decor might be, on a weekday afternoon at around 2pm, AF is an oasis in the psychotic Civic Center area. It is a quiet, soothing place to nourish your body with their delicious and healthy food. AF is almost empty at around this time. During lunch time, be prepared you eat communal style. http://www.yelp.com/bi... http://www.yelp.com/bi...
FOOD:
The food is DIVINE!
NEAT LOAF $8.95: The neatloaf is the star of the menu. Forget it. If you have to eat meatloaf but you are a vegetarian, then go on ahead. Otherwise, it is dry and grainy although the flavors are good.
SAMOSAS $5.25: If there is an item that I can vote for, it is the plate of samosa. Humongous, filled with delicious pea and potato curry, deep-fried but light and served with sweet mango chutney. This is very high in the addictive factor. I went back 3 days in a row then the next week for these samosas! http://www.yelp.com/bi...
DAL SOUP $4.95 to $5.95: A bowl of spicy flavorful lentil nirvana!
CURRY PLATES $9.95: All the curry plates I had were full of complex flavors,seasoned well and delicious. A curry plate usually comes with a side salad and rice. http://www.yelp.com/bi...
VEGAN ENCHANTED SALAD $9.25: My first thought upon seeing this salad was, "How the heck would I finish this salad?! A mountain of red lettuce with mixed organic greens, zucchini, carrots, red cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes, toasted sunflower seeds, choice of dressing.
After finishing this salad I felt an affinity to my furry creature friends--the bunny rabbits! This salad is simple but delish and you will feel super-healthy after eating this for lunch! http://www.yelp.com/bi...
SHAKES, TEAS AND DESSERTS: Vast vegan selections but even a non-vegan will find delicious. Their CHOCOLATE VEGAN CAKE was scrumptious that my friends did not even mind that it was vegan.
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GREAT FOR:
*Jumpstarting a healthy diet
*Delicious vegan and non-vegan meals
*A totally unique dining experience in SF
CHECK: About $15 pp with app and main dish including tax and tip
ADDICTIVE FACTOR:
*SAMOSAS: 5 Highly Addicting! Rehab Worthy.
*DAL AND CURRY DISHES: 4 Can Be Potentially Addicting But Rehab Not Required YET! -
Review from Raina S.
Updated - 7/22/2011 3 Check-ins Here
Ananda Fuara is still amazingly good. Today I got the Infinite Bleu salad and shared a slice of banana chocolate chip cake with my sis.
The salad is almost like a brown rice and vegetable stir fry over a green salad. The combo sounds strange (I don't like my lettuce wilted) but it works beautifully. You can top it with bleu cheese dressing, or you can choose a vinaigrette to make the dish vegan.
They had three vegan cakes available today. On a previous visit I found the chocolate a bit too rich, even for me. The mango-strawberry looked great, but we decided for the banana chocolate-chip. The frosting was maple. Again, the combo sounds weird, but it was delicious.
My daughter had a vegan chocolate chip cookie which she said was one of the best cookies she's ever tasted.
Even if the idea of vegetarian or vegan sounds like a turnoff to you, you really must try this place. You won't miss the meat for a minute.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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5/5/2011
When Conan O'Brien brought his Late Night show to the Orpheum in San Francisco, he described how to… Read more »
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Review from Merri L.
Noe Valley, San Francisco, CA
3/26/2012
Becoming a part time vegetarian has led me to be more adventurous and try a vegetarian restaurant. The other Sunday, roomie and I were downtown shopping and wanted an early dinner because we missed lunch. One place that was open was Ananda Fuara. This restaurant closes early, at 8pm, and we were there around 5 probably, so the crowd was a little senior citizen/people with small children. We were seated right away, and had two waitresses. The second one was just a little...off... But - the food. We both started with soy yogi teas, which were non caffeinated sort of chai-like hot milk drinks, yummy! We also started with samosas with chutney. Mmm...the dough itself was sweet, and the sauce was too..almost like dessert. I would come here just for these two things as a snack. For the meal, I had the neatloaf with mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy with a side salad. The side salad was huge! And fresh. The potatoes were tasty, as was the gravy. I ordered the neatloaf cuz everyone said to get it. Don't get it. The loaf itself was ok, not bad, but the weird sauce they drenched it in was gross. My friend agreed. I kinda squeegied it off and ate the middle which had less sauce. Very filling though. My friend had the lasagna. They gave him a nice big slice, and it was very tasty. I wished I had ordered that instead. The menu says that every day they make one or more things without any refined sugar, which is great, since we try to avoid it, but when we asked the waitress, she had no idea. You have to walk up to the front and look at the dessert, many of which are tightly saran-wrapped, making them less appetizing and fresh looking. And no one knows what's in them. She basically said some probably didn't have refined sugar but you would have to just eat them and find out if it did that way. Umm...what is the point of that?! Nothing looked great so I took a pass. We both did. Overall, this place is a bit weird, dedicated to some guy, the waitress was a bit weird too, but it's tasty and vegetarian and vegan, easy to get to, and they were friendly enough. Just don't get the neatloaf. They have a lot of daily specials so it's some place I'd be willing to try again! It is more than one dollar sign though like it says on here, I'd give it two. This place is A-OK!
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Review from michelle s.
San Francisco, CA
11/16/2011
Are the salads organic? If so, this should definitely be advertised because, in general, salads tend to be on the high pesticide side.
This place would get a higher rating from me if more fresh ingredients were being used..i.e., I was a bit disappointed to learn that that the artichokes in my curry were from a can. -
Review from LC L.
San Francisco, CA
2/18/2012
Amazing vegetarian restaurant, plenty of vegan options too. I got the fresh mozzarella , tomato and basil sandwich. My family got a pesto chicken wrap, a veggie burrito, and a meatloaf sandwich with mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy. The service is great, and the food comes out pretty fast. They also have amazing vegan deserts. 5 stars.
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Review from di a.
Claremont, CA
8/14/2011
NEATLOAF NEATLOAF NEATLOAF!
I had this about two weeks ago and I am STILL craving it again! Oh why oh why isn't there an Ananda Fuara in Los Angeles????
This place is extremely great. Unpretentious. Nice staff. Nice big clean bathroom. But this place is SUPER great because of the food.
Here is the description of the Neatloaf dinner:
"A juicy loaf made from grains, eggs, ricotta cheese, tofu and spices blended together and baked, topped with a tangy tomato-based sauce. Served with mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy. Now vegan upon request." HOLY HELLBOT!
Everything about this dish was completely delicious!
GO HERE! LOTS! And have some Neatloaf for me!!!!! -
Review from Dee V.
Sunnyvale, CA
7/13/2011
I was in the city all the way from Sunnyvale and was super hungry. So I mapped out restaurants in the area and this was the closest to where I was....and luckily for me I'm vegetarian!
I walked in and was greeted by a sweet lady in a sari (owner perhaps?). The menu was heavenly (for all the vegetarians and vegans out there you know what I'm talking about). I ordered the curry of the day (artichoke) with rice and salad (lemon tahini). WOW...WOW is all I have to say. The curry was AMAZING (and although i'm indian, i'm usually not that excited about curries lol)...I savored every bite. And the salad dressing was very unique and tasty. There wasn't a single crumb left on my plate.
To end the lunch, I ordered vegan mango cake. WOW^10! It was moist and delicious. I ate half and saved the rest for my husband....but on the bart back home, I kept saying "one more bite" and ultimately I ate it all...whoops! Definitely check it out! -
Review from ruggy j.
5/10/2011 2 Check-ins Here
As a younger me living as a hippie in San Diego, I used to eat at Jyoti Bihanga in some capacity about six days a week, and that's no exaggeration. Whether it was a faux-turkey wrap and a plate of hummus for lunch, or a dinner of "neat"loaf after the sun went down in the evening, in some capacity, these mild-mannered monks saw me nearly every single day. In fact, I was in there so often that I had a tab running for those days when I was jogging by and didn't have my wallet in tow, but wanted to grab a quick, sweaty nibble before heading home on the heels of a 45-minute calorie burn through the neighborhood. Needless to say, upon moving to San Francisco, Jyoti was one of the places I missed the most.
Now, fast forward nearly two years since my Southern California departure... I recently discovered that Jyoti Bihanga has a pseudo presence in San Francisco at this here Ananda Fuara just steps from City Hall! The same weird, light blue painted walls, same semi-creepy allegiance to the divine enterprise of the omni-present Sri Chinmoy (whoever the guy is - not my scene), and more importantly - the same exact menu of my go-to eats from San Diego! It's like one of my favorite restaurants was lifted by way of a Wizard of Oz-like funnel cloud and dropped within a 15 minute walk of my pad. Outside of crappy chain food juggernauts, how often can someone move away from home, only to encounter an eatery's sister operation serving up familiar food to channel nostalgia like nobody's business? It's rare, and I'm so excited to have discovered 'em!
For the unknowing, Anada Fuara is a vegetarian/vegan restaurant with all sorts of comfort food staples, but without roughly 95% of the animal byproducts typically used in classic American fare. One of their most popular Western Diet reinventions is the "neat"loaf, which honest-to-god, tastes just like the beef-laced meatloaf my grandma used to make. Same color and consistency, same great taste (I'd argue that it's actually better than what I remember as a child) but with a fraction of the cholesterol, and in fact, no cholesterol whatsoever at all if you get the vegan version. They also have a whole host of meatless burgers, sandwiches, soups, chilis, Mediterranean favorites, cakes, cookies, etc... However, the difference here is that if you care at all about your health, the environment, animal welfare, et al., you can enjoy all of those items 100% guilt free! Such a great feeling.
Unfortunately, due to the nature of the stimulated San Francisco restaurant scene, the chances of becoming a full-fledged regular is unlikely... but when I'm not making the rounds hitting some new Mission hot spot, another Hayes Valley kebob shop, or a hyphy izakaya, I'll certainly reserve my free days for a skate with Ananda.Listed in: Vegan!, PETA Approved!
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Review from Jennifer T.
Alameda, CA
2/3/2012
I came here with a friend who is vegan. You get a 10% discount if you are part of the SF Bicycle Coalition. I like the fountain of water and the waiter/waitresses costumes, but the portraits of the guy is very weird. It gives me a weird vibe, because he is dead so I don't want to look at him. The neatloaf I ordered tasted ok. I really like the lentil soup though.
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Review from Jessica T.
San Francisco, CA
4/8/2011
After an acupuncture appointment all the way up by Bush and Octavia, I unsuccessfully tried to flag a couple of cabs.
The sun aglow and the breeze light, I took it as a sign that I was meant to get my walk on, enjoy the weather, and get my healthy veg. on at Ananda Fuara.
And so I did.
I sashayed (the sun has a way of making me get my strut on) all the way from Bush and Laguna to Ananda Fuara.
I've been to Ananda Fuara before for some of their dessert and baked goods, but have never actually sat down and enjoyed a meal here. My shoulders loose and my skin beaming (thanks to Julie at Retreat Acupuncture) I knew today was the ideal day for a hot serving of goodness.
Ananda Fuara has a pretty basic interior and there is a plethora of Sri Chimnoy (check out Claire I's review for some interesting knowledge about Sri) inspired literature around the place, but their staff, adorned in blue collar shirts (an interesting change to their sari-like outfits in past years), are so welcoming, quick, and accommodating - that you can't help, but absorb the warmth of this unique eatery.
I ordered their vegan ravioli and substituted naan bread in for their garlic bread. The marinara sauce was just the way I like it: full of fresh tomatoes and not a ton of grease. The ravioli had distinct flavors, and was a superb medley of vegetables and tofu. The lightly seasoned bread scooped up the sauce with tasty ease.
I felt full, but energized. I could taste the love and fresh ingredients in my meal. All for nine dollars (AF is not Good Earth, but their prices are definitely reasonable).
I walked the rest of the way down Market Street with profound and distinct sass.
Some good vegetarian food and some excellent acupuncture will do that to you.
Trust.Listed in: Vegan Friendly Spots
