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House of Vege - CLOSED
Categories: Restaurants Chinese Restaurants Vegetarian Restaurants Vegan Chinese, Vegetarian, Vegan [Edit]
2439 Pacific Coast HwyLomita, CA 90717
(310) 530-1180
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
26 reviews for House of Vege
Review Highlights
"I usually get the orange chicken and snow fish and it never..."
(in 10 reviews)
"Anyway, my favorite part of the meal was the Peking duck."
(in 4 reviews)
"excellent 'meat' dishes (sweet sour pork and spicy tofu..."
(in 3 reviews)
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26 reviews in English
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Review from Fergee A.
Long Beach, CA
4/19/2009
Used to frequent this place all the time because my lovely girlfriend is a vegetarian and I love the food, yum yum yumy umyumyumyumyum.
The food really looks as if it's real meat which is cool, although it doesn't taste quite like it, it is still delicious man.
Sweet and sour chicken, dude try it you might get addicted but we always get the eggplant and tofu, yum. The prices are reasonable so just check it out, i see some people didn't enjoy it but whatever people are entitled to their own opinion and as to you, so go try it yourself and come back to tell us about it. -
Review from Eddie C.
1/25/2009 ROTD 12/30/2009
Cool... All-You-Can-Eat vegetarian food for only $15.95/person.
While this restaurant does offer single vegetarian entrees, most entrees costs between $8-$10 or more, so you might as well do the All-You-Can-Eat plan.
The AYCE plan is not buffet style, meaning that you actually place 2 orders per person at a time. Then you can place 2 more orders per person when you are done with the first ones. The choice is quite plentiful... there are 54 choices to choose from! Yes, 54 vegetarian entrees at your disposal.
With the wifey and I, we chose a total of 8 entrees, and was charged only $15.95 x 2 = $31.90. Wow... 8 dishes for $32... not too shabby. And the dishes are medium sized... meaning its not a little, nor is it a lot, but a good portion.
I noticed that there are quite a few Non-Asians customers that were dining that night... I would hope that more Asians would come here and enjoy the Chinese vegetarian food. After all, give the cows, ducks, chickens, and fish a break, will ya?!
I highly recommend their Braised Tofu and also their Fried Eggplants... of course, they also have items like Kung Pao Chicken, Fried Fish, etc... but really, their veggies and noodles are good.Listed in: My ROTD's
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Review from I Q.
San Pedro, CA
3/10/2008
I've been driving past this place for years and never bothered to give it a second glance. First, because it looks sketchy as hell (not in the comforting "hole in the wall neighborhood gem" way either, more like "why the hell hasn't it caught on fire yet?" way) and second, because I am about as carnivorous as they come, and the concept of eating an entire meal without any animal proteins is about as foreign as having a starch-free Italian feast.
So it was with great trepidation that I allowed my wife to coax me into eating here after hearing rave reviews from a vegetarian friend of ours.
I wasn't disappointed. In fact, I enjoyed the meal immensely and learned a little about myself in the process -- namely, that I can sit through a vegetarian meal without pounding on the table while roaring, "MEAT! MORE MEAT!" and demanding the waitstaff to bring out bloody slabs of beef for me to eat.
I'm not going to even mention the decor, because it's as unremarkable and design-impaired as Chinese restaurants get. The service is rather friendly and the waiter was happy to explain the rules (yes, there are rules) for the All You Can Eat special and help suggest dishes.
Rules:
1) You do not talk about House of Vege.
2) You may order 2 plates per person to start.
3) Once you finish a plate, you may order another.
4) NO TAKE OUT
The dishes with the $13.95 special are modestly sized, about a third of a normal portion -- about tapas-sized, I'd say. 4-5 dishes between 2 people is enough for an average appetite. There's a long list of 40 dishes to choose from. It took me about 10 minutes of looking at the whiteboard specials and the menu for it to sink in that *none of the meat on the menu is real.*
That orange chicken? Broccoli beef? Peking duck? Shrimp rolls? All vegetable-and-whey based fakery!
And it's all DELICIOUS!
The deep fried tofu had a sweet sauce and crunchy crust and became our favorite. The chow mein was a bit watery but otherwise good. Buddha's feast was predictable but the vegetables were cooked perfectly. The house special chicken, as recommended here, was excellent, crispy, and - surprise - made entirely of mushroom. My wife, who was raised with an irrational fear of fungi, gladly devoured the dish without any prompting on my behalf.
I was also pleased to see that they were one of the rare restaurants to serve stir-fried rice cakes, my longstanding go-to dish.
This is an excellent place to take a group of adventurous, very hungry people -- even meat eaters, because a lot of it is "close enough" to the real thing that I suspect the less savvy may not even suspect fowl play (SEE WHAT I DID THERE). -
Review from Margaret N.
Gardena, CA
12/26/2007
3.5 stars.
Was expecting the worst, but was pleasantly surprised. Other vegetarian restaurants I had been to back in Austin were pretty bland and bleh. The menu was diverse, with all the "meats" represented. We ordered a Peking "duck" appetizer, orange "chicken", sesame "beef", and noodles with vegetables. I remembered reading a review about a bland noodle dish but forgot that it was this one. Doh!
Peking duck ($2.50) was a single piece of "duck" and "skin" on a doughy pillow with some greens and sauce. I'm going to add a disclaimer here stating that all meats referenced herein are tofu or straight non-meat products so I can quit with the quotes already! Anyway, my favorite part of the meal was the Peking duck. I was impressed by the skin, which was a lot crispier than real duck skin. It was fried up really well, like they started with some really hot grease and threw it in supercold--it had some great air bubbles in it. IDK, it makes me giddy just remembering it. The duck itself was cut and tasted a lot like Spam, which I didn't mind, since I'm a fan. The sauce was slightly sweet which complimented the salty duck. The only beef I had with the dish (that's a pun back there, look!), was that the lettuce was sliced so it easily fell out of the bun/pancake/taco/whatever.
The orange chicken ($12-13) was great as others reviewed. It had a chicken tender-ish texture and the sauce had some whole red chilis in it. Sesame beef ($12) was aight, but I'm sure there are other dishes better for $12. This dish was less believable as beef (but still good, don't get me wrong), tossed in a tangy, smokey sauce, and sat on a bed of fried wonton skin strips. And the noodles ($6-7), yes, they were basic but not entirely bland. I don't think I'll order those again either. Not that these dishes are horrible...
It's just that there is so much more stuff to try on the menu! I continuously tripped out on how tasty and satisfying these dishes were sans meat. Next time, I'll try the all-you-can-eat menu ($9.95). I kinda wanted to try this menu when we went, but was overwhelmed by the massive list of offerings. I didn't know how large the portions were going to be, if you had to finish one before moving to the next item, etc. I now know that a series of smaller serving dishes are brought out at once, and then as you finish them, you can order more. Info that would've been useful to me then! Alas, that was one facet of the service that kinda sucked. Typical Chinese restaurant service--miscommunications, curtness, and the like. But I don't usually dock for service unless it gets on my last nerve, so I'll stick to my 3.5 stars. -
Review from Andy D.
Flagstaff, AZ
10/7/2008 6 photos
Since I've been playing tourist here in California, my friend wanted to visit the Bookoff in Torrance. On the way, we spotted this place, and since my friend is vegan, we figured that this would be a great place to stop.
We ended up getting here around 8 pm, and the place was absolutely dead. An old Chinese man greeted us and showed us to our table. The service was absolutely friendly, and the old man was very nice. (He told us that he is our father for the evening). The only problem was that he barely spoke any English. Fortunately, a younger girl was there to help.
On special was an all you can eat dinner for 16 a person. Of course, we went with that, and ordered an addition egg rolls. So I kept on asking about how many at a time we could order, but I couldn't understand them, so my friend and I ordered 5 dishes plus the egg rolls. The special comes with rice, and soup as well. Skip the soup. It was nasty.
The five dishes we ordered included: stir fried mochi, pork broccoli, stir fried noodles, crispy chicken and sweet and sour pork. All of them (with the exception of the egg rolls and the pork broccoli) were absolutely delicious. The texture was very realistic and close to the real thing. The pork was way to crispy and chewy. The egg rolls were very plain. The old man told us that the egg rolls were free, and he kept on bringing us more food. He also brought us a fish dish, which I didn't touch since I don't eat fish.
The bill came out to 35, which I think was pretty good for being able to eat so many dishes and being so stuffed afterward. By the end of the meal, only one other party was in there. Hopefully this review will help attract some followers :D -
Review from Kthrn J.
Cypress, CA
2/24/2008
If you love vegetarian food, this is your place! The entire menu is meatless, although, you can still get your kung pao chicken, etc., except it's all vegetarian! These dishes are amazing! The shrimp looks like real shrimp . . . but not TOO real!!
I recommend the deep fried house chicken. To die for! The broccolli and sauteed spinach were superb, so yummy!
The all you can eat is the best bet for $13.95. You can choose from 40 or so dishes!
Excellent service. -
Review from Stephanie F.
Long Beach, CA
1/15/2010
A few brief thoughts on House of Vege for the new year.
First off, how on earth does a place like this stay open when there are places like Veggie Wokery or the Bodhi Tree in existence?
Second, I thought the food was edible when it went in, but here we are an hour later and I'm seriously considering inducing it to come back up.
Lastly, and most importantly: Do NOT, and I mean do NOT bring a reluctant to try vegetarian food meat eater to this restaurant, as you will scare him away from all food that did not once have a face for the rest of his natural born life! Bring him to native foods or Veggie Wokery.
*I felt bad about giving them only one star, as nothing outstandingly horrible happened, but I really wanted to.
You'll have to excuse the brief review, but I actually do think I'm gonna barf. Igsnay on the ouse-hay of ege-vay! yuck! -
Review from ankur v.
Los Angeles, CA
6/25/2007
As a frequent happy family eater - I figured this place was going to be very similar.
We had the orange chicken (mushroom + whey I believe), Asparagus, and tofu with Spinach soup.
All the food overall was pretty healthy, and pleasing to the eye. I however, wished that the food had more spice, as the soup was pretty plain (no base whatever) and the the orange chicken could have been slightly more crunchy.
By the looks of the menu, i'm sure there are many tasty options. And it kept my carnivore friends satisfied, which means done deal in my book.
They also have a lunch and dinner specials. -
Review from Shuriu L.
Long Beach, CA
4/16/2008
I grew up eating this kind of food -- non meat foods imitating Chinese dishes. I also grew up eating the meat versions. This restaurant does the vegan version VERY well.
I used to go about 4-5 times a month. I moved out of the area and I went back about 4 months ago. The food is still excellent, however, the service had changed. There used to be several busboys and old-timers serving the patrons. This time there were polite, slightly oblivious young servers that were probably full-time students and no busboys. The service used to be excellent so I'm not sure why the standards sunk so low -- from a 10 to a 3. I used to have a hard time getting a table on a Saturday night, but only 1/3rd of the restaurant was full that night.
In any case, I was vegetarian for 4 years and this restaurant was my salvation. I craved, craved, craved steamed whole fish with the skin and a soy sauce ginger treatment; I longed for and dreamed of eating Peking duck; I missed sauteed vegetables, ho fun (or the close approximation of Chinese rice stick noodle), with anything OTHER than tofu. I'd even developed an allergy to non Asian soy products -- breaking out into embarrassing skin rashes all over my body whenever I had grilled soy cheese sandwiches. And so this restaurant absolutely saved me so that I didn't go insane during those 4 years.
They have great sauteed vegetables and I will emphasize that the food is REALLY VEGAN. They don't even carry the trendy Asian boba teas, unfortunately, because of the sweetened condensed milk that goes into them. Look for sauteed baby pea leaves when in season -- very, very nice.
Warning: a lot of my non vegetarian, non Asian friends loathe the restaurant because they taste food that tastes like meat and yet it isn't meat and for some reason that freaks them out. I'm going to say one more time that this is an Asian tradition -- it's an art with entire sections of the cuisine devoted to non meat dishes almost exactly like the more common meat versions -- and it's okay. Honestly, veal parmesan can be done with a tender cut of pork and you *wouldn't* know the difference, so what's the problem with non meat?! -
Review from A E.
Redondo Beach, CA
9/16/2009
I've been going here for years, and I can usually trust them. the ambience may be a little unsettling, and your waiter may not speak a lick of english, but for a long time I genuinely enjoyed eating here.
i came by today for lunch, ordered the ususally good orange chicken and green beans, and was very dissapointed becuase my meal had a nasty addition to it: bugs.
yes, bugs. The complimentary soup had 3 little black winged bugs drowned in it, my rice has 2 of the same bugs hiding in there, and my orange chicken had a piece of metal in it.
Something is seriously wrong with this place these days... -
Review from Jane C.
Vancouver, WA
6/30/2007
Hmmm...what have I had here? Orange chicken, crispy oyster mushrooms, some spicy eggplant dish, walnut shrimp, lamb curry, and noodles with vegetables. It was all delicious (except the noodles, they were totally plain--not sure why I ordered them). By the way, this restaurant is completely vegetarian which I find incredible. It's a great place to take people that are either vegetarian or don't eat certain meats. Go with a couple friends, each order a dish, and share them family style. Everyone will leave full and satisfied.
The decor is a bit outdated and nondescript. But that's okay. The focus is on the food, and it shows. -
Review from Glenn S.
Torrance, CA
4/21/2008
This used to be an amazing vegetarian find. Most of our meat-eating friends would always want to go there with us. We eat there at least once a week!
However, in the past 2 years the service has really gone downhill since changing ownership. After numerous issues with both getting our order correct to shortchanging us, it was finally time to say good bye.
Go there for the food. However, if you are looking for friendly, competent service, look elsewhere (try Happy Veggie in Redondo Beach). -
Review from Tina M.
4/13/2007
The Veg meat here actually tastes like meat! Esp the orange chicken. (I'm a shameless carnivore by the way... I'd kill to get my meat if I had to.) What amused me though is once I ordered the "Peking Duck" with the bun/pancake. And the meat tasted very convincingly like ham, and not at all like duck. That amused me highly. Black bean tofu is good as well as the fried tofu.
One time though I got a little sick after eating here but it wasn't severe. So I still come. -
Review from J B.
Harbor City, CA
4/1/2008
I brought my parents here because I thought, "hey, why not treat them to some healthy Chinese?" I saw the VEGE in the sign and figured everything would be made of veggies.
We had a hard time ordering off the menu because nothing really sounded appetizing, so we went with the waiter's recommendations.
Well, when the food came out, it looked very unappetizing, Like dried up old McDonalds chicken nuggets. And ALL FOUR of our entrees were fried. Fried does not equal healthy at all in my book. They can be fried broccolli or turnips for all I care, but if it's fried, it's fried.
But these were not fried "vege" dishes. It tasted like some strange mystery meat. Made out of.... cardboard? It left a strange aftertaste. My tastebuds were confused and disgusted at the same time.
Most of all, I felt really bad for bringing my parents to this place. My dad is not a picky eater, but he said he couldn't eat the stuff. Neither could my mom.
I dunno, I feel bad for leaving this review, but maybe it was an "off" day? The food was one of the worst i've ever had though honestly. =( -
Review from gabriela m.
Long Beach, CA
7/12/2008
i'm a big fan of soy meat. i grew up eating it, in every way shape and form, so any time i get the chance to try it prepared by a different hand, i go for it.
house of vege is good! lunch specials are affordable and the meals are tasty. we had the beef and broccoli and orange chicken with a side of asparagus.
each meal came with soup (vege eggflower? i dunno but it was the worst part of the meal) and your choice of either white or brown rice. we opted for the brown ($1.50 extra, by the way) and it was really good.
the only thing that kept this review from being five stars is the bland soup and the fact that the orange chicken, which has a little chile pepper next to it on the menu, was far from spicy. i hate when people put a little chile pepper next to a dish and it has no bite. i order spicy to get spicy. and when i say spicy i mean spicy.
the servers seemed a little unsure and were on the distant side, but they got the job done and nothing was lacking.
i wouldn't recommend this place to anyone who is not familiar with soy meat and who is, well, "delicate" about textures (to put it nicely). the texture (i hear) can be off-putting to meat-eaters who have never tried gluten or other soy based "meats."
all in all, we left happy and stuffed, with a big bag of leftovers that were devoured completely by the following day. next time, i plan on trying the 'fish'! -
Review from c t.
Torrance, CA
6/28/2007
The "meat" here does taste a lot like real meat. I usually get the orange chicken and snow fish and it never gets boring. The food seems healthy (you could also upgrade your white rice to akai rice for a couple dollars or so). It can be a bit plain if you are used to "normal" mainstream food (fast food and stuff). Overall the food and service is pretty good here.
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Review from Johnny G.
Redondo Beach, CA
2/19/2009 1 photo
Nasty. Food was waaay too salty. Reminded me of McDonald's chicken nuggets. Don't get me wrong, I love those, but these were more like little "sponges". Salads were warm (WTF?) Orange "chicken" fooled neither of us. Come on. Plain, cheap-looking atmosphere. Unremarkable service. We decided going to House of Vege just ONCE was more than enough.
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Review from Chiquita G.
Torrance, CA
7/31/2010
I went here with a Vegetarian friend of mine. This is not a place for anyone (like me) who has ever tasted and enjoyed the luxury of REAL meat products such as chicken, steak or lobster. I tried to like it, but it didnt agree with my pallette. My friend liked it and raved about it even though its been 2 years since that visit. Staff was fine. Food is a bit overpriced considering its nothing but tofu, which tastes like mud to me, but whatever. If your a vegetarian, go for it. And I STRONGLY recommend not bringing your meat eating friends with you, its a waste of money. For vegetarians who KNOW they are vegetarians, go for it. Meat eaters, if you come here, the best thing on the menu is the rice.
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Review from andrea v.
2/24/2009
I wanted to like this place so badly. After reading about it on yelp, I was so excited that there was an AYCE vegetarian restaurant relatively close to me.
When we arrived at the restaurant, there were about 3 other parties there. Not too busy. We ordered and the food came pretty fast. So far I'm impressed and giving this place 5 stars in my head. The soup wasn't very good, but after reading reviews, I had expected that. We ordered 4 dishes between the two of us to start. When they arrived, they were decent sizes- enough to share, but not so big that you couldn't order something else too. So far so good.
Then we tasted the food. We ordered a noodle dish- pretty much what you would expect. We also ordered sweet and sour 'pork' and cashew 'chicken' and sweet and sour 'ribs'. These were all a bit disappointing compared to what we have had at many other vegetarian restaurants, but still edible. The pork and ribs were breaded and fried, but lacking some flavor. The 'chicken' did not have much of a stringy chicken-like texture- it was almost like a jello-tofu square. I know that's not a very good description, but that's as close as I can get. Then we ordered a 'sausage' dish and a gluten ball dish. I called the gluten ball dish 'mushy balls' for the rest of the night because that's what they were. Not good at all. And the sausage didn't have much flavor. So the food was not too great. Except for the mushy balls, it was edible at least. Minus one star for sub-par food. I am still wanting to like this place, so I decide to order something else to get the mushy balls flavor out of my mouth. Maybe a dish that will really impress me.
So I decided to order one last dish- something with 'fish'. As we waited, we played with the mushy balls. And waited. And waited. And saw many people come and go. People that had just arrived received their food while we still waited for one dish. And our waiter did not come by even once. After 25 minutes, we tried to get his attention. 40 minutes later, we finally were able to get his attention and ask for the check. And I asked about my last order. "They must have forgotten it" Now, I didn't see him write it down when I ordered it, so I don't know who actually forgot it, but by that time, I was more than ready to leave so I never did get to try the 'fish'. And the last taste in my mouth was the yucky mushy balls.
So $40+ later, I realized the all you can eat was really not worth it. For the same amount, I could have gone to Bodhi Tree or Thuyen Vien and we could have shared 4 dishes that would be really good and had food left over for lunch the next day.
I really wanted to like this place and I may try to go again, hopefully this was just a bad night. I am pleased to find a vegetarian restaurant such as this, so I have to give them 3 stars for that, but the quality and service were severely lacking.
Concept- check.
Ability to carry out- fail. -
Review from Sarah K.
Venice, CA
2/7/2010
I love this place but the food makes my blood glucose levels go sky high! A lot of sugary sauces. If you are also a type 1, watch your BGs afterwards. : )
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Review from Lawrence F.
Carson, CA
3/14/2006 1 Check-in Here
An awesome place for both herbivores and carnivores. A great place to show how good vegetarian cuisine can be.
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Review from Gerald S.
Chino Hills, CA
1/14/2008
Anyone who knows me knows that I NEED meat in my meals. Otherwise, mask the meat and trick my brain into thinking it is meat. This place did the trick! They have an all you can eat type option so we chose that for a reasonable price, especially for the amount I usually eat. I ordered the orange "chicken", which I thought was the best dish there. They used mushroom or something and it tastes great! I do like the non-meat stuff too, like sauteed spinach and tofu skin. I would've given this place 5 stars but the "beef" dish is kinda gross.
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Review from Petunia P.
Torrance, CA
6/12/2009
Not a fan!Very greasy & salty.I appreciate the attempt being I am a vegetarian.But I think it's nasty.Alot of my friends love it though.I give it stars purely because it's veg
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Review from j g.
Woodland Hills, CA
6/28/2009
Very good. It is a little on the oily side. But, that is an attempt to make vegetarian stuff taste more meaty and filling. I don't appreciate trying to make vegetarian food look and taste like meat. This is probably done to try and capture the carcass eating crowd. One can order real vegetarian food here also. Next time I will try and order "not too much oil please."
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Review from I I.
Torrance, CA
10/17/2009
The food was OK and tasty. The issue is that all of the meat substitutes were all deep fried before hand, so I do not see how this can be healthier. I would rather eat the real thing. I guess this place would highly benefit those who will not eat meat.
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Review from Figaro A.
Manhattan Beach, CA
1/23/2010
i like this place. excellent 'meat' dishes (sweet sour pork and spicy tofu & shredded pork my favorites!) good complimentary whole grain 'red rice' too. i would definitely go back.
