In My Mind’s Zen Garden

Today I went by myself to Cilantro Live! for lunch. Tiffany from The Bistro suggested one night that I go there.

Cilantro Live! is an organic raw vegan restaurant in Chula Vista. They bill themselves as the following:

San Diego county’s first organic, vegan and 100% raw restaurant.

And it’s true. Everything they serve there is 100% raw vegan (no meat, fish, poultry, honey, or eggs), and it’s all organic!

When I first got there I noticed it was a quaint little place. It wasn’t totally packed, but there were several groups of people dining. Service was pretty fast, I thought, considering that raw vegan food can take a while to prepare.

I tried their “Sampler Platter” which consisted of “2 Nori rolls, 1 Spring Roll, 1 Buenos Vida Wrap, 2 Raw-violis, 1 Mini Pizzzaza and Small House Salad”. The Small House Salad was at the center of the plate, with the various dishes arranged around it.

The nori rolls were quite delicious, looked like and tasted like rolled sushi, but I was wondering what was used for rice… possibly Jicama? The Buenos Vida Wrap was excellent, although I wasn’t sure what was in it… but I did detect some Indian spices. I actually received 2 Mini Pizzzazas and they were incredibly delicious. Just like mini-pizzas. The Spring Roll reminded me of Filipino fresh vegetable lumpias, and there was a brown sauce that came with the Spring Roll, just like the brown sauce that usually accompanies the fresh vegetable lumpias. The Raw-violis were also very tasty, though a bit small (the size of a saltine cracker).

All-in-all, the food tasted extremely fresh to the palate. Everything was raw and it didn’t matter one bit that it was all prepared raw… in other words, I didn’t miss the fact that the food wasn’t cooked.

For desert, I ordered their “Carob Mouse Cake” and it was so sinfully delicious that I only ate about a third of it and saved it to take home so that my wife could taste it. I couldn’t believe it was totally raw. It tasted THAT good! Although it was a bit pricey $7.85… but well worth it! Heavenly!

My “Sampler Platter” was $13.25, but considering the preparation I know is needed to make these dishes, I think it was a reasonable price. Altogether, I spent $25 including tip. Not bad for a well-prepared, organic 100% raw vegan meal.

The only negative about this place is that it’s pretty far from my home, but it’s the only restaurant of its kind in San Diego County, other than Kung Food, which serves both raw and cooked vegan food.

I will definitely go back to Cilantro Live!