Pot And Pan - Santa Monica

A nice small restaurant on Santa Monica blvd. We came at about 11:30 on a Tuesday. Only one other diner so we were able to choose our table. The service was good. I ordered Pad Thai which is pan-fried noodles with chicken, egg, bean sprouts, tofu and peanut. They served the soup first which was cabbage, onion, chicken and carrot. That I could see. It was delicious. Then the dish, it came with shredded carrots, shredded cabbage, and chopped peanuts on the side. I mixed it all up and it was delicious. No complaints. The food took about 10 minutes to cook. The service like I said was good but it also was not crowded. Oh and if you want to use your card to pay they ask that your bill is at least $10. Between the food and my Thai iced tea the total was about $9.

Stopped into this joint for a late lunch yesterday to get away from the office. Its been a year or two since I’ve been here. This Thai place shares patio space with a pretty decent French place (Utopia which I enjoy) but the Thai half of the patio along with the interior of the restaurant was full of patrons. Hmmm, that probably is indicative of the quality of food then? They’re not a vegetarian place, but the menu did have 6 9 vegetarian items to choose from. I ordered the pumpkin, eggplant and tofu sauteed in soybean sauce with white rice for $7 $8. I miss white rice. This lunch special included either soup or salad, and since I’m nursing a sore throat and stuffed nose, I opted for the soup especially since I was sure to ask about the ingredients – “Vegetables” the older lady proclaimed. I receive my order and went to town. That soup was soooo good that I didn’t have to add additional spices which prompted me to ask the waitress about the actual ingredients even though I could clearly see the cabbage leaves. What was in that broth!!?? It was SO very tasty! She tells me, “cabbage, garlic, onions and chicken.” Whoooooa!! STOP!!! “Chicken!!? Are you sure??” — How could you? Didn’t you notice that I ordered a vegetarian dish? I silently screamed to myself! I inhale and remember that I, and only I, am responsible for myself. I can’t expect people to read my mind. The owners and wait staff are very nice gentle people who’s primary language isn’t English and they are doing the best they can. The service was excellent otherwise. Perhaps I wasn’t clear enough, perhaps I wasn’t adamant enough in clarifying the ingredients before I accepted/ordered the item. That’s ok, it’s a learning experience. No, I wasn’t upset with them at all. Although a little part of me thinks…um, if I specifically ask you if you have vegetarian dishes, you point it out to me on the menu, then wouldn’t you, due to common sense, anticipate that I, too, would want all of my meal items to be vegetarian? Its not a perfect world, sigh! And yes, this was a good lesson for me to take a MORE active part in being responsible for the ingredients I eat the next time. I’m no longer just a regular foodie. I now have restrictions. Nevertheless, the soup AND the dish was fabulously delicious! I would have preferred the pumpkin and the tofu to be a bit more pliable, but it tasted like they were blanched. Not bad for $8 for the total bill. Great value and really good tasting food. I can see now why this place was packed with professional types during mid day. I will be back again, and I’ll know that the soup has chicken in it. Not the end of the world. Life goes on with my journey to adopting a vegetarian lifestyle.