Alice & Friends in Oak Park

Some interesting dichotomies here. U fancy decor and furniture contrasts with thoughtful and attractive plating. O really a good experience. One of the better satay I've had, though the texture was still off (will there ever be a good vegan chicken?). Thai iced tea had an unusual spice. The banh mi was excellent. Service was unobtrusive but really good. Overall worth a visit.

Definitely don't miss this restaurant! Everything is vegan - and all of the dishes we had exceeded expectations greatly (in quality, in portion and in flavor)! The diversity of available options was inspiring, and I'd gladly come back to try just about everything on the menu. I've never seen a Mango lassi on a vegan menu before! There's also a tantalizing selection of baked goods and even house-made vegan cheesecakes. This is the sign you've been waiting for, follow the white rabbit here!

I’m not vegan but they sure fooled me with their “ham.” It tasted smokey and had the texture of a slice of meat! It came with my tonkotsu ramen noodles, which was soooo good. It was creamy and was a close imitation to the real thing. I wish I knew their secret of how they made their broth. While eating it, I thought this could totally compete with the real thing considering how healthy it is. The real thing is made of pork fat. If you can’t eat pork, this is a great alternative! I also loved their bahn mi. It had all the things I look for in a Vietnamese sandwich - pickled veggies (carrots & daikon), “mayo”, cilantro, and protein. The protein fooled me too! Surprise, surprise *sarcasm*. I’ve had vegan bahn mi in Seattle before. The other one gave a fatty texture. This one had the texture and color of marinated chicken. The bite was firm and flavorful. Where I think they can improve on is their Vietnamese pho noodles soup. Personally, I’m not into broccoli. The best real pho I’ve had never had broccoli - but that’s maybe because I never get the veggie option. I’m biased, but seeing broccoli on the dish didn’t encourage me to get it. The broth tasted good tho - it had the right tones with the star arnise flavors but I think pho beef broth is hard to get right even as the real thing. I think it made sense that it really just tasted like spiced veggie broth. The protein looked like boiled chicken, though it lacked the firmness of the bahn mi meat. It honestly looked like matzo balls in the shape of sliced chicken. Granted, it was my partners order so I was personally satisfied with my order :-) I bought my food for pick up, they were nice and had my order 20 minutes like they said they would. I noticed that other locations had more food options like crab Rangoon. When I asked about it, they were very helpful and said that with this location being much smaller they don’t have the equipment to serve fry foods. What a bummed cause that sounds so tasty! I think a cool alternative for them is to sell their fried food prepackaged/uncooked and you would have to fry them at home. I really just want to try their crab rangoon, but I’m lazy to go to their other restaurants haha. It is on the expensive side. I spent $50-$60 ish dollars on 3 dishes. I do think that the value is in the artistry and culinary skills it takes to imitate meat. Having a healthier version of something like tonkotsu ramen is very much welcome. I probably won’t go here all the time, but I’m 100% recommending it to my vegan and non-vegan friends and family! ^_^

Excerpts