I was never too successful trying to get our little art department to go to M Cafe for lunch--not only does the macrobiotic cafe offer very few meat options (and only seafood at that) but the place is a tad outside of our usual budget and the portions are smallish. During our last week, our crew members slowly started dropping off until the last two working members in the art department were me and my coordinator. We took the opportunity to eat at the places that everyone else always scoffed at. So we found ourselves ordering one last time from M Cafe.
I ordered the Gado Gado salad which is described as "organic mixed greens, napa cabbage, crisp vegetables, golden tempeh triangles marinated with ginger, lemongrass & lime, frizzled onions & spicy peanut dressing." While that is basically an accurate description of the salad I got, I was still disappointed. The lamest thing about M Cafe is that over fifty percent of the items on the menu are prepackaged and sit in their display cases for who knows how long. This salad is no exception and it is just plain outrageous that M Cafe gets away with charging $12 for a teeny tiny salad that has been sitting out. If work hadn't been picking up the tab, I would have felt like a total sucker. I just kinda overlooked this lameness before, but I can't get over the fact that I would have been much better off grabbing a sesame tofu salad from Trader Joe's for three bucks.
We also ordered a couple chocolate truffles which were good but, again, were they worth $1.50 a pop? Not really.
I think the idea of M Cafe has been fooling me into thinking it's pretty good all this time. Maybe it's because I'm on hiatus now and I have to --gasp!!!--pay for my own food, but I won't be going back there anytime soon unless I have a hankering for being ripped off.
M Cafe de Chaya
9343 Culver Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
310.838.4300
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7 comments:
I've only had sandwiches, sides, inari, and desserts at M Cafe. The 2 sandwiches I've tried (caprese and muffaletta) have been fantastic. The inari is pretty good, too. I've found the sides lacking and the desserts particularly lackluster. However, I think it's worth the trip and the expense for those 2 sandwiches. Enjoy your hiatus!
Aw, that sucks! I had that same salad in the restaurant almost a year ago and it was really super yummy! I've heard through the grapevine that the quality and preparation are sort of going downhill though....
How ridiculous! I don't know how places like that stay in business. Maybe their clientele are used to eating 100-calorie plates that cost $15, but that's just wacko!
stinks that they have such ridiculous prices :P at least you didn't have to pay!
I used to love that place, but I heard they let their chef go so its just line prep making the food and no culinary oversight. Everything has been really low grade since they opened the Culver City location. I have no desire to return.
vegan-la.com
i'm glad to see you giving this place guff---they deserve it for serving crap that's sat around all day. there is no way you should pay top dollar for a salad that's been depreciating in a display case!
on the other hand, i work right by the melrose location and go there all the time, and the stuff they make fresh is OFF THE FUCKING HOOK. like sooo good. the bi bim bop, big macro, and bbq seitan sandwich are nothing to be scoffed at. do not give up.
lex, wtf! seriously? what exactly changed? did the food get worse? i've only been going there for a few months and i am hooked. one good thing about line cooks is, they make the food the same. none of this pure luck biz where my order has different ingredients in it every time. man, if m cafe is worse than it used to be i must have REALLY been missin' out.
oh, and the KALE............yummmm.
about the bluebuerry preserves- i don't remember the exact measurements, but i used something like 1 1/2 cups blueberries with 3 T agave and 2 T water/ arrowroot slurry.
after it comes to a boil, turn it down on a simmer until it thickens. at this point, you can either puree it or leave it chunky. refrigerate until firm.
hope this helps some!
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