Nandan Street Food

I ordered from Nandan for the first time today. I got the vegan mapo tofu, a Thai iced tea with no milk, and the papaya salad.

Now, I don't mean to be a pain in the butt when I order from restaurants. I ordered the papaya salad, with a note to please make it vegan, even though there was no indication on the menu that this was possible. This can go several different ways. Sometimes, the restaurant calls to tell me it can't be done. Sometimes they just leave the item out of the order. Sometimes they follow my notes even though it leaves the dish rather incomplete, such as completely leaving the dressing off a salad because it contained something nonvegan. I never hold this against them, I'm honestly satisfied with any of these results as long as they don't send me something nonvegan.

But Nandan is the rare gem that went above and beyond, they made a vegan salad for me completely from scratch because their normal dressing wasn't. And it was DELICIOUS. Sweet, spicy, citrusy, savory. The taste and texture were both fresh and crisp. I fell in love right there. I wish I could tip a restaurant over Uber Eats! I am very thankful to Chef Brandon, who included a cute note in my order to let me know this sauce was made especially for me, it made my whole day.

My mapo tofu bowl was not what I expected, but not in a bad way. When I think of mapo tofu, I usually imagine a very soupy, spicy dish made with silken tofu. This was a dish made with firm tofu and fresh mushrooms tossed in an umami sauce in which the bean paste/sauce was the star ingredient. It was served on a bed of perfectly cooked rice, with pickled cucumber for acidity and sliced scallions for an aspect of freshness. Overall it was well balanced and very satisfying. I filled up before finishing and I am already looking forward to the leftovers.

The tea is not very sweet when leaving out the dairy component but that is fine by me, I added a little nondairy creamer and it was perfect.

Their menu is limited but honestly, if everything on it is as good as what I ate tonight, it doesn't need to be any bigger. I'm going to seek them out on social media and see if their panang curry might also be "veganizable", but I'd order from them again either way. And the small menu makes it that much more special for me that they took the time to be inclusive and accommodating to those with dietary restrictions.