Sherman's Food Adventures: Naam

Naam

"I really want a salad", exclaimed Gadget Girl as we were discussing what to eat after hockey. Okay, this was my chance. My chance to slip in the suggestion of heading to The Foundation for late night grub. All these years, I wanted to try the place out with no takers. Even Milhouse, my trusty dining companion, wasn't too keen every time I mentioned "no meat". So Gadget Girl agreed, but there was a big problem - Bear. He wanted nothing to do with the place. Don't Bears like berries? Well, he didn't want to go and hey, we didn't want to anger a hungry bear! Continuing on the theme of a meatless meal, he suggested we go to The Naam instead. Ah yes, I've been there a few times... Not bad for vegetarian joint. Open 24 hours to boot!

With skepticism, Milhouse agreed to go as well. I guess it didn't help that the place was hot as an oven when we arrived. Yet, everyone happily played along including Gordo, who went about his best Mijune impersonation (ordering food that is). He got a whole plate of Naam Nachos (with cheddar, mozza and tomatoes) for an appie. Suffice to say, we had to share this as he had no hope in the world of finishing that and his entree. Oh and he got a huge smoothie too! Hey, the nachos were good being piled high with tonnes of melted cheese on top. The fresh salsa was the highlight as it had a good mix of spice, tang and tomatoness. As for his main, he went for the Super Chili Burrito Platter. It was a massive amount of food that barely fit on the plate. The chili filling was good with a mild spice level and a sufficient amount of flavour. Rather than meat, there were chunks of tofu which we liked because it mixed in well with the rest of the ingredients.

For myself, I had the Tofu Dog Platter which included their baked sesame potato wedges with their popular miso gravy. The tofu dog was well... a tofu dog. It would never have the snap of a meat hog dog, but it was fine as there was plenty of melted cheese. Loved how they wrapped it in a chapati rather than a hot dog bun. Since their "fries" were baked, they had a hard crunchiness to it rather than being crispy. I'm okay with that especially since the miso gravy rocked. I love how it was super flavourful with a nice tang. I didn't miss meat gravy in this case. Sweet Tooth went for the Crying Tiger Thai Stir-Fry and it was a humungous plate of food. It consisted of a bed of rice topped with veggies, potatoes and tofu in a Thai curry-coconut sauce. There was good flavour with a noticeable spice level and just enough coconut milk for aromatics and thickness. The veggies were still vibrant and overall, it was a solid vegetarian dish.

Gadget Girl and Milhouse had the Naam Burger and Tempeh Rueben respectively (only the Tempeh Rueben pictured). I didn't bother trying their burgers since I had it before. They pretty much echoed my sentiments as it was good as a meat alternative. Lots of fresh toppings and a "meaty" patty consisting of organic tofu, nuts & grains. Lastly, Bear, being our requisite dessert aficionado, went for the Double Fudge Cake with complimentary "a la mode". Anyways, it was a touch dry, but it had a dark chocolate slant which wasn't very sweet. The fudge topping was welcomed moisture and flavour while the ice cream definitely helped the cause. He enjoyed it for what it was. And that pretty much is what the Naam is about. It's vegetarian, yet it is decent vegetarian. If you're a dedicated meat eater like me and Milhouse, you might need to get mentally prepared, but in the end, food is food and it did the job.

The Good:
- It's decent vegetarian, even for non-vegetarians
- Large portions
- Open 24 hours

The Bad:
- Service can be inconsistent, but we got good service
- For hardcore meat eaters, you might want to stick to a BBQ joint

Naam on Urbanspoon

1 comments:

LotusRapper said...

I've always liked the fact that Naam (and The Foundation) offers dairy cheese (as opposed to just soy cheese). And Naam's nachos are good (but The Foundation's nachos are better).

Kudos to Naam for staying as such a longtime institution. It must be about 5 years since I was last there (at 1am in the morning too).

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