Dinner at Kona Grill
My mom had a $50 gift card to Kona Grill that she wasn't planning to use, so I happily accepted it and headed over there for dinner. I had heard there was a small vegan menu, but it's now incorporated into the full menu. Vegan options are marked with Vg: edamame, vegetarian rolls, and seaweed salad.
I asked my server if there were dishes that could be modified to be made vegan, and after checking with the chef, he pointed me towards the salads. Just what every vegan loves to hear. I was genuinely surprised that stir fry wasn't a choice because it's on the menu and should easily be made vegan.
We started with the vegetarian rolls which include asparagus, cucumber, yamagobo (a pickled root that looks like a carrot), avocado, and sprouts. Our first order did not appear to have sprouts, but our second one did. Maybe they weren't as obvious as they are in the top photo.
You can't really go wrong with edamame, so we ordered that as well. It was pretty standard, but I was bummed because they offer an "angry" version (aka spicy) that we couldn't get because the sauce is made with butter.
Finally, we went with the Oriental Salad, modified with oil and vinegar dressing instead of sweet soy dressing. I'm curious why the soy dressing isn't vegan, but I didn't take time to ask. We also added tofu for an extra 50 cents. The description for the salad says, "napa & red cabbage, green onions, red peppers, cilantro, carrots, almond ramen crunch, sweet-soy dressing," so I'm not quite sure where things went wrong...
Kona Grill's Oriental Salad made vegan. It's missing red peppers, cilantro, carrots, and almond ramen crunch. There is cabbage and onions, and fried tofu was added.
The salad had cabbage, tons of green onions, and fried tofu. The tofu was cooked well but had zero seasoning. There are veggies all over the menu (Brussels sprouts, baby bok choy, green beans, broccoli, to name a few), so I'm a little dumbfounded. If I was the chef, I'd be embarrassed to send this out of my kitchen.
While the vegetarian rolls were good, they're nothing special. Same with the edamame. So considering the salad situation, I won't be going back to Kona Grill anytime soon.