SaVeg is the brainchild of Calgary Local YouTuber Rose Lee, aka CheapLazyVegan. It is a local, family owned, Korean inspired Vegan cafe in the heart of the Beltline.
This cute little spot is inside the Heaven's building (some sort of Yoga studio?). It's a small, cozy space that offers 100% Vegan fare with Korean inspired flavours. Gazing in into the open kitchen you will be able to see Rose and her mother prepare your flavourful vegan meal.
I will admit that I am far from a Vegan, but luckily for me SaVeg's menu leaves room for plenty of bold colourful flavours despite there being no meat. They in addition to these korean inspired mains, they also offer standard breakfast fare, smoothies, and baked goods.
We headed over to check this place out after hearing it about it from Rose at an unrelated function, and I have to say I was pretty impressed despite my mixed experiences with vegetarian places in the past (refer to Veg-In-YYC). We had the Japchae (korean glass noodle) bowl with dumplings, and the house special, which is a tofu sweet potato mix with a sweet spicy korean sauce, served with rice and shredded cabbage. Pricing was reasonable, ringing in at $11.50 each.
The house special was for sure a standout. The flavour balance was done well and the "sweet and spicy korean sauce" was not prohibitively spicy for me, and I'm a lightweight when it comes to heat. The shredded cabbage was an okay compliment to the dish by adding much needed crunch, though I thought it could have been a little more interesting. Maybe there are other veggies they could experiment with to compliment the dish.
The glass noodles were pretty standard but good, though I figure the flavour could have been a little more bold with some more interesting contents in addition to the tofu and veggies. The dumplings were a nice compliment - a side of dipping sauce (rice vinegar, maybe?) would have complimented them well.
We also tried a piece of banana bread which was excellent, given that it was vegan. It was moist, sweet, and tasted exactly like regular banana bread.
Overall, I think SaVeg is a wonderful addition to Calgary's small vegan and vegetarian food scene - and with the prices reasonable, I wouldn't hesitate to visit again. As they grow I am looking forward to them hopefully expanding their food menu to include some more variety for me to sample. read more