Killer Vegan Diner and Delicatessen

My trip to Killer Vegan began all because of a Facebook post a friend was tagged in. Those in that post raved about this awesome new vegan place they had lunch at, that simple recommendation made me very interested to take a trip myself to try it.

Located in Union, New Jersey – which isn’t really known for vegan restaurants. I’m happy to see that is changing now, this restaurant is open for lunch Monday thru Thursday, lunch and dinner Friday and Saturday with the 1st and 3rd Sundays offer brunch each month. I was able to grab dinner on a late Saturday night and I wasn’t the only one with that same idea. It was rather busy for an after 8pm dinner hour despite thinking the dinner rush would be over. Crowded with entire families and couples this was clearly a hotspot in Union’s center of town.

When you walk into this cash only restaurant, you get the feeling you are in a relaxed coffee shop style place. As you walk in you find yourself at the counter full of bar stools and a large full size wall menu of meatless options. The wall menu was a bit difficult for me to read easily that far away, so I grabbed a paper menu from the counter.

Since this was a vegan restaurant it was great to scan the menu and not have to worry about avoiding meats or meat products. I try to stick to a mostly meatless diet at home, though I have not pigeon-holed myself into titles of “vegetarian” or “vegan,” I just try to avoid meat when I can. So I was excited to compare Killer Vegan’s foods to what I would make at home.

My choice for dinner was the KV Burger – a house-made burger with all the toppings on a whole-wheat bun. I also added …And Mac and Cheese for All, as my side, which was gluten-free, soy-free and nut-free. My friend who was with me, doesn’t avoid meat in his diet, happily ordered the Sausage and Peppers sandwich. He was very please with his Sausage and Peppers sandwich, mentioning that it was hard to tell it wasn’t meat.

The KV Burger itself was super tasty, even resembling the look and texture of a meat burger. Possibly made with lentils or black beans, I had no problem polishing it off with the addition of some organic ketchup. The ketchup was an unexpected bright spot of my meal, since I now avoid ketchup in restaurants because they usually have Heinz brand and it always has High Fructose Corn Syrup. My burger came with a side of flavored chips, I’ve never cared for anything but plain chips but these weren’t too bad. It was hard to place the actual flavor, perhaps just herb style chips.

My Mac and Cheese side dish had good flavor but the majorly overcooked noodles left something to be desired. Figuring they could have been brown rice noodles, those cook extremely fast and can be overdone so easily, I suspect that is what happened here. I normally don’t order pasta at restaurants for that exact reason, since I am an al dente pasta kind of gal. I did like the addition of paprika to the top of the mac and cheese.

The prices were about the same as any normal chain restaurant, so our bill for two entrees, a side dish and an organic canned iced tea was around $30. I find that pretty reasonable for a good and healthy meal made with real ingredients. At the end of our meal we were contemplating ordering dessert, as we could see several options under cake domes on the front counter. I the end we opted to pass on dessert and save it for our return trip. Besides the homemade baked goods (I only saw cake), they also offer milkshakes in several flavors as well as smoothies with soy or almond milk.

I think it’s a great place to stop for simple no-nonsense food that is animal-free. I only wish they were open for dinner during the week, more of an opportunity that I would eat there for dinner during the week than on a weekend. Check out their full menu on their website and their Facebook page for weekend specials.