review: pure luck cafe

i recently lived in portland for a few months, a beautiful green escape from the city, filled with clear air, trees, mountains, waterfalls and many smiling faces.

now that i’m back in LA i am not often reminded of oregon, but it seems nearly every time i make my way over to the melrose and heliotrope neighborhood some magical force brings a subtle grayness to sky and crispness to the air. with all of the smiling vegans and bikers in the street, i begin to feel oddly nostalgic for the pacific northwest.

and then i walk into pure luck, what with their many tasty microbrews on tap and a new tasty soup every day, i could swear i was back in bridgetown.

there are so many signature dishes, i have been eating here for months and i still haven’t gotten around to them all. they fresh fry french fries, sweet potato fries, tortilla chips, gnocchi and dill pickle chips, all crunchy, warm and delicious.

we ordered the glasgow salad sort of like vegan-style chili fries: a warm hot pile of pinto beans, sauteed bell pepper and onion on a bed of fresh fries. but probably my favorite dish on the menu is Jack’s Super Burrito which features both the sweet potato fries and their jack fruit carnitas–that’s right, jack fruit.

cameron tried the carnitas out on a torta (above) while i gave the tofu pesto sandwich a go (below).  we devoured both along with the curry coconut soup of the day.

i would also highly recommend the curry gravy with fries or over their gnocchi.  and the spring rolls are surprisingly one large tasty roll sliced into 5-6 pieces.

for dessert–if you can eat anything else–go for the delicious fried plantains.