I'm an omnivore and really enjoyed the one on NH Ave. Our party of 3 included one vegan who also avoids oils and we just asked the servers to bring a selection of items without oils for us all to share. It wasn't a problem to find things that fit the bill, and the omnivores were open to anything. We thought the servers were thoughtful and creative and all left feeling full.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's one in Bethesda, we tried it with a group of friends, varied order and we all tasted everything - and would never return. It didn't taste good

Same experience at the one in West End. I was actually surprised they're opening another one, the WE one never seems busy. It wasn't good so I wpuldny go back and even if you loved it, it's not at a price point to eat very frequently for most people so I'm not quite sure where the market is to support this expansion, especially in areas with very high rents.

Are any of you vegans/vegetarians? Are you saying this as a meat-eater - the price was too high without beef or pork or chicken? Curious.

I'm a former vegetarian of 20 years. As a less limited vegetarian I would have thought it was trash. I'm guessing for a vegan it's an exciting option, but I'm not sure how they keep that going with limited appeal outside that demo.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting - my vegan niece loves it, particularly because it has so much variety of cuisines for her. Most restaurants hardly have any options for vegans so I think they have a different perspective on the mix of cuisines.

She especially likes the vegan sushi options.

I'm sure Planta has many fans, but the menu is very unfocused, which leads to a disjointed eating experience and lack of complimentary flavor profiles. A table of diners eating french onion soup, vegan sushi, and pizza would feel chaotic - it would feel like a potluck. Which is fine for a lot of diners, but the more you dine out, the more you notice these things. Not to mention that the kitchen staff has to juggle so many different ingredients and flavors, so it's hard to do them all well. Good restaurants plan their menu like a piece of music - it flows, it has high and low notes, and most of all, the dishes complement and augment each other. To give an example of a more tightly conceived menu that is still global, look at this vegan restaurant in sf, called Wildseed. It's still eclectic, but you could imagine a table of diners eating different dishes that looks like a cohesive collection of plates.

https://www.wildseedsf.com/san-francisco-menus/#dinner-sf

Look it’s not a michelin-rated restaurant. Does it need to be? You picked the top-rated restaurant in SF...

It needs to have better food so that when someone posts “Planta is opening!” here, the majority of the replies should not say that the food is not very good and/or overpriced.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting - my vegan niece loves it, particularly because it has so much variety of cuisines for her. Most restaurants hardly have any options for vegans so I think they have a different perspective on the mix of cuisines.

She especially likes the vegan sushi options.

I'm sure Planta has many fans, but the menu is very unfocused, which leads to a disjointed eating experience and lack of complimentary flavor profiles. A table of diners eating french onion soup, vegan sushi, and pizza would feel chaotic - it would feel like a potluck. Which is fine for a lot of diners, but the more you dine out, the more you notice these things. Not to mention that the kitchen staff has to juggle so many different ingredients and flavors, so it's hard to do them all well. Good restaurants plan their menu like a piece of music - it flows, it has high and low notes, and most of all, the dishes complement and augment each other. To give an example of a more tightly conceived menu that is still global, look at this vegan restaurant in sf, called Wildseed. It's still eclectic, but you could imagine a table of diners eating different dishes that looks like a cohesive collection of plates.

https://www.wildseedsf.com/san-francisco-menus/#dinner-sf

Look its not a michelin-rated restaurant. Does it need to be? You picked the top-rated restaurant in SF...

Anonymous wrote:Interesting - my vegan niece loves it, particularly because it has so much variety of cuisines for her. Most restaurants hardly have any options for vegans so I think they have a different perspective on the mix of cuisines.

She especially likes the vegan sushi options.

I'm sure Planta has many fans, but the menu is very unfocused, which leads to a disjointed eating experience and lack of complimentary flavor profiles. A table of diners eating french onion soup, vegan sushi, and pizza would feel chaotic - it would feel like a potluck. Which is fine for a lot of diners, but the more you dine out, the more you notice these things. Not to mention that the kitchen staff has to juggle so many different ingredients and flavors, so it's hard to do them all well. Good restaurants plan their menu like a piece of music - it flows, it has high and low notes, and most of all, the dishes complement and augment each other. To give an example of a more tightly conceived menu that is still global, look at this vegan restaurant in sf, called Wildseed. It's still eclectic, but you could imagine a table of diners eating different dishes that looks like a cohesive collection of plates.

https://www.wildseedsf.com/san-francisco-menus/#dinner-sf

Interesting - my vegan niece loves it, particularly because it has so much variety of cuisines for her. Most restaurants hardly have any options for vegans so I think they have a different perspective on the mix of cuisines.

She especially likes the vegan sushi options.

Anonymous wrote:This menu suffers from the same Cheesecake Factory malady as too many other restaurants - unfocused menu without a common thread. “Vegan” isn’t a strong enough theme, just like “meat” is not. There are baos, French onion soup, tempura, carbonara, udon, cauliflower tots, Caesar salad. It’s just a mess.

Agree. It would be ok ish as a fast casual lunch place, it's a mess for anything beyond that.

There’s already one on New Hampshire & M

This menu suffers from the same Cheesecake Factory malady as too many other restaurants - unfocused menu without a common thread. “Vegan” isn’t a strong enough theme, just like “meat” is not. There are baos, French onion soup, tempura, carbonara, udon, cauliflower tots, Caesar salad. It’s just a mess.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's one in Bethesda, we tried it with a group of friends, varied order and we all tasted everything - and would never return. It didn't taste good

Same experience at the one in West End. I was actually surprised they're opening another one, the WE one never seems busy. It wasn't good so I wpuldny go back and even if you loved it, it's not at a price point to eat very frequently for most people so I'm not quite sure where the market is to support this expansion, especially in areas with very high rents.

Are any of you vegans/vegetarians? Are you saying this as a meat-eater - the price was too high without beef or pork or chicken? Curious.

Anonymous wrote:There's one in Bethesda, we tried it with a group of friends, varied order and we all tasted everything - and would never return. It didn't taste good

Same experience at the one in West End. I was actually surprised they're opening another one, the WE one never seems busy. It wasn't good so I wpuldny go back and even if you loved it, it's not at a price point to eat very frequently for most people so I'm not quite sure where the market is to support this expansion, especially in areas with very high rents.

Anonymous wrote:There's one in Bethesda, we tried it with a group of friends, varied order and we all tasted everything - and would never return. It didn't taste good

I thought some things were very good, and a few were bland. Not cheap. I haven’t been back, but I would go quite happily if someone wanted to.

There's one in Bethesda, we tried it with a group of friends, varied order and we all tasted everything - and would never return. It didn't taste good

There are already Plantas in the DC area, fyi.

It has a completely vegan pizza menu - waste not, want not.