Bulan Thai Vegetarian Kitchen: What’s Vegetarian Editorial Review

Bulan Thai Vegetarian Kitchen is a Silver Lake restaurant where nothing on the menu has meat or fish. The owners label most dishes V for vegan, VO for vegan optional, or GFO for gluten-free optional, so you can spot the ones with egg at a glance. The cooks use veggie shrimp, veggie duck, and crispy veggie fish, so you can still order the Thai classics you miss.

What to order

Start with the appetizers. Spring Rolls and Dumplings cost $9.50, Golden Tofu is $9.50 with a tamarind sauce, and the Thai Empanada ($11.50) is a curry puff stuffed with curried potatoes. The Hot Wings ($13) come with veggie chicken, and the owners mark them vegan optional. In the Miang Kham ($11), you get toasted coconut, peanut, ginger, and lime wrapped in romaine.

For a main, pick one of the stir-fries or curries. With each one, you choose tofu, veggie chicken, or veggie pepper steak, and you can add veggie shrimp for $1. Pad Ka Prow ($14.50) gets you chili, basil, and bell peppers. Kang Kiew Wan, the green curry, costs $14, with bamboo, long beans, and Thai basil. Mock Duck Curry ($14) is veggie duck in a red curry with pineapple.

Specials cost more. Orange Chicken is $16 and sits on a bed of cabbage, and for the Busaba Pumpkin ($16), the cooks sauté kabocha squash with tofu and Thai basil. Inferno Chicken ($19) gets you crispy soy chicken tossed in Thai chili, and Pla Rad Prik ($19) gets you fried veggie fish with eggplant and basil. The Roti and Green Curry ($17) comes with Indian pancakes.

Noodles start at $14.25. The owners mark Pad See-Ew and Pad Thai vegan optional. Both can come with egg, so ask your server to leave the egg out. Pad Kee Mao (the drunken noodles) comes vegan, with basil and chili. Finish with Mango with Sweet Coconut Rice ($9).

Soups start at $7. The Mushroom Tom Kah and the Vegetable Tom Yum both come vegan, and the Poh Tak ($9) is a spicy lemongrass broth with veggie shrimp, veggie fish, and veggie crab. Vegans should skip the Wonton Soup, since the owners label it non-vegan. You get the same choice of tofu or veggie chicken with the vegetable dishes, such as Asparagus with shiitake mushrooms ($15.50) and Mixed Vegetables ($14.50).

The kitchen

Bulan’s owners say they use no meat, no MSG, and no trans fats. Because the whole kitchen is meat free, cross-contamination with animal flesh does not come up. Egg does appear in a few dishes, including the Chow Mein’s egg noodles and the optional egg on the Thai Salad, so vegans should look for the V mark and ask about the VO items. Several dishes carry peanuts or cashews, and the owners note peanuts on the menu.

Practical notes

Expect about $15 to $20 per person for a main. Rice costs extra, $3 for jasmine or brown. The owners list a few items as N/A instead of a price, so ask your server which ones the kitchen has today. Bulan sits at 4114 Santa Monica Blvd and opens every day from 11:30 am to 9 pm, except July 4, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day. Call (323) 913-1488 with questions.

Thai women own and run Bulan, which used to go by Busaba, and some older reviews still use that name. Order the Pad Ka Prow with veggie pepper steak and a side of rice, then add the Golden Tofu to share.