D’Vegan vegan menu makes animal-free eating easier.

Veggie jerky from D'Vegan

Veggie jerky from D’Vegan

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As we established when speaking to Veggie Fair founder James Scott, being a vegan/vegetarian in Dallas is not exactly convenient, though some efforts have been made (see Trinity Hall Irish Pub, for example).

And vegetarianism is easier and tastier for me since I discovered D’Vegan, located less than a mile from my Lake Highlands house. It’s inside the Hong Hong Market at Audelia and Walnut, near Richland College. The space is small, but bigger than one might expect. It is simple and clean and smells of lemongrass and tea. The staff, as a whole, does not speak much English, yet for someone ever searching for animal-free food options, it feels like home.

vegan living

The vegan-lifestyle pamphlet: the chickens are praying for us and the pigs love us — this, simply, is the message. “No more killing. Be healthy and loving.”

One of the foods I most miss since going veggie is the Vietnamese soup, pho, which is laden with noodles and fresh vegetables but usually in a chicken or beef broth. D’Vegan’s Bun Cao Lau vermicelli noodle soup is the perfect vegetarian answer — animal-free broth, thick with noodles, mushrooms, tomatoes, mint, cilantro and pineapple.

A more-solid option is the Bun Bi Cha, crispy rice noodles, a dish featuring shredded, flavorful crispy shredded tofu, pickled carrots, with a homemade, oil-based lightly spiced sauce.

At the counter, I also picked up two bags of vegan jerky. I generally go to Whole Foods for vegetarian jerky, a snack I crave, but there a single stick of the stuff runs $2. A big bag at D’Vegan is $4, and you can get spicy or regular.