Happy longest day of the year, guys! We watched the sun set tonight from the patio of Plan Check Kitchen & Bar, one of my favorite food spots on the west side. I’ve shared some favorites from this location via dineLA Restaurant week before, and I recently tried out their location at the Promenade as well. Every time, Plan Check impresses me with their consistency and great flavor!

This time, we were invited to try out their collaboration with Thug Kitchen, a limited edition plant-based menu with tasty vegan remixes of Plan Check’s comfort food hits!

Making the choice to eat more green has really been a passion of mine since learning more about the commercial food industry in recent years, so I thought this vegan takeover was an amazing idea. Even if everyone is not able to make the switch 100%, if more people made an active choice to eat less meat and more plant-based foods, our environment would be in a much better standing than it is now.

K tagged along with us and we thankfully snagged a seat on their busy patio. Another great thing about Plan Check restaurants is that they’re so dog friendly. I’ve always seen people with their dogs whenever I’ve visited in the past.

Plan Check & Thug Kitchen’s vegan menu includes:

• Lazy Hunt Burger  – kidney beans, smoked almonds, & umeboshi paste seasoned patty topped with lettuce, caramelized onions, avocado, as well as Plan Check’s trademark Ketchup Leather™, inspired by the Plan Check Burger
• Popcorn Cauliflower  – breaded with fried chicken inspired spices and baked to a crisp
• Firecracker Slaw – Napa cabbage, spinach, carrots, cucumber, watermelon radish, jicama, chives, and jalapeno-cilantro dressing
• Fool’s Gold – mezcal, pineapple purée, orange blossom simple syrup, lime juice, and mint

We ordered one of everything to give it all a whirl. Unfortunately, the popcorn cauliflower (legit the one item I was most excited to try) was already sold out! That’s how tasty it is, I guess.

We kicked off with the vegan Fool’s Gold and non-vegan Tropic Thunder (from their regular cocktail menu).

Although we were there to try their vegan menu, we couldn’t resist selecting an item or two off their regular menu that we hadn’t yet tried. Since we were already there, why not?

The firecracker slaw and small meat platter came out as starters, and they went together really well. The cucumber, cauliflower, and carrots were pickled to a perfect tangy sourness while the board’s prosciutto and cured pastrami paired with a bright yellow mustard provided the perfect balance of spicy, salty, and sour.

My favorite dish of the night was definitely the firecracker slaw. If you know me, you know that I’m actually a sucker for good rabbit food. I’ll take a plate of grilled vegetables over a steak any day.

This slaw was refreshingly sour, tangy, and light! Topped with the perfect amount of dressing, the crispiness of the vegetables really shined through the medley of flavors and textures.

Of course, we had to try the vegan burger as well. The caramelized onions sweetened up the completely plant-based patty. Since the cauliflower was sadly unavailable, our waitress recommended we try the gravy fries instead.

You can’t really go wrong with fries and gravy, am I right?

Pairing delicious eats with a beautiful sunset and Kokoro curled up peacefully at my feet made for a perfect ending to the longest day of 2017.

Big thanks again to the Wagstaff and Plan Check teams for inviting us out tonight! Plan Check x Thug Kitchen’s limited edition vegan menu is available at all of Plan Check’s locations (Sawtelle, Fairfax, Downtown, Santa Monica) until the end of the month (6/30/17) so be sure to make it out before the menu is gone!