Franchia

Franchia is a vegan Korean tea house and restaurant. I had previously been to Hangawi, a vegan Korean restaurant with the same owners. My meal at Hangawi was incredible, and the atmosphere added even more fun to the meal. It is very formal and ceremonial. You have to take off your shoes and sit at a low table, there are many different dishes and implements to use, and the servers are very attentive.

Franchia has some of the same food as Hangawi, but the atmosphere is less formal. The place is still pretty, but more relaxed.

Franchia has a reasonably priced prix fixe menu, but the choices are pretty limited, so we just ordered off the menu. We started with the corn scallion pancakes. They were delicious. In a non-vegan restaurant they would probably be made with eggs, so it was fun to be able to order them. The flavor was great, although the texture could have stood to be a little less gummy, but overall they were very good.

Then I had the crispy mushrooms in sweet and sour sauce. The mushrooms were so good...crispy on the outside and a satisfying meaty texture on the inside. The sauce and veggies were good, too, although I was surprised to discover that the other vegetables were completely raw. It worked, though.

I also had a taste of this soy chicken curry stone rice bowl. It was very good (although I could do without the seaweed as I don't like the fishy taste).

Although I was pretty full, I couldn't resist dessert. I had the mochi, which is filled with red bean paste and rolled in coconut. I love mochi! I love red bean paste! I love coconut! It was perfect!

The meal at Franchia was great. I would definitely go back if I had the chance. In fact, although it's probably a 15- to 20-minute walk from my work, I'm thinking about going there some lunch time to pick up one of their lunch boxes.

We went back the next day for something that we hadn't ordered but had really wanted..."tealattas." It's a frothy concoction of tea (I had green), soymilk, sugar, and ice blended together and topped with soy whipped cream. It was really good, especially on a hot day.