Papaya Salad at Happy Flower Eatery and Boba — kyu's Review (Sep 30, 2023)

Wow! A new #vietnamese restaurant (99% vegan and 100% vegetarian, according to the server) opened this summer, and I finally got the chance to try a few dishes! I really enjoyed everything we ordered and would definitely return in the near future!

We started with the #papaya #salad. It was a hefty serving, suitable for a party of 3-4 (we had 2,) so certainly a good value for the price. I’ve never had #veganjerky on papaya salad before; I believe it was made of soy TVP, like the other #meatalternative options they serve. The strips were a bit stringy and dry but not overly tough; they came coated in a savory minced lemongrass marinade. Overall, I liked how crisp the papaya shreds were, but I felt the dressing was a little too sweet. I prefer it a bit more sour and spicy. Now that I’ve tried it, perhaps they’ll let me customize the heat level on my next visit. They do provide a lime to squeeze overtop, which helps to amp up the acidity.

Papaya salad is such a flavorful, crowd-pleasing starter, and I would definitely order this again to split with the table! #appetizer Just be aware that it’s missing a peanut icon on the menu; it comes with quite a lot of crushed peanuts on top. The ambiance and service were both excellent as well, but I’ll get into that more in a later review.