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Indochine, a vegan Asian restaurant from the owners of the recently shuttered Sunflower, has hastily opened right next door to Sunflower's old home on Valencia. In an early review, Uptown Almanac says that while it appears to have been thrown together rather abruptly, the new restaurant upholds the original appeal of Sunflower: cheap, tasty, healthy food without pretension.
Indochine offers a variety of dishes in the $10 range, including sizzling teriyaki vegan "chicken" and Korean-style tofu soup. The full menu can be found here.
While the interior is shiny and new, with a wall painted by local street artist Jet Martinez, it still maintains the uncomplicated, low-key charm of the original spot (and its sister restaurant in Potrero Hill). There's still no word on why Sunflower closed, or what will become of the now-empty space at 504 Valencia. Who knows what juice bar/craft cocktail den/third-wave coffee shop will rise from the ashes?
