Govinda's Gourmet To Go

Determined to get a vegan sampling of Philadelphia before we left, my friend and I stopped in at Govinda’s Gourmet To Go. (Well, we actually got confused and went to the Govinda’s next door, which is a sit-down place that was absolutely deserted at 6 PM. It was creepily dark, and the entrees were really expensive. Soy duck? For $16?)
So we got things straightened out and ended up back to the more casual Govinda’s, and we ordered a soy philly cheesesteak with soy cheese.

First of all, it was good. The cheese they use is like a nacho cheese, very oily, and the seitan is oily, and the peppers on it were oily, so my friend and I were both a little stomach-achy when we finished, but that’s kind of the cheesesteak experience, right?
That being said.

A couple of problems: there weren’t really any side dishes (that I saw) beyond soup and salad. No fries or anything? Chips, even?
It’s a very, very casual place – honestly, a little too casual for me. Not a place to take someone you want to impress. We ate with plastic forks, we picked up napkins that were in a pile at the counter, and there were some flies in the place.

Service seemed friendly enough – when I dropped the first plastic fork that the guy behind the counter gave me, he saw it and handed over a new one without me even having to ask, which was sweet.