9 posts tagged “restaurants”
After almost eight months of trying different vegan/vegetarian restaurants in the country, I must admit NYC is still the place to find the best vegan food. So much ethnic diversity and spoiled palates absolutely help to make NYC the one and only true vegan paradise. Even Long Island is up and coming in the vegan food scene. Cornucopia Natural Foods, a local healthfood store in Sayville, has just expanded its business to include a cafe. We have been really happy with the vegan food there, especially the juicy and tasty veggie burger is so delightful. We are determined to try to recreate the burger at home to satisfy our stomachs.
Back to NYC, it is a pity that we haven't had an opportunity to get some falafels yet, mainly due to the worsened traffic condition and time constraint. We did, however, visit the much renowned Candle Cafe. A pre-warning first: if you don't want to spend much money, skip this place and try the falafels sold on the street. Even though Candle Cafe is considerably cheaper than her sister restaurant Candle 79, you will not be able to walk away without at least spending 70 to 80 bucks for a proper meal. It is in Manhattan after all. We liked the food much better than in Candle 79.
We ordered French fries and sauteed broccoli (with a creamy basil sauce) as sides.
I was going to order the Pomegranate Grilled Tofu at first but changed my mind completely once I saw Tuscan Lasagna on the menu. So far this is the first vegetarian restaurant we have been to that actually serves lasagne. I figured that I had to try it once. I was rather disappointed with the lasagna though. The tofu ricotta was too wet and the whole thing was quite bland and watery. The only thing I liked was the Swiss chard underneath the lasagna. We did get the Pomegranate Grilled Tofu (with couscous and roasted veggies) as takeout which was great. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo before digging in.
Hubby ordered the Artichoke Wrap, which was really good. It was very vegetable-oriented and the soy cheese was not over-powering. The avocado and tofu inside created a good balance. We highly recommend it.
Besides all this, we also ordered a sweet potato soup and a split pea soup for takeout. They were both very tasty as well.
Now we are still in NY and I am recovering from a sore throat (not swine flu). Hopefully we can drive up to Vermont in a couple of days. Until then, take care and God bless.
Enough about the moving, I had a brunch at Manatee Cafe after we met with our landlords this morning. I remembered to take a photo of the scrambled tofu I really enjoyed there. I had a side salad with an awesome basil dressing and two pieces of whole wheat toast. So this is my plate below.
So here I am, looking at these gorgeous food photos once again. Next time when we are in the city, we will visit Pure Food & Wine. This is one of the appetizers we ordered, grilled seitan chimichurri. The seitan was amazingly tender. My omni brother-in-law highly enjoyed it. I will definitely consider making this at home. I also ordered edamame but I forgot to photograph it.
We had a wonderful raw vegan lunch at The Present Moment Cafe in St. Augustine. This is also the only 100% vegan restaurant in St. Augustine. It's definitely the best raw vegan meal I've had so far, and actually one of the best vegan meals I've had. We're visiting California soon, so I'm dying to find out how good the raw vegan food can get there.
I don't have much time right now, so I'll show you some photos from our lunch a couple of days ago.
This is what my husband ordered. I forgot what it was called exactly. It was a bean burger with onions on top and some salad. The dehydrated chips were tasty.
This is what I ordered - Pasta Possibilities (zucchini pasta with alfredo sauce and pine nut creme and a side salad).
I also ordered a raw dessert - pecan apple cobbler with vanilla coconut creme. Unfortunately, the lighting wasn't favorable so the photo came out really dark. It was a very good dessert, but you will have to imagine most of it now.
As you can easily guess, we're in St. Augustine, Florida now. We have finally decided to leave Bloomington, Indiana. I guess we're just too old for a college town, albeit a very nice and not so crazy college town. For anyone who might visit Bloomington, there's one recommendation: Bloomingfoods Market and Deli. Vegans will be really happy eating and shopping there. Omnivores will get some really healthy and tasty food too. Vegetarians have found your paradise there. Need I say more?
Now that we're in St. Augustine, we have already found a gem for vegans/vegetarians, Manatee Cafe, a well-known healthy eatery loved by the local community. I don't usually patronize non-vegetarian restaurant, but this one is a well-deserving exception. And we're not the only vegans who eat there. The scramble tofu was exceptionally delicious. And I finally got to have some more vegan French toast after we left Seattle. Speaking of great vegan French toast, you gotta try the "French Kiss" in Squid and Ink in Seattle - my favorite vegan joint for American food so far.
Uh oh, the quick note isn't so quick any more. I gotta go. Until then, God bless everyone and enjoy doing whatever you're doing!
I don't have much time right now, but I do have a recommendation for anyone who is interested in trying some very tasty raw vegan food in Chicago.
Restaurant: Cousin's Incredible Vitality
Address: 3038 W Irving Park Rd. Chicago IL. 60618
Phone: 773-478-6868
Cuisine: Mediterranean and International
Lunch buffet and full menu both available
We tried the buffet and ordered a piece of raw chocolate cheeseless cheesecake on the menu. Unfortunately, I only had my phone to take the photo and the photo came out blurry. But you get the idea. I was never so thrilled with raw vegan food. The possibilities are endless. Raw food can be really creamy and tasty too. I can definitely go raw if I can eat like this every day.
I can't believe we are already in Chicago. Time flies! We got out of Denver and Boulder rather fast. I don't know if it's the altitude or just that we didn't click with Denver at all.
For the vegan food, Chicago is a must-visit place. The first vegan restaurant we visited is the Veggie Bite at N. Milwaukee. Great vegan fast food and the milk shake is to die for. I guess I should have taken some food photos with my phone but I kept forgetting when I was eating. That's not a very good excuse, is it? I will try my best tomorrow.
In terms of people, Chicago is as friendly as Seattle and Portland. But there are a few more 100% vegan restaurants than in Seattle and Portland. I wonder why Portland is the only vegetarian/vegan mecca. Or am I just misinformed? To be fair (based on my own impression only), Seattle has good vegan food; Portland has good coffee (even the soy decaf gave me a buzz for a few hours); and Chicago has more of an ethnic variety for a serious vegan food lover. More flavors can be found in the same dish here in Chicago. Of course, we don't usually go to vegetarian restaurants (simply because you never know), especially those heavy on eggs and dairy products, so if you're a vegetarian, your experience can be very different.
So far we are really enjoying ourselves on this rather whimsical vegan food tour. And I sincerely hope everyone is enjoying his/her fine day today!
Tired, but hungry for more,
Singing Horse
I like Portland. I really do. The downtown area and the nearby districts are all so walking-friendly. The convenient mass transit system is a big plus for us. The downtown area is a very nice-looking place too. Trees and parks can always calm me down. The only drawback is that I never understand why there are only three or four 100% vegan restaurants in Portland. With such a big vegan-friendly reputation, we are mostly faced with a few vegan-friendly vegetarian restaurants (which often make us nervous) and worse, normal restaurants with vegan options (which easily scare us away).
That said, I liked Veganopolis. I was too hungry to take any photos of the food - the buffet and the vegan cakes from Sweet Pea. But I don't think I will go back so soon because I had better vegan meals in Seattle in the last three days. I cannot believe I'm saying this. Seattle seems to have better vegan food at those rather shabby-looking vegan cafes. And it's sad to know that Nutshell went from being vegan to vegetarian. We don't usually frequent vegetarian restaurants. But I guess it's still worth a try.
We have high hopes for Papa G's tomorrow and of course, the vegan mini-mall. There will be a party at Food Fight tomorrow so we will check that out. More exploring will have to take place. Maybe we will be pleasantly surprised.
Oh my God, it's been a month since I posted anything here. I don't know where all the time went. We just visited Seattle and had three awesome vegan meals and now we are in Portland. I can't wait to go to Blossoming Lotus and check out the Saturday market tomorrow. God bless everyone!
P.S., for all of my kind neighbors and friends, thanks a lot for your comments and I'm really sorry for not replying sooner. I hope I can make up for lost time in the next few weeks.
EDIT: Veganopolis rocks! The buffet is really rather good.
