Restaurant Review: The Lunch Room

A couple weeks ago I was able to visit the famed restaurant "The Lunch Room" in Ann Arbor, MI. I had heard really good things about the place and was excited to try it out. It did not disappoint. The decor was awesome and our server was even wearing a paper crown over her blue hair.

The collage above has everything we ate - the top left corner is the Southwestern Salad that came with vegan ranch. Moving clockwise is an almond vanilla cream cupcake (yum!). The middle left picture is the red pepper mac and cheese which was good and creamy - but I wish I had gotten the chili mac (same thing but topped with chili). The bottom picture was our appetizer plate - a variety of breads with olive tapenade and cashew cheese. All in all it was a great lunch spot, and located in a really cute building full of other awesome shops. I recommend the stationary store in the building - I found some awesome prints to frame as poster art.

The Lunch Room courtyard entrance

Raw Thanksgiving Demo and the Fly Trap Restaurant Review

A few weeks ago I attended my second raw vegan cooking demo. The food did not disappoint! When I arrived there was a delicious salad waiting for us with nuts, dried cranberries, and a maple balsamic dressing (recipe here). So delicious! The cooking demo was put on by an undergraduate named Katie. You should check out her blog here, she does excellent work! She is an upbeat ambassador to the raw and vegan food lifestyle.

We ate cauliflower mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, cranberry relish (so good), squash soup, and sweet potato casserole. All RAW!

Sweet potato casserole and cranberry relish

By far my favorite part was dessert. Pumpkin Pie! Check out this beauty (well maybe the beauty is really in the taste...):

Click here for her "Fully Raw Pumpkin Pie" recipe. 

Even more important than the food - after the demo was done and we were enjoying the pie, Katie asked us to each share how we were going to stay healthy this holiday season. When it was Katie's turn she said she was going to suggest doing active activities with family members when they spend time together. Rather than watching a movie - take a walk! I love that idea. Plus, walking and talking is much better bonding time than watching TV!

I put her advice to work when I visited Detroit recently. I asked the friend I was visiting there to walk with me to breakfast and she was game! We went to the Fly Trap in Ferndale, MI. The place is small but we did not have to wait long. I ordered the vegan Veggie Rumble (sub tofu and no eggs) and the mini muffin of the day.

Unfortunately I did not take a picture of my breakfast but it was very good! I would recommend it. Next time I would order no mushrooms. Why are mushrooms considered "seasonal vegetables" to most people?? The Reeses inspired muffin was extra good. And you can't beat the totally hipster-chic salt and pepper shakers on each table. Ours were a pair of dogs (cats?) in sailor outfits!

How are you planning to stay healthy this holiday season?

Charleston Vegan Eats: Five Loaves Cafe & Mellow Mushroom

Can I just take a moment to say how beautiful Charleston is? Arguably one of the most beautiful places in the U.S. Look at this college campus! Can you imagine going to school here and then moving to INDIANA? 

While downtown Charleston a couple weeks ago we decided to check out Five Loaves Cafe. This place is good... especially if you are NOT a vegan. But it worked for us. We ordered the only 2 veganish items on the menu: Sweet Chili Glazed Eggplant Wrap and the Mediterranean Garden Wrap. They were both pretty good, but definitely not the highest highlight of our trip.

The place was pretty cute but I was so hungry I forgot to take pics of the food. So instead you get a pic of the table with a nice Lucille Ball quote on it!

One of the nights we needed a late night snack and I had heard a rumor that Mellow Mushroom had vegan cheese. The rumor was true! And the pizza was pretty stinking good. This is only the second restaurant made vegan-cheese pizza we have had, so it really was a treat for us! It has Daiya cheese and sun dried tomatoes on it.

Vegan in Kalamazoo: The Crow's Nest

The Queen Anne's Revenge at the Crow's Nest in Kalamazoo might seriously be my favorite vegan meal of all time. I would eat this stuff all day and all night if I could! 

Queen Anne's revenge is a scramble of vegan pesto, sun dried tomatoes, tofu, zucchini, onion, and mushrooms in it. The Crow's Nest serves it as a huge helping with hashbrowns and toast. 

They also have a coffee shop downstairs with vegan desserts, breads, and of course coffee. I had a vegan "Dirty Chai." If you don't know, a dirty chai has a shot of espresso in it! What could be better?

One last note about the Crow's Nest. I read on Urbanspoon a lot of hating on the place for poor service, bad atmosphere, etc. To be honest, I love the service there. It can be a little spotty but it is such a neat little place with a great atmosphere, I don't mind it at all. Don't go there if you are in a rush. To be fair, I took my dad there once and he will never go back. We went at a busy time and were too close to a group of loud women + he wasn't too hip on the atmosphere for some reason. Not his scene I guess!

Charleston Vegan Eats: Puree

Next on our journey through vegan cuisine in Charleston, SC was Puree Cafe, an adorable little restaurant in Mt. Pleasant. The service was great and the atmosphere was very clean, crisp, and fresh feeling. My husband did say it was a little offensive to his manliness (not all vegans/vegetarians are chicks ya know!) but I thought it was charming.

T.J. ordered the BBQ tempeh sausage burger with lentil salad on the side (both were delish!)

I got the tofu scrambler with pesto toast. I think I would have preferred jam on my toast because I like to do a little salty a little sweet, but it was very good. The tofu chunks were a little big for my taste, but overall a healthy and hearty lunch.

We topped it all off with a little key lime cheesecake, because when in the South I must eat key lime something! The only drawback to this place was the price tag. If I still lived in CHS there is no way we could afford to eat here often. But since it was on vacation, why not! 

Charleston Vegan Eats: The Sprout

I recently spent some time in Charleston, SC, a place I used to call home. Back when I lived there I was a vegetarian, not a vegan, and already found it to be pretty non-veg friendly. I am happy to report that is beginning to change! The area now boasts a couple of all vegetarian restaurants and more veg-friendliness all around. They even have a Whole Foods.

The first spot I tried during this trip was called The Sprout. Online this place looked great. When we arrived we realized it is inside a gym! Like those smoothie places they put in gyms sometimes. But a little better than that. It had its own entrance and we chose to sit outside (because the inside was blaring gym music and smelled a bit like a gym). The food was good but not spectacular. I ordered the taco lunch so I could try a couple different things. I had the organic seared tofu taco and the avocado and black bean taco. Both were pretty good. The side salad it came with was good too. My husband ordered the walnut burger which came on sandwich bread... but was otherwise pretty tasty.

A truly healthy meal on vacation!

Finally, we ordered a vegan doughnut for dessert. Which was the highlight of the meal! :-)
If you are looking to eat a meal you can feel good about while in Charleston, I recommend this place all the way. I even lost weight on this trip we ate so well!

 

Native Foods Cafe Review

I first ate at Native Foods Cafe back in June and could not wait to get back there. I honestly can't believe it took me 3 months!

This time I ordered almost the exact same thing as the first time I went because the Chicken Run Ranch burger has seriously been on my mind ever since. It was really delicious again but not quite as earth-shattering as I had remembered.

I also ordered sweet potato fries and apple pie. Both really good but again, not life changing. The apple pie comes with a sweet and creamy topping. I think it must be some sort of cinnamon whipped cream that is even better than the pie itself!

Native Foods Cafe definitely doesn't disappoint and has an easy, almost-fast food but better atmosphere. Vegan chain restaurants are an interesting concept but they just can't beat the really good local finds (not that I'd complain if Native Foods came to Indiana!)

The Chicago Diner - Restaurant Review

Oh the Chicago Diner... I have heard such great things from all over the internet. I am happy to report it didn't disappoint! Choosing restaurants to eat at for your birthday is an important decision, and this was a very very right one. The atmosphere is very funky-alternative-hipster set in an old diner-style building with tables, chairs, and decor to match (the diner part, not the funky-alt-hip part). A very interesting mix indeed.

I started off with a mimosa, then ordered a crazy combo of items for my brunch: cinnamon roll, mac & teese, potato hash, tofu scrambled "eggs," and wheat toast with jam.

Me & my birthday mimosa! 

By far the very best thing was the cinnamon roll (which of course I have no picture of). It looked very average and I was ready to be a little bit disappointed, then I tasted it. It was so GOOD! The mimosa was fabulous and the tofu eggs and potato hash were salty and very well flavored. My only complaint was that the tofu eggs were a little dry as if they had been made earlier that morning and kind of just sat around, and I was underwhelmed with the mac & teese - mostly because we make that at home and it tasted exactly the same. At home = especially yummy, but I thought it might be even better in the restaurant. Instead it was the same. Which is a-okay if that is what you are going for.

To top it all off they gave me a free slice of cheesecake for my birthday. And it was heavenly. Like beyond normal good. It had a chocolate oreo-like crust, chocolate cheesecake filling and was topped with raspberry. Unfortunately I didn't have any more room in my stomach to eat it! So I took it to go, I will be snacking on it for the next 4 days if I can manage to not eat it all in one sitting. I wanted to add that we didn't wait at all for a table and only waited a little while to order. The food came really quickly. I read some other blogger reviews that said they waited forever. It must be the time of day. We arrived around 11 or 11:30am and had no trouble at all.

I also learned that the Chicago Diner is just a few blocks from the Cubs stadium which makes going to a baseball game sound so much more appealing.

Two thumbs up for the Chicago Diner. I will definitely be back!

The Loving Cafe in Ft. Wayne

My birthday week has officially begun... which means more vegan food and treats than usual! Fuel for the blog I guess. This holiday weekend we spent time at my sister's house which is 4.5 hours away. Conveniently in the middle of the drive is a strange little vegan restaurant called The Loving Cafe (which seems to be somehow related to the Loving Hut, but not directly related). Half the menu is Asian food and the other half is American but it is all vegan and pretty darn good.

Panini sandwich at the Loving Cafe

This time I had the panini sandwich which had tofurkey, vegan cheese, coleslaw, and vegan mayo on it. The bread was really really good too. I think I detected a hint of mustard on it as well. You sort of roll the dice at the Loving Cafe because the menu is constantly changing depending on what they happen to have on hand. They have a board at the restaurant that they can switch out the menu items so they change it often but always have a big selection. They also have really good soup. I have tried the Kale & Potato soup (2nd time this trip) and my husband got the Almond Broccoli soup. I prefer the kale potato - the almond soup was weirdly sweet to me.

Overall I give this place a good rating because it is a good find, especially in non-vegan friendly Indiana. That being said, you have to be a little flexible and open minded to enjoy it. They also have quite a few dessert options, some of them even raw. Last time I was there I ordered chocolate ice cream and they gave me a TON of it for just a couple bucks. It was really rich and delicious.

I wouldn't rate this place as necessarily healthy, but they advertise that it is healthy just because it's vegan. Many of the sandwiches are covered in vegan butter and mayo. The soup is made with vegan cream cheese. All of which is fine if you are looking for some vegan comfort food (which I was!) and not overly concerned with calories, etc.

On our way home we stopped by my father in-law's house and he gave us a TON of veggies from his garden. The picture below is just a fraction! We will be having a tomato-fest this week for dinner so get ready for some tomato recipe posts.

What is your take on the vegan = automatically healthy issue? How do you balance the (sometimes rare) access to vegan food at a restaurant and wanting to eat healthfully at the same time?

Georgetown Cupcake Review

The beauty above? An apple cinnamon vegan cupcake from Georgetown Cupcake in Washington, DC.

I spent a few weeks in DC at the start of the summer and Georgetown Cupcake was an unexpected surprise. After eating at Sticky Fingers and Busboys & Poets, I thought there was no way I'd find good vegan food in Georgetown. I was wrong!

Georgetown Cupcakes really knocked one out of the park for me. I went in expecting to have to eat just a bite of someone else's cupcake for lack of vegan options when lo and behold... they had a vegan cupcake just for me! (well, I'm sure it wasn't just for me). The cupcake I had was apple cinnamon with the most delicious frosting. I would have never picked an apple cinnamon cupcake (I am more of a chocolate cupcake lover), but I was so glad to have had the opportunity to try it! It was divine. They also had a rhinestoned hot pink kitchen aid mixer on their shelf behind the counter. I would definitely go back there and I appreciate the vegan option!