Grub, Vancouver BC

From Vegan Gastrobot

While looking through vegan options in Vancouver I came across Grub – they change the fresh menu often (maybe nightly?) and only have one vegan option on it. Normally that would be another eh – let’s skip it kind of place. I did however find a review that was so great it convinced me to give it a try. Their thought – yes there is only one vegan option for dinner, but it is the best vegan food ever! Okay I have to try this out. We came just as they opened and ordered the vegan entrée and dessert to share. The entrée that evening was White navy bean, artichoke and spinach filled cannelloni baked in rosemary cashew coconut cream, smokey vegetable and corn salsa, lemon arugula salad. Sure it sounded good. They brought it out and it looked amazing!! I tried the first bite…and the reviewer was right. This was some of the best food I have ever had. It was incredible! The only have one vegan option, but they do do it well. The filling was creamy and smooth, the veggies were nice and smoky (finally! Someone who can do smoked foods right!) the asparagus on top crisp, the sauce nice and creamy and…just everything paired so well together that it was incredible. I REALLY wish we would have been able to fit in another dinner here. If we go back this is a must stop on the list.

From Vegan Gastrobot

The dessert was chocolate and hazelnut layer cake with brulee bananas. This was a HUGE slice of cake. I was expecting a normal slice, but this would have been way too much for just me. The bananas on top were nice and caramelized and crunchy and really paired nicely with the cake and helped offset some of the dense richness and add a little sweetness. The hazelnut filling was almost like butter – dairy butter – which was odd but somehow it worked.

Overall – If you can definitely stop in at Grub. You will probably have to make reservations ahead of time as it gets busy, but it is well worth it. The one vegan option is amazing.

Caravan of Dreams, New York City

From Food

On our tour of New York City we stopped into Caravan of Dreams. This place was amazing! I really wish we would have been hungrier when we stopped by here so we could have tried more food. I loved the atmosphere, the people working there were very nice, all in all a great restaurant. We weren't that hungry so we just tried a couple of the raw appetizers and we were not disappointed. The first thing we tried was the beet ravioli which was so delicious. The beets were sweet and tender, the filling and sauce added a little bit of spice....All together perfect. I love the sweet and spicy combo.

From Food

The other appetizer we tasted was the raw Squash Manicotti. This was also amazing. It was very light and flowery and just perfect.

From Food

Then we asked to see the dessert menu just to see what they had, even though we were not really hungry. What a mistake. How could we not order something? We ordered the warm banana nutella - caramelized banana and vegan nutella wrapped in a crepe with 3 different sauces drizzled over it. It was supposed to come with some ice cream as well, but we knew we would not be able to eat it so we asked to have it left off. This was amazing! Not too sweet, but just spot on. It was also fairly light for a dessert which was good.

Overall I would definitely come back here, though next time I won't eat beforehand and will try more. I spied on the tables next to us and all of the entrees looked amazing! I really wish we had this restaurant in Seattle as we would frequent it often, even though it is on the pricey side. If you want to go out to a nice restaurant or someplace special while in NYC this is the place I would go. I cannot say enough good things about it.

Candle Cafe, New York City

We stopped by Candle Cafe for a late lunch. It was very busy but we were able to get a table right away in the back. I loved the atmosphere in this restaurant.

From Food

We tried the Seitan Chimichurri as an appetizer - citrus herb marinated seitan skewers. I've been veggie for 11 years and these were the first and only thing I have ever eaten that was so much like meat that it kind of freaked me out. The seitan was soo tender and just fell off the skewer in a manner that was a lot like meat. The citrus herb marinade was very light and they were delicious, but I had a hard time getting over the appearance of it.

From Food

For entrees we ordered the Tuscan Lasagna - Grilled zucchini, peppers and onions, tofu basil ricotta, tapioca cheese and seitan ragout topped with tomato sauce. Served with sauteed greens. This was good, but not spectacular. It just tasted like a standard lasagna. Good, but not amazing or anything special.  

From Food

We also tried the Paradise Casserole - Layers of sweet potato, black beans and millet over steamed greens with country gravy. Without the gravy this was just so so. The gravy however tasted like turkey gravy and really pulled the dish together. The sweet potatoes tasted like pumpkin pie - hints of cinnamon and nutmeg. It tasted like a thanksgiving dinner casserole.

From Food

For dessert we tried the Chocolate Mousse Pie. We were pretty full from the other food and the dessert didn't come instantly, but we didn't care. We weren't in a hurry and it really wasn't taking long, but when the waitress brought it over she was so apologetic for the length of time it took to get us our dessert. They ended up giving it to us free of charge because of the wait, which I thought was nice but unnecessary. The pie itself was very good, very rich. It was hard eating much of it because of how rich it was. but man was it good.

Overall if I lived in NYC and wanted to go somewhere different for a special occasion I might come back here. The entrees were all over $15 a piece so it is not somewhere I would go often and I think we had better food at a similar restaurant, but once and a while it would be a nice treat.