Sputnik, Denver CO, second visit

From Vegan Gastrobot

On our last day in Denver we decided to go back to Sputnik for lunch. I had spied on the brunch menu when we went the first time (but not until after we had ordered and eaten) and saw a few things that sounded interesting so we had to go back. We got a potato chorizo taco plate - scrambled tofu, vegan chorizo, and potatoes served in soft tacos with pico de gaio and pinto beans. These were really simple so I was surprised by how amazing they were! It seemed like they would be good, but they were incredible!

From Vegan Gastrobot

We also ordered the stacks of vegan power. I know the photo looks like it is a mess, and it was kind of, but this was the item I had seen on the menu that I had wanted to go back and try. These were quinoa cakes topped with vegan breakfast sausage, steamed greens, creamy roasted garlic sauce and avocado and they were absolutely amazing! The quinoa cakes kind of fell apart, but they were flavored perfectly and coupled with the sausage, garlic sauce and greens it was an unbelievable combination. A lot of times I order things at restaurants where most of the ingredients sound good, but one thing I am iffy on and I hope that the combination is not bad - on this it was the garlic sauce as I am not the biggest garlic fan and it can easily overpower everything else. In this instance it worked perfectly to help pull everything together.

Overall - definitely check out Sputnik if you are in Denver. Their food is amazing.

Poutini's House of Poutine, Toronto ON, Canada

From Vegan Gastrobot

I know Poutine is big in Canada and when I saw Poutini's House of Poutine had a vegan option I knew we had to try it out. What is not to love? French fries, gravy, cheese, should be delicious! This was just alright - Raymond enjoyed it a lot more than I did. The french fries were delicious - cooked to perfection. The cheese was daiya which I really like. The gravy....the gravy in Toronto was not my favorite. We had gravy at Hogtown Vegan as well and it tasted similar and not the best in my opinion. The gravy is a little tangy and has an odd flavor to me...not quite sure what it is. Something tasted off to me, but Raymond loved it.

Overall - if you are in the area you might as well stop by and get some vegan poutine. You might enjoy the gravy like Raymond.

Wayward Vegan Cafe, DINNER, Seattle, WA

From Vegan Gastrobot

Saturday was the first day that Wayward Vegan Cafe opened for dinner hours! We have always wished that they would be open later than 4pm so that we could go for dinner....and they finally did! Now Wayward is open 9am-9pm everyday! Their dinner menu contains some of the breakfast and lunch favorites (a few sandwiches, a bacon BBQ burger, some scrambles, etc) as well as some new dinner items. There are numerous appetizers, some that were already on the menu like fried artichokes and quesadilla, and some new like buffalo tofu and fried mozzarella wedges. We decided to try the fried mozzarella wedges as well....fried cheese? yes please! We have tried the teese ones before and they are good, but they do not fill that greasy cheesy goodness like non-vegan cheese sticks have. These...well these I loved! They are made with mozzarella daiya and are melty gooey goodness. We will definitely be ordering them again.

From Vegan Gastrobot

They also have many dinner entrees from fillet mignon to grilled chicken breasts to chicken and waffles. We decided to try the BBQ ribz - a rack of vegan ribs served with sweet potato fries and cauliflower mac & cheese. This was a huge platter - the ribz were a block of BBQ seitan, very chewey and meaty. The BBQ sauce was delicious and served with extra on the side. The sweet potato fries were delicious. I really liked the cauliflower instead of pasta for mac & cheese, but Raymond thought it had too much yeast in it. We were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the dinner menu at Wayward and it did not disappoint! It is a little more expensive than a normal dinner, but one dish is definitely enough food to share. We will definitely be back soon to try the other options.

Overall - Wayward is our favorite breakfast place, and now you can go there for dinner as well! I cannot wait to sample their other dinner options. Definitely check it out.

Vegan Danish Bakery, Thornhill ON, Canada

From Vegan Gastrobot

When I saw Vegan Danish Bakery near Toronto I knew we had to go. I see danishes and such all the time, but I can never eat them. I was very excited when I saw Toronto had a vegan danish baker. I wish we would have been there over the summer so we could try the soft serve ice cream! We did try an apple danish which was amazing! They heated it up for us and it looked like it was going to be way too sweet for me, but it wasn't. There were apples and almond slivers in a nice flaky pastry with a not too sweet frosting.

From Vegan Gastrobot

We also took home some sugar buttons and a sticky bun. The sugar buttons were not what I expected. They were not sweet, even though they had sugar on the outside. They were crumbly cookies with some anise flavor and they were good, just not what we expected them to be. The sticky bun was excellent - again not too sweet and just perfect. One of the better sticky buns we have had - the bread was flaky, the syrup sweet but not too sweet. Just delicious.

Overall - Stop by the Vegan Danish Bakery if you are in the area. It is just north of Toronto, but the treats were very good.

Organic Oven, Toronto, ON, Canada

From Vegan Gastrobot

Toronto has a lot of vegan bakeries (or bakeries with vegan options). Organic Oven has a few vegan options (if you look at the website they have more options listed than what they had when we went in). Nothing really sounded amazing, but we were there so we asked the guy what he would suggest. He suggested the chocolate cupcake so we went with that, a brownie and gingerbread men. The gingerbread men were good - crispy and flavorful. The cupcake and brownie....they were both mint even though they did not say they were on the tags in the store. I hate mint so I couldn't eat either of them which was incredibly disappointing. I mean we wouldn't have purchased them and wasted the money if it would have said they were chocolate mint.

Overall - I would skip Organic Oven. Raymond said the cupcake was alright, the cookies were good but not spectacular, nothing we had would make it a must go to if we are in Toronto again. Plus there are much better bakeries in Toronto.

Rise Above Bakery, St Catherines ON, Canada

From Vegan Gastrobot

On the way down to Niagara Falls, ON to spend a night we stopped in St Catherines at Rise Above Bakery to pick up some treats and hopefully something to eat for breakfast the next morning. I wasn't really sure what they would have here as I didn't remember what this place even was I just noted that they were a vegan bakery. We almost just kept driving as it was getting late by the time we got here due to the traffic and we were tired. I am so glad we still decided to stop! This bakery was amazing! We got a cinnamon roll for breakfast the next morning and it was good, but a little too much frosting for me and it was slightly dry (this could be because we kept it out overnight).

From Vegan Gastrobot

We also picked up a cinnamon sugar doughnut and a chocolate chip cookie. We ate the cookie when we got to our hotel and it was good. We also saved the doughnut for the next morning and it was really good as well.

From Vegan Gastrobot

The last treats we picked up on our first stop was a brownie and a blondie. These were...incredible. The brownie was the best brownie I have ever had. It was rich and moist and just unbelievably amazing. The blondie - I have never had a blondie before and I didn't really even know what it was, but it looked good. The blondie was the best thing I have ever had. Ever. No contest, this was out of this world good. Man just thinking about it now I wish I could get more. I tried making some myself and they just did not come out anywhere near as good. These were so good that we decided to stop by again for lunch the next day so we could pick up some more blondies and bring them home with us.

From Vegan Gastrobot

For lunch we had some a bowl of chili. This was very good, Raymond loved it, but I like my chili better (I make a very different chili from most people).

From Vegan Gastrobot

We also got a small Asian Noodle Salad. This was also very good and light.

From Vegan Gastrobot

The last thing we got was the potato, broccoli daiya ball (served like a burger) with frites. The daiya ball was really good, but the frites - I don't know what they did differently from every other places but they were incredible! Raymond was making fun of me because I was raving about them so much. They were cooked perfectly and were just incredible.

Overall - Everything here was really good but the Blondie is the best thing ever, the brownie is incredible and the frites are amazing. Definitely stop here if you are anywhere close. I would even drive the hour+ from Toronto to here just to get some more blondies.

Udupi Palace, Toronto ON, Canada

From Vegan Gastrobot

Normally when traveling we do not eat at Indian or Thai restaurants as we can get both in Seattle that is amazing. However when looking at places to eat in Toronto I came across Udupi Palace and their menu contained Indian foods I have never seen on the menus here so we had to check it out. The people we were staying with said it was just okay, so we weren't expecting a lot. We ordered a Combo Masala Uthopam with Iddly (steamed rice and lentil patty - bottom left) and Medhu Vada (fried lentil donut - top left). This was just alright. It wasn't amazing, but it wasn't horrible either. I expected it to be tastier as masala is usually delicious. I had never had the Iddly or Medhu Vada but they were both just so so. I wouldn't go out of my way for them again.

From Vegan Gastrobot

We also ordered Coimbator Dosa - like a crepe with mixed vegetables inside. This was a lot better, but still just so so. If I were to go here again this is what I would get, or try something else.

Overall - if you are in Toronto and are looking for a place to eat you can find much better options elsewhere. Udupi Palace was not bad, it just wasn't really good either. The people working there were also not very friendly so overall I wouldn't go back.