Busboys and Poets, Washington DC

From Vegan Gastrobot

I loved Busboys and Poets.  I loved the atmosphere, the waitress was very friendly, it was very artsy and the food was delicious. It was like a combination of coffee shop, restaurant, book store, art gallery, performance space, everything all combined into one (and very popular). We stopped by around 3 in the afternoon on a weekday and it was packed. We were seated at a short table with a very long couch on the one side and comfy chairs on the other. Very relaxed just hang out and sip a coffee all afternoon and when you get hungry have some food kind of feel. I loved it. We tried the vegan pepperoni calzone (vegan mozzarella, veggies, vegan pepperoni in a whole-wheat crust). This was really tasty, though not as good as the calzones we get in Olympia, WA. They used mozzarella daiya cheese with pepperoni and lots of veggies. If the crust would have been amazing this would have been a top contender for best calzone. The crust was really thin and good, but not great. Overall I would order this again.

From Vegan Gastrobot

We also ordered a Peanut Butter Banana Panini (peanut butter, banana, and agave nectar). We opted for the sweet potato fries as a side. The panini was delicious - very creamy and sweet, but really how can you go wrong with peanut butter and banana? You really can't. The sweet potato fries...well they are one of my favorites! These however I did not like that much. They had a lot of cinnamon on them and I just did not like them. A lot of people like their sweet potatoes with sugar and cinnamon and marshmallow and all kinds of sweet thing on them, but I find them way too sweet that way and prefer them plain and simple. Just fried and a little bit of salt would have been perfect. I wish I would have known they were dessert fries as I would have ordered a different side. This is the only item that I was disappointed in.

From Vegan Gastrobot

They also had a vegan brownie so we had to try that. It came with a scoop of vanilla coconut ice cream and a sliced strawberry. This brownie was amazing! It had mousse on top of it and was very rich and chocolaty. The ice cream did not have a strong coconut flavor and was really smooth and creamy. The combination of the ice cream, brownie and strawberry was perfect - just a small piece of each with each bite was wonderful. I would definitely order this again.

Overall - I highly recommend Busboys and Poets. The food is delicious, the service friendly, the atmosphere very relaxing and artsy.

Chez Harag Pastries, Washington DC

From Vegan Gastrobot

I read about a vegan French bakery in DC and I knew we had to stop by. They didn't have croissants, but they did have all kinds of cookies and treats that I have never had before. Chez Hareg Pastries was a small shop with a full case of vegan cookies. We tried a few different items - the Vegan Palmier, Raspberry Sprtiz Cookie, Pecan Snowball and a Napoleon.

From Vegan Gastrobot

The napoleon was light and flaky and not too sweet. Layers of puff pastry that was flaky like philo with a light lemon custard in between. This did not have strong lemon flavor which is good as I do not like lemon that much. Not too filling and not too sweet so not a very heavy dessert which was good since we had so much walking to do.

From Vegan Gastrobot

The Pecan Snowball is one of my favorite cookies and this one was buttery and delicious just like it should be. I had never had a spritz cookie before so we had to try one of them and it was really good. Very light and buttery, though I would have prefered it without the jam. The Palmier was my favorite - these were so light and flaky and lightly sweetend and just perfect. Like eating lightly sweetend airy crispy pasty. We took a dozen of these and the plain spritz cookies to go to share with my freinds we were staying with. My friend was hesitant - she said she really liked spritz cookies, but made with real butter. She tried these one and conceeded that they were just as good - surprisingly buttery for a vegan cookie.

Overall - definitely stop by here and pick up some Palmiers and Spritz cookies. They were so good. Now I wish I had some to snack on...

B Cafe aka Brooklyn Cafe, Washington DC

From Vegan Gastrobot

Our first day in Washington DC we decided to start our day of eating at B Cafe aka Brooklyn Cafe. They have a vegan sampler so we ordered that. It is such a good deal. For a dollar more than a sandwich you can try three different items - a burger patty, chicken patty, and shrimp. The sampler usually comes with cole slaw, but since I do not like cole slaw we switched it out for potato salad. We also ordered a side of spinach to get some good veggies in as we don't always get a lot of them on our food vacations. The people working there were a little scattered the day we were there, but they also had opened late as they had something break in the morning and they waiter was very friendly and nice so it was fine. The vegan burger was really good - Veggie Burger made from Carrots, Beets & Potatoes (the dark pieces on the top of the plate). The beets gave it a very nice color and it was a little bit spicy and sweet and seasoned very well. The chicken patty was like fried chicken and I loved it. Probably the best fried chicken we have had. The batter was light and the chicken was meaty. The shrimp were better than I thought they would be. I never liked seafood, it was one of the few things I always refused to eat. I have tried vegan seafood before and it always has that fishy flavor that I really do not like and the texture is just....not something I like (though I am told it is like real shrimp). These did not have an overwhelming seafood flavor, but the texture was there and still was not something I particularly liked. The potato salad was delicious! This is another item that is hit or miss for me - I do not like mayonnaise or mustard and most times potato salad is too mayonnaisey. This was not - it was very creamy, but still had chunks of potato in it and I would definitely go back and get it again. The side of spinach was just steamed with some peppers and such mixed in. This was plenty of food for the two of us to share. We were not super stuffed afterwards, but full.

Overall - I really enjoyed our vegan sampler here and I would definitely go back again.

Sunflower, Vienna VA

From Vegan Gastrobot

We spent a few days in Northern Virginia for a friends wedding recently. We arrived in the evening and were super hungry so our first stop was Sunflower Vegetarian Resaturant. We ordered the cold basil roll (Jicama, carrot, lettuce, dry spiced tofu, vegi-ham, basil and rice paper wrapper). This sounded like it would be really good, but...for all of the flavorful sounding ingredients there wasn't much flavor to be had. I really like fresh rolls, and this was good, but not the best.

From Vegan Gastrobot

We also ordered the Ianani Sushi (Stuffed w. brown rice, sesame seeds, crispy bean curd, seacress & shiso condiment served with edemame). I have never had this before since I only just recently ventured into eating sushi, but I really enjoyed this. The tofu skin was chewy and the filling was delicious, a little bit salty a little bit sweet. This was the best thing we ordered here.

From Vegan Gastrobot

We also ordered some Daikon Cake. I keep thinking this is the same thing we ordered in Philadelphia once, but that was a turnip cake which I loved. This had...no flavor. Just mushy greasy not very good. The sauce that came with it was not very good either, but at least it had some flavor.

From Vegan Gastrobot

For our entrees we ordered the Golden Nugget (Marinated yuba (bean curd skin) wrapped with shredded shiitake mushrooms, soy protein and bamboo shoots in house brown sauce. Garnished with sauteed napa cabbage, broccoli, bean thread noodles and carrots). This was interesting. VERY chewy and hard to eat. To cut it into pieces you need to use a fork and knife. The sauce was not that good and the noodles were just not tasty (and I love noodles, but I didn't eat most of them). The broccoli was cooked well and out of the two entrees we ordered I liked this one more. The nuggets were not the worst thing I have ever had, they just were not the best either. I definitely wouldn't order it again.

From Vegan Gastrobot

The second of our two entrees was the Asparagus Roll (Baked stuffed wheat gluten roll with vegi-ham, asparagus in house special sauce and vegan cheese). Raymond picked this one out and wanted to try it as it sounded different. Well it was....it reminded us of those really old cookbooks where they have gross meat dishes and like chicken in jello and such. I have no idea why they would put cheese on this - the special sauce had an odd flavor that I could not figure out. It tasted like a bunch of familiar tastes combined, but not in a good way and I couldn't pin point any of them. The sauce also did not go with cheese at all so it was really disgusting. The roll itself was just like a very chewy wheat gluten piece with a piece of asparagus in the middle. The wheat gluten was not prepared well and was so chewy and the texture was just not good. It did come with some broccoli and a drumstick for some reason and edemame which were all good. I would order the Golden Nuggets any day over this as it was just bad. We did not finish this dish as neither of us liked it.

From Vegan Gastrobot

And finally dessert! Chocolate cake with mousse and glaze (Contain unsweetened chocolate & cocoa). This should have been decent. I mean it is chocolate cake! But it had a very strange flavor that I couldn't put my finger on. The mousse...was not very good. It was not chocolaty and the glaze was some berry and was the strongest flavor, though that wasn't very strong either. Overall skip on the cake. It is...odd. I wish I could pin point what it tasted like....I just can't figure out what the flavor was.

Overall - I would skip Sunflower Vegetarian Restaurant. Most of the food was just not good. The flavors were off...it was just not a place I will go back to ever.

In the Bowl, Seattle WA

From Vegan Gastrobot

Usually I like to cook, but when it hs been a long day and I don't feel like cooking we like to order take out from In the Bowl vegan restaurant. We always order the melting culture as it is amazing - Stir fried ground soy protein chicken and tofu, green curry paste then topped with coconut milk and basil served with roti. It is a little spicy, but so good and I love that it comes with roti.

From Vegan Gastrobot

Stir fried your choice of white rice or brown rice with homemade soy and mushroom sauce, broccoli, onion, carrot, bok choy.This was delicious - the sauce added a lot fo flavor and the veggies were still crisp and perfect.

From Vegan Gastrobot

And finally some pad thai with fried tofu. I don't know that we had ever ordered it before, but it was really good. Not neon orange and ketchupy like some places in Seattle. The flavor was light and while not my favorite pad thai ever, it is definitely good enough to order again when we want take out.

Overall - In the Bowl is great when I don't feel like cooking and is always enough food for 2 meals.

Nzyme, Oakville, ON Canada

From Vegan Gastrobot

We spent a few days visit the Toronto area and of course we had to try as many places are possible. Our flight got into Toronto at 3pm and we headed down to Niagara Falls to check it out since it was so close and we had never been. On our way down we stopped for dinner at Nzyme. After all of the amazing raw food we have had I did have high expectations for this restaurant. The lady working there was very nice, and there was only one other table there when we arrived, but the food too forever to get to us so don't go if you are really hungry (it took at least 50 min to get the food and we were both starving!). The first thing we ordered was the raw spaghetti with Alfredo. This was alright, but it was not amazing. There is a raw restaurant in Bellingham, WA where we had a similar dish and it was so much better. This just tasted like zucchini with lemon juice. There was dehydrated kale around the plate and that was tasty.

From Vegan Gastrobot

The second entree we ordered was the rawsagnia - zucchini noodles filled with marinara, sunflower cheese and meatless meat sauce. This was better than the spaghetti, but not amazing. It definitely had more flavor so that was good.

Overall - the food takes forever and is just so so. I wouldn't go back - there are plenty of other raw food places in Toronto you could try.

Rosa Linda's Mexican Cafe, Denver CO

From Vegan Gastrobot

From Vegan Gastrobot

Our last day in Denver we had a late breakfast at Rosa Linda's Mexican Cafe. While looking at the menu I saw that you could get a cactus burrito and since I have never had cactus, let alone seen it on a menu, we had to try it. We decided to try a small veggie combo which included a cactus burrito with red sauce (shown above). This was good, but I was disappointed with the cactus - it just tasted kind of like green peppers.

From Vegan Gastrobot

It also came with a bean taco and bean tostado, both of which were good, but not special.

Overall - Rosa Linda's was alright. Not bad, but not really good either. It was just...so so Mexican food. I am sure there are better places in Denver, but maybe they don't have vegan options. Overall though I wouldn't make a special trip to go here.