Afghan Horsemen, Vancouver BC

From Vegan Gastrobot

We arrived at Afghan Horsemen around 10pm so it was not that busy. They did have room in the area where you sit on the floor on cushions so we chose to sit in there. I loved the way it was decorated and you just relaxed while eating. There were 2 combination options – the vegan plate (which comes with baked rice with Kabuli topping (sautéed carrots, raisins & almonds), Dahl (lentil stew), cauliflower, Salata & Pakawra (batter fried potatoes), with a vegetarian sauce dip) or the vegan platter which came with all of that plus a plate of pita and hummus and is for 2 people. Since we were not that hungry we decided to share the vegan plate since it would be less food (it was still too much for us and we had some leftovers). The salata was like a cucumber salad I make with vinaigrette – mixed onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, mint flakes and cilantro dressing that was vinegary and delicious. The Pakwara was like a giant battered potato chip. The potato slices were incredibly thin and the batter was spiced nicely.  The cauliflower was cooked till it was falling apart and spiced very well – I couldn’t put my finger on what it tasted like but I loved it, especially with the red sauce that came with it. The Kabuli topping for the rice was carrots, raisons and almonds that were sweet with a hint of cinnamon and really quite good. Finally the dal was like a garlic paste. When I first tried it I couldn’t remember what it was supposed to be it just tasted like garlic and I thought maybe it was a topping for the other things. But it did grow on me until we had eaten the entire bowl of it.

Overall – Definitely check out Afghan Horsemen and get a vegan combination. All of the flavors were amazing and much different from other foods I have eaten.

Sushi Gallery, Vancouver BC

From Vegan Gastrobot

I searched for vegan options in Vancouver BC and found Sushi Gallery with a vegan sushi menu. I didn’t know if we would be able to make it there as it closed at 9 so it would be close. Traffic was light and we were able to leave early so we made it just before they close and I am very glad we did. There was self serve tea and miso soup and they gave us a plate of edemame to start with.

From Vegan Gastrobot

We ordered the Vege Meat Teriyaki bento box with had tofu teriyaki, veg ggyoza, inari, tempura yam roll, and cold salad. The tofu teriyaki was tasty, but tasted more like gravy then teriyaki sauce. The veg gyoza I was not a fan of – they were pan fried flattened and the filling just wasn’t my favorite flavor. Maybe too much mushroom? The inari was delicious as always – sweet and tasty! I think that is my new favorite thing as it is so good. The tempura yam roll was supposed to be an avocado roll, but they were out of avocado so we got this instead. I really enjoyed the crunchy tempura coating and the soft rice combination and the yam gave it a nice flavor. The cold salad had a peanut sauce on and was alright. Really this was a lot more food than we thought it would be – the sushi roll itself would have been enough!

From Vegan Gastrobot

From Vegan Gastrobot

We also tried the Orchard roll (yellow bean sheet, banana, strawberry, kiwi with a peanut sauce. This was HUGE. We thought it would just be a normal sushi roll, but it was giant and so very delicious. I wanted to try it as I have never had fruit sushi and I am glad we did. It reminded me of a more delicious peanut butter and banana sandwich. So tasty. I would highly recommend this. The fruits were juicy and flavorful and it was just a wonderful combination of flavors.

Overall – I would recommend Sushi Gallery. Their vegan sushi rolls are amazing – especially the orchard roll.

Mirkwood & Shire Cafe - Arlington, WA

From Vegan Gastrobot

We had a coupon from vegfest for Mirkwood & Shire Cafe in Arlington so we stopped on the way up to Vancouver to check it out. The space is multi-purpose – there is a small bar area, a stage for bands to play, a coffee counter and some tables and booths to eat at. The people working were very friendly and there were a lot of folks just hanging out inside and setting up for the show that night. This is a vegetarian restaurant, but almost everything can be made vegan with is nice. We ordered the chili burger with fries. The chili and the burger patty are house made which I like. The chili was pretty good – lots of veggies and beans though it didn’t come with much on the burger (though enough to make the sandwich messy). The burger patty didn’t have a lot of flavor by itself – just a black bean patty but paired with the chili it was tasty. The fries were just frozen reheated like you would get in the grocery store with a little bit of spicy seasoning salt.

From Vegan Gastrobot

We also tried the enchilada plate with house made green sauce. This was three corn tortillas filled with beans, soy taco meat, cheese and topped with enchilada sauce, salsa and sour cream. Served with tortilla chips. This was actually really tasty. The enchiladas tasted a lot like refried beans and the sauce was a little spicy but tasty. I like that a lot of the foods are house made instead of store bought, and then they add store bought things like the vegan cheese and such. This was all a lot of food and I would go back if I were in the area again.

Overall – Stop by and check out the Shire Cafe if you are in the Arlington area. The servers are friendly and the food tasty.

Lotus Vegetarian,

From Vegan Gastrobot

After the super disappointing Sunflower restaurant I was a little iffy on trying Lotus Vegetarian. It was close to my friend’s house though and we needed a place to eat the last night of our visit so Lotus Vegetarian it was. We tried the radish cake and it was super good. It was a tad greasy, but in a good way. The flavor was light, but really good unlike some other ones we have had. The plumb sauce that was served with it complimented it well.

From Vegan Gastrobot

We tried the Curry Deluxe – Chunks of soy protein stewed with potato, zucchini, sugar peas, carrots, and cauliflower in a Japanese curry sauce. I love Japanese curry and this did not disappoint – the veggies were crisp, the sauce tasty, the mock meat were sliced and delicious.

From Vegan Gastrobot

We then tried the Vege Beef & Snow Peas – marinated soy beef sautéed with snow peas, carrots, jicama and lotus root in brown sauce. I don’t know that I have ever had lotus root before and it was quite good. This overall was really tasty – the beef was chewy like my favorite mock meats and all of the veggies were crisp.

Overall – if you are in the area and need someplace to eat definitely check out Lotus Vegetarian. It is in a strip mall, but the food is really tasty.

Founding Farmers, Washinton DC

From Vegan Gastrobot

I remember seeing that Founding Farmers

had a vegan menu that looked tasty so we stopped by for a late lunch on a Sunday afternoon. Not much was open in the area and it was packed. Luckily it was nice outside and I just wanted to sit and visit with a friend so we decided to sit outside and wait for a table. I am so glad we did! The food was amazing. First up we had the vegan patty melt – a gardein burger patty, caramelized onions, vegan cheddar, and homemade agave mustard on toasted rye bread. We chose asparagus as the side as well…asparagus is tasty! The sandwich was incredible! We had a patty melt the weekend prior at a place in Seattle and it was nowhere near as good as this one.  The bread was delicious and toasted perfect, the onions and mustard lent a nice flavor, the cheese was not overpowering, the burger was juicy and delicious. The asparagus was also amazing - sweet and tender and still crisp. It was cooked with a little olive oil with salt & pepper seasoning it and it was really really great.

From Vegan Gastrobot

We also tried the Chocolate Stout Farmhouse Waffle – cocoa waffle made with Sam Smith Oatmeal Stout topped with fresh banana slices and homemade vegan caramel sauce. The waffle by itself was not very sweet which was good. It paired nicely with the banana and the caramel sauce so they were not overpowering either – they all worked well together. The banana and caramel added the sweetness (the caramel by itself was incredibly sweet, but there wasn’t much of it so you just got a little bit sweet), the waffle mellowed it out…it was amazing.

Overall – Even if there is an hour and a half wait I would eat here again. The food seemed simple, but they did an amazing job of making the simple items better than any I have had before, like the side of asparagus. My non-vegan friend who ate with us was complaining about how long we were waiting, but even he thought it was worth it. Definitely go here if you can.

Hello Cupcake, Washington DC

From Vegan Gastrobot

On our super tour of the Washington DC area the last cupcake place we tried was Hello Cupcake.

Again there was only the option of vanilla or chocolate cake and a few different frosting flavors. I really don’t know why cupcake places cannot figure out how to make a vegan flavored cupcake. I mean they had normal cupcakes in fun flavors like chai, and caramel apple. Is it really that hard to put some chai flavor in your vegan batter? I mean I make them at home so it is not that difficult…it is like vegans can only have chocolate or vanilla. I often joke how I should start a bakery so vegans can have better options (even the all vegan bakeries don’t have fun flavors like Sticky Fingers! Disappointing). Anyways we tried the peanut butter chocolate cupcake. It was alright. Not the best and not anything I would make a trip for.  The frosting was good – light with a light peanut butter flavor.

Overall – Another cupcake place that has the standard so so cake with different flavors of frosting. If I were in the area I would rather got to Red Velvet or Bakeshop (even though they are farther away from downtown)

Mellow Mushroom, Washington DC

From Vegan Gastrobot

We almost skipped Mellow Mushroom  as we were way too full the first time we stopped by. The following day however we were going to be walking by so we stopped and got a pizza to go just to try it. We ordered a pizza with BBQ Tofu, broccoli and vegan cheese. It was so nice out we walked down to a park and ate in the sun. The pizza was amazing! Definitely the best we had in DC. The dough was very chewy and really really good. The BBQ sauce was sweet, the tofu tasty, and the broccoli was still crisp. It looked like a mess, was kind of a mess to eat, but was so tasty I didn’t mind. Definitely stop by for some pizza if you are in the area.

Overall – If you want pizza in Washington DC definitely stop by Mellow Mushroom. It was the best pizza we had on our visit (a close second was District of Pi).