Vegan Dad on the Road: Govinda's and Sweet Freedom

Only two days left in Philadelphia and then it's back home. I will miss the option of going out to eat but I can't wait to get back to the family (and my kitchen). Yesterday's stop was Govinda's. I had been there before and I don't think much has changed. Keep in mind that I am talking about the "Govinda's to Go" side of the restaurant--a small and slightly shabby take-out diner with slow service that largely serves vegan takes on American diner classics. It's a bit greasy and a little sloppy but I still think it's fun. I have yet to go to the fine dining side which is only open Thursday to Friday. I decided to get two things this time, and not the chicken cheesesteak since I had that last time. First up: the Kofta Sub.
I liked it. The meatballs were a little mushy but I liked the spiciness with the tomato sauce and cheese. Next: fish sandwich.
I have never had faux fish before and it was actually pretty good. By itself it had a rather fishy taste and texture (if you are into that kind of thing). I would have preferred tartar sauce to a glob of vegenaise and pickles, and I thought the "fish" got lost in all the toppings and bun. Govinda's is another place that suffers from very average bread. If only these veggie places could hook up with a quality bakery it would make things oh so much better.

Since it is only a few doors from Govinda's, I popped into Sweet Freedom.
Many of you had recommended it and a few had not. As you well know I don't do gluten-free baking. I have nothing against it, it's just that I don't have a gluten intolerance and I really love bread. So, I'm not exactly sure how to review the stuff that I ate. It's not fair to compare it to its glutenated (is that a word?) counterparts, but it sounds patronizing to say it's good for gluten-free. But, I think that is what I am going to have to say. But first, let me tell you that a place like Sweet Freedom is my dream--a small, specialty bakery where I could serve up all sorts of awesomeness. Maybe in another life . . . . I really have to admire that variety of things Sweet Freedom offers: all of it soy, egg, corn, dairy, gluten, peanut, and refined sugar free. I got there at the end of the day and a lot of the stuff had been sold so I chose the Strawberry Double Chocolate Cookie Sandwich, and a Coconut Bliss Cupcake.
I wasn't crazy about the cookie sandwich--the filling had a toothpaste consistency, was too thick, and didn't taste very much like strawberry. The cookie was pretty crumbly . . . but then again it had no gluten to hold it together. The cupcake was better, I think, and was moist but really heavy and dense (and not worth $3.75). Again, no gluten. I would not go back, but I think if I had a gluten intolerance or allergies then this place would be a piece of heaven.

Vegan Dad on the Road: Reading Terminal Market

I love to wander around Reading Terminal Market when I come to Philadelphia. The downside is there is a lot of meat there. I mean a lot. I guess that is because the locavore scene is largely about meat these days. But there are some good local produce stands as well, a vegetarian place to eat, a little spice store, a book store, some bakeries, etc. It's a funky place where you can get some local produce (I got some white cherries and peaches) and you can people watch to your heart's content.

Vegan Dad on the Road: Brunch at Mi Lah

After many a recommendation I went for brunch at Mi Lah on Sunday. I wanted a mix of savoury and sweet so I ended up ordering a lot of food. First up: Tofu Benedict with kale and roasted potatoes. The kale was a welcome addition to my on-the-road diet but the potatoes were a little overdone. The Tofu Benedict had great taste but, as you can see from the pic, lacked a little something in the presentation. I could have used more Hollandaise sauce (which tasted great) since the pieces of tofu were substantial and the plain whole wheat English muffin needed something to mop off the plate.
Next: french toast. I had to ask for maple syrup, which I thought would have been a standard part of the dish. This tasted great but I have a sneaking suspicion that it is deep fried instead of pan fried. I also wasn't crazy about being served the end of the loaf of bread. Still, I really enjoyed the brunch as did the continuous stream of people coming in the door.

Vegan Dad on the Road: Blackbird Pizzeria

Today I walked around Philadelphia hitting all of the historical sites I could. Yes, I visited the first AND the second Bank of the United States because that's how I roll. For lunch I stopped by Blackbird Pizzeria, a completely vegan pizza place that sits just south of the historical district on South 6th Street and Lombard. This was actually the second time I ate here (well, third because I came a few years ago when it was Gianna's Grille), but this time I had my camera. I just love the concept as well as the simple yet sufficient menu.
The first time I got a simple pepperoni and cheese slice and a mushroom slice. This time, cherry tomatoes, garlic, and tofu topped with Daiya, and a red onion and sausage slice.
All in all, not bad. I love the big slices and super thin New York style crust. The mushroom slice was a touch greasy, and I prefer the pieces with less Daiya rather than more. My only complaint is that the crust is dry. I like a pliable crust that can be folded to accommodate its thinness. Still, I love the convenience of being able to drop in and choose a variety of pizza slices and will be sure to visit one more time before I leave the city.

Vegan Dad on the Road: Mi Lah Vegetarian

Oh, the glamourous life of an historian. On the road, delving into archives, researching, analyzing documents. I am back in Philadelphia, one of my favourite cities in which to research. I'm sorry to see that Independence Hall is shrouded in scaffolding but it's still great to wander the streets of the city that hosted the Continental Congress and the Grand Convention. The other amazing thing is the food: purely vegan restaurants in which you can order anything off the menu! I'm really getting spoiled.

Tonight's dinner was from Mi Lah Vegetarian. I went there for lunch the other day and will be sure to hit the brunch on the weekend. It's a bit on the pricy side but nothing too outrageous. With my order placed the waiter brought some bread and some kind of dipping oil. I'm not exactly sure what was in the oil (red peppers?), but it was good nonetheless. The bread wasn't anything to write home about but I am pretty picky about my bread.
Next: salad. Mango, Avocado and Mixed Green Salad with Lime Dressing. Sorry for the pic but the low lighting of restaurants really does not lend itself to food photography. It was really nice to get fresh veggies after a few days on the road. The mango was perfectly ripe and the dressing was delicious.
Entree: Grilled Oyster Mushrooms with Brandy-Tequila Tomato Sauce with Vegan Sausage, Corn Masa Cakes, and Shaved Apple Salad. All in all, this was a great dish. The sausage had the right texture and was perfectly spicy, complemented by the sweet crunch of the apple. The masa cake was a touch ponderous but had a nice crust on it. I was disappointed, though, with the oyster mushrooms. The were the king variety, and just the stems. They did not have any seasoning on them and were a pretty good chew. Since I know how tasty grilled mushroom can be it was a let down. That being said, I would order it again.

Vegan Dad on the Road: Horizons

Tonight I ate one of the best meals of my life at Philadelphia's premier vegan restaurant, Horizons. It is so awesome to go to a place where you can eat everything on the menu, and where you don't have to quiz the server on the ingredients of every dish and how it is prepared. I emailed for a reservation and for permission to take some pics. The owner, Kate, gave me a warm welcome, and the staff was helpful and friendly. I placed my order began sipping on my drink. I was soon greeted with complimentary focaccia with fresh basil olive oil for dipping (pictured above). It was incredibly tender with a wonderfully buttery flavour.

My first course was the Golden Beet Panzanella Salad. I have to say that my favourite part of the dish was the beets--they were tender and had a very mellow flavour. The smoked tofu was also very nice. My only complaint is that the tomatoes had a bad taste and texture; I think they may have been refrigerated.

Second course: Grilled Seitan with yukon potato mash and horseradish cream. By far, this is the best seitan I have ever had. I have experimented a lot with seitan but nothing has come close to the tenderness, texture, and taste of this dish. Superb grilled flavour that was only enhanced by the horseradish cream (which is really quite mellow with a nice tang).

For dessert: saffron creme brule. Oh, baby.

Vegan Dad on the Road: Capo Giro

I finally took Claire's advice and went to Capo Giro today for some sorbetto. Oh, baby. This is by far the best dairy-free, fat free, ice cream-like dessert I have ever had. Smooth, creamy, and spectacular flavour. Kind of a weird combo here, but I went for the black fig (totally awesome) and espresso (equally awesome) flavours. It was somewhere in the 90s in the city today so this was the perfect way to end lunch. I am definitely going back before I leave Philly.

Vegan Dad on the Road: Govinda's

Just a brief post about my lunch trip today to Govinda's. I got the chicken cheese steak sandwich (or something to that effect) and a root beer. The taste was pretty good, though nothing exceptional. I certainly enjoyed the fact that it was close to where the conference was being held, but the service was really, really slow. The cooks kept screwing up peoples' orders which just made things even slower. I ate outside on a very rickety table, preferring the fresh air to the cramped quarters and rather dingy decor inside. Still, I think I will go back once more before this research trip is over just to enjoy the experience and convenience of eating at an all veggie restaurant.

Vegan Dad on the Road: Sahara Grill

The archive stays open late tonight so it means I walk home from the train station in the dusky dark. The fireflies were out, which made me happy. Fireflies remind me of summers at my grandparents' place in Ohio (I guess it is too cold in Ontario for fireflies). An extra long day of research meant little was happening in the kitchen today. I did stop by the Sahara Grill today for a light lunch of pitas and hummus. It wasn't bad, but nothing special. As you can see, they pour oil over the top (not necessary) and it was more tangy than I like it. Oh well. I then went to Rittenhouse Square and relaxed in the shade before heading back to work.

Vegan Dad on the Road: The Belgian Cafe

They say that the internet is isolating us under the guise of bringing us together; that we have traded face-to-face friendships for cyber relationships. Today I proved that theory wrong. I went out to dinner with two of my blog readers, Claire and Justin, who live in Philadelphia. They suggested we hit The Belgian Cafe for vegan wings and beer. Good call. We enjoyed a bunch of laughs, cheap $3 pints, and some mighty good food. We started with the stuffed tofu (pictured above), which isn't so much stuffed as sliced with stuff in the middle. The tofu was stuffed with Spaten Optimator (what is that? It sounds like a Transformer), cherries, cashews, cilantro and garlic, and was served with garlicky sesame spinach. We also got the pomme frites (read: French fries) served with a smoky ketchup and vegan aioli.

And, as promised, the vegan wings (not bad, but I actually prefer mine).
Justin ordered the vegan burger, which seemed to be lentil-based but no overly mushy.

Claire got the gazpacho and salad.
I settled on the vegan Reuben because it has always struck me as a weird sandwich. Although I think they doused the bread in oil before toasting it, it was very tasty indeed. I will have to look up Isa'a recipe when I get home. It came with a salad of greens and beans. Nothing special but a nice balsamic dressing.

All in all, a great time was had by all! Thanks, Claire and Justin!

Vegan Dad on the Road: Open City

So many restaurants, so little time . . . . My final stop on my vegan tour through D.C. was Open City. It's not specifically vegan, and I didn't really want to go there per se, but members of the panel I was presenting on wanted breakfast before the session and this place was very close by. It was actually pretty good, taste wise, but a bit pricey. Here is why: I ordered the tofu scramble which only came with a tahini sauce and scallions. How blasé. It was 75 cents more for some tomatoes, and 1.00 more for baby spinach (I did not really realize this at time of ordering). The tofu was not actually scrambled, it was cubed, then stir fried with the veggies and cooked in a tahini sauce. The taste was good, and I was happy they offered tofu at all. I also ordered a Chai Tea which was spectacular except that they charged an extra 50 cents for soy milk. Gah! I hate when they do that! I don't think they should make soy seem like some luxury item or inconvenience. And, seriously, 50 cents more!!! Times like this make me want to tell the Dairy Board to go suck it.

My plan was to hit Java Green before I left the city. What I did not know is that downtown D.C. basically shuts down on Sunday. Java Green was closed. Undaunted, I trekked over to Washington Deli. Closed. I figured I would give Thai Kitchen a shot. Closed, too. It was a disappointing end to my vegan journeys.

Now, it's back home to cook for myself and Vegan Family. D.C. was fun, the food was great, and I was spoiled. Now, back to reality . . . .

Vegan Dad on the Road: Meskerem

I have dabbled with Ethiopian food in the past, so I wanted to go to a real Ethiopian place to see what the food is supposed to taste like (and to see what injera is supposed to be like). This place was recommended in the Veg-DC book I picked up at Sticky Fingers and was a 10 minute walk from the hotel. I went with two friends from grad school and we decided to share a large platter of veggie dishes. The setup was neat--chairs around a very small, low, round table on which the food is placed. There was no cutlery, so we all dipped into the food with bits of injera, all sharing from the same common plate. There were two lentil dishes, one warm and one cold, that were exquisitely spiced. There were cold potato and tomato salads, and two vegetable stews. We were stuffed to the brim and could not even finish it all. I hope I can find some teff flour at home to make injera--as it turns out, the recipe I made from Vegan Lunchbox is almost exactly the same as the injera they served at Meskerem.

Vegan Dad on the Road: Asylum

Lunch was at Asylum, which seemed like a good place because it has both a vegan and a "regular" Sunday brunch and I was out with a colleague. As you can see from the pic, Asylum is not your typical Sunday brunch place. While we scarfed back our food the bartender played a mix of thrash metal, hip hop, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and Guns N' Roses at an almost ludicrous volume.
For an appetizer I had the vegan wings. For a second I panicked and thought they had messed up my order these were so meat-like. They were tender and delicious--by far the most tender and chicken-like seiten I have had. The lighting was pretty bad, so this pic is not so great.
For the entree I had the Huevos Rancheros which were fantastic. The black beans were perfectly spiced and were earthy and warm. The corn tortilla went well with the scrambled tofu, and the potatoes added a hearty touch. Very satisfying and very filling. I highly recommend this brunch (but maybe leave grandma at home).

Vegan Dad on the Road: Sticky Fingers Bakery

On the recommendation of many I went to the Sticky Fingers Bakery. What a treat! First, feast your eyes on this display case filled with 100% vegan goodies! I went there for breakfast, so I went with the egg and sausage muffin. I was informed later that it tastes even better heated, and I think a splash of ketchup would have been good too. The "egg" part is flour-based, and had good texture. I would like to see if I could replicate this at home, but am at a bit of a loss how to do so.
Of course, what is breakfast without a cinnamon bun the size of your head? These had a nice soft "eggy" texture to the pastry, and that sticky-doughy center that just makes your day.The coolest part was meeting the owner, Kirsten, who let me take pics of the store and talked about the dishes I had just eaten. It just reinforced my long-standing desire to open a vegan cafe one day. She made sure I left with some "afters" to munch during my conference. The first was this pecan cookie--delightfully crisp on the outside but still chewy on the inside even though the cookie was fairly flat. Perfection!

The second was this Little Devil--chocolate cake with creme filling and a thin chocolate glace icing. You'll have to excuse the crappy pic here--it was taken in the hotel room with poor lighting. I kept this treat cool in the ice bucket and enjoyed it for an evening snack.

Thanks to everyone at Sticky Fingers who made my visit so enjoyable! On a scale of one to ten, I give them an eleven.

Vegan Dad on the Road: Washington D.C.

Got in around supper time to D.C. and was imediatley whisked away to a reception for fellow historians of the Early American Republic. I was starving, but they had free beer (woo hoo!) and a veggie platter. It could be worse. A friend and I stopped by an Indian place on Connecticut Avenue near our hotel (Taste of India) on the way back and I had the Thali Vegetarian Platter. It was pretty good (though probably not completely vegan), but the naan bread was a real disapointment. Tomorrow I aim to hit some of the places Vegan Dad readers have recommended. And, I will bring my camera.