philly, new jersey, and easton

I have been eating up a storm on my vacation. Unfortunately, I am unable to post pix, but I sure I have things to say! Here are just a few of the places I've been..

Honey's Sit n Eat. Philadelphia, PA. This is a breakfast/lunch place with some veggie and vegan options. I got the Tofu Scramble with Fries, Veggie Sausage, and a mug of coffee with soy milk. The tofu scramble was very different from what I'm used to. They used a very soft, almost-silken tofu for the scramble. The texture was eerily similar to eggs. I liked it! It had a nice flavor and lots of onions and peppers.

The Pop Shop. Collingswood, NJ. This is a diner/soda shop with a few veggie and very few vegan options. I got the Seitan and Veggie Sandwich on a baguette and an Oreo Soy Milkshake. The sandwich consisted of seitan, onions, and peppers, with just a bit of olive oil. It had a little zest to it too, so maybe a squeeze of lemon juice? Well, it was pretty good. The seitan was a little rubbery and low on flavor, though. The sandwich would have been just as good without it. The milkshake was made with Tofutti brand ice cream. It is very, very exciting to order a vegan milkshake. It was crazy-busy, and the service was lacking..but it happens and, well, VEGAN MILKSHAKE!!!

Phenom. Easton, PA. This is a Thai restaurant where you can pick which kind of protein you'd like in your dish, the vegetarian options being: tofu, seitan, or vegetarian scallops. For my appetizer, I chose the Fried Tofu with a peanut sauce. The dipping sauce was zesty/vinegar-y and slightly-sweet, with crushed peanuts floating inside. It was superb. I knew I wanted a curry, but couldn't decide which kind to get. So, I figured the House Curry would be good. It consisted of pumpkin, zucchini, carrots, and spinach. I chose seitan as my protein. The seitan was incredibly tender. The sauce was perfect: just a little spicy. I would've liked to have seen more than two bites of pumpkin in my dish, though. I was really impressed with this place. The food presentation was great: cute garnishes and beautiful plates. The service was great, too. What an Easton gem. Hope this place sticks around.

SOGO. Easton, PA. This place is an Asian-fusion restaurant. There weren't many vegetarian options. But, I was really in the mood for veggie sushi, anyway. I got the Vegetable Sushi Plate and requested that it include some sweet tofu (inari) no pickled things. It was a beautiful plate that included a tofu roll and a handful of sashimi-style veggies: broccoli, tofu, avocado, cucumber, and asparagus. I was impressed, but still a bit hungry. I never order enough sushi! Bonus: My mom accidentally ordered sushi (sweet potato roll) and she LOVED it!

410 Bank Street. Cape May, NJ. This lovely restaurant serves Cajun and Caribbean style cuisine. I had a lovely organic greens salad with raspberry vinaigrette as an appetizer. There was not a single vegetarian entree on the menu, so I had to order off-menu. It was terrifying, but I had hopes for my meal. Other dishes on the menu included plantains, black beans, avocado, mango salsa, asparagus, palm hearts, fresh pineapple, rice, etc. On my plate, I received four slices of grilled tomato, a couple asparagus spears, a handful of spinach, and some mushrooms. Disappointing. I went home hungry. They could have easily impressed me, but they failed to use the thought and creativity required to do so.

Bella Vida Garden Cafe. Cape May, NJ. Bella Vida advertises themselves as a family-oriented, vegetarian-friendly restaurant. My appetizer was the Plantain bites, which was good. It consisted of four plantain pieces, mango salsa, and a sweet (rum?) glaze. The plate was sprinkled with dried parsley, which kind of ruined the whole fresh salsa aspect. It is summer: use fresh herbs! Overall, though, it was a lovely appetizer. My entree was a Tempeh Burrito. I was underwhelmed. The burrito had huge chunks of zucchini, which gave it an overall bitter taste . If I were to give this place advice, I'd tell them to add a couple more creative vegan entrees to their menu, one vegan dessert, and to lose all the religious stuff. It is a restaurant, not a church or your car's bumper.

More to come soon!