Tofurky Pizza

Ever craved a pizza and then shoved the thought away after mentally calculating the calories and fat that will be consumed when a piece of that greasy slice makes its way down the oesophagus? I do that quite often. I am really glad I bumped into this vegan frozen pizza @ Whole Foods.

The thin, whole wheat crust is smothered with a layer of zesty garlic pizza sauce and shredded Daiya™ dairy free cheese. Chunks of yummy Italian Sausage with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Basil is then piled over it.
Finally a blend of fire roasted veggies is added for a flavorful punch. Packed with protien, this is an awesome healthy pizza, I would say. This is currently on sale @ Whole Foods for 7.99! Go grab it!

Herbivore

This is a vegan restaurant that offers an international cuisine. The food is good. The service is good. They use faux meat like soy chicken and seitan in their preparation. The portions are really huge and the price is very reasonable.

The decor is nothing fancy. Just a casual breakfast/brunch kind of place with an open kitchen. We first ordered the coconut noodle soup - rice noodles, tofu, spinach, carrots, broccoli, tomatoes, pineapple, bean sprouts, oyster mushrooms, green onions and cilantro in the "cup" size. When he brought it to our table, we thought he had got the "bowl" instead of the "cup", but he grinned and said that's the "cup" of soup.

Such a huge bowl for $3.95.  Unfortunately, the flavor of coconut was so strong that it numbed the other spices. May be that is how it is supposed to be, you know. My bad, I expected it to taste a little different, Thai, more like. I poured in enough hot sauce to counter the coconut flavor.

Then, we ordered the Soy chicken shawarma with seasoned onions, tomatoes, hummus, hot sauce, pickles & tahini in a wrap, with a green salad with potatoes, eggplant and avocado.

Darn...why do they call it Shawarma? It was just a delicious huge wrap that came with a side of salad. The salad  had a very mild dressing and was fantastic. Having eaten authentic Shawarma sandwich , I expected this to be as good, but it was no where near a shawarma. I would call it Soy-chicken wrap. There, much better.
Next the Shish kebab - char-broiled vegetables with either tofu or seitan served with lemon-garlic sauce or peanut orange-miso sauce. choice of brown or basmati rice. We asked for basmati rice. This was fantastic.
 

The veggies were perfectly char broiled and very juicy. We rubbed the lemon juice on the Kebab and poured the sauces over it and wolfed it down with rice. The best kebab I have had so far.

This is a great restaurant for Vegetarian/Vegans, as they have a really huge menu to pick from. Just don't go by the names of the various dishes. Read the descriptions instead or even better, ask the waiter. You will not be disappointed!

The Cafe @ Key West

After driving for hours, endlessly, with a few stops for pictures here and there, we finally reached Key West. TA folks were really awesome in suggesting all the good eateries in KW. Thanks a bunch, guys!

We were in KW the rest of the day and wanted to food hop and try out all the cool sounding resturants and cafes. Our first stop was at The Cafe. You can check out the menu here.

This is a vegetarian cafe that offers lots of vegan entrees; another fusion cuisine. Very laid back. A says that laid backness and island life go hand in hand. There were all kinds of paintings on the walls, fans to beat the heat and customer appreciations pinned up all over one of the walls. Very islandish.

We just wanted appetizers. We got the vegan spinach gyoza dumplings. Usually the gyoza dumplings at other restaurants are filled with meat. We were thrilled to find a veggie version and ordered that. It was paired with plum sauce.Fantastic.

And then the vegan hot Un-Wing Dings. Basically, it is grilled tofu tossed in the hot sauce that usually comes with chicken wings. It came with some celery sticks and bleu cheese on the side. Am not a fan of bleu cheese. The faux wings tasted delicious on their own.

The service was good and fast. They have a very extensive menu of sandwiches, pasta, pizza and salad. I wish we could sample a few more of their mouth watering entrees, but we were running out of time. I highly recommend this cafe if you are a vegetarian and are visiting KW.

Sublime @ Ft Lauderdale

We were in Florida for a week, exploring the atlantic coast, the gulf coast and Key West, and were enjoying the savor of the different cuisines. We were traveling the Bourdain way ;-). The very first evening we landed in Miami, we forayed to Sublime. We found this gem when we googled for vegetarian restaurants in Miami/Ft Lauderdale.

This restaurant has an amazing decor and the food is incredible! It is cholestrol-free, vegan and a fusion of everything you can find on earth!. The ingredients used are natural and organic! It all sums up to an upscale restaurant that stands out for its food and decor.

Talking about the decor, you will find cascading window waterfalls, skylights through which moonlight was streaming, Italian glass tiles, an open-hearth oven, and exotic trees reminiscent of a tropical rainforest.

The wait staff was quite knowledgable about the food and patiently answered our questions.The service was quick too.
We ordered the sublime ade to start with. It is a freshly squeezed lemonade. Very refreshing.

We were served a complimentary appetizer - pesto polenta. Basically, it was polenta marinated in pesto sauce, and the pesto was devoid of pine nuts.

We ordered the famous Frito Misto - crispy cauliflower tossed in sweet chili sauce, garnished with sesame seeds. It was outstanding!

For the main course, we got the Sublime Picatta - gardein cutlets, grilled asparagus, olive oil whipped potatoes and lemon caper sauce. The caper was sour and had a very interesting taste.Gardein is actually the "meat", a protein alternative made from transformed wheat and soy, floured and sauteed until a gentle crust forms, then combined with a well-balanced lemon caper sauce. It is something we have never had before and very outlandish!

And then for dessert, the Chocolate Nirvana - chocolate cake, Kahlua “butter creme”, dark chocolate ganache. It is dairy-free and I swear we would never have known the difference!

A: Can't believe this is vegan!
Me: I wish they gave the chocolate in a bowl, instead of making designs on the plate... Easier to lick it off, you know?

I was in heaven while drowning myself in every bite of this gorgeous looking dessert.

It came to $52 for the two of us with tax, but the experience was truly sublime. You can order anything of the menu and will never be disappointed. Nothing can ever go wrong at Sublime.

Tip - Follow them on twitter for some amazing coupons and deals!