Traveling Tastebuds

My posts have slowed down quite a bit due to being busy with grad school. This is going to be another long update but again, I probably will not post for another week. I had a wonderful weekend and was able to try a lot of yummy Vegan foods.

Friday:

I was able to recruit my boyfriend Luc, and our two best friends to try a a vegan restaurant in downtown New Haven, CT called Claire's Corner Copia. I ordered Tostada Frijoles which consisted of a crisp corn tortilla topped with organic refried beans, and salsa, served over organic greens, with chopped tomatoes, organic cucumbers, and red onion. I loved it and managed to clean my plate but I was disappointed by the lack of vegetables. It was mostly a large plate of refried beans on top of a tostada. I love refried beans so I could not complain but they did not provide an adequate portion of salsa and I had to really search for the veggies mixed in. For desert, I had a chocolate muffin which I found to be sort of dry and not very flavorful.

My friend Katy ordered a non-vegan Fire Island Sandwich which consisted of roasted spicy buffalo soy chicken, with roasted organic bellpeppers, and our queso blanco, melted cheddar and mozzarella. She rated it a 6 on a scale from 1-10 and stated that she loved it at first but after awhile she started to taste something that reminded her of rubbing alcohol and had to put the sandwich down.

My friend Mike ordered a non-vegan BBQ Soy Chicken Pizza which included Spicy soy chicken with barbeque sauce, red onion and cheddar cheese. It was his first time trying soy chicken and he stated that he was surprised by how much he enjoyed it. He didn't care for the cheddar cheese that they used stating that it didn't taste very good.

Luc ordered a cheese pizza which he described as: "ok." I guess he was not feeling up for a culinary adventure that day.

Claire's menu is humongous and I would like to return there sometime in the future to try some of the other dishes. The food was inexpensive and perfect for a vegan/vegetarian on a budget. I probably wouldn't go out of my way to get there seeing as their was not anything especially memorable about the food or the environment. The dining area was noisy and I had to watch my table mates eat their meals while I waited for mine due to the fact that they got my order wrong the first time.

Saturday:

I spent the day with two of my friends at the Danbury mall. We hadn't seen each other in a long while so we decided to treat ourselves to a lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. I was a little skeptical of what I may be able to find due to the name of the place but I was pleasantly surprised to find out how many options their actually were! I had a difficult time deciding but settled on an appetizer of guacamole with a meal of Mushroom Lettuce Wraps which consisted of shitakke mushrooms, green onion, ginger, garlic, and water chestnuts sauteed with mushroom soy. Serviced with crisp lettuce leaves. I thought my taste buds had died and gone to heaven. The appetizer and the meal were phenomenal! The guacamole was fresh and full of flavor. The mushroom lettuce wraps were difficult to eat and I made a mess at the table but it was worth the extra effort and the embarrassment. The best part was the price of my whole meal (appetizer, drink, and meal) was less 15 dollars which is incredible for a place that is usually reserved for the special occasions budget.

For dinner Luc and I went to Natori Sushi restaurant in Manchester, CT which is my favorite place to get sushi other than Sakura Garden in Glastonbury. I ordered Miso Soup along with asparagus and cucumber rolls. Once again, the cost of the meal was low. So far becoming a vegan has saved me a lot of money which I did not expect. One of the biggest excuses I hear from others about why they do not consume more plants is that they cost too much. So far, I have found the opposite to be true!

Saturday night I did attend a birthday party and was a little sad when I couldn't enjoy a piece of ice-cream cake but it didn't bother me enough to put a damper on my evening. The birthday girl also ended up ordering pizza for the party but I find that the longer I abstain from cheese the less appealing it is to me. Turning down the cake and pizza sparked a lot of talk about my Veganism. I enjoyed answering questions and teaching the people there that it was not such a strange and unusual commitment. After their curiosity peaked they became bored with it and the topic of conversation shifted away from what I do and do not eat.

As soon as I am finished with my grad class at the end of the week, I plan to buy a Vegan cookbook and start experimenting with recipes. I cannot wait to blog about those experiences.