Cinnabuns & Road-Trips

No. I did not make this gloriously amazing cinnamon bun myself.

Look at it sitting there all coyly, tormenting me about the fact that I'd have to drive all the way back to Pittsburgh to get another one of its kind.

And I think I would. It was that good. *wistful sigh*

Anywho, my friend P and I road-tripped to Pitt this past Friday to go see N/A and one of his bands play at a gallery opening. Since it's about 2-1/2 hours one way, we decided to make a day of it and hit up Ikea while we were out there and then grab dinner.

I, of course, got a few kitchen-usefuls at Ikea, mainly a new dish drainer in the hopes of freeing up some more counter space (since it's feeble at best).

I grabbed this two-tiered baby, and so far it's a blessing in disguise--not only is it kind of diner-cute, but it also opened up much more space for cutting and all sorts of things, such as, perhaps, doing it? Anyways:



I also have been wanting to get a spice rack for a while--right now all my spices are lined up on a built-in shelf in my entry-way hallway after a mishap in which my whole spice rack tore out of the wall while my landlord was over and sent spices everywhere on my kitchen floor. They didn't have anything that was cheap enough to suffice (and that didn't require buying THEIR stupid spice-jars in order to fit), but then I saw this little baby:



It's now hanging right over my stove with my "most frequently used spices."

I only wish I had thought to get more than one, 'cause they are really kind of wicked cool, given that you could also decorate them if you wanted since they're clear.

But ah well.

Anyways: back to the cinnamon bun.

After Ikea, we decided to grab dinner at The Quiet Storm Coffeehouse and Restaurant, a place P had randomly stumbled across on-line:

(These aren't my pics, btw. 'Cause I'm a dumbass and didn't think to take any.)



And holy crap! What a great place. If you're ever in Pitt, I highly recommend checking it out. It's super vegan-friendly, and it's retro-cute as all get-out. (It's got what appears to be an old-school soda-bar right in the middle of it):


(If you click on the pic, you can
see the soda-counter in the middle)

And the food was SO good. P and I both got their "meatloaf" dinner:

Meaty, crunchy loaf of lentils blended with sage, garlic & sunflower seeds. Topped with our killer onion gravy and served with any veg du jour (in our case, peas and carrots) & smashed red taters.

I don't think P was quiet so bowled over by the loaf as I was (which was all the better for me, since she gave me her leftovers), but goddamn was it tasty. Especially topped with their fantastic gravy which really IS killer.

I also got a glass of their ginger lemonade which I also HIGHLY recommend. And, despite being STUFFED from the mountains of potatoes and loaf, I got a cinnamon bun to go, which I gorged on the next morning, layer by gloriously sticky layer.

All in all, one of the better dining experiences I've had in a long while.

Afterwards, we headed over to the Zombo Art Gallery to see N/A play for the opening of Tim Kerr's art show.

The night was full of improvisational jazz, vibrant art, cigarettes, cheap beer, and hipsters...









We rode it out until about 11 and then headed off for the long ride home.

Ah, Pittsburgh. I will return.

If for no other reason than to again squeeze your sticky buns.

New Vegan Pizzeria in Cleveland

12906 Madison Ave.
Lakewood, OH 44107
(216) 226-4000



Vegan Menu
(current as of 2/1/2008):


Toppings: Mushroom, Tomato, Onion, Black Olives, Green Olives, Mild Pepper Rings, Jalapeno Peppers, Pineapple Chunks, Green Peppers & Chopped Garlic.

Vegan Meats: Pepperoni, Canadian Bacon, Meatballs, Chicken Strips, Beef Strips, Salami,& Ham (Dr. Ross calls this Abra'ham'...It's Kosher)

Salads

• Large Fresh Garden Salad: Fresh Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Black olives, Green Peppers, Vegan Pepperoni, & Vegan Cheese $5.95



• Large Antipasto Salad: Fresh Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Banana Peppers, Black Olives, Vegan pepperoni, Vegan Salami, Vegan Ham, & Vegan Cheese $6.95

Oven Baked Sandwiches

• Vegan Meatball: With Sauce & Vegan Cheese $6.95



• Vegan Italian: Salami, Pepperoni, Ham, Cheese, Pepper Rings, Onion, Chopped Lettuce, Tomato, Vinegar & Olive Oil. $7.95

Pasta Penne

All Pasta dinners come with side salad

• Plain sauce $7.95


• With Chicken $10.95


• With Meatball $10.95

Side Orders

• Jo Jo Potatoes (8) $2.25


• Garlic Bread Sticks $3.95

Some Small Things and Then Maybe a Recipe Sometime This Week

So Tremont Scoops outdid itself recently by offering up vegan mini-oreo-pies in its homemade freezer-case. Look out how goddamn sexy they are! And holy crap of all things holy and craplike--these mini pies are DECADENT and SEXY and BLISSFULLY SUGARY and maybe even... FUCKABLE. They are rich vegan chocolate mousse with some oreo cookies thrown in (and maybe some fudge--I was eating it in the dark (where all good things take place*) so it was hard to tell), cupped in the hand of a delightfully flaky pie crust and topped with vegan whipped cream and half of a luxuriously chocolate-dipped oreo cookie. Can you say "heaven?"




E has been in the hospital since Friday, so needless to say, not much cooking has taken place in my apartment--he had to get his appendix removed but is doing much better and will hopefully be getting out today. Anyone got any good appendix-recipes? I figured we could whip that tiny organ up into something delicious if we just tried hard enough! Waste not want not!

And finally, my Northern Ohio Live article is all done and submitted. (I even get my pic in the mag with a little bio--tee hee. I'm all growned up, Ma!) Just waiting to hear back on edits, but if all goes well, it should be showing up in the August issue. *Fingers crossed* So keep your eyes out!



----------
*I.e. Fireworks, and laserlight shows, and meteor-showers, perverts.

Red Bamboo and Pukk

So back to the NYC food-grubbery. It's been busy, so I got sidetracked.

The other two main places we ate at (but which I didn't take pics of) were Red Bamboo and Pukk.


I'd been to Red Bamboo on my first trip to NYC back in the day (that was probably at least 6 years ago or so)--I remembered it being hip and posh and kinda snazzy on the inside. I was wowed by the food, and I was wowed by the decor. Going back again, I was a tad bit underwhelmed. It wasn't quite so cute and posh as I remembered it--it was a bit more well-worn and not quite so sophisticated-looking. I was a little bit disappointed as it was E's first NYC-restaurant experience, and it wasn't quite what I remembered it. But he liked it quite a bit nonetheless.

For an appetizer, we got something that I'm not currently seeing on their on-line menu. It was faux-chicken-related, and it was rather tasty. Vaguery, yes--my apologies.

E's entree didn't blow me away at all--he liked it much more than I did: Creole Soul Chicken Panko breaded seasoned soy chicken served with sweet corn mashed potatoes, steamed baby carrots, zucchini and their classic mushroom gravy.

I got the BBQ ribs (which for some reason is ALSO not on their on-line menu) with a side of veggies and corn mashed-potatoes with mushroom gravy. The ribs were quite delish, but I found myself thinking I could probably come close to duplicating them at home. The best part of the meal was the mashed potatoes and gravy. Damn damn damn that was good and unexpected. I can't even pin down precisely what was tasty about them, but they were awesome.

Despite being not quite as impressed as my first time there, I must say, their vegan Peanut-Butter Cup Cheesecake though--holy mother of god. I've never tasted anything like it. It was rich and sexy, gloriously gloriously peanut-buttery, and decadent like you would not believe. Best vegan cheesecake I've tasted, no contest. And one of the best desserts I've had, vegan or otherwise. If you're there, and it's on special, you MUST order it. In fact, it'd be worth making a trip over there just to get your hands on some.

But alas--except for the cheesecake, I didn't get my socks knocked off like the first time around. Don't get me wrong, the food was very good. But it wasn't anything more extravagant or special than what I can get at Cleveland's Web of Life. Damn fine vegan-cooking, but nothing to make your toes curl with its NYC-awesomeness.

RED BAMBOO
140 W 4th St, New York 10012
Btwn 6th Ave & MacDougal St
Phone: 212-260-7049
Menu: HERE

Pukk on the other hand was the restaurant that I wasn't quite expecting to blow me away--it has kind of a standard veggie Thai-fare on their menu, though I was excited to find out that apparently everything was vegan. But lo and behold, they of course completely knocked my socks off (there was a lot of sock-knocking going on that weekend), perhaps because I wasn't expecting it at all. It's a very tiny (but cute space) with one of the cooler bathrooms I've ever been in (and I usually don't note the coolness of bathrooms). And its food was awesome awesome awesome.

We shared an appetizer (Stuffed Tofu--stuffed with cucumber, onion and carrot w. peanut chutney) which was delicate and yummy and just the right amount, and we each got a bowl of their Tom Yum Spicy Tofu (w. lemongrass, tofu and mushroom) soup which was the perfect level of spiciness that makes my nose starts to run and I *almost* can't handle it but can.

For my entree, I got the Steak Tofu (pan seared tofu w. peanut sauce) (I'd been debating, but then a woman sitting next to me got HER tofu-steak and it looked SO fricking good that I couldn't've picked anything else) and man was it impressive. The tofu was delicate, stacked on a bed of rice and veggies, with a rich and creamy peanut-sauce drizzled all over it. It seriously was one of the best things I'd eaten in quite a long time.

PUKK
75 1st Ave, New York 10003
Btwn 4th & 5th St
Phone: 212-253-2741
Menu: HERE

All in all, if (and when) I go back again, I'm gonna be ALL OVER Pukk. Really really good food that won't leave your wallet limp. Red Bamboo, on the other hand, would probably be my NYC-Web of Life if I lived there--some place that I go when I'm in the mood for some vegan homecooking, but not something I'd hold off on just for special occasions.

Sacred Chow

Our last day in NYC, we got up early and wandered around neighboring Chinatown for a little bit. Once we had had enough of people pushing handbags on us ("HandbaghandbaghandbagGucciguccigucci"), we wandered over to our breakfast destination: Sacred Chow.

We ended up in that neck of the woods a tad bit too early, but thankfully the restaurant was only a block or so from Washington Square Park, so we just headed over there. Much to our delight, we discovered that the fountain was on, so we (or at least I) was able to swish my toes around in the delightfully butt-laden waters while a man nearby played quietly on his guitar and kids leapt from platform to platform, splashed at each other, and dunked their heads underwater.

Eventually, our hunger got the best of us, and we drifted back over to the restaurant to chow down. Seeing as the vegan breakfast-fare in Cleveland consists of nothing more eventful than the standard Tofu Scramble, I knew after seeing not one but half-a-dozen delectable breakfast options that I had no other choice but to order breakfast.

So I did. Along with 1500 other things to eat, simply because it was our last NYC meal, and simply because EVERYTHING LOOKED SO FRICKING GOOD.

I am sad to say that I'd never had a mimosa before, so that was first on the list.



Everything after that just fell into place:

Appetizer:

• Root Vegetable Latkes (Pancakes) w/Indonesian Date Butter--delicious.

Breakfast:

• Biscuit Breakfast Sandwich: their famous soy buttermilk biscuit filled w/tofu scramble, melted soy cheddar & tempeh bacon with the fruit of the day--best vegan cheez I've had... ooey and gooey and surprisingly authentic-tasting, and did I mention the biscuit? Holy crap. Flaky and buttery-tasting, a complete melt-in-your-mouth experience.

Desserts:

• Cupcake: chocolate soycream-frosted vanilla cupcake w/sprinkles--I ordered this, and after E dropped it on the table and then I dropped it on the table (heh heh), I finally managed to get it into my mouth to find that it was moist and delicious with a rich sweet chocolate frosting.

• Pound cake: Orange Chocolate Chip--E got the orange chocolate chip poundcake (as he's a huge fan of poundcake) and, though I'm not a huge fan myself, I had to try it anyways since I love all bakery fused with orange-flavoring, and DAMN was it good. Dense (like all good poundcakes) and brimming with citrus flavor.

All in all, it was the perfect end to the NYC trip--the waiter was nice and attentive, the place was very cute and cozy, and the food was out of this world.

So if you haven't figured it out yet, clearly I recommend.

Sacred Chow
227 Sullivan St. (between W. 3rd and Bleecker)
(212-337-0863)

Menu: HERE

Thank You Lord For Sending Me the F-Train

This past memorial day weekend, I took a secret surprise trip to NYC with E, in celebration of our Randomversary.

I had started planning the trip about a month or two ago, and I managed (somehow) to keep the destination a secret for that long (despite some near slip-ups). Needless to say, I figured he'd quickly figure out our destination, seeing as about 370 miles are spent on I-80, driving beneath very large signs announcing NYC. So to add a bit more fun to the game, I created a Mystery-Trip-mix on my Ipod which I queued up as we started our road-trip and which very slowly (through hints and clues the likes of Mike Doughty and PJ Harvey, among others) revealed where we were headed.

E had never been to NYC before, and although I've been there a handful of times myself, I've never played tour-guide there before--I've just basically been carted around by New Yorkers to all their favorite places--so clearly I had to do a lot of planning, especially since we were only gonna be spending two nights there (and one full day).

I am very pleased to say that we managed to hit-up a vast-wealth of tourist-sites as well as a plethora of not-so-touristy sites as well, despite the very short amount of time we had to deal with.

Places We Visited:

• Washington Square Park


• Greenwich Village


• The Museum of Sex


• Times Square


• Tom's Restaurant (E's a big Seinfeld fan)


• NBC Studios


• Rockefeller Center


• Central Park


• Strawberry Fields


• The Dakota


• Mars Bar (apparently one of the best dive-bars in NYC)


• Burp Castle (where the bar is supposed to be monastically quiet and the bartender shushes the crowd whenever voices get too far above whisper-levels)

And of course of course of course we ate at WAY too many RIDICULOUSLY fricking good vegan restaurants while we were there. I planned these out ahead of time as well, but chose to pick out a bunch of options (from the cheap to the expensive) in order to give us some flexibility as to what we were in the mood for.

I didn't take pics at *ALL* of the restaurants though, so today and tomorrow I'll post pics and reviews of two of the places we ate. And Thursday I'll post reviews of the remaining (pictureless) places. So prepare yourself for a veritable orgy of New-Yorkerness!

VIVA CAFE NATURAL PIZZA


(Pic courtesy of E)



For lunch on Saturday, we checked out Viva Cafe Natural Pizza. I was pumped to have a nice greasy soy-cheese pizza, as there's only one place in Cleveland (Web of Life) where I'm able to get one dripping with ooey gooey cheezy goodness. I was a bit disappointed when we arrived and found out that their menu had a little disclaimer on it noting that all their soy cheese "contains casein." Poop, I said to myself, especially since their on-line menu didn't note this anywhere.

Disappointing, yes. But not a vegan disaster by any means. They still have a RIDICULOUS amount of vegan-options, many of which were sitting in their display-case for us to gawk at. Their slices range about $5 (for all the gloriously-heaping vegan pizzas, including a delectable-looking pesto one), so since we are both *pigs* when it comes to pizza, in the interest of not going bankrupt, we ended up creating our own small pizza.

We didn't get too crazy with it, but we *did* want to try out their fake-meat options, so we ended up getting a cornmeal crust pizza with soy-pepperoni and soy-sausage. It was delish. I still think Cleveland's Mama Santa's is much better in the world of cheeseless pizzas, but E begged to differ--he dug the pizza far above and beyond Mama Santa's. At $14 a pop for a relatively small pizza, it's not exactly cheap. But hell, if you're in the area, I would definitely order a slice of some kind--you'll have plenty to choose from...

That's my plan next time around.

Viva Cafe Natural Pizza
179 2nd Ave (bet. 11th & 12th St)
(212-420-8801)
Menu: HERE

Stay tuned tomorrow for another review and WAY more pictures.

Oh, and you can check out my NYC pics at my photoblog if you're interested--I'll be posting them once-a-day or so for the next few weeks.

(And a hearty thank you to VeganFriendly.com, since much of my restaurant choices were based on your sparklingly-good reviews. So *hats off*.)

Carry on.

Best Vegan-Friendly Restaurants in Cleveland

(If you live in Cleveland, that is)

'Cause you know what?

I've been working on compiling all my vegan-friendly Cleveland restaurant reviews in one easy-to-access location, and

SLADDAM!

It's all done:


(Click on pic to visit)

So check it out.

Comment.

Leave suggestions for new additions to the restaurant list.

Post a comment on the restaurants you've eaten at to balance out the reviews.

And most importantly, love me. Love me like you do. Oh yes, baby. Do.

* * * * * *


I have one more recipe to post for the week, but unfortunately I got home too late last night to upload pictures and whatnot. Perhaps tomorrow.

To tide you over until then, I present you with a list of the best vegan-friendly restaurants in Cleveland, Ohio... in case you ever happen to be in the neighborhood.

(It's funny because I always feel the need to apologize when I deviate from the normal posting of recipes--since it's a food blog, I feel obligated to stick to that for some reason. But I was thinking about it just now, and really, if I wanted to post about stuffing vegan cupcakes in my panties and walking around with them like that all day, it's my prerogative. In fact, if I wanted to post about stuffing vegan cupcakes in my panties and walking around with them like that all day WHILE DRESSED UP LIKE GEORGE W., I could--and there's not a goddamn thing you can do about it! So read this! And love it! And stop being so demanding! *Sobbing*)




TREMONT SCOOPS
2362 Professor Ave.
Cleveland OH
216-781-0352
Type of food: Ice cream and desserts
Website
Comments: Hurray for Marianne and the magic she works on veganizing cold treats! Vegan specials often change: They typically have some sort of vegan pie-slices available, but the flavors vary depending on the week. They also have tried-and-true vegan goodies that stick around regularly in their cases (ice-cream sammiches, choc-covered bananas, fudge-bars) and, for special occasions, you can special-order vegan ice cream cakes and pies.
Recommendations: Cookie ice-cream sammiches, vegan oreo pie



NOW THAT'S CLASS
11213 Detroit Ave.
Cleveland, OH
216-221-8576
Website
Type of food: A bar that serves vegan brunch Sundays nights from 6 to 9pm, and vegan specials on Tuesday nights.
Comments: They also frequently feature bands, and they have different drink specials from night to night (for example, one of the nights, your first beer is free if you ride your bike there).
[Read more from me about it HERE]



MAMA MIA'S
12906 Madison Ave.
Lakewood, OH 44107
216-226-4000
Menu
Type of food: Italian/pizza.
Comments: They only have two booths, so it's more of a take-out atmosphere.
Recommendations: I recommend their vegan meatball subs. Delish.
[Read more from me about it HERE]






MELT
14718 Detroit Ave.
Lakewood, OH
216-226-3699
Type of food: Sandwiches and bar food
Website
Menu
Comments: They have two vegan cheezes, so you can order most vegetarian sandwiches with vegan cheez subbed in. They also have a plethora of other vegan options--you can read letters from the owner detailing them HERE
Recommendations: The Kindergartener with vegan cheddar (or American--can't remember which one they have) with avocado and tomato added on.
[Read more from me about it HERE]



SZECHWAN GARDEN
13800 Detroit Ave
Lakewood, OH
216-226-1987
Type of food: Chinese
Menu
Comments: The have a full zen-menu, all of which is vegetarian. Including (as long as I'm understanding them correctly) bizarre things like vegetarian chicken legs, vegetarian squid, and vegetarian ribs, among others. Not sure how much of these are VEGAN as well, but definitely worth checking out to inquire. If you DO find out, holler. Either which way, even if some of their faux-meats/seafoods aren't vegan, they have plenty of tofu and veg dishes that surely are.
Recommendations: Vegan sweet n' sour "chicken," babies!





TOMMY'S ON COVENTRY
1824 Coventry Rd.
Cleveland Hts., OH
216-321-7757
Type of food: Diner-esque.
Menu
More info...
Comments: They know their vegan stuff, so inquire when you have questions and you should have no problems getting answers. Some of the vegan stuff is marked as such, some is not. They have vegan mozzarella though which they'll gladly substitute on your salad.
Recommendations: French onion soup (sans cheese), veggie burger, BBQ seitan sandwich, taco salad (all of which are vegan or can be made vegan)



JOHNNY MANGO
3120 Bridge Ave.
Cleveland, OH
216-575-1919
Type of food: World cuisine
Menu
Comments: They are super-helpful when it comes to veganizing stuff--just ask. Basically, you usually just need to say "veganize it" and they'll hook you up without you even having to say another word. If you get a big-plate, the portions are ridiculously generous.
Recommendations: Pad thai (veganized--just ask); burrito big-plates (my fav is the mushroom, tomato, garlic one and I add on avocado and black beans)--ask to veganize; fried tofu (ask for vegan dipping sauce); caribbean french fries; and the Tingle to drink.



MINT CAFE
1791 Coventry Rd.
Cleveland Hts., OH
216-320-9915
Type of food: Thai
Menu
Comments: Everything is cooked in vegetable oil. They will gladly alter meat dishes for vegans/vegetarians. In fact, the menu stresses that if you'd like your dish prepared a certain way, let the staff know and they'll hook you up. Just be sure to ask about ingredients in their sauces--many of the curries contain fish sauce, but they will very helpfully alter them for you if you let them know.
Recommendations: Red, masaman, and pik king curries with tofu--make sure to inquire about fish sauce. Also, definitely order a mango smoothy with bubbles. They rock.




WEB OF LIFE
25923 Detroit Rd
Westlake, Ohio
440-899-2882
Comments: Every fricking thing on their menu is vegan, so you can go hog-wild. Plus, you can grocery shop while you wait for your order--how cool is that, dammit?
Recommendations: Pepperoni pizza, "fish" sammich, bbq-"chicken" pizza, pot pie.




ANOTHER LEVEL II
621 E. 185th St.
Cleveland, OH
216-383-0882
Type of food: Home-cooking
Review
Comments: All vegetarian with a ridiculous amount of mouth-watering vegan items on the menu. It's a small place, a few booths and a counter, but you get a lot of TLC from the folks working--the two women who waited on us were some of the sweetest, cheeriest folks I've ever met--and they're all about hooking you up with vegan food.
Recommendations: Vegan mac n' cheese, "fish" sandwich.
[THIS APPEARS TO BE TEMPORARILY CLOSED--THE LAST I HEARD THEY WERE RELOCATING)




EL TANGO TAQUERIA
14224 Madison Ave
Lakewood, OH
216-226-9999
Comments: The owner seems to be clueless and determined to be unhelpful when it comes to vegan items, but if you ask the right employee, some of them know their shit. I was told that the burritos are vegan if ordered without cheese and their "sweet sauce." They also have the standard chips and salsa as well as a soup or two that's vegan if ordered without cheese. The burritos put Chipotle to shame (they're like the size of an upper extremity), so they're definitely worth the money.
Recommendations: Their veggie burritos, no cheese, no "sweet sauce." Tortilla chips and three-salsa combo.







PACIFIC EAST
1763 Coventry Rd.
Cleveland Hts., OH
216-320-2302
Type of food: Japanese
Comments: In my group of veggie friends, many of whom are well-versed in sushi restaurants, this is a favorite (in both Cleveland and in general). I've only had sushi at about three different restaurants myself, but Pacific East definitely stands out among those three restaurants. Plus, it's cute and hip inside, like a little taste of NYC in Cleveland.
Recommendations: Side salad with ginger dressing, miso soup (apparently has fish in the broth), sweet potato sushi (arghlghlghlhglhglhgl) and avocado sushi.



THAI ORCHID
7329 Mentor Ave.
Mentor, OH
440-942-6752
Type of food: Thai
Recommendations: Tofu royale (ask for no fish sauce)







MAMA SANTA'S
12305 Mayfield Road
Cleveland, OH
216-231-9567
Comments: Mama Santa's has, hands-down, the best pizza in Cleveland--you'll find few who'll argue with you about this. And, thankfully, it's just as mind-blowingly good, even without cheese. And it's vegan. It's saying something when the crust and sauce of a pizza can hold up fantastically on its own without a hint of cheese.
Recommendations: Large cheese-less pizza with pepperoncini.

Mint Café

For some reason, every stinking restaurant that moves into the corner-space on Coventry and Hampshire closes up within a few months--Soul Vegetarian, the Indian food place that was there for such a short time that I can't even remember its name. And now a new Thai place has moved in, and I'm praying to god for its longevity after having eaten there this weekend.

I don't usually post restaurant reviews here (mainly because there's databases out there where you can track down notable veggie restaurants for most major cities), but as with my Virginia Beach mentionables, the restaurant we visited this weekend hasn't yet made it into any of these databases, and it most certainly deserves a shout-out.

Mint Café

1791 Coventry Rd.
Cleveland Hts., OH 44118
216-320-9915

Menu: HERE

The menu is not 100% vegan (or vegetarian for that matter), but they do have a very large pool of vegetarian foods available. And what pleased me most upon looking at their menu is that they state right at the bottom that all of their food is cooked in 100% vegetable oil. So no worries about lard. No worries about butter. No worries about ghee. The only thing you have to make sure of is that there isn't fish in their sauce, which of course isn't the case with the curries (which I'm pretty certain are almost all made with coconut milk as well).

Not only are they helpful with regard to that, but our waiter (upon inquiring as to whether I was vegan after I asked a few questions) happily pointed out that they were very much open to adjusting other dishes so that they could be either vegetarian or vegan, whether it mean leaving out the meat or switching the sauce from a fish-sauce to a vegan soy-sauce of some sort. Such friendly adaptability is of course always music to a vegan's ear, so I was very pleased to hear this, especially when he recommended some typically meat-laden dishes that they could easily veganize for me.

In the end, we settled on some dishes that were already vegan:

As appetizers, we got the edamame (japanese soy bean) as well as the tofu triangles (which had a *fantastic* dipping sauce--arghlghlghlghl).

For the main course, E got the Panang Curry with tofu and vegetables (which included red & green peppers, straw mushrooms, green bean, eggplant, and kaffir lime leaves, all in a spicy curry sauce). His had quite a bit of kick to it and was very tasty.

I got the Masaman Curry with tofu and vegetables (which included red & green peppers, onion, sweet potatoes, carrot, and roasted peanuts, all in a sweet and delicate curry sauce). Every single vegetable was cooked perfectly--the red and green peppers hadn't been overcooked and still were crisp and fresh, and the sweet potatoes were cooked to that perfect melt-in-your-mouth consistency. And the sauce was the real kicker--wonderfully sweet and mindblowingly chock full of flavors. I was impressed.

We ate it all and yet didn't feel grossly stuffed--everything was nice and light.

*And* they even have a supposedly vegan dessert (which does not appear to be on the linked menu below, for some reason) which if I remember correctly was some sort of lychee nut thing on ice... It sounded interesting, of course, but we were too full to eat anything more at that point. *And* finally, they have bubble tea, which after a bit of research and some verification through a vegan friend, is also apparently vegan (as long as you make sure it doesn't have milk in the mix).

The restaurant is also cute and decorated very charmingly on the inside--a nice blend that's not too fancy but not overly-casual either. The food is relatively inexpensive, given the quality and quantity. And the staff was very helpful and friendly.

So if you're in Cleveland, get your butt over to Coventry and check it out. Too many restaurants have come and gone, and THIS ONE NEEDS TO STAY, DAMMIT!

Vegan-Friendly Restaurants in Virginia Beach

The Heritage Cafe

314 Laskin Road, VA Beach

This is kind of a little hippy-esque, new-agey, health food kinda restaurant just a short walk from the beach. It is an eat-in place, but don't expect pomp and circumstance: they mostly just have little coffee-shop-like tables scattered about, and they serve the food to you on a cafeteria tray. However, they have a large amount of vegan items on their menu and seem happy and willing enough to make adjustments for you if requested. And their food was good and not terribly expensive.

There is also a health-food store attached, as well as a Books & Gifts Center that was fun to roam around in. *AND* they even offer massages up in back--I got one a handful of years back and enjoyed it quite a bit.

WHAT I ATE: The portabella mushroom sandwich with balsamic marinated portabella, roasted red pepper, hummus, tomato, and red onion on a whole wheat bun with a side of vegan broccoli slaw *AND* an a la carte side of Teriyaki Tofu.

WHAT E ATE: The Chipotle Black Bean Burger with lettuce, tomato, red onion, shredded carrots, veganaise, & yellow mustard on an Ezekiel bun with a side of vegan potato salad and a House Salad.

Sakura Japanese Restaurant

2973 Shore Dr Ste 111, VA Beach

Sakura offers up your standard Japanese fare, including 5 or 6 vegetarian rolls. The food is very good, the atmosphere is cute and cozy, and the people are nice.

WHAT WE BOTH ATE: A bowl of miso soup, a house salad with ginger dressing, two inari sushi rolls per person, one roll of avocado and cucumber sushi, and one roll of Garden Vegetable sushi (which was stuffed with lettuce, tomato, avocado, and cucumber--sounds weirder than it was; ended up being quite good actually), all for under $20.

Bombay Paradise

4000 Virginia Beach Blvd., Loehmann's Plaza Shopping Center, VA Beach

MENU: Here

We stumbled across this restaurant while paging around in our hotel's little restaurant booklet--it had a listing for VEGETARIAN AND VEGAN ENTREES, so we knew that we'd probably have success there, and this was most definitely my favorite restaurant of the trip. It started off with a bit of confusion when the server had the terms "vegetarian" and "vegan" mixed up and was telling me all the vegetarian things (with cheese cubes and stuff) were vegan, until we realized he had the two terms reversed and solved the problem. After that, we realized they carried a windfall of vegan food--at least 5 vegan appetizers, at least 1 or 2 soups, at least 5 entrees, and they were even willing to cook the bread for us without the normal butter they use so that it would be vegan as well. The place is gorgeous inside--very intricately decorated with fantastic tablecloths and lighting. And yet, the prices were not unreasonable--entrees were $9.99 and included basmati rice, and there were coupons in the VA Beach tourist booklets for $3 off any two $10+ entrees. The food was *fan-fricking-tastic* (the rasam--spicy Indian soup--was out of this world), the atmosphere was very relaxed and yet sophisticated, and the people were so very nice, helpful, and friendly--about 4 different people came up at various times to ask us how the food was (including what I assumed was the cook himself), they were super-helpful in figuring out which foods were vegan, and like 5 different people waved at us in unison as we were leaving.

WHAT WE BOTH ATE: Vegetable samosas, rasam soup, stuffed Parathas (bread stuffed with garlic--cooked without butter, just for us), and Aloo Gobi (curried potatoes and cauliflower)