Friday, January 9, 2009

I'm back!

Actually I've been back, but I've been really lazy about blogging recently-- oops. haha. While in TX, we visited Dallas, Austin and San Antonio. (Sorry that we weren't in Houston, Stacey! Thanks for wanting to give suggestions :D) While in TX, my diet consisted a lot of toasted bagels and chips and pico de gallo (haha). BUT! I was able to go to a few veg establishments!! Hooray!! Here we go--

Spiral Diner! (Dallas)

My dish: neatball sub! I loved the texture of the neatballs!!!! The sauce was a bit on the sour side, but other than that, it was really good! On the side is potato salad. It tasted strongly of dill which is a good thing because I love dill! :)

My mom's dish: Spring Roll? Wrap? I don't remember, but it was super good! This was my first time having seitan at a veg restaurant and it was unbelievably good. oh dear.

My dad's dish: Tofu Mitch Club. This was good beyond words!!! ohhh. My mouth waters at the thought :)

Here are my omniparents with their veg food! :)
We shared :)

After that, I was super full, but I wanted to get something for the road ( I mean, how often can I get fresh baked vegan cookies[that i haven't made]?). So cookies it was!

Chocolate Chip Cookie(!): ZOMG. I loved the chewiness factor! Totally yummy for my tummy! The amount of chocolate chips was perfect too. Hooray!! I was really sad when this ended :(

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie: yum.Yum.YUM. That pretty much sums it up :) It was less chewy than the chocolate chip one. I really enjoyed this cookie.

If I could have eaten at Spiral every day of vacation, it wouldnt have been enough. :)

Next up: Mother's Cafe (Austin)

My dish: Chili melt with the veg cheeze sub. Layered tortillas, brown rice, black beans, and nutty chipotle sauce. It was pretty good, though the cheeze got to me in the end *shudder* =/

My dad's dish: barbecue tofu, black eyed peas, and mashed potatoes. The barbecue sauce was a bit peculiar. They use peanut butter, so it tasted sort of off (to me at least). The mashed potatoes had an interesting flavor and texture. I can't really describe it, but it wasn't that great.

My mom's dish: artichoke enchiladas(veg cheeze sub), brown rice and black beans. It was alright, but I don't think I like enchiladas in general-- too mush-ish.
For dessert, we ordered the Peanut Butter Chocolate Tofu Pie to share. It was alright-- a little too (dare I say it?!?!) tofu-ey.
Overall, Mother's was pretty meh for me. Not great; not bad. Just meh.

We spent New Year's Eve in a hotel room which, very conveniently, had a kitchenette. We put it to good use by using the stove to heat up some Thai noodles. This was from some random Thai place in Austin. (Rice noodles, tofu, and mushrooms in a sweet/sourish lemongrass broth) Yum!

My last veg restaurant was New Start Veggie Garden in Dallas. It's an all vegan korean buffet.

My plate consisted of broccoli (good. not great), sweet and sour chik'n(pretty good), a pumpkin-rice noodle dumpling(YUM), brown rice nori maki(pretty good), a potato croquette(good but on the bland side), miso soup(standard), Mapo tofu(bland), and brown rice with some veggie meat dish that I don't really remember(it was good though!)

Nachos: They had these all individually 'built' at the buffet. These were comprised of veggie beef, salsa, tomatoes and a tofu "cheez" that was pretty good, albeit lacking in salt.

Pumpkin Tofu Cheesecake: This was pretty odd. To begin with, the piece was about a 3/4" square. It was also really dry and sort of bland. The pumpkin overwhelmed it and made it pasty. BLECH. Not recommended.

Citron(I think) Tofu Cheesecake: Once again, these pieces were roughly 3/4" squares. Haha. This kind tasted better than the pumpkin one. It was sweeter and more creamy.

I liked this place, and so did my parents (they enjoyed the asian food after having meals and meals of Mex and Tex Mex haha)

On a non-food related note, check out this super cute squirrel that we saw in San Antonio!




Have a great day! :)

20 comments:

Jenn Shagrin said...

I am! Youngstown born and raised until the age of 18. I was just back there twice this year. I miss Thugsville so much.

As for a MimicCreme substitute, use the highest fat soy milk you can find, and coagulate it with a teaspoon or two of apple cider vinegar (just mix the cider vinegar in and allow it to sit for a few minutes).
If you're anywhere close to Akron or Cleveland, I bet the Mustard Seed Market would order it for you, or you can buy it really cheap directly from the MimicCreme website.
Thanks for the appreciative comments :)

aredcardigan said...

oh wow ...your parents are such cuties!!! i adore them already!!! hehehe

i am a tofu freak myself and yes the pie was delish. i cant' bake myself...unlike you!

glad to meet a new vegan buddy...yay!

aredcardigan said...

oops clicked too soon....all the food u posted was delish..esp your dad's tofe mitch club. *drools

Anonymous said...

aww that is an adorable squirrel! And you took a really good picture of him!
Woah, you are SO lucky, i have reeeeally wanted to go to the Spiral Diner, the food looks amazing! Especially that cookie... * steals piece* Yummy;)

Anonymous said...

Amazingly delicious eats girl!!! It's good to have you back with all the yummyness =)

Lovlie said...

Great food! Yum! And your parents look so sweet!

A.M. said...

Now I soooo want to visit Texas!

The Vrugginks said...

Just have to say that I love the cute squirrel! :)

DJ said...

Your parents are so cute! And so good that you got a chance to try out some vegan food while on your travels!

T said...

What a delicious trip! You're so lucky your parents are so cool and open to going to veg restaurants! My folks always fight me tooth and nail. :P

Anardana said...

That's so great that your parents were happy to eat there! Also, CUTEST squirrel pictures ever!

Amy said...

Welcome back :D and yum to all the yummies! (sorry about the bland and terribles :( but yay for yummies!).

Oh and that squirrel? Too adorable! We don't get squirrels in Australia, but they're so cute!

River (Wing-It Vegan) said...

Welcome back! Thanks for all the reviews and all the pictures! I have to say that the chili melt thing has me drooling!

That little squirrel was totally posing for you! What a little cutie!

KZ said...

ok, I'm smitten by the squirrel too! and the yummy veg food :)

Amira said...

wow what amazing eats! I am desperately craving some sort of tofu pie/ cheezecake now! lol!

Megan said...

omg I LOVE EVERYTHING IN THIS POST!! ahh i am so jealous of your taste buds right now! pumpkin-rice dumplings?! neatballs!? chili melts?! eek!

yum yum yum

Anonymous said...

I don't really get why Mother's is such a big deal - we didn't like the food either. I got their "famous" veggie burger and it was drowning in that funky veganrella! YUCK! I hear Spiral Diner can't be beat! That squirrel is too cute! :)

alaina said...

yay texas! spiral diner is fantastic. i go there whenever possible. dallas rocks but i love austin for its vegan mexican food. YUM.

Liz Ranger (Bubble Tea for Dinner) said...

ahh! that squirrel sidling up the side of the rock is sooooo adorable, I've never seen a squirrel do that. it's almost as cute as your parents are! :P

Vegan_Noodle said...

Looks like you got some good eats while in TX! Spiral Diner has been on my list of places to try forever!