Hometown Cafe is Houston's answer to Austin's Veggie Heaven, although with better ambiance and service. (Although Hometown Cafe loses points for not having Protein 2000). They serve a number of revamped traditional Chinese dishes, such as sweet and sour veggie pork and eggless eggrolls. My partner was adventurous and tried the veggie fried eel, which was incredibly tasty and, from what I'm told, approximated the taste of the real thing. Because I am only occasionally in Houston, I will not be able to sample everything from the menu as quickly as I would like. However, on future trips to Houston I plan to make Hometown Cafe a staple of my Houston dining experience.
Hometown Vegetarian Cafe
9888 Bellaire Blvd # 106
Houston, TX 77036
Monday, March 24, 2008
Quick Hit: India Palace San Antonio
The first time I went to India Palace in San Antonio, I was really turned off because the dining room smelled like sewage. I was convinced to try it again by a friend who said the food is great and the restaurant isn't usually so pungent. On the second visit, the dining room smelled just fine and the food was quite decent. It was not the best Indian buffet I've ever tried, but it is worthy to be placed in my regular rotation of Indian restaurants.
India Palace San Antonio
8440 Fredericksburg Rd.
San Antonio, Texas
India Palace San Antonio
8440 Fredericksburg Rd.
San Antonio, Texas
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Green
Green is San Antonio's only all-vegetarian restaurant. It's a little surprising that I waited so long to go.
The menu offers an impressive array of classic dishes cleverly remodeled into veggie-friendly meals. I chose to try a dish that I always loved when I ate meat, the Sesame Chickin. Although it wasn't exactly like its sweet, sticky estranged parent, this rebel child was no less delicious. It consisted of fried wheat protein strips topped with a savory sesame mushroom sauce. It was a creative reinterpretation, and now I can perhaps forget about the original Chinese buffet fare. Green allows a choice of sides with the meals, and I chose the sweet potato fries and a waldorf salad, which was the vegetable of the day. The available sides can be somewhat incongruous with the dishes on the menu, but when onion rings and sweet potato fries are involved, I am loathe to complain.
After a grueling decision-making process in which he pitted the sweet potato gnocchi (which appears to have been removed from the online menu) against the popcorn tofu po'boy, my partner chose the po'boy (perhaps a provident choice?). The size of the po'boy, a hoagie stuffed with popcorn tofu, spinach, tomato, and bell pepper, was somewhat unmanageable. However, as it often does in my world, the taste compensated, although Travis indicated that he would have liked to try the meal as a salad instead of a sandwich. The popcorn tofu and the chipotle mayo were the highlights of the dish.
I am looking forward to visiting Green again. I am intrigued by their many uses of tofu and wheat protein, and looking forward to trying again the dishes from my past, like their reuben and buffalo tofu fingers.
Green
1017 North Flores
San Antonio, Texas
The menu offers an impressive array of classic dishes cleverly remodeled into veggie-friendly meals. I chose to try a dish that I always loved when I ate meat, the Sesame Chickin. Although it wasn't exactly like its sweet, sticky estranged parent, this rebel child was no less delicious. It consisted of fried wheat protein strips topped with a savory sesame mushroom sauce. It was a creative reinterpretation, and now I can perhaps forget about the original Chinese buffet fare. Green allows a choice of sides with the meals, and I chose the sweet potato fries and a waldorf salad, which was the vegetable of the day. The available sides can be somewhat incongruous with the dishes on the menu, but when onion rings and sweet potato fries are involved, I am loathe to complain.
After a grueling decision-making process in which he pitted the sweet potato gnocchi (which appears to have been removed from the online menu) against the popcorn tofu po'boy, my partner chose the po'boy (perhaps a provident choice?). The size of the po'boy, a hoagie stuffed with popcorn tofu, spinach, tomato, and bell pepper, was somewhat unmanageable. However, as it often does in my world, the taste compensated, although Travis indicated that he would have liked to try the meal as a salad instead of a sandwich. The popcorn tofu and the chipotle mayo were the highlights of the dish.
I am looking forward to visiting Green again. I am intrigued by their many uses of tofu and wheat protein, and looking forward to trying again the dishes from my past, like their reuben and buffalo tofu fingers.
Green
1017 North Flores
San Antonio, Texas
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