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Do You Want a Small Chicken? or Big Chicken?

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Neil and I have been so crazy busy this week that we just haven’t had a lot of quality time for each other so last night Neil proposed that we find a patio to go have dinner on. So I did my nails and put a cute dress on and we headed downtown to find an outdoor dining spot.

New nail color thanks to Beauty Without Cruelty– review and giveaway to come

Apparently everyone else had the same idea, to head downtown and eat al fresco.  So we finally settled on Italian and waited a bit for a table.  When we finally got a table we ordered a small chicken of Chardonnay to share and decided on salads and flatbread.

Neil's Arugula and Apple salad with candied walnuts and maple-sherry dressing

My Arugula, Apple and Strawberry Salad with candied walnuts and raspberry dressing.

Our flatbread with leeks, lemon, shiitake mushrooms and micro greens.

How we felt about the flatbread and the service.


Overall we had a nice night together but the service was awful! The waitress got our flatbread order wrong and then she disappeared for most of the time and it was just not ideal. The salads were good but Neil’s was way better. The flatbread was blah not great, really dry and boring.

Pizza or Indian….How About Both?

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Happy Sunday (2nd Saturday)! I love long weekends! This morning Neil and I spent a few hours doing laundry and and caught up on some reading. I finally finished The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest and started No Meat Athlete’s Half Marathon Roadmap.

After our laundry date we headed downtown to the water front for a walk; we did 4 miles in 68 minutes and it felt great. We are right on track for our 5k in three weeks and then it’s on to our 10k in September and then our half in January.

After our walk we headed to American Flatbread for a beer and flatbread of course. Neil and I both got a Long Trail Brewmasters Double IPA. It was so good.

For lunch we split an Evolution salad and a Revolution flatbread hold the cheese add olives.

Evolution Salad: Organic Sweet Leaf Lettuce & Mesclun Greens w/Organic Carrots & Celery, Arame Seaweed, toasted sesame seeds and ginger-tamari dressing

Revolution Flatbread: Homemade organic tomato sauce, caramelized onions, fresh herbs and kalamata olives

We also shared a half of a stout for dessert:

After lunch we did a little window shopping and restocked our beer selection; I can’t wait to try them over the next month. Now it’s time to relax with a little left over Indian food recipes from The Asian Vegan Kitchen (made last night) and a movie or two. GOODNIGHT!

Leftover Indian YUM

Local Dining: HJ House

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After a crazy day at work the Hubz and I decided to take ourselves out to a new(er) restaurant, HJ House,  in downtown Burlington. This little hole in the wall restaurant opened a few months ago and each time we walk past it we always say to each other “I wonder how it is.”  Well a few weeks ago we were talking with the owner of a local organic nursery and she was telling us how it was good and inexpensive; we were sold and finally tried it tonight.

As soon as we sat I made sure to ask which ramen bowls were vegan and we were directed to the Vegetable Ramen Bowl and the Curry Vegetable Ramen Bowl.  The Hubz and I both ordered the curry one as well as an inari roll and avocado roll. I loved that they gave you the option to have brown rice in the sushi roll; which of course we got.

We started off with some complimentary tea that tasted meh okay not my favorite.

Our sushi rolls which were good but over priced compared to other sushi spots in town.

The Curry Vegetable Ramen was good; I loved that it was filled with veggies and seaweed- a pleasant surprise.  The flavor was good but  I don’t think I would order the curry one again because the flavor just got to be a little old after awhile, but that’s okay I really didn’t need all the broth anyways.

Overall the we liked the HJ House and will go back again for ramen, however for sushi we will go else where.

Long Waits for Good Food

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Good Morning! I hope you all enjoyed my late night Vlog which gave any of you curious readers a chance to hear what I sound like. Now I’m up early ready for oats and coffee (which I hope the husband will be making soon, ahem) but first I thought I might take a minute before I jump into my busy day to blog about our yummy dinner last night.

The Hubz and I haven’t had Friday night Date Night in a really long time and we were itching to get out and have really good food, drinks and conversation. After a little thought we decided there is nothing wrong with doing the same ol’ thing- head to The Farmhouse Tap & Grill for delicious beer and food. We tend to go here most Date Nights because we love the atmosphere, the food and the beer; nothing wrong with enjoying a good thing.

Last night was incredibly busy and we waited over an hour for a table and then we had to wait awhile longer than usual for our food, however we were in no rush so we grabbed a beer at the bar and enjoyed each others company.

Once we finally were seated we had no problem ordering since there are generally only three things we ever get:

  1. The tofu burger with no bun (not vegan), no cheese (obviously not vegan) and sub sauteed kale for the bun and we either have it with their amazing fries or greens
  2. The nitty gritty corn cakes which come with sauteed greens and mushrooms with the cider or lemon vinaigrette instead of the buttermilk
  3. The vegan plate- this is not officially on the menu but you can just ask and they will make you a great plate with fresh local veggies that have been sauteed and served  with grilled local crusty bread

We also occasionally get the olive starter  as well but it’s a huge bowl so we only get it when we go with others.

Tonight I went with the nitty gritty corn cakes

and the Hubz the burger with fries

and we both topped it them with their yummy ketchup, mustard and BBQ sauces.

Dining Locally: Duino! (Duende)

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This past weekend the Hubz and I decided to have an afternoon date at Dunio! (Duende) in downtown Burlington, VT. This small restaurant is part of Radio Bean a local cafe known for it’s weekly musical performances and off beat atmosphere. Since Duino! (Duende) is off the main street in downtown Burlington we always forget about it but after our revisit this past weekend I think we will be frequenting it more often.

The theme behind the menu at Dunio! (Duende) is unique and different from other restaurants in the area since its focus is on international street food.  The menu is small but provides enough inexpensive vegan friendly dishes that you won’t be disappointed.  They also have an extensive drink menu with wines, beers and specialty drinks as well.

I started with a Manhattan

And the Hubz had a Five Dollar Shake: Stout, espresso, and maple syrup

For my meal the Hubz and I shared the soup of the day which was a creamy squash soup with thai spices it was really yummy and came with grilled bread.

And we shared the Mujadara: Lentils & rice cooked with onions served in a pita with tahini, hot sauce, lettuce & tomato & tabouleh salad- this was really tasty!

Overall we really enjoyed the laid back atmosphere, delicious (inexpensive) food and we will be back again soon.

Ratings:
Value: 4/5
Food: 4/5
Vegan Friendly: 3/5
Atmosphere: 4/5

Dining Locally: Penny Cluse

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Occasionally the Hubz and I like to have an early morning breakfast date during the week; yesterday just happened to be one of those days.  Lately our favorite spot has been Penny Cluse Cafe in Burlington because of it’s early hours, delicious coffee and tasty tofu scramble. Yesterday morning we stopped in and had settled on the Pesto Tofu Scramble, a griddled tomato and dry rye toast, oh and of course coffee.  Well come to find out the pesto which we had asked about on our last visit and were told was vegan actually is not vegan. So we decided on the peanut-ginger sauce instead.  The waitress feeling bad about our last waitress misinforming us  brought us each over a complimentary glass of tangerine juice.

My Trio of Beverages

Peanut-Ginger Tofu, Griddled Tomato and Dry Rye Toast

The Peanut-Ginger Tofu is really delicious.  The sauce coats the tofu perfectly and you get great flavor with every bite.  Also the ginger is really a mild flavor and balanced perfectly with the peanut. “I really like how the sauce is kind of crispy too and the ginger, well you can tell it’s real ginger not just a flavor” – Quote by The Hubz

The Griddled Tomato is my new favorite breakfast item.  Cooking the tomato locks in all the juices and just creates a whole new depth of flavor; place it on top of the rye toast and you’ve got a winner.

As for the beverages I would say they have one of the best cups of coffee in town.  The water was refreshing.  The tangerine juice was surprisingly not overly sweet and I really enjoyed it- I may even order it next visit!

Just a heads up to vegans interested in eating here the homefries are not vegan.

Ratings:
Value: 4/5
Food: 4/5
Vegan Friendly: 3/5- all though not a ton of vegan options the ones they do have are delicious.
Atmosphere: 4/5

Dining Locally: American Flatbread

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Our pizza from the last post was actually inspired by a visit to American Flatbread a few weeks ago where we sipped the best beer and ate the most delicious pizza. This is one of our go to restaurants because they have amazing flatbread that is made from local and/or organic ingredients.  Plus they keep it simple- their menu has a salad (which is amazing) and a number of flatbread creations as well as an option to create your own flatbread.  THAT IS IT. They don’t need to put anything more on that menu because it is perfect keeping it simple.  They also have a special salad, vegetarian pizza and omnivore pizza each night as well as dessert specials.

On top of having a great salad and flatbreads they easily accommodate vegans and they brew their own beer. Now their dining menu maybe short and sweet but the beer list is extensive and filled with a great selection of microbrews as well as their house made which are all really good.

Veganized Special- white pizza with delicata squash, apples, garlic and maple glazed hazelnuts