An unpleasant experiment
August 1st, 2008 by Cliff Bostock in Cooking, Restaurants
Here’s yesterday’s lunch — bean sprouts wrapped in tofu skin from the Green Sprout. I’ve written about this dish before and it looks much better not compressed into a take-out container.
Why am I eating this? Wayne and I decided to experiment with not eating meat for a week. Part of the experiment is to keep within our normal dining zones in Grant Park, Midtown and Little Five Points. It’s been a roller-coaster ride, to say the least.
Monday night, I stopped at Whole Foods and bought extra-firm tofu, which I sauteed and combined with kim chi, an over-priced mild version I also found at the grocery. I also added some “succotash” to the dish. It was surprisingly good.
It’s been mainly downhill ever since. I love the Standard, but the “vegetable burger” I ate there was one of the most unpleasant things I’ve tasted in months. It was dry, sandwiched in a dry bun and had the usual harsh seasoning that typifies so much vegetarian cuisine.
I couldn’t eat but a few bites of the thing. I was so embarrassed to eat so little of it that I hid the leftovers under my napkin.
We also hit Ali Baba’s in Little Five Points. They had no air conditioning and it was suffocatingly hot on their patio, too. So we took home wraps made with falafel and various vegetable salads. They were decent, but left me hungry.
I’ve mainly been eating some cheese and roasted vegetables for lunch.
I’ve been struck by a couple of things in this experiment, which has included visits to a few other restaurants:
It’s not that easy to find decent vegetarian cooking in the average meat-serving restaurant. Unless I drive to Decatur or Buford Highway for Indian food or go to Dynamic Dish on Edgewood Ave., I’m stuck with the average restaurant’s vegetarian offerings, which are usually dull afterthoughts, over-seasoned with boredom.
I don’t feel the least bit healthy eating this way, even allowing myself eggs and cheese. Maybe that changes with time. What is clear is that to eat well — by which I refer to taste and health — you have to do a lot of planning.
Also, the experiment is teaching me that I need to be a lot more conscious in my usual eating.
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August 1st, 2008 at 11:40 am
EXACTLY. Thanks so much for saying it. It surprises me how often — if there is a veggie option on the menu — it is an after-thought at so many restaurants across town. Why can’t “chefs” put the same, effort, care and thought into the veggie option that is clearly in the other menu choices. It limits the dining options for folks in mixed relationships.
My guess is that is a chicken vs. egg situation: not enough folks come to restaurants and choose the veggie option to make it worthwhile and vegetarians don’t come out because the choice is a waste of money.
August 1st, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Yeah, I agree; the default veg option at a lot of inexpensive places I frequent–black-bean burger, portobello burger–are pretty vile. I think things are looking up, though. Many of the restaurants embracing local eating take more care with their produce. Perhaps the backlash against processed food in favor of real food might be increasing diners\\\’ respect for flavor that doesn\\\’t come from meat? (What makes veg Indian food so dang addictive? Spices! OK, and all the butter.)
August 1st, 2008 at 1:27 pm
you should try Buddha on 10th street http://www.buddharestaurant.com
ask the server to recommend their vegetarian specials!
August 1st, 2008 at 2:21 pm
What about Doc Greens? I’ve only been there once, and the menu seemed expectant of non-vegetarians. I agree that eating salads often would get boring, tut I’m sure you can leave off the meat add-on and have a wonderful salad sans-animal.
August 1st, 2008 at 3:23 pm
The vegetarian options in the ATL are pretty slim. I just came back from Asheville and the veggie options there rock. Sometimes when I’m in a pinch, I run over to Sevananda for lunch - their vegan hot options aren’t bad.
One of the main issues with veggie restaurants around here is that they definitely don’t do a great job with spices and quality ingredients. And they’re not very creative!
If you’ve ever been to Pure Food & Wine in NYC, it’s insane what they do with raw, vegan food. It’s delicious and spectacular. Candle 79 is another great example of what can be done with higher end vegetarian fare.
There is a great opportunity in Atlanta for someone who wants to raise the bar and create something exceptional.
If you’re into macrobiotic fare, then Repast has a nice macrobiotic plate - a little nod to Japan. :)
August 2nd, 2008 at 2:58 pm
If you’re into sampling some vegan food that is nothing like you’d expect, check out Soul Vegetarian II on N. Highland. You complained about not being full after a meal of just veggies, try the bar-b-qued kalebone twists with collards and mac n’ cheese. If you don’t find yourself waddling back to your car an hour later, I’d be more than surprised.
August 4th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Finally, somebody besides me is saying it! Why are vegetarian options so few and far between? Supposedly 5% (1 in 20!) of the U.S. population is vegetarian, and many more people eat meatless meals sometimes (and likely would far more often if good options were available).
Sadly, if you think ITP veggie options are slim pickings, try OTP. If you don’t want steak, burgers, chicken or fish, apparently you have to stay home.
I’ve finally decided that if a restaurant can’t be bothered to provide so much as even one single semi-decent vegetarian offering (a meal, not a side dish) - then I can no longer be bothered to patronize them.
Would love to see more written on the subject!
August 4th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
I think of my absolute favorite vegan/vegetarian meals is the Veggie Burger at the Righteous Room. It’s ohmigod delicious and definitely not the patties I dread seeing everywhere around town. Other restaurants could get a clue from the RR on how to make an amazing veggie burger. The whole frozen patty on a grill? Hell, I could do that at home, why would I want to pay $10 for it?
August 4th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Funny you should mention that, Kali. I started to say the same thing about the RR’s veg burger, but I didn’t hit them this week. It’s definitely been the best around in my earlier explorations.
August 6th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
I think you need to try these restaurants in midtown: chinese buddah (veg and non veg menu), mediteranean grill, willy’s (tofu burrito is REALLY good), and Rusans. Green Sprout is always good too. I noticed you had a picture of food from there, but you didn’t mention it in your article.
August 7th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
I’ve written about Green Sprout frequently. I ate there today, in fact — had an amazing faux sesame chicken dish.
I’ve reviewed Chinese Buddha and Mediterranean Grill, found them mediocre.
Rusan’s and Willy’s — sorry, not going again.
August 7th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
I like the tofu charolita at Willy’s. I agree about Rusans though. yuk!
August 8th, 2008 at 9:38 am
the comments on this thread goes to prove that the masses have absolutely zero taste… mediocre and pedestrian. willy’s? RuSan’s? RR? Green Sprout? Chinese Buddha? Doc Greens?
Flush.
vegetarian cuisine = kiss of death for a biznaz owner. it’s a side dish, not even worthy of conversation.
August 9th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
I disagree with the side dish comment. Rice Bowl and Bay Leaves both offer plenty of yummy choices where meat is not the main focus.
August 11th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
You are right eating vegetarian in Atlanta does take planning but if it’s something thats new to you it would take planning anywhere. As a long time vegetarian/vegan and someone who has done a bunch of traveling I would say that Atlanta does have a good amount of vegetarian options.We might not have a large number of strictly vegetarian spots but we do have a good number of places with some decent vegetarian options on the menu. It just takes some time to find out where these places are and to find out what’s good. Here is a list of places with vegan options within your normal dining zones. While this list contains just vegan options all of these places have many other vegetarian options as well.
El Myr- Best tofu burrito ever!
Eats- Good veggie plate options
Righteous Room- Very good veggie burger
97 Estoria- BBQ Riblet and Tofu Nuggets
Ria’s Bluebird- Good Tofu Scramble and more
The Flying Biscuit Cafe- Many Vegan options including the BBQ Vegan Burrito
Planet Bombay- Indian, many veg options
Harry and Sons- Thai and sushi
Across The Street Cafe- Mexican
Soul Vegetarian- Soul Food
Village Pizza-Veg “meats and cheese” toppings on the menu
Manuels Tavern- Pretty good veggie burger