"An American in Paris" Finally Classes Up London's West Endby Randi / April 27, 2017
Hello friends!! Today we have a guest post! How exciting is that! Did you even know we could HAVE guest blogs on Laughfrodisiac? Because I didn’t! But I like this idea – I do very little work – so if you are interested in writing a guest piece, please email me at the link at the top right corner. I do still get to write the headlines as you can see. The W stands for WIN. Anyway, today’s amazing piece comes from Cara W., a dear friend of mine who is also the best short story writer you’ll probably ever read in your entire life, so I’m a little hesitant to post this because you’ll prob be like ‘damn she is much better she should take over the site.’ And no her real name is not Alice Munro but I can see why you’d think that!
Cara brings us her own take on a cauliflower soup recipe. Her take means she removes the garlic and tries to make up for it in other ways. I KNOW! We are very different in that regard because as you know I have eaten 5 types of garlic in one dish. But this is nice for all of my vampire readers out there. I can’t believe that I haven’t posted a recipe of my own in over a year (!!) (too busy eating at amazing restaurants?) so thanks to Cara for easing us back into this section of the site! Obviously I do not have the self-restraint to let someone else talk without me interrupting (have you MET me) (could I BE any more interrupty?) so when you see bracketed comments in italics in the body below, that’sa me! Mario! It’ll look like this [it’s me! Mario!]. So thank you Cara and, readers, enjoy!
CAULIFLOWER SOUP WITH CARA W.
THIS IS THE FUTURE LIBERALS WANT
So, I am not as amazing as our fearless vegan leader and blogger, Ms. Laughfrodisiac herself, [correct she is more amazing and is also the first person to spell the site name correctly wow] and I’ve actually never been adamantly vegan or even casually vegetarian in my life. Instead, I do the far too common thing of over-analyzing calories and obsessing over sugars versus carbs versus proteins. I fall into diet fads and once even tried to straight green juice it for a month–CLEANSE ME YOU MAGICAL GREENERY!! (This is actually a really great story that ended pretty dramatically with emergency gallbladder removal, but I digress.) [holy crap, you need to tell us this story. Next guest post?! THE DANGERS OF DETOX BULLSHIT.] The point is, I admire our blogger’s fearless dedication to do no harm and to love all around her and am often quite jealous of her food voyages and the seriously wide variety of foods she gets to experiment with. Now that she lives across the proverbial pond, I guess I sort of felt like I should try to fill Southeastern Pennsylvania’s Veganess Void by attempting to prepare the following amazing recipe for Cauliflower Soup.
I know it sounds gross. Cauliflower seems to be a divisive vegetable; my sisters despise it while my mother and I devour it. So when this recipe popped up on my Pinterest home page (or whatever you kids call it, is it a dashboard?), I just had to try it.
I am not historically well-known for my cooking skills. In fact, until a few years ago, I despised cooking. Everything about it grossed me out and made me nervous. You mean *I* have to literally saute the onions and decide how much salt and pepper to add for spice?!?!? What happens when the onions turn black? I remember those mini-panic-attacks with fondness now. Starting in late April of 2014, after battling a nearly month long craving for buttercream frosting, I decided I’d research recipes for frosting and made some kick-tushy double chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting for a friend’s work gathering. They were the hit of the party and I basically started an obsession with cooking and baking from that moment on.
Cauliflower Soup really does a good service for the saying “Less is More” and also for the idea that you don’t actually need cream for a soup to taste bisque-y [lolol this is a treat for my PPKers out there. the filter will never die]. It is FULL of flavor and also very comforting warmth for these 7 degree winter days. [WHY IS IT STILL SO COLD I AM SHIVERING CARA MAKE ME SOUP.]
Some Cara Thoughts on Carrots:
I despise carrots. I have no idea why, but starting maybe 5 years ago, I started to think that carrots taste like people. [ . . . ] I realize this makes little to no sense, and I’ve been laughed out of a number of cocktail party conversations by bringing this bizarre personal, uh, quirk to light, but hey, I swear to you: If people were a thing that people ate, I like, am 99.8907% certain the dish would be a little carrot-y tasting. I know it’s weird, but I tend to avoid carrots in all forms, and am particularly frightened of them in their cooked form, so uh, it’s weird that I decided to make this recipe, as there are cooked carrots. BONUS: you really can’t taste them.
I despise carrots. I have no idea why, but starting maybe 5 years ago, I started to think that carrots taste like people. [ . . . ] I realize this makes little to no sense, and I’ve been laughed out of a number of cocktail party conversations by bringing this bizarre personal, uh, quirk to light, but hey, I swear to you: If people were a thing that people ate, I like, am 99.8907% certain the dish would be a little carrot-y tasting. I know it’s weird, but I tend to avoid carrots in all forms, and am particularly frightened of them in their cooked form, so uh, it’s weird that I decided to make this recipe, as there are cooked carrots. BONUS: you really can’t taste them.
Some Cara Thoughts on Garlic:
Call me Edward Cullen, but I actually hate garlic, too. I know, I know, you’re probably thinking, “Cara, how could you study abroad in Italy and hate garlic?” or the more common, “Cara, how can you possibly enjoy good food if you hate garlic?” but here’s my stock response: whatever you love about garlic, I guarantee I can create with a nice mix of sweet onions, shallots, and fresh spring onions. (Seriously guys, garlic is icky. It tastes like burnt. And it makes me breathe fire. Can’t we just move on from this? Call it a fad (of the past million centuries)? Bring on some more varieties of onions? Eh?) [BUT I LOVE FIREBREATHING.]
Call me Edward Cullen, but I actually hate garlic, too. I know, I know, you’re probably thinking, “Cara, how could you study abroad in Italy and hate garlic?” or the more common, “Cara, how can you possibly enjoy good food if you hate garlic?” but here’s my stock response: whatever you love about garlic, I guarantee I can create with a nice mix of sweet onions, shallots, and fresh spring onions. (Seriously guys, garlic is icky. It tastes like burnt. And it makes me breathe fire. Can’t we just move on from this? Call it a fad (of the past million centuries)? Bring on some more varieties of onions? Eh?) [BUT I LOVE FIREBREATHING.]
When I wanted to make this recipe, I asked my mom to grab some of the ingredients from the store. She didn’t. I found out why: my mom had read the recipe all the way through, and it requires a food processor. We do not have one of those new fangled machines, so Sheila, in all her wisdom, just didn’t buy any of the ingredients for the soup and also didn’t explain to me why. [LOL Sheila this is amazing.] [Also I don’t have a food processor either! I make do with the good blender and with the little crappy 1/2 cup processor bowl that comes with the immersion blender.]
While at the store, I learned that coconut oil is very expensive [Indian grocery stores for the win!], and also that my locally owned grocery store (with a checkered past, one of its founders was murdered several years ago and the crime remains UNSOLVED, it’s like all we have for intrigue around these parts) sees it as reasonable to put coconut milk in like 102398098 different locations throughout the establishment. Which I guess is good for disorganized shoppers (like me) but also confusing for others, especially those who want to price compare because MAN is there a disparity between Goya’s coconut milk and the Thai label coconut milk. Sheesh. Marketing.
CAULIFLOWER SOUP
Inspired by http://shrinkingkitchen.com/creamy-cauliflower-soup/
Ingredients:
- 1 large head of cauliflower
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 large carrots, diced
- 1 tbsp of jarred SHALLOTS
- 1 bunch of diced spring onions
- 3 cups water
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup coconut milk (unsweetened)
Instructions:
- Wash and core the cauliflower. Although Cara did not core her cauliflower, because she had no idea what that meant. It did not affect the turnout.
- Heat a large pot over medium-high heat and add the oil, then add the onions, carrots, and onion-y deliciousness that is standing in for garlic. Cook and stir with a wooden spoon about five minutes, until they’re soft and golden. I did not use a wooden spoon, and, still, the soup came out delicious.
- Add the cauliflower and cook until it starts to brown. Please note, seriously the cauliflower isn’t going to BROWN really, it’s cauliflower. Just don’t burn it. I trust you will know when it’s time to add the water. You’re not dumb.
- Add the water and bring to a boil. Then reduce to a simmer, and cover, and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.
- Add in coconut milk, sea salt, and pepper.
- Puree soup in a high speed blender or with an immersion blender.
Despite the hilarious thirty minute attempt my sister and I had at reassembling an old food processor, neither she nor I could actually make it happen. We did try though. So instead I just poured the mixture into the blender, hit puree, and the rest is history. Everyone in my family adored this soup and right now I am craving more. No, seriously. I’m going to hit “send” and then heat up my leftover bowl. OMG THIS SOUP.
Yay Vegans. Yay soup. YAY! [yay!]
Yay Vegans. Yay soup. YAY! [yay!]
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Eating Vegan and Living it UP in Muscat, Oman
As you saw in the Oman travel posts, we had a wonderful time in Muscat and the amazing sites Wadi Shab and Bimmah Sinkhole. But I know what you really care about, because it’s what I really care about (“that’s who I am, and that’s who I care about”): FOOD! and HOTELS! Specifically, how easy is it to eat vegan in Oman? Where should I eat and where should I stay? How many pools can one human swim in over just a few days? As always, I’m here to tell you the truth about traveling here. We ate well, as you always should be able to when in the Middle East (hello have you heard of hummus? because I am 60% hummus). And we stayed well. While our first hotel – a city-center base for the busy sightseeing days – was just fine, we then moved onto a fancypants resort for literally the first time in our lives. It was glorious. You’ll see! (“OR YOU’LL PACK!”)(anyone who says the next line gets a gift.)
First, let’s talk about the food in Muscat. It’s not exactly a vegan hotspot, but as I said, it’ll be semi-easy to find your standard Middle Eastern classics. You definitely won’t go hungry, but, like so many places that aren’t European cities, knowing some good tips will help enormously. My first tip is the most important one, and really the only one you need if, like me, you’re happy to eat hummus at every meal. Your first order of business when you arrive in Muscat is to find Arax, a small regular-ol’ falafel joint in a shopping center. It’s literally my favorite restaurant in Oman. We tried basically the entire menu (and it was a pretty extensive menu for a counter-ordery place, like a kebab shop. I mean I guess it is a kebab shop).
I can think of nothing more appropriate branding-wise considering how loudly and often I sneeze
would people buy laughfro tissues y/n
Arax lives in the Oasis Centre, Shatti Al Qurum, a shopping center right on the beach that’s filled with restaurants, shops, and even a Costa Coffee! Just like home! Except for the beach part. Oasis’s parking lot is a nightmare, since the center (centre) is basically tons of shops and restaurants around a giant, cramped parking lot and drivers here aaaaaare aggressive, so be warned. Since our first hotel (below) was right next to the shopping center, we thought it would be easier to walk there, but we forgot that this region in the Middle East is often not made for pedestrians. They really don’t expect people to walk! I guess because of the heat? But still! Let us walk! So frustrating. It was like trying to leave a Vegas casino, trying to walk what should have been 5 minutes just next door.
We checked the menus at every restaurant in the centre, and while most had vegetarian options, few were actually vegan-friendly. Enter Arax, with its reliable staples of hummus, pita, falafel, foul, everything you could want. The falafel wraps were good, the hummus is good, the fried cauliflower and pickles and fries and tahini sauce and fun fresh juices, all so good. I definitely recommend the lemon mint juice they do. Pictured below is one of the amazing-looking-but-too-sweet-for-me color-blocked mixtures of like orange and berry smoothie topped with avocado. Pretty cool!
We went to Arax several times since it was so convenient, cheap, and delicious. We would have gone one last time on the day we moved to the resort, but they were closed for prayer. I never got to say goodbye!
Instead, we went next door in the shopping center to a place called Just Grilled, which seemed innocuous and decent for lunch when I just wanted simple things. They were called Just Grilled yet had a definite Italian-food theme, so it was a little odd, but I decided to be optimistic for a change. Obviously, I was right before and it’s better to be a pessimist. Even though the menu painstakingly lists every single ingredient for every dish – something I was thrilled to see so I could check veganness – the cooks finish each dish with cheese anyway, even when it’s not listed!! WHAT THE ACTUAL TWO-PRONGED FORK, GUYS.
I ordered a basic af “Mediterranean” salad that was just a small pile of lettuce and bell peppers (ew) as well as a bowl of basic minestrone and both came covered in cheese! I said to the guy, “wait these are covered in cheese? it didn’t say cheese on the menu! I can’t have cheese!” and he said “Yes it did not say on the menu, but because this is an Italian place, everything then gets cheese on it.” I SHIT you not. I was like “but it didn’t say! Anyway, sorry but can I get these without the cheese? because I can’t eat it” and he put up a fight and was like “but it’s Italian, so it needs cheese” and I was like “not to be rude but you are not Italian and like…I am, soooo let’s not argue about whether ‘Italian’ and ‘covered in cheese’ are synonyms, because they’re not” and he was so weirdly unwilling to redo the food cheeselessly! He reluctantly took it back after he finally understood that if he didn’t, we couldn’t eat there (like wtf) but what a weird hill to choose. And then of course the food wasn’t worth all that trouble. I highly unrecommend this place – stick to Arax and just wait for them to finish praying (they had originally said it would be a 20 minute break but it was well over an hour, sadly).
Luckily, other places in the Oasis Centre are much better than Just Grilled (wtf with that name). A lovely place we found was the Turkish place on the beachfront right next to the Costa; I think it’s Twins Turkish Cuisine. (I mean you can’t miss it; it’s the Turkish place on the beach next to the Costa.) Although their menu was divided in the traditional animal-products-heavy manner, they had a fantastic ‘salad bar’ selection that was all the traditional cold and hot mezze of that region’s cuisine. I had all my favorite hits: the best ever dolma, sauteed spinach, stewed eggplant and tomatoes, enormous salads, and lots of amazing fluffy bread.
I was thrilled with this turn of events! This salad was HUGE and really good! I love having giant fresh salads when traveling. We had a crazy amount of really good veg-heavy food here. It was nice to sit out on the beach but that means that jerkos were smoking a lot, which sucks. I guess you can’t really get away from smokers outside/in the Middle East/anywhere in the world really, so I still recommend a visit.
I also definitely recommend a visit to Bait Al Luban, a more upscale, very touristed (like the first Western tourists we saw) restaurant right on the water, so you can stare at the sultan’s pleasure yachts (biggest yachts in world? cool use of money). We stopped by the restaurant early in our trip to make a reservation, since it’s quite popular. It’s pretty centrally located so it’s not inconvenient to do that. (It’s right on the Muttrah Corniche.) Outside it kind of looks like a weird bank, but inside it’s really nice, with very ‘fancy traditional Omani for tourists to enjoy’ vibe and decor. We sat outside on the terrace to look out on the water, but it’s pretty dark out there so you only really see the busy street and the fish market; maybe it’s better to sit inside. It was also really stressful outside because there were lots of wild dogs who kept running across the busy street! I was so unbelievably nervous for them to really focus on anything else.
Bait Al Luban is used to/made for tourists, and they have a well-marked menu for vegetarian dishes and enough knowledge to help determine which dishes are vegan. I started with the house specialty salad called Gheleambe, “a healthy salad from the Sharqiya” so I was in even though I don’t know what the Sharqiya is. It was a mix of watercress, shallots, and cherry tomatoes in a dried Omani lemon dressing. You know how I feel about salad! It was really good!
For mains, they have a whole page of vegetarian curries, casseroles, even an okra stew. I was tempted by my old faves like the fava beans and the okra but Z pointed out that I have those all the time, so I took the waiter’s suggestion and had another specialty, the Mahrage, which is red kidney beans in coconut curry. It was great!
Of course we also had a basket of pita! They don’t have vegan desserts (or maybe they had like fruit and sorbet but I’m forgetting because I don’t count that) but husbo’s coffee came with a plate of dates! So I won!
So definitely book a nice dinner at Bait Al Luban while in Muscat. The whole lovely traditional vibe is worth it since we didn’t see much of that elsewhere, but the food is really good too.
We also had lots of luck in the chain of supermarkets called Lulu Hypermarket. There’s one big one in the city (well they’re all big; they’re called hypermarkets!) that we went to several times to stock up on giant water bottles (a must-do when traveling so you don’t have to buy little craps when you’re out and about, wasting more plastic and money) and snacks (and tons of good dates to bring home!). We also went to a big one outside the city on the way to Nizwa, so we could get lots of prepared food for a lunchtime picnic. We got pita and hummus (obvs) and a ton of little salads and veggies from the prepared section. There were so many options and honestly it was all really good! The Lulu’s on the way to Nizwa is in a gigantic shopping mall-sort of building with bathrooms too so I was happy. The perfect rest stop on the drive if you decide to go to Nizwa (which I guess I did advise against in the previous post but you do you).
HOTELS
As I said in the Muscat post, we stayed at first at the Intercontinental Muscat, which you know now is next to the Oasis Centre with your new favorite falafel joint. We knew that this hotel was being renovated and that, though clean, the rooms were outdated and nothing special. This was true, though the lobby was pretty cool.
The hotel was nice enough, but we didn’t mind a lesser-than room since we were going to be so busy with sightseeing. It was still rather expensive for such a blah room but that’s Muscat, apparently. But the location was excellent, and even though we weren’t lounging around the hotel all the time, we did manage to enjoy the pool! You know a pool is my favorite thing.
The IC Muscat also had a great gym, probably one of the best hotel gyms I’ve used, which means of course I didn’t take a picture for some reason. Oh it was pretty crowded with Omani men; that’s probably why. Several asked me what sport I played which is hilarious. There are a lot of restaurants on the IC grounds too, because I guess it’s a resort, including a Trader Vic’s (which has nothing vegan) and a pizza place (which looked good but we always have pizza at home). I think it would be a great choice for a sightseeing base now that the rooms are (most likely) refurbished. Overall though it was fine.
But once we were done sightseeing, we made a prettayyy prettayyy good move to one of my favorite new places.
The Shangri-La Muscat. OH DIP! It’s pretty far outside the city center, because people who come here are not sightseeing anymore; they are staying put and enjoying resort life. Husbo and I have literally never done ‘resort life’ before this, but everyone said to take a few days to relax and enjoy it, so we did. We had two nights and two days here – that’s really all we could muster, given that we are not the laying on the beach doing nothing type (and really all we could afford). The grounds were endless and so gorgeous. There was so much endless luxury to enjoy and appreciate. (However, we agreed that the Four Seasons Dubai seemed classier and more luxurious.) It seemed like it was situated it its own private world, backed by a mountain on one side and the ocean on the other. Our own private ocean fortress (shared with hundreds of strangers)! It was pretty amazing.
We had to wait about a half hour for our room, so we wandered the grounds and took pictures. Everything was so beautiful and even though there were tons of people there, nothing seemed too crowded. There were also like, five pools??!! I swam in so many pools! Oh so the Shangri-La is actually made of three resorts: the main one, the family one (Al Waha), and the super-even-fancier-one-for-super-rich-people-who-need-their-own-elevators (Al Husn (which we had fun saying because it’s how my nephew said his name at the time)). These are rough guides, because there were kids at ours, fancy people at the kids one, &c. They’re all connected and they share (most) amenities, so it’s not really strict. We were at the main one, the Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa. We saw the Al Waha a lot, since some of the restaurants and beach activities we experienced were closer to their end of the beach, and it was nice but definitely better for kids. It’s closer to the more kid-friendly pool and the busier beach end, things like that. (We weren’t allowed to see the fancier one, which I think is just part of the main building but with all private entrances and stuff. Well who really knows what else they have up there.)
But regardless of what they have over at the Al Husn, I loved the Barr Al Jissah, and it’s probably because things kicked off on a super high note. So I’m always that person who is like “wahhhh I’ve never been upgraded on anything why don’t I ever get an upgraaaaade let’s tell them we’re on our honeymoooon” and Husbo, being a Decent Person, is like “no we aren’t lying” and I’m like “fiiiine lying is wrong FINE but I want FANCY THINGS, GOD UGH” so anyway we arrive at the Shangri-La check-in (the fanciest check-in area man alive) and well first we have to wait and we take our photos of the grounds and we explore the interactive computer screens telling us what’s going on and we see THIS hilarity:
And when the check-in staff called us back over to the desk, the guy was like “are you celebrating any special occasion”? And husbo and I had a legit ESP-style discussion where I was saying “OMG no one ever just sets us up like that, we HAVE to say yes” and husbo was like “no we’re not lying” and I was like “but he’s asking for it!” and before he could ESP answer me, husbo told the guy “no we’re not, just here on holiday!” and I said “dammit!” (internally) but then the gods rewarded us for not lying because I am not even joking when I say the LEAST likely turn of events happened next: The staffer said “well, since you aren’t celebrating anything special, we want to ensure you remember your time here as special so we have upgraded your room.” I mean, WHO DOES THAT? What are the odds? I was hysterically laughing. Like come on. That doesn’t happen. I’ll take it.
The standard room we had booked was still very expensive, so getting a GODDAMN INCREDIBLE SUITE felt like some kind of sweet justice. It was awesome and ridiculous.
They also did my favorite hotel activity of leaving me edible gifts! We got daily fruit bowls and a lovely box of dates.
So yeah I was a little overexcited you could say! I love a nice hotel room that’s bigger than most apartments I’ve lived it! Man alive.
The Shangri-La never stopped surprising us with hilariously over-the-top amenities. The best by far was that the Al Jissah resort was linked to the Al Waha at the other end of the beach – by a lazy river. A LEGIT LAZY RIVER between the two hotels, from one pool to another (with 3-4 other pools around the grounds, of course). AMAZING.
We lazed on the lazy river so many times because when are you ever going to be staying in a place with one again?? We also swam in all the pools, went in the ocean, lounged on the beach, swam in more pools, explored the grounds by lazy river, explored by foot, and lather rinse repeated everything…and that was the first afternoon and we were like ‘okay now what’. We aren’t used to being resort people!
We decided to take advantage of literally every aspect of this experience, starting with…the turtle ranger! The Shangri-La has an on-site expert dedicated to the protection of native hawksbill and green sea turtles, and he’s called the TURTLE RANGER and he gets to live here and do this and man does that sound amazing. We went to his evening guidance jawn and made plans to go snorkeling with him the next morning to look for turtles in the ocean!! We were the only people interested the morning we went so it’s like we had a private snorkeling session and sea life lesson all for free! I obviously don’t have pictures of that experience, but it was incredible. The three of us met on the beach in front of the Al Waha section of the grounds, snorkeled up, and swam out under the resort’s ocean barrier ropes, around the cliffs, and out into the ocean out of the view and out of the safety of the resort. Now, I’ve been swimming my whole life, but not like, TO SURVIVE. Just for funsies! This was HARROWING. Have you ever swam, like literally swam doing swim-class strokes, no treading or bobbing or touching down, in the ocean for an hour? It is HARD! I was so not used to using a snorkel to breathe and so not used to swimming against ocean currents, so I was focusing so hard on Not Dying that I missed seeing the sea turtle! Sads! I saw a lot of beautiful fishies though, and like, didn’t drown, so I’m happy overall.
Those of you who read about our amazing spa exploits in the Dubai post will know what’s coming next: more spa exploits! It is called “Resort & Spa” for a reason! Sadly, there was a tennis court we didn’t make use of (tear), but we did use ALL THE THINGS in the spa, which is located outside a gate near one of the pools; you need your room key to get to the spa and fitness area. Like the Four Seasons Dubai, the Shangri-La spa had a jacuzzi, steam rooms, weird rain shower areas, weird air shower areas (I still don’t get these but every future spa requires them), a lovely lounge area, and lots of rooms for massages and treatments if you so desire. We had fun just skipping from random feature to random feature.
They also had a very good gym, which seemed to be in a legit fitness center like open to outsiders? Or else it was just surprisingly busy! They had a lot going on – yoga center, classes, I wanna say a squash court?, as well as an outdoor mini-golf course! I used the main gym floor and the upstairs studio when it was not class time (I put videos on Instagram in the Muscat highlights section!). My only complaint is that the rowing machine wasn’t properly secured to the ground (I was like legit rowing across the room this way) but now we’re getting into niche complaints, which means we’re done with this section.
Since we were staying in here for a few days, that means we ate all our meals inside the grounds, as everyone does. There are lots of restaurants, and you have to make reservations for them since there are hundreds of guests looking for dinner at the same times. There’s the main hotel buffet, which looked good with decent vegan options, but it was expensive considering I’d be eating the cheapest food. Like, don’t charge me $60 when I’m going to be making a salad. Vegans should get buffet discounts! Regardless, the main buffet is pretty much what’s open for the (included) breakfast, so I got to try all the greatest hits anyway. We checked all the menus of all the restaurants, and hilariously, the seafood restaurant had the best vegan options!
The seafood restaurant is about halfway between Barr Al Jissah and Al Waha on the beach. They offer a chef’s marketplace salad and grilled asparagus as starters, and veggie paella, three bean casserole, and tortellini for mains. I know it doesn’t seem like a lot but I’m telling you, finding a restaurant at this resort with beans felt like a huge success.
I had the salad (obviously) and the beans, and they were really good! The chef’s salad said it would have caramelized dates in it, though, and mine clearly didn’t. I didn’t actually care because I was so full of dates by this point in the trip, but I’m annoyed at the misrepresentation.
For my main, of course I got the three bean casserole. The only thing better than a bean is three beans! It was actually really good.
A friend who had stayed here before told us that the breakfast buffet was seriously fantastic, and I was like “sure Jan” because I’m not a hotel breakfast person, but man alive! Just look at everything available at the breakfast buffet:
The breakfast buffet had a whole Arabic foods section! After I had all the fruit and juices and cereals (with soy milk on display!) and a plate from the enormous salad section, I could eat all my best friends – the hummus and the foul and the salads and the pita!!
And then I found this:
On the bread wall (yes there was an entire wall of breads) there was a soft pretzel box!! It’s like they saw me coming. There was also a diy soft-serve machine – yes, at the breakfast buffet – but of course it was not vegan. It’s okay I’m okay!
Honestly though, my favorite meal was room service! True, this could be because it was truly incredible food, or because it was actually the most economical option (and cheapest room service I’ve ever seen!), or because it was my first time ever getting room service (I KNOW!). It could also be because we got EVERYTHING vegan on the menu! And it was so nice to have a reason to use our fancy living room! The staff who brought it and cleaned up (you just call a number when you’re done and they come back and take the table away it all just folds up it was like magical) were really great, and even though I was embarrassed at how much we ordered, they were like ‘what’s up have fun’. So much food, so amazing.
We got lentil soup, we got curry, we got rice, we got dolmas, we got hummus and pita, and we got fattoush and another salad thing and a basket of rolls and some kind of vegan spinach puff ball and man alive this was a lot of food now that I write it all out knowing I’m forgetting something additional. (That coffee pot looking jawn is the lentil soup container lol.)
The morning we flew back to London, we had to leave the hotel at like 6 am (egads and oh no). Since we would be missing breakfast, the hotel sent us off with a bag stuffed with tropical fruit containers and salads! (Sure the salads had feta but I could eat the fruit! So nice!)
This was an incredibly special holiday as you can see, and not just because I had my first upgrade (yasss), or my first room service (yassss), or because I didn’t drown in the ocean. Muscat might not be a vegan mecca, but it has a lot to offer tourists in terms of history and culture and overall great experiences, and vegans will definitely be more than fine. And if you read this whole thing, you deserve a stay at the Shangri-La.
Vedge Restaurant, Philadelphia: The World’s Greatest
Rutabaga salad with baby greens and roasted maitake mushrooms
As a Philadelphia native, I was lucky enough to eat at Horizons restaurant several times in my life. It was the restaurant I always chose for celebrating a special occasion, but simply going there was a special occasion in itself. The food overall was sublime, the desserts and seitan in particular were just perfection. When Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby suddenly announced their decision to close Horizons and open a more vegetable-focused restaurant, I was crushed, as was every vegan, vegetarian, Philly person, and anyone who appreciated great food.
Luckily for me and my therapist, Vedge Restaurant is, if possible, even better than Horizons. Hurrah! Sure, it is different, and the focus on vegetables leaves little room on the menu for the wondrous things Landau can famously do with seitan, tofu, and tempeh. However, he graciously keeps a few of those dishes in rotation. More importantly, the focus on vegetables will blow your freaking mind. Obviously, I love vegetables, and my many years as a vegan have given me a pretty great appreciation of what you can do with them. But I’m still a civilian, and the chefs at Vedge, well, aren’t. The food is ridiculous. I’ve been to Vedge about five times since it opened, and each time, the many (many) plates ordered were all stupendous. This post will cover what I had on the latest visit in August; I’ll cover other seasons at Vedge in later posts.
Luckily for me and my therapist, Vedge Restaurant is, if possible, even better than Horizons. Hurrah! Sure, it is different, and the focus on vegetables leaves little room on the menu for the wondrous things Landau can famously do with seitan, tofu, and tempeh. However, he graciously keeps a few of those dishes in rotation. More importantly, the focus on vegetables will blow your freaking mind. Obviously, I love vegetables, and my many years as a vegan have given me a pretty great appreciation of what you can do with them. But I’m still a civilian, and the chefs at Vedge, well, aren’t. The food is ridiculous. I’ve been to Vedge about five times since it opened, and each time, the many (many) plates ordered were all stupendous. This post will cover what I had on the latest visit in August; I’ll cover other seasons at Vedge in later posts.
Pho Spiced Mushroom Sandwich
I recommend, if you have the option, that you go to Vedge on a weekday. For one thing, try getting a reservation on a weekend now that Rich won Chopped! For another, better reason, on weekdays from 5-7pm, you can order off the Happy Hour menu (if seated in the bar section). You get a menu of drinks and four dishes that cost only $4-$6, about. The first one we ordered was the Pho Spiced Mushroom Sandwich. Holy crap was this incredible. I could eat so many of these. The mushrooms were grilled perfectly and seasoned beyond what I could imagine, on great, thick toast covered with a white bean puree and topped with arugula. This perfect sandwich combined all of my favorite things: mushrooms, bean puree, good bread, and fresh greens.
We also ordered the Korean Seitan Tacos and the Kung Pao Cauliflower from the Happy Hour list. Oh man. the Seitan Tacos are a must-0rder if you go to Vedge. The seitan is just as spellbinding as you might remember from Horizons, and is put to its proper use in a spicy taco. Again, I could eat so many of these. So amazing.
We also ordered the Korean Seitan Tacos and the Kung Pao Cauliflower from the Happy Hour list. Oh man. the Seitan Tacos are a must-0rder if you go to Vedge. The seitan is just as spellbinding as you might remember from Horizons, and is put to its proper use in a spicy taco. Again, I could eat so many of these. So amazing.
Korean Seitan Tacos. There were more, but I had to devour them before taking a picture The Kung Pao Cauliflower was, as expected, the most interesting cauliflower dish I’ve ever had. You might be thinking right now, “That’s like saying you met the shortest giant”, but this was truly impressive. It was very spicy, but the flavors came through well; it wasn’t just hot.
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Kung Pao Cauliflower. As delicious as it is beautiful |
Next, we ordered four items off The Dirt List, a rotating list of fresh vegetables prepared in incredible ways. My favorite was the summer beans on white eggplant puree. I’m a sucker for fresh legumes, probably because I never really use them in my own cooking. This dish was so simple and comforting yet refreshing and delightful. I loved it! We also ordered Zucchini Toast and a Beet Salad & Puree with Beet ‘Pastrami’ off the Dirt List.
Zucchini Toast, so yummy |
The Beet Pastrami – simply incredible |
Summer corn and tomato salad with magic yellow sauce
The Zucchini Toast was delicious, as most bread-based sandwich-type things are. Taken at the height of its season, the zucchini was grilled lightly and gave bursts of summery flavor. The Beet Pastrami, however, was insane. Look at it (above right)! This really blew my mind. So amazing. The accompanying salads and purees were of course delicious as well. But that pastrami, man alive. Good work.
The last dish we ordered off the Dirt List was the Heirloom Tomato and Corn Salad over quinoa. Or, Summer on a Plate. It was just everything you could possibly love about summer. Fresh tomatoes! Good corn! Quinoa! Fresh herbs! And the most incredible sauce on earth. Seriously, I don’t know what it was, but it was magical. My dining companions and I were fighting over who got to lick the plate. (I think we all ended up cleaning the plate with our fingers.)
The last dish we ordered off the Dirt List was the Heirloom Tomato and Corn Salad over quinoa. Or, Summer on a Plate. It was just everything you could possibly love about summer. Fresh tomatoes! Good corn! Quinoa! Fresh herbs! And the most incredible sauce on earth. Seriously, I don’t know what it was, but it was magical. My dining companions and I were fighting over who got to lick the plate. (I think we all ended up cleaning the plate with our fingers.)
Spicy Grilled Tofu, with edamame, miso, yuba
Next, we ordered three dishes from the main menu. (I was with more than one other person I swear!) The Rutabaga Salad, pictured at the top of this post, was cool and energizing, a refreshing break from the complex and heavier flavors of other dishes while still being very interesting itself.
Not willing to miss any of Landau’s magic with proteins (I knowww I hate that but it works), we also ordered the Spicy Grilled Tofu, served on a bed of edamame puree, covered with smoked miso sauce and a yuba cracker. It tasted as incredible as it sounds. I’m not a huge fan of blocks of tofu, but this I can do.I can’t remember another time I’ve had such amazing tofu! The last dinner dish we had was the Shwarma-style Carrots. These were so good that I forgot to take a picture. Spiced to evoke the well-known smoked Middle Eastern meats, the carrots came over black lentils and garbanzos, with a side of olive stew and topped with green harissa. Everything worked perfectly and transported me back to the best restaurants in Israel.
Not willing to miss any of Landau’s magic with proteins (I knowww I hate that but it works), we also ordered the Spicy Grilled Tofu, served on a bed of edamame puree, covered with smoked miso sauce and a yuba cracker. It tasted as incredible as it sounds. I’m not a huge fan of blocks of tofu, but this I can do.I can’t remember another time I’ve had such amazing tofu! The last dinner dish we had was the Shwarma-style Carrots. These were so good that I forgot to take a picture. Spiced to evoke the well-known smoked Middle Eastern meats, the carrots came over black lentils and garbanzos, with a side of olive stew and topped with green harissa. Everything worked perfectly and transported me back to the best restaurants in Israel.
Summer corn custard. Doesn’t it look like it has wings? Far out.
Of course, a meal at Vedge (or any vegan restaurant) would not be complete without several desserts. Kate Jacoby is not a pastry chef but a wizard, and the offerings this time around astounded as always. The most interesting, and most evocative of a Chopped basket of randomness, was the Summer Corn Custard, with fried jalapeno peppers and berries, berry sauce and jalapeno caramel. I know! Can you even wrap your head around how one creates that dish, because I can’t. I was so skeptical, but I’m glad one of my dining companions pushed for it, because dayummm, it was amazing. The custard was reminiscent of old school creamed corn, but much more delicious, obviously, and light and sweet. The fried jalapenos were hot! But the custard and the berries cooled them, and they really proved to be a perfect accompaniment. The caramel, oh my, what genius is behind that! It all worked so well, I still am in awe.
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We had two more insanely incredible desserts too! I know, this is the best meal EVER! Above is the Yuzu Peach Tart, with brown sugar miso ice cream. Oh man, this was the dessert version of summer on a plate. The ice cream perfectly complemented the warm tart, and the peaches were fresh and wonderful. I could drink that sauce too. I could pretty much drink all the sauces.
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At left is the dessert I would probably choose over and over again, based on the title alone – the Chocolate Peanut Caramel Mousse, with stout ice cream and a chocolate peanut crumble. I can’t even. This is like everything you could ever want in a dessert – chocolate! peanut butter! caramel! in so many forms! The mousse was thick and layered, so you had to dig deep like ShaunT tells you to in order to get all the layers in one bite. Man alive this was good mousse. Usually I find chocolate mousse to be too rich, or too dull. This mousse puts all others to shame, with the thick, gooey layer of peanut caramel just making everything in the world happy. The stout ice cream was beery! If you like beer, or alcohol of any sort, you will probably like this ice cream. While I appreciated that it served as a really refreshing counterpoint to the deep, heavy flavors of the other two components on the plate, I couldn’t get too into the ice cream because I don’t like alcohol, and I hate beer. So it’s really not fair for me to comment on it. Moving on, the most surprisingly amazing thing was the chocolate peanut crumble! It was like a cross between a blondie, a shortbread cookie, and a soft candy. So perfect, and topped with chocolate ganache. I can’t even deal with how good this was — AND how small it was, especially when shared between three people! It’s a tiny little bite! Note to Vedge: next time I come, give me all of the chocolate peanut stuff. Thanks.
On that note, I really can’t wait to go to Vedge again. I believe it is the best vegan restaurant in the world, and while it can get pricey, it can also be done economically if you go with people and share lots of small dishes. If you have the opportunity to go, you must. And if you think I’m wrong that it’s the best vegan restaurant in the world, I will gladly accept your challenge and eat at and blog about whatever restaurant you believe takes that spot (on your dime, right?). Enjoy!
On that note, I really can’t wait to go to Vedge again. I believe it is the best vegan restaurant in the world, and while it can get pricey, it can also be done economically if you go with people and share lots of small dishes. If you have the opportunity to go, you must. And if you think I’m wrong that it’s the best vegan restaurant in the world, I will gladly accept your challenge and eat at and blog about whatever restaurant you believe takes that spot (on your dime, right?). Enjoy!
Vedge, Philadelphia
- Water speed: Pretty good considering how busy they were
- Bathrooms: There are nice single-serve bathrooms in a hallway off the dining room. Best part – they are handicap accessible!
- Service: Great. It’s rare that you get new silverware between courses nowadays!
- Food: The best vegan magic happens here
- Bonus: Happy hour menu!
