Adventures of a Vegetarian

Another place I frequent for work is College Station Texas. Fortunately I have found several good places to eat their as well. The best is definitely Excel Cafe. This is a quirky and mid-to-high-end (for College station) that does fresh ingrediants, great attention to detail, and well prefared food. They have several veggie choices in the form of roasted vegetable sandwich, brick oven pizzas, and pastas. They have agreat beer selection and the wait staff is helpful and quirky too. Anything with chocolate in it for the dessert course will be a win.

Another great option is Abuela’s, for fine dining Mexican. They have many veg choices including spinach enchiladas, chilli rellenos, quesadillas, and their potato side is much better to get than rice. Their margarita’s are yummy too. In the same shopping center as Abuela’s is a Japanese Teppanyaki style restaurant where you can get the veggie teppanyaki. Who doesn’t like a steaming onion volcano? If you want to do the Teppanyaki dining experience (which is fun) at least 3 of you have to order it. Or you can sit at the regular tables and order off the the standard japanese fare menu.

My other favorite place is Free Birds. There are at least 2 of them around town, and this is a great lunch spot. This is a Texas based chain (which has now spread beyond Texas) which is like Chipotles but in my opionion much better. You can get your burrito, quesadilla, salad, with grilled veggies and veg beans, no problem. The staff have great attitudes. They have a fantastic salsa and salad dressing selection too. They also have local to Texas beers. I always enjoy sitting under the 700 lb Harley suspended in the air over my head, adds to the experience.

Places to stay: Definitely the Residence Inn, absoulately beautiful rooms that are all suites with a full kitchen. They have a free full breakfast in the morning and light dinner and bad beer/wine at least two to three nights a week. The gym is excellent and they have an indoor pool too. In walking distance to Abuela’s.

I doubt that you will find yourself in Yuma Arizona, but I often do for work. Fortunately there is one really good place to eat, River City Grill. The restaurant is run by Oregon transplants and they have organic fare and several vegetarian choices. I reccomend the herb encrusted tofu. It is rather tasty. They also have killer cocktails. I reccomend the Blue Martini, yum…This place has great ambiance and service too.

The rest of the post will be what you can eat at the other places you might get dragged to by your co-workers. A favorite of the office crowd in the Texas Roadhouse. Here as the name implies your options are limited but you can make a meal out of the sides, they do a nice backed sweet potato and vegetable and mushroom skewers. They also have a southwest dinner salad you can ask to have more black beans and avocado and hold the barbacue. Five guys burgers actually does an interesting take on a veggie burger. They have a bunch of grilled vegetables (mushrooms, peppers, onions) that you can have with the bun and fixins, but without the burger. Their fries are pretty good too will have you carbed out for a good 8 hours. Another mexican one with veg options is Chretin’s. You can get a chili relleno and their margarita’s (something with a reptile in the name) was pretty good.

My favortie place to stay is definitely the Hampton Inn. Definitely one of the nicest Hampton inns I have stayed at. It is brand new but looks like a ski lodge inside. The rooms are large and comfortable. They have a free breakfast buffet and a nice gym. Also in walking distance to the mall and Roadhouse, ye haw..

As part of my Dublin trip we went to Bru Na Boyne, which is near the town of Drogheda. You MUST go to passage Tombs of Newgrange and Knowth which is in Bru Na Boyne. This is literally one of th emost amazing neolithic sites on the planet. You can get a bus here (about 60 km from Dublin). Or they do a package tours from your Dublin hotel. Or if you have a car you can drive and stay overnight in Drogeha.

The tombs are only accessible by guided tours from the visitors center. It is close enough to do a day trip there but arrive early as the number of visitors per day is limited. They actually run a remarkably effiicent operation here where you are given specific times to board buses at the visitor center to to see each of the tombs, are given a guide, and a set amounbt of time at each tomb. When you go make sure to check out BOTH tombs and the museum ( i.e. pay the full price). If these ancient wonders which pre-date Stone henge (circa 3200 BC) don’t knock your socks off, then you aren’t wearing socks or you don’t have a pulse. This place is truly amazing and makes stone henge seem quaint. I would reccomend bringing a flashlight unless you are lucky to be there on the solstic. Make sure to check out the tomb reconstruction in museum as well, you can only reach it through the museum’s theatre (after the short movie you leave through the shaft tomb reconstruction). They also have an excellent cafeteria in the museum with lots of veggie fare to choose from.

If you are going to stay overnight the nearest big city is Drogheda. This is not that attractive of a town (it is a Dublin outskirts economic expansion boom town), so I reccomend just the one night, itis pretty dull actually. There was an excellent indian restaurant here, however, where we had a vegetarian feast, called Bengal Spice on Stockwell street, a block or two up from the river crossing. We ended up ordering about 5 of the side dishes (these were actually the traditional fare and purely veg) and much cheaper than the mains. Excellent food and excellent service!

I traveled to Dublin for work and then vacation this past summer. It is a beautiful city filled with history, friendly people, and a modern day bustling city. It is like london but prettier and easier to get around. I found several excellent vegetarian and veg friendly restaurants.

Cornucopia – Vegetarian restaurant in the center of the action on Wicklow street is always jam packed with people. You order at the counter from a selection of mains, soups, salads, drinks, and desserts. Then they give you your number and find a table at this fabulous place. I went here twice because it was so good. They do lunch and dinner and have music some evenings.

Fresh – This is a vegetarian cafe inside the Powerscourt Towncenter on the upper level. They have a massive selection of very FRESH salads, soups, sanwiches, and juices. I think they only do breakast and lunch. The food was fantastic, a good break from a hard day of shopping.

Govindas – Hare Krishna vegan restaurant right down the street from the Merrion Hotel and the govt buildings. They do purely veg indian inspired food here with huge portions at very reasonable prices; lunch and dinner. Great for take way too. They have another branch, although I didn’t try that one

Blazing salads – Heatlh food shop/cafe that has vegetarian hot entrees that you can get in a take away box although there is some counter seating at the front. Good for lunch on the go or to eat in the park.

El Bahia-Middle Eastern Morrocon restaurant that has an excellent vegtable tagine, great ambience and service, and very close to trinity college. Note it is not purely vegetarian, but they are many choices here for us herbivores. Make sure to get the Morrocon mint tea as well, the waiters pouring abilities will make your evening.

Now for the drinks:
My favoroute pubs were the Stag’s Head (for the ambiance) and O’ Neils. Both are near Trinity college and O’Neils has a very extensive Irish beer selection. O’Neils also has a few veg options on their pub menu. The pubs in the Temple Bar area are very touristy (blaring American rock an’ roll songs at 2am), but this is the only area of the city where the pubs are open well after midnight. So you may have no choice if you want to party late.

Queen of Tarts – for the sweet tooth(s) in all of us, near Dublin castle

Leo Burdock’s – Well you have to check out the most famous chip shop in Dublin, and you can get them with curry sauce. A great carb-only lunch…It is near Chester Beatty library

Things to do:
Visit trinity college grounds and make sure to see the book of kells. The national museum is free and incredible with its selection of pre-celtic and celtic treasures. This museum will give you a whole new view of what the ancience people of ireland (we are talking several thousand BC) were like and their beatiful metal work and pottery. There are several churches, parks, squares, and the Dublin Castle that are also worth visiting. Also check out Chester Beatty Library (next to the Dublin Castle), it is free, and has a nice cafe with veg options and a pretty park out front to picnic.

Where to stay:
If you can afforfd it the Merrion hotel is amazing, I got one night in here, I felt like royalty, seriously. If you want to do a long stay try out the Trinity college dorms. I stayed here for a week in an apartment style dorm. It was really nice, comes with a kitchen / living room, and the central location is excellent. The price was prety reasonable too. You can share it with strangers (cheaper) b/c each room is locked in the apartment, which reduces the cost even further. You can also get singles or double tht come with an attached bathroom, but no kitchen / loving room. All the rooms come with breakfast in the cafe. There is also wireless internet access, which is a plus. There is laundry facilities on site as well.

How to Get Around:
The bus service in Dublin is excellent, frequent, and inexpensive. There is even a 24-hour a day direct bus-courch service to the airport (7Euro) that you can pick up from all over town. This will save you a lot of money. You can buy tickets in advance at the travel office just outside of Trinity College near the College Green. But there are pick up points all over the city. The pick up point at the airport is also very obvious or ask anyone and they will point you towards it. The drivers are all relaly nice so if you just pop up a bus and ask if it is going your way they are sure to point you in the direction of one that is.

Near By Places to Check Out:
You MUST go to passage Tombs of Newgrange and Knowth which is in Bru Na Boyne. Check out my other post on Droghead and Newgrange for more details.

For July 4th holiday break we went to Soufriere, St. Lucia, and flew into the airport at teh southern tip of the island. St. Lucia is a beautiful carribean island that is lush and tropical, with rain forest, beaches, and hiking. We stayed for 4 nights at the Fondoux Plantation cottages, which is a real chocolate plantation, near the town of Soufriere. The cottages at the fondeoux are peaceful, secluded, romantic, and have beautiful views of the rain forest all around you from your balcony. If you are looking to get away from it all then this is the place for you.

Veggie Food Options:
Finding vegetarian food in the Sourfriere resort area of St. Lucia was quite difficult. Each hotel usually has a restaurant and typically one veggie (and very boring) option. But we did find two good places. There is the Boucan restaurant at the Hotel Chocolat that is a chocolat themed restaurant and has good veggie choices for mains and appetizers (containing chocolat) and chocolate cocktails and desserts to die for. You even get salt and pepper shakers with chocolat nibs inside. They go all out here.The other option is the Dasheene restaurant at the Ladera resort. Not only does the open air restaurant give you breathtaking views of the petit piton mountain at sunset while you sip your cocktail, but they have a separate vegetarian menu. I had the vegetarian creole soy-meat stew which was excellent.

The meals in this area are very pricey ($20/plate), but that is unavoidable as there are really only hotel-based restaurants available in the Soufriere resort area. But the service and plate presentations in these restaurants are like being at a 5 star restaurant. So you won’t mind the expense.

There is one low cost option in the town of Soufriere, and that is the vegetarian Ja Lambe. We heard about this place from our mountain hiking guide / vegan rasta, but it has illusive hours, so we were not able to find it open. But I have heard this place is awesome from several sources, so try and check it out, and post me if you get to eat there. It is very inexpensive local vegetarian cuisine, and I even saw it featured on the travel channel a few months after we came back. Basically a hole in the wall place that serves up incredible tasty and healthy food. There are also bakeries and small foodmarkets in town that you can buy baked goods and basic food at.

On the way back to the Hewanorra airport, in Vieux Fort we did find another restaurant in the center of town called the “Old Plantation Yard”. Here you can get a vegetarian plate which has delicous cooked yams, rice, beans, and salad. Very inexpensive, cute courtyard and indoor eating areas, and very nice staff run this place in town. It is a little hard to find so make sure you have it on your GPS or smart phone map before you head out (or ask someone on the street, it is pretty popular place).

Things to do in Soufriere: are to visit the collapsed albeit smoldering drive through volcano crater, visit the mud baths fed by the volcanically heated water and smother yourselves in mud, snorkeling, kayaking, and hiking up the gross piton mountain (requires a guide at the entrance to the trail). The best place to snorkel is the Jalousie resort, where you can also rent snorkel gear and kayaks (weather permitting).

On our mexico holiday this Xmas we rented a car and after 4 days in Puerto Vallarta drove all the way to the city of Colima, which is in the state of Colima. The drive takes a long time (5 hours), but you go through ocean road, forest, mountains, little towns, and finally reach the colonial city of Colima with the towering Volcano de Fuego as the backdrop. Colima is not really visited by foreign tourists, and is actually a very modern town on the outskirts. Although the downtown is very pretty and colonial. The things to do in Colima are to hike around the active volcano de fuego, visit the pretty little puebla of Comala, visit two archeological sites the ancient cities of La Campana and La Chanal, dating from 700 to 1400 AD, and two regional museums to see the pottery and statues from the sites.

Places to Eat in Colima:

There was a surprising amount of real mexican vegetarian food in this town that was AWESOME! First there is a great cafe called Sal Om Lux 5 blocks east of hotel Ceballos (main square Jardin La Libertad) on F. Co. I. Madero (the cafe shows up as “Lakshmi” on google maps). This is an order at the desk cafe / health shop in a huge building and everything is vegetarian. Try the varios: specifically tacos de guisados, soya ceviche tostada, and you MUST try the quesadilla combinado (with soy chorizo or mushrooms). They have serve yourself salsas. The food was fabulous and about $1-2 US per item! They also have a long list of veggie burgers, but the varios are better. They have great liquados and baked postres (desserts) too. The other restaurant we ate at was Ah Que Nanishe, a Oaxacan restaurant on Cinco De Mayo about 5 blocks west of hotel Ceballos. This place was unbelievable. In case you didn’t already know, Oaxacan food is one of the best in Mexico and they have a ton of veggie options here. Try the veggie tamale with mole for a starter. I got one chile relleno stuffed with squash flowers and the other with huitlacoche for the main course. The food was amazing and was about $15 per person for three courses. Side Note: If you have not had huitlacoche before, you must try it. I think you can only get it in Mexico (or central america). It is the fungus that grows on the corn plant and it tastes really good (albeit funky). You have to push your horizons when you travel so when there is a vegetarian delicacy you must try it! For dessert we got the pay de limon, yum….

Where to stay in Colima:

You have to stay at hotel Ceballos, which is run by Best Western. It is a beautiful multi level colonial building with internal courtyard, well appointed rooms with pretty Mexican furnishings, and is in the center of the action. Of course that means noise if you get a room that overlooks the main square, but you only live once. They have free parking and a beautiful roof top patio. if you want a quiet room you can get one in the interior but note it doe snot have a window to outside, only into the interior of the building.

What to do:

In town check out the Regional museum (in the main square – Jardin La Libertad) where they have artifacts from the ancient cultures of Colima and a replica of a shaft tomb downstairs and colonial period pieces upstairs. Also you MUST checkout the Museum of Western cultures (about 2 miles east of the center), also boasting a large collection of statues and pottery from the ancient peoples of Colima state. The top tourist attractions in Colima are its archeological sites. There are two settlements, La Campana (north side of town), which has a shaft tomb that you can climb down to and peer inside, as well as multiple plaza levels and buildings / temples. It reminded by of Teotihuacan although smaller. But the site is very impressive and apparently only 1% has been excavated. The other site, which has been very nicely excavated is La Chanal with well maintained grounds. This is also a very large site, but it is a little difficult to find. It is about 2 km north of Tercer Anillo Periferico by taking the V. Carranza Rd. north. Make sure to have a GPS or a map printed before you go, or you will have to ask someone in town for help. It is a large ancient city and is well worth the visit. There is another one, La Capacha, but our GPS coordinates led us to a field and the kids in town said there wasn’t anything there.

North of town, about 6 miles, is the little city of Comala. It has pretty white painted buildings and nice stores. Stop here for lunch, a licuado, and shopping, on your way to or coming back from the volcano.

You can take the main road all around the base of the volcano. On your way to the volcano you pass through the magic zone. It is an optical illusion that makes is look like you are accelerating uphill. You drive a few miles further up the main road and there is a side cobble stone road that you can take to get closer to the volcano and hike on the avocado farmland that encircles the base to have amazing views. The road is pretty bad so take it easy and make sure your tires are in good shape. But you don’t need a 4WD, however a manual transmission car helps (versus automatic). Having a GPS or smart phone with google maps already loaded helps you locate these spots. It would be hard without it.

We traveled to Puerto Vallarta and Colima Mexico for our Xmas vacation this year. I will cover Puerto Vallarta (PV) first and then Colima in a separate post.

PV has something for everyone for a beach vacation. If you stay in North PV you are in the mega all inclusive resort zone. If you stay in the zona romantica you get the urban beach bum experience, laid back, but also in the center of the action. If you stay south of PV, in the mismaloya area, you get the more secluded, tropical small/boutique resort feel. But wherever you end of staying you have to check out downtown PV for the culinary treats, nightlife, and shopping.

Eating Out in PV Veggie style:

In downtown PV you MUST check out Planeta Vegetariana, about one block uphill from the cathedral. This place has delicious Mexican food at a great value, and is completely vegetarian. They do breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and the menu changes everyday. 85 pesos ($6) for dinner includes salad bar, soup, bread, three main entrees, rice, beans, drink, coffee, and dessert. Also since it is buffet style, it is all you can eat. I highly reccomend this restaurant, we came back for dinner here twice. Can we say soya carne asada! If I had an option like this in LA I would be here once a week.

Another option in downtown is El Arrayan, this is not a veggie restaurant, but they have several veggie appetizer choices, and at least one veggie main entree, and great cocktails. This is a romantic restaurant (and a bit pricey) and they have live music some evenings. It is about 5 blocks uphill from the Malecon (pedestrian beach front).

During the day make sure to get a licuado (milk with fresh fuit blended in) at the Malibu cafe just one block south of the cathedral square, just off the malecon (on Xalisco). I recommend trying the mamey or guanabana (unique to carribean and Mexico) licquado or jugo (juice). They also have a veggie torta here, if you want lunch.

At least one night try out the mexican street food stands on on the malecon. There are a few options that are veggie. There is the delicous mexican concoction of roasted corn, cheese, and chili sauce, all in a cup, for 15 pesos. It is a popular mexican treat. There is also the roasted banana with strawberries and crema, my favorite. There is also a crepe stand that does several savory crepes, I reccomend rajas (poblano pepper) con queso. Also try the champuriddo (hot corn meal based drink with chocolate) or a horchata (rice milk with spices). As as vegetarian, if you can’t try all the food, at least you can try all the drinks!

North of downtown, opposite the sheraton is 100% Natural. This is a healthy food restaurant with many veggie options. The problem with this place is that the service is horrendous and they are often out of tofu and the other vegan meat substitutes. We sat and waited 30 minutes b/f they told us that, and asked us if we wanted chiken instead, go figure. I did not like their veggie burger. So caution on this place, although their juice selection is excellent.

Other options in any restaurant are to order a quesadilla con queso y verduras (veggies) or a chile relleno con queso (poblano pepper stuffed with cheese and but note it is egg battered.

Things to do:
The malecon is a must, it stretches for about 1 mile and is fun during the day and night. Lots of stores, street performers, and partying going on here into the wee hours of the morning. When you get to the intersection with the river head up river and check out the history museum (free) and the shopping stalls along the river.

About 15 miles south of town is the PV botanical garden. The bus trip (pick up at intersection of Aguacate / V. Carranza says Tuito on the front) is only 20 pesos and takes about 30 minutes. The botantical garden has nice hiking trails and two swimming holes / lagoons, a great restaurant, shop, and plants! The return bus you can pick up on the opposite side of the road at the palapita just a little bit up the road. The nicest beach is Mismaloya, and that can be reached by the same bus, and probably others. The best place for snorkeling in Los Arcos (large rock islands), which can be seen from mismaloya, but unless you are a really good swimmer, needs to be reached by boat or kayak. The best way to get around PV is by the local buses, they are frequent, cheap, and the front window lists where they are going / stopping. You can get the bus all the way to the airport if you want to save yourself $20 US….

But PV is fun, safe, relaxing, and feels like the real mexico (in parts). You can get by with just english too…..Enjoy!

I had a wonderful two week summer tour of the western Ireland counties of Kerry, Clare, Galway, and Mayo. This region of ireland contains a wealth of stone age, Celtic and Early Christian archeoligcal sites as well as numerous castles, forts, and beautiful coastal and inland landscapes of mountain, lakes, and plains. Our route took us through Killarney, around the ring of Kerry, up through the dingle pensinsula, to the cliffs of mohair through the burren region, up to Galway city and then through conemarra with stops in Clifden, Westport, and Cong.

Veg Dining: 

The cities we visited in Kerry included Killarney, Kenmare, Caherdaniel, Waterville, Carchiveen, Dingle,  Listowel, DoohlinGalway, Clifden, Freeport, Cong.

Reccomended restaurants with good veg options:

The Bricen, Killarney (several tasy veg entrees)

Global Village, Dingle Town (best restaurant I went to in ireland)

Kasturi, Ennis (Excellent indian food)

O’Connor’s, Doolin (Veggie Crepes are fabulous)

Sheridans on the Docks, Galway (incredible beer selection)

EJ Kings, Clifden

Cullen’s at the Cottage, Cong (Great excuse to roam around Ashford Castle)

I recently had the unique experience of touring Ethiopia for a few weeks. It is a culinary and archeological wonderland for the mid-experienced traveler.

Our Journey started in Addis Abbaba, then onto Bahir Dar, Gondar, hte Simian Mountains, Axum, Lalibela, and then back to Addis. We saw so many incredible sites from the birthplace of humankind, to Queen of Sheba’s palaces, the largest human built monolithic structures in the world, and rock hune churches from the middle ages that are still in use today. It was incredible and I highly reccomend it.

The other part of the adventure was the cuisine. About 60% of the population is Orthodox CHristian. As such they eat purely vegan cuisine tow to three days a week which means a vegetarians paradise. Ethiopian fasting food food consists of divinely spiced lentils, pulses, greens, beans, cabbage, and a the delectable bean stew called Shiro; all sopped up with a unique flatbread called injera. I love spicey food and Ethiopian cuisince can set your taste buds on fire! Sadly in the US the spice level is reduced about two orders of magnitude. Also, Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee, “caffa” with grows that a highland tree as a little red berry. If you are a coffee lover Ethiopian Buna is literally the best coffee in the world, fresh,sweet, perfection.

For breakfast have a machiatto and inkuful tibbs (fried eggs) or shiro tegamimo (100% vegan bean stew).

For lunch and dinner order the vegetarian bayonett and you will get a huge platter (enough for two people) of every vegetarian item they make.

Make sure to try the ethiopian tea, called shai, very good.

Also if you are going to get fuit juice ask for the espris, a layering of all the juices they make, delicious.

Cleveland seems to be my adopted city because I have spent so much time there for work. But it is a city with incredible architecture, depth of personality, a vibrant past, and a promising future. There are a lot of fun things to do in the Cleveland area including museums, exploring retired navy and civilian watercraft, markets, and amusement parks.

Places to eat:

I was not able to find any vegetarian specific restaurants but many restaurants have good veg options. In fact Cleveland is becoming quite the foodie destination with many high end, nouveau american places popping up all over the place. I had to check out Lolita’s in Ohio City/Tremont since it is run by Iron Chef Michael Simon. They have veg option appetizers, pasta, and pizzas. I also went to Fire in Shaker square, they have several veg options in the form of pizza, pasta, salads, and appetizers.  Another place I tried is the Mad Greek in Cleveland Heights. It is a fusion of indian and Greek cuisine, with plenty of veg options. The West side market in Ohio City has all kinds of food to buy including a farmers market, so it is a great place to gather supplies if you are going to cook for youself. They also have a great tea shop, try the “Smoky” Russian Caravan Right. Also over bythe west side market is Bar “Centro and Bier Markt” (wine and beer cafe), which also has veg options for light dinner / happy hour fare.

Things to Do:

Downtown:

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Science Center, USS Cole, Steamship, Woman’s Air and Space Museum (located inside small airport by the water)

University Circle:

Museum of Fine Art, Botanical Garden, Museum of Natural History

Tremont/Ohio City:

West Side Market, Lorraine Bridge, walking through the pretty neiborhoods

Places to Stay:

 I always stay at the downtown Marriot Residence inn which is all suite accomodations with full kitchens, great if you want to cook for yourself. They also have a good free breakfast buffet and free small evening food/drinks Mon to Thurs. The hotel is located in the Colonial Marketplace (arcade) that has an old-american beauty to it. The other plus of staying at the Residence Inn is that they give you access to the “Fitworks” fitness center in the arcade, which has everything you could ever want in terms of workout equipment.

 The other place I like to stay at is the Embassy Suites in downtown, also very nice. This is a newly renovated hotel, I believe. It has 1 and 2 bedroom suite accomodations. But N FYI, you only get a sink, small fridge, and microwave in your suite. But the free breakfast buffet is very snazzy with free evening small drinks and snacks some evenings. The hotel also has a nicely equipped gym, cardio room, pool, and hot tub. This is a very good option for long stays in town.