I just got back from 5 days in DC (well, the DC area) and man, did I eat well! Here are some of the culinary highlights of my trip, in no particular order…
This is the only restaurant we visited twice (and the only one I make sure to visit on every. single. trip. I make to DC!).
As a side note, I recently found out that they’re opening a Denver location! Gasp! Squeal! But I digress. Here’s the food.
Our first trip began with a shared appetizer, which of course had to be the Coconut Tofu Bites with Plum-Red Pepper Sauce! These are so good and I think they might be my desert island choice. They’re evocative of coconut shrimp, only waaaaay better.
For my “entree” I actually went with another appetizer… the Chick’n Vegan Nachos! Yellow corn chips, guacamole, cheese, pico de gallo, sour cream, black-eyed peas, and salsa. Definitely not the best picture, but they were great- especially the cheese!
The second time we went it was lunchtime, and I had the Crispy Vegan “Chicken” Sandwich with lettuce, tomato, serrano pepper, roasted garlic aioli and a brioche bun. I am a huge fan of crispy “chicken” sandwiches, especially since I don’t often make them at home. This one was definitely delicious!
We ate dinner here our first night. I hadn’t heard of this chain before, but it’s fast casual… similar to Native Foods but with a smaller menu. I had the Philly Steak made with pulled steak (no idea what it was made out of but the texture was great!), grilled onion, mushroom and ketchup on a roll. It was soooo rich and gooey and salty and cheesy- PERFECTION!
Mom went with the Udon Noodle Salad, which had spicy glazed chick’n, sprouts, arugula, carrot, cabbage, daikon, scallions, peanuts and a Chinese black bean dressing. She said the chick’n was the best she’s ever had, but other than that the salad was just sad. It was like 90% arugula unfortunately.
My Friend Shawna’s House
Well this was my favorite meal because I shared it with one of my oldest friends! Shawna and I first met in the 7th grade and have been friends ever since. We grilled out in their back yard and she served Beyond Burgers and sweet fries, yay! These things are so darned good.
All I can say about this place is WOW. I had never heard of it, but we were spending the day with my cousin and his wife and there was one near their house. He knew they had a lot of vegan options so that’s where we went. AND JUST WOW!
Also? Please come to Denver, Silver Diner!
Mom and I couldn’t decide so we each picked one thing, and split them both. She chose the Just Egg Benedict, with scrambled Just eggs, smoky tempeh bacon, baby spinach, tomatoes, and cheese sauce on sourdough toast, with fresh fruit. I’ve never had eggs benedict so I can’t speak to the authenticity of this version but it was definitely delicious. And it was my first time trying Just eggs- I’m officially a fan!
Look at that vegan cheese sauce!
For our other “to share”, I chose the Beyond Meat Meatballs Cauliflower ‘Mac’ N Cheese. This had cauliflower instead of pasta, smoky tempeh bacon, tomatoes, zucchini, and asparagus. The menu said it would be in a cheese sauce, but it wasn’t… the sauce was something savory, but definitely not cheesy. You can see in the picture the sauce was thin and red. It was good though. The best part was the meatballs though.
We discovered Bozelli’s by accident on our first afternoon. We had just checked into our hotel (Crystal City, it’s where my conference was) and were walking to the metro station. The plan was to take the train into DC and find a spot but my eagle-eyed mum spotted a sandwich board on the sidewalk advertising their vegan options, so we decided to grab a bite there.
We got the Bizarro Pizza which comes with meatless meatballs, vegan sausage, caramelized onions, sun-dried tomatoes, and vegan mozzarella. We skipped the onions because she doesn’t like them… and the “meatballs” were actually crumbles, but it was amazing all the same! Quite spicy, but yummy.
Yes, we ate the whole thing 🙂
Conference Eats
This wasn’t the most vegan-friendly conference I’ve been to (coffee was the only vegan option at breakfast the first day, although there were bagels the second day) but I did get two good lunches out of it. The first was spaghetti and red sauce which could easily be bland but there were spiralized veggies on top that had been sauteed in something very flavorful!
The second (and better of the two) was a puff pastry stuffed with fresh veggies, a rice pilaf that tasted like Thanksgiving, and green beans with more spiralized veggies. You can’t see much of the sauce but it was full of tomatoes and capers, very tasty!
Last but not least… A Chili Dog and Chili Fries at the airport! I’ve eaten here before and am a big fan of their vegan and vegetarian options… and now they also have both the Beyond and Impossible burgers on their menu! I’ve never seen a restaurant that serves both, I thought that was pretty cool. It would be fun to order one of each with the exact same toppings and do a taste test, right?
Ok, that’s it for what I ate in DC…
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OMG Everything looks so tasty! I haven’t been to the HipCityVeg in DC but I’ve been to their two locations in Philly. I hope they keep growing because their stuff is so good. My favorite is the portabello mushroom that is breaded and fried and served with Buffalo Sauce.