Tag: tofu

Food Reviews: The Wild Cow- Vegan Food in East Nashville

Despite its name, The Wild Cow is an all vegan restaurant located in East Nashville. On the search for something healthy and delicious, I decided to give this place a shot. Here’s the breakdown:

ATMOSPHERE

 

     

The Wild Cow is located in a posh area of East Nashville, in a sleek new-ish building with other cafes and shops.

 

The inside immediately reminds you that this is a vegan place to eat. There’s always a hippie-type vibe in these places: casual, but clean, a wait staff with dreads, many flavors of tea to choose from, etc.
Furthermore, there were adorable pictures of cows, dogs, and other animals framed all over the walls.
Everyone that worked here was super friendly and helpful. We felt welcomed right away.

THE FOOD

Their entire menu can be found here: menu
Also, here are vegan baked goods located on the front bar. I abstained, but they looked delicious.
Finally, there’s a refrigerator by the bakery bar that has a few options of healthy sodas and juices. They also serve beer!

TACO SAMPLER PLATE, $12
Description: Comes with each of the signature tacos and one side. NO MODIFICATIONS ALLOWED.
Tacos:
Sweet Potato & Black Bean Tacos: mashed sweet potatoes,
black beans, lime slaw, homemade jerk sauce and toasted
pumpkin seeds. (GF w/ corn tortillas)
Chipotle Seitan Tacos: spinach, carrots, tomatoes, vegan ranch
and BE Hive chipotle seitan.
Peanut Tempeh Tacos: sautéed kale, peanut sauce, avocado, carrot-                  daikon slaw, sesame seeds and peanut tempeh. (GF w/ corn
tortillas)

When a hear a taco cannot have modifications, that scares me. Because usually they have cheese. However, at a vegan place, there are no modifications needed for me! And they all came on corn tortillas, so they were gluten free as well, if anyone cares.
Anyway, we loved this plate! The chipotle seitan taco was the best. It had tons of great flavor with some heat from the chipotle, but then was cooled off with the veggies and vegan ranch. So good!
My second favorite was the sweet potato one. It was very sweet, with a little savory bite from the jerk sauce and pumpkin seeds to even it out. While the texture was a little one-toned, with mashed sweet potatoes being the main component, it was still delicious.
The peanut tempeh tacos were pretty much the Far East Bowl in a shell…you can read about that disappointment below.
Finally, the side of mixed seasonal veggies with aioli was delicious! The veggies were vast: mushrooms, carrots, onions, cabbage, bell peppers, and possible more that I missed were all charred perfectly while still having a good bite. They were smokey and delicious, though the aioli was pretty bland.

Far East Bowl, $10
Description: sautéed garlicky kale, grilled tofu, carrot- daikon slaw, peanut sauce, and sesame seeds served over organic brown rice.

First thing to note, I ordered this dish with no organic brown rice, but extra garlicky kale instead. This did not cost extra.
While I was very excited about this dish, overall, I was pretty disappointed. In one word, this dish was BLAND.
I love garlic and I couldn’t taste a lick of it in the “garlicky” kale.
The tofu was extremely under-seasoned, if seasoned at all?
The veggies were nice, though they could have been more crisp.
The peanut sauce was good, but the dish overall was watery, which made the sauce watery.
We added chili sauce for heat, which helped some, but didn’t save the dish. We didn’t even finish it. I would not get this again.

OVERALL

I would definitely come back to The Wild Cow. There are so many other things on their menu and bakery bar that I want to try. The people were so nice and helpful, and it wasn’t expensive, considering everything is vegan. We left stuffed, even after not finishing one of the dishes. And I would definitely get a couple of those tacos again!

Food Review: Taste of Thai in Fayetteville

Northwest Arkansas has such great food variety, including multiple Thai food restaurants from which to choose. I have now tried three Thai food restaurants around the Fayetteville area, and this one is definitely my favorite. Here’s the breakdown:

The Environment

Located in the downtown Fayetteville square, Taste of Thai (the original) is in a great location. We happened to be in the area right after Christmas, so all of the square’s Christmas lights were still bright and shining.

We arrived around 7:30 on a Friday night and did not have to wait for a table for four. The interior is a bit on the small side, and we were seated at a table in the middle of the restaurants, surrounded by other tables.

The Menu

The menu is huge! I believe you can find something fitted for even the pickiest of people here. Our friends that came along mentioned that this place is known for their amazing curries, so this is where we focused the majority of our attention.
*There is also a page solely dedicated to vegetarian dishes, which is pretty nifty.

          

              

The Food

Fried Spring Rolls. $6.95
Description: Thai style spring rolls stuffed with clear noodles, mixed vegetables and deep fried. Served with sweet sauce and ground peanuts.

   


Our table split the fried spring rolls appetizer. There was nothing special here. The rolls were stuffed mostly with noodles and cabbage. The sauce was pretty typical for what you expect with this appetizer. The rolls were at least not too greasy, which can be an issue with this app.

Green Papaya Salad, $7.95
Description: Shredded green papaya mixed with garlic, tomatoes, and fresh lime juice. Served with cabbage.


I wanted to eat a  little lighter/ healthier, so I figured I could fill up on the papaya salad and take home any leftovers of the heftier curry entrees.
The salad was large, but whoa, it was difficult to eat. The only flavors I got were extreme heat and lime juice. It was very acidic. I could not have eaten this as is. So, I dumped our leftover “sweet sauce with chopped peanuts” that was left over from the fried spring rolls all over it. This helped tremendously, and I was able to eat the whole salad. Though, I still did not enjoy it. Others at my table agreed, and I was left to finish it off all on my own.
To be fair, I have only tried one other papaya salad in Portland, which was even spicier. Perhaps I am just not a papaya salad kind of girl?

Kang Pa-Nang Curry with Beef. $11.95
Description: Choice of meat (chicken, beef, or pork…or pricier for shrimp or a combo of shrimp, scallops, and salmon. You can also order with tofu) with Pa-Nang curry sauce, green peas, ground peanuts, basil, and coconut milk.

HOLY MOLY! This was the best pa-nang curry I have ever had. I love pa-nang curry, never met one I didn’t appreciate. However, this one was a little extra sweet and the beef flavor really helped give it depth. I also loved the crushed peanuts on the top. This gave great texture as well as a little extra flavor.
All curry dishes come with either white or brown rice, which is served separately from the curry. I did not eat even one bite of rice. I don’t have belly room for a filler. This curry (as well as the mas-samun) was too tasty!
While the price seemed cheap for what I usually see for curries at Thai restaurants, the dish was actually pretty small. Spoiler alert: no leftovers were taken home. So much for filling my belly with salad first, right? Oops.

Mas-Samun Curry Tofu. $11.50
Description: Tofu, potatoes, onions, peanuts, cauliflower, broccoli, and coconut milk in mas-samun curry sauce.

We ordered this dish off of the vegetarian part of the menu. I hardly ever see “mas-samun” curry on a menu, but when I do, I get it….it is delicious! I was pleasantly surprised when I was asked by the waiter if I wanted my tofu fried or steamed. Fried, please! In my opinion, there is nothing worse than ordering tofu in a dish and getting huge blocks of steamed, mushy tofu. This was the exact opposite. The tofu was cut into nicely sized bites and fried just enough to give it that crispy texture on the exterior. Thank you, Taste of Thai!
The curry sauce was divine. It was sweet with a little more heat than the pa-nang curry (both were ordered a heat level of 3/5), but still with a ton of flavorful depth.
The vegetables were cooked perfectly al dente, so there was still crunch and chew to the broccoli and cauliflower. The veggies were also plentiful. This dish was amazing. Think any of this got taken home in a to-go box? Nope….impossible not to eat it all in one setting.

Overall
Our friends were right. This is the place for the best curries. These were absolutely the best curries I have ever had. When, not if, I return, I don’t think I can order anything else than the pa-nang and mas-samun curries. They were too perfect.
As for the appetizers we tried, I will definitely skip out on those. Maybe trade them in for another type of curry dish?
As for the prices, they seem low, which is great. However, the portions are smaller, so there is no room for leftovers, which I usually have at other Thai restaurants. So, I suppose that is fair.
The service was fine, nothing great, nothing to complain about. The restaurant is a little crowded, but who can blame them? This place is delicious and in a wonderful, buzzing part of town.
Will I return? Hell yea.