Richmond bites

Enjoying the rocks on Belle Isle

Here's a brief respite from healthy smoothies. This past weekend my boyfriend and I made a mini trip to Richmond, VA. We went to a beautiful park, called Belle Isle, which is an island in the James River. It was a POW camp in the Civil War and later used for industrial purposes. Now it's a revitalization project with an impressive retrofitted pedestrian bridge under the car-centric Robert E. Lee Memorial Bridge. The revitalization seemed to be working, as the scene was vital -- with lots of brave bathers in the rapids.

The park would make a fine spot for a picnic. However we were also in Richmond to dine out, which we did at these three veg-friendly spots.

Vegan breakfast burrito with salsa and grits

821 Café 
We hit 821 Café for brunch.  Located at 825 West Cary Street, this busy café had a kitchen staff of very energetic punks. It was fun to watch them slice massive amounts of onions from the counter bar stools. My boyfriend and I both ordered the vegan breakfast burritos with sides of grits and salsa (above). The burrito was filled with curried tofu, vegan sausage, rosemary potatoes, and black beans. My boyfriend thought his burrito was too bland but I doused mine in the readily available hot sauces.

The grits were rather meh; like Cream of Wheat. But I think that's a style. (We are spoiled by the delicious jalapeño vegan grits at DC's Smoke & Barrel.) 821 Café also had an impressive draft list, good coffee, unsweetened tea (hard to find sometimes in the South), and spacious bathrooms.

Vegan Buffalo Wings

Strange Matter
Next we visited Strange Matter, a barcade/music venue at 929 W Grace Street, for pints and classic 1980's video games. We weren't going to get any food but could not resist the Vegan Buffalo Wings, served with vegan ranch dressing (above). Made of tofu, these greasy, breaded faux wings did the trick. Overall, Strange Matter is a little funky but lovable. Half of the arcade's games are out of commission but that adds to the charm of the few working machines. It's like playing in a video game graveyard.

Panda Veg Buffet plate

Panda Veg
Finally we ended our Richmond excursion at an old favorite, Panda Veg, located at 948 West Grace Street. Okay, I guess this restaurant has, in fact, changed their name to "Panda Garden" and they are no longer all veggie. They now offer meat. But the inviting sign on their facade continues to read "Panda Veg" and that's what it is in my heart.

Panda Veg still has an all vegan buffet on weekend nights. Yes, an all vegan Chinese food buffet. The quality and quantity of the buffet was very good on the night that we visited. Although some of the dishes are laughable. Like the salt potatoes, which are my boyfriend's favorite buffet item. I enjoy the donuts for dessert but you shouldn't overdo. (Once, with my parents, we got an entire Chinese take-out container of them. Too much of a good thing.)

Dessert of oranges and donuts

Smoke and Barrel's brunch buffet

In my opinion, eating at a BBQ joint always poses an ethical quandary for vegans. It's difficult to enjoy your salad while others are enjoying their slab of ribs. Lately, DC has exploded with BBQ places. It is hard not to hate on this meaty trend. However the owners of Smoke and Barrel, at 2471 18th Street NW in Adams Morgan, haven't forgotten how to make vegans feel welcome. As their sign says, they offer a brunch buffet with "Vegan Options Too!"

Smoke and Barrel is located in the former space of Asylum, a once popular, pseudo biker bar that had some killer vegan eats. In its new incarnation, the restaurant/bar feels more like a high-end man cave than its previous punk rock grotto-vibe. Think craft beer, flat screen TVs, and a wooden barrel and red brick decor. (The owners are also responsible for Meridian Pint in Columbia Heights.)

These are some blurry photos of the weekend buffet. The drink on the left is my boyfriend's half empty full Bloody Mary. This was an excellent libation; a delicious meal in itself. On the right is a buffet plate with french toast, tofu hash, hash brown potatoes, grits, and a flour tortilla filled with tofu scramble and vegan chili. 

Even though it looks like an unattractive, brown blob here, the french toast was my favorite item--chewy and cinnamony. My boyfriend preferred the roasted jalapeno grits. The buffet also featured plenty of condiments, including salsa, maple syrup, and various hot sauces. And they offered unlimited coffee with soy milk.    

Overall, I enjoyed the buffet. It helped that the vegan food was well-labeled and kept in separate warmers from the meat and dairy offerings. In fact, the veggie stuff seemed loads more popular than the meaty BBQ brunch fare. Maybe one day the owners will make the buffet all-vegan. That would be a rad return to the ethos of punk rock.     

Indigma's grand lunch buffet

 

Indigma, located at 801 North Charles Street, touts itself as "the best modern Indian restaurant in Baltimore City." I must concur. What makes Indigma special? First of all, they have a romantic setting. The restaurant has high ceilings, chandeliers, colorful walls, and large windows that look out onto the iconic Washington Monument in Mount Vernon Park. (I bring all of my out-of-town visiting guests to Indigma because it is sure to impress on appearance alone.) But what's more important than looks is the food.

The best way to sample this fresh, inventive, and delicious food is at Indigma's lunch buffet, available Saturday and Sundays from 12-3pm and weekdays from 11:30am-2:30pm. This truly grand buffet offers all-you-can-eat lunch with salads, condiments (including excellent pickle), traditional snacks, desserts/fruits, and breads.

The highlight of the lunch buffet is their sambar (photo below). It is a rich, savory, and addictive stew. On a recent visit my boyfriend polished off six bowls of it. The other food items on the buffet are variable, but, thankfully, the sambar seems to be a staple. Also of note, the "spicy salad" is wickedly hot and flavorful with fresh veggies, onions, and chickpeas.      

Indigma uses a color scheme to denote which buffet dishes are vegetarian (usually green). Even more impressive, they have started posting labels for dietary preferences on each buffet dish, including the biranyi and rice. For example, the smooth and subtly spicy chenna masala gets labeled "G-F, VEG, VGN." One word of caution here is that the servers often bring a gratis basket of non-vegan naan to your table. I recommend ordering a vegan roti or chapati instead.         

Sadly, the buffet isn't available at dinner. However I have visited Indigma for dinner and the restaurant has some amazing vegan fusion dishes that are not found on the buffet, as well as killer cocktails.

Remember the moment in the film The Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy hugs the Scarecrow goodbye and cries, "I think I'll miss you most of all!"? This is what I've been thinking about Indigma's grand lunch buffet, as I prepare to leave Oz for Kansas. Or rather, in my case, move from the Technicolor dining world of Baltimore back to Sepia Tone DC. (Please expect to see more DC restaurants featured on this blog soon. Because: "there's no place like home.")