Happy Cow | Peaches Prattlings

{March 26, 2021} Vegan Pho! Wa to the hoo!

We found a new place to go in St Louis that is not vegan, but has vegan offerings and guess who’s happy about it! Well, both of us! First, the food was really good and second, there is something or lots of somethings for both of us! Almost all of their offerings had a non-meat version! Wow!

We were looking for some grub and I went to my happy place, Happy Cow, and found something that was still open, not too far and had vegan options. The vegan restaurants were not close enough, and everything was closing in about an hour, and…dine in isn’t everywhere. So…I found DD Mau: Vietnamese Eatery, not far from where we live and we both wondered why we don’t go to that area very often, we definitely will rectify that.

The place is simple, a bunch of tables, spaced out socially distant, the centerpieces consist of a glass with three pieces of realistic looking, small fruit, an orange, lemon, and a lime. On the walls, now, that’s my favorite part…there was a mural of St Louis, hand drawn, but the other things…right up my bad pun alley…frame pictures of food items with cheesy puns. Two burritos dancing “Epic Wrap Battle”! A bowl of raman with two eggs on top “We are so eggcited to see you!” A head of lettuce “Romaine calm: There’s plenty to go around!” Have you met me?! I La La La Love that! The menu looks hand drawn and super simple and classic.

We each had a bowl of pho, mine was vegan, with vegan beef and PSM had seafood. We also got spring rolls with vegan shrimp and peanut sauce. These were the spring rolls made of rice paper. Now, don’t think I thought either of these vegan options tasted anything like the real thing, it’s just fun to have protein based options and why not. I do wish they had mock duck, one of my favorites.

The food didn’t take too long to come out, the spring rolls did come out a few minutes before the soup, which was nice. As we were eating, we enjoyed chatting, talked about some upcoming motorcycle rides and trips we are hoping to take, if…we can ever travel again. And…we remarked how good the food was, how close it was, and how we will definitely be going back. I am definitely looking forward to it, they have bánh mì, bao sliders, and tacos, how can we go wrong!

Overall…Two thumbsup!

{January 22, 2021} Meta Burger…What a Treat!!

Philly cheesesteak to be exact. And…VEGAN! And…FAB-U-LOUS!!!

Tonight I was looking for something to eat after I went to the local Indian Motorcycle Dealership of Denver dealership and went to my friendly neighborhood Happy Cow app and found Meta Burger, 100% vegan and only 6 minutes away, sold! I clicked directions from the Happy Cow app and away I went.

What I found was Edgewater Public Market, opened November 2019. I LOVE places like this…open space, exposed beams, open concrete floors, tables, food choices to satisfy almost any pallet, from what I saw, some in a food court type area, and some were along the walkways. There were a few stores, although it looked like they would be adding more, indoor and outdoor seating with strings of Edison bulbs. It was simple, open, inviting, and welcoming. It reminded me of some places I’ve been in the states and throughout Europe, a place I can see going with PSM on a date night, a girls night, group of friends, lunch during the week, or some fun on the weekend.

Quite a few of the restaurants had entrances along the outside and Meta Burger was one of them. Meta Burger doesn’t say they are vegan, their foods are 100% plant based. As they say, “Meta Burger’s Mission is to reshape fast casual dining through a metamorphosis of ingredients, atmosphere and company values in order to construct a better future for all.”

I’ve told you this before, but I absolutely LOVE when I don’t have to ask where they cook the food, is there dairy in the food, and other questions. My questions now are “Is it spicy”? And my favorite question…”what do you recommend?!” Should I choose between their burgers or classics? I get veggie or plant based burgers a lot, I wanted to try something different. “If I were to choose between the Philly cheesesteak or the chicken sandwich, what would you recommend?”

Philly cheesesteak it is and it was fabulous! It was strips of seitan, seasoned like Philly cheesesteak meat, peppers, onions, on a roll, and cheese sauce on the side. I skipped the grilled mushrooms, no thanks! and for a side I got the mac-n-cheese. I have to tell you, the cheese sauce, which was mostly potato based, was amazing and creamy and delicious and stayed that way, O M G!

The guy who took my order and helped me decide walked by while I was eating asked how I was liking it and I told him that normally I don’t finish my food and tonight, oh yeah! sandwich gone! Mac-n-cheese, well, the rest will make a good midnight snack! I will tell you that there wasn’t enough room to try some vegan gelato at Happy Cones next door. Maybe next time! Hoping there is a next time!

If you are in the Denver area, or within the vicinity of the Edgewater Public Market, give it a shot, I bet you could find something that would tickle your taste buds.

{January 20, 2021} Vegan BBQ? I’m in heaven!

Last night we went out for BBQ, at Smokee Mo’s BBQ, a place I found on Happy Cow, the app I use to find vegan, vegetarian, and veg friendly options all over the world. I la la la LOVE this app!

PSM said let’s go out to dinner, I was up for it and started to look on the Happy Cow app. Vegan didn’t work in our area, so I selected options and a few more options came up, this time Smokee Mo’s BBQ, which offered VEGAN BBQ! What?! Let’s check it out! It’s only about 15 minutes from us. PSM said let’s go!

We got there and it’s set back from the road, it looks like a BBQ joint, or a giant barn, words burned into the wood, high ceilings, exposed cross beams, huge chandelier, big menus and best of all…as I rounded the corner, a GIANT VEGAN MENU! I’m over the moon! And it’s not just one or two items, nine full items and eight side items, all vegan!

If you eat meat, you start at the beginning of the line, if you are vegan, you order from the folks at the register, even better…the girl who was helping me was vegan, and when the person helping you is vegan, you can breath a little easier because you don’t have to explain things or ask certain questions, that honestly, I get tired of asking, so I honestly do appreciate it!

If you go to their website, you can view their vegan menu, they even have a vegan holiday menu! The tagline on the page “It’s Like A Vegan Restaurant Inside A Traditional BBQ Restaurant!”

One thing I really liked is that even though, when you first walked in, it was smokey, like a BBQ joint smokey, it wasn’t overpowering smokey, so I could actually sit in the place and not think about what I didn’t want to think about. They were socially distant, first, by the signs, and second, it wasn’t very crowded, which was unfortunate, because of the high ceilings and lack of a crowd, it was a little chilly, but that didn’t deter our enjoyment!

The food comes out on big silver trays, I saw a tray of nachos go by that I think you would need an army to finish! PSM got two meets and two sides, brisket and pulled pork, with corn and carrots, along with a piece of cheese bread, it looked good and I did taste the carrots and corn, the only thing non-vegan about them was that they were cooked with butter and as we know, butter hasn’t killed me yet! The carrots were tasty and the corn had a kick.

For me, I got a BBQ pulled jackfruit sandwich with cheddar cheese and mac-n-cheese, which was made with cashew cheese as a side. I love that I didn’t just have to say vegan this and vegan that. If you haven’t heard of it, jackfruit is an exotic fruit grown in tropical regions of the world and it’s used often as a substitute for meat because of the texture of the fruit, which can be shredded, hence the pulled jackfruit sandwich. I don’t always like jackfruit, just like anything, it all depends on how it’s prepared, and in this case, it was smokey BBQ good, had a little tang, I added lettuce and tomato and really enjoyed it!

I have to tell you, I love my husband for suggesting that we go out for vegan every once in a while, and if it’s 100% vegan, he’s a great sport and can always find something to eat and quite often enjoys what he orders, I don’t always enjoy what I order, so it’s fair! I love Happy Cow for helping me to find somewhere to go that we can both eat, I love that I could find a BBQ joint that could accommodate me and it was good! I am looking forward to going back to try something else and even taking you when you come to visit! Let’s go!

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