Moab Brewery, Moab, UT #2

Moab Brewery is one of the coolest places to hang out at in Moab after a long day of BASE jumping off the beautiful red rocks!

We stopped by here several times during our trip. You can grab a local beer, appetizer, and/or entree. One of my favorite meals here was just a simple appetizer of hummus and pita, but it was the extras that really made the meal! The roasted eggplant and sundried tomatoes along with the creamy hummus were absolutely delicious.

And, of course, beer.

On another visit, I got the Veggie Burrito-- just hold the cheese, sour cream, and rice. I know rice is shown here, but they served that to me by accident. -1 It's a hearty burrito loaded with broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, bell peppers, corn, walnuts, and pineapple wrapped in a flour tortilla topped with enchilada sauce. Served with veggie chili and salsa, it's a big meal and very good.

So besides the non-vegan rice being served, I had great experiences at Moab Brewery on this trip. The food is cheap and good and the beer selection is also great. Highly recommended as a place to hang out with friends.

Previous review
May 11, 2017

Moab Brewery
686 South Main Street
Moab, UT 84532
(435) 259-6333

98 Center, Moab, UT

Heading to Moab for the third time in one year, I was wondering if any new restaurants had opened up and I found one that happened to be vegan friendly! 98 Center opened last year and had a bunch of items marked as vegan on the menu.

Located off the main street, we arrived close to the closing time. This small, simple restaurant has full service and alcoholic beverages--both are a plus! We took a seat and ordered some wine as we perused the menu.  I had been traveling all day and was very hungry, so I ended up ordering a lot of food!

I started with a delicious small cup of Vegan Pho made with green onions, sweet onions, cilantro, basil, serrano peppers, and lime.

For my entree, I ordered the Bahn Mi Tofu Salad. This salad was huge and loaded with cucumbers, seasoned tofu, radishes, cilantro, carrots, serrano peppers, tomatoes, and avocado. It was absolutely delicious!

My friend ordered the Rice Noodle Salad made with chilled vermicelli rice noodles, citrus ginger oil, pickled daikon, carrots, cilantro, and spicy peanuts. He liked it a lot.

Lastly, we ordered a vegan brownie with soy ice cream that was meh.

The service was pretty good and the prices were appropriate. But, while we really enjoyed our meals, I think we ate too much and added too many serrano peppers as we both felt a little sick the next day. That said, the food was fantastic and fresh and I'd gladly come back and try it again next time!

98 Center
98 E. Center Street
Moab, UT 84532

Peace Tree Juice Cafe, Moab, UT #2

On my most recent visit to Moab, Utah, the beautiful land of red rock mesas, I decided to give Peace Tree another try. As a very hippie-ish cafe, I feel drawn to it and I wanted to try some of their other vegan offerings. So, I went several times.

On our first visit, we started with jalapeno margaritas--fantastic!  We weren't that hungry so we shared the Quinoa Bowl with Avocado. Served with brussels sprouts, sautéed spinach and a tahini sauce, it was pretty good. It was much smaller than we though it would be for $15, but it was still good.

On our next visit, again, the jalapeno margaritas because they are yum. This time, I tried the Veggie Burger made with quinoa, brown rice, and roasted vegetables served on a bun branded with the Peace Tree logo and topped with sprouts and avocado ($12). This burger was huge! It was really good, but it completely fell apart as we started eating it. And it was so large that I had should have cut it in half instead of eating the whole thing and feeling like I shouldn't have later! But, it was soooo good! It came with a side salad too. Highly recommended.

On our third visit, I wanted something really basic so I ordered the Quinoa Salad. This quinoa salad was made with red onions, green peppers, tomatoes, and black beans tossed with olive oil, parsley, and lime on a bed of spinach surrounded by tomato, cucumber, and sprouts. And I added avocado. Honestly, I think it would have been a good salad, but it tasted like it might have been going a bit bad. I still ate it, but the beans had a funky taste to them. It was okay, but nothing special.

So, after three more meals here, I have to say that some of their food is really good. The jalapeno margarita and the quinoa burger are a must-try! And the quinoa bowl is good too! So, a bit of hit or miss, but all in all, a great staple in Moab.

Previous review
June 6, 2017

Peace Tree Juice Cafe
20 South Main Street
Moab, UT 84532

Chana Masala

This classic Indian dish, Chana Masala, is packed with spice! Be sure that whomever you are serving this to is a lover of Indian spice and, if so, they'll love this. And you'll love it too because the rice takes longer to make than the dish itself. In just a few minutes, you'll have a dish fit for a dinner party. Yet another great recipe from Easy Vegan Breakfasts & Lunches by Maya Sozer.

Chana Masala
Serves 2-3

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion
• 1/2 cup tomato puree
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin
• 1 Tbsp garam masala
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 1 tsp fine-grain sea salt
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

To serve

• Cooked basmati rice
• Chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions
Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until the onion starts changing color, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato puree and garlic and stir a few times. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the bay leaf and chickpeas. Continue to cook, stirring, for 2 more minutes. Enjoy while hot. Serve with rice and garnish with cilantro, if desired.

Love Muffin Cafe, Moab, UT #2

After jumping off cliffs all morning, we were hankering for something hearty. Since we had gotten up at 5 a.m. to jump at sunset and it was still morning, we headed to one of the most popular breakfast spots in town--Love Muffin Cafe.

Love Muffin is always busy. With its colorful graffiti art and blackboard menus, it has a lively and bustling atmosphere.

Me and my friend ordered the heartiest thing on the menu that could be made vegan--the Huevos Rancheros (hold the eggs and cheddar). A pile of home fries topped with a corn tortilla, fried tofu and black beans, slathered in a red chile sauce--this meal looked much better than it tasted. The sauce was really plain and not very flavorful. We dumped a bunch of hot sauce on top and called it a day, but it didn't make the meal any better.

And for $9, we expected a little bit more. To top it off, they charged me $6 for one kombucha, which is just highway robbery. This visit left a bad taste in my mouth--literally and figuratively.

Previous review
September 17, 2015

Love Muffin Cafe
139 N Main Street
Moab, UT 84532
(435) 259-6833

Vertical Diner, Salt Lake City

I flew into Salt Lake City on my way to Moab, Utah and wanted to meet a friend for lunch. I looked for a new place and saw a vegan restaurant called Vertical Diner. Sooo....I thought I was going to a new place, but it turns out I was going to a place I'd already been to and didn't love. Vertical Diner turned out to be in the Sage's Cafe space and apparently Sage's moved down the street. But, both are owned by the same person.

Well since we were already here, why not give it a try?! What I don't love about this place is the stale atmosphere--I guess it's sort of a diner atmosphere, but feels very stale with its dark lighting, dark black cushioned seating and wooden tables.

I ordered the Tempeh Cubano, which had blackened, crunchy tempeh on seeded bread with pickled jalapeno, olives, capers, artichoke hearts, tomato, brown mustard, and melted "cheese." I loved it! The cheese was definitely nutritional yeast based and all the flavors meshed together so well. I didn't, however, love the mac and cheese. It had no flavor at all. So, that was a fail.

My friend ordered the Magical Wok sesame coconut curry with sauteed vegetables and toasted cashews. It was very good.

At $14 for the curry and $10 for the sandwich, this isn't the cheapest place to eat in SLC, but I must say we were impressed with our meals. The mac and cheese left a lot to be desired, but that sandwich and curry were great. I'm sure I'll be back again soon.

Vertical Diner
234 W 900 South
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
(801) 484-8378

Tibits, Zurich, Switzerland

After having such a great brunch at Haus Hiltl earlier in the day, we thought we'd check out the other vegetarian buffet in Zurich. Tibits was opened with the help of the Hiltl family in 2000 and is now going strong with eight restaurants.

Similar to the Hiltl concept, there are many vegetarian and vegan dishes to choose from and they charge you by weight of your plate. There are about 40 items to choose from so much less than Hiltl, but still very good. I like how they also have the English translation on the other side of the card that describes each dish. And each dish is clearly labeled as vegan or not.

I went with some tabbouleh, samosas, gnocchi, artichoke salad, and chocolate mousse. Other items that looked scrumptious included the wakame salad, curries, and pasta dishes.

Overall, we felt like some dishes were better than others and that even though the prices seemed slightly less, the food was better at Hiltl. That said, it was still quite good. The gnocchi was absolutely amazing!

That ended my trip to Zurich -- just one short day, but great vegan food!


Tibits
Falkenstrasse 12
8008 Zürich, Switzerland
+41 44 260 32 12

Haus Hiltl, Zurich, Switzerland

As rain blanketed the beautiful city of Lauterbrunnen on my last day there, we took that as an opportunity to head to Zurich a bit earlier than planned. It was my first time in the city of Zurich and I was excited to discover the shops and restaurants. Unfortunately, all I discovered is that most of the shops and restaurants in this city are closed on Sunday. Foiled again. But, one key restaurant was open, and that is Haus Hiltl, the world's oldest vegetarian restaurant. How lucky was I?

In 1898, a vegetarian restaurant was opened in Zurich and several years later a man named Ambrosius Hiltl took over as the manager. Today, it remains the oldest vegetarian restaurant and there is even a vegetarian butcher shop as well.

I went for the Sunday brunch. Not expecting much, I was completely blown away. I have never seen so much vegetarian and vegan food served at once. There was everything from seitan and mushrooms in wine and fried Indian fritters to quinoa patties and spinach ravioli. There were breakfast and lunch dishes, breads, trail mix, salad, desserts. You name it and it was there! And everything was clearly labeled as vegan or not.

It was very expensive as they weigh your plate and charge based on weight. I chose the spinach ravioli, quinoa cake, and chili mac among other things and it was delicious.

The atmosphere was casual with couches and hightop tables as well as more traditional seating. And it was packed. This place is extremely popular. If you are only in the city for one day, this restaurant is a must-visit!

Haus Hiltl
Sihlstrasse 28, 8001 Zürich, Switzerland

Phone:+41 44 227 70 00