All For Food!

As I have mentioned before, to me it is always an interesting pursuit to hunt for great vegetarian offerings in different cuisines. And I must say that the US has always been my favourite place when it comes to flexibility in cuisine. I can always request the server to make something in veg for me and they are more than happy to suggest me various options. As a foody, I dedicated this trip to try all my favourite cuisines and explore some new ones as well. Here we go - 

Mexican Cuisine - 

I am always a fan of Mexican food. Sorry, American Mexican offerings as I have heard that the authentic Mexican food is a bit different. So, until I try them, I don't think I can say more. As soon as I landed in the states, I tried a Burrito bowl full of veggies, rice, baked beans and guacamole. A fajita feast seemed abundant and was delicious. A breakfast item had for lunch was my favourite - A spicy scrambled egg with veggies (Like Egg Burji) and rice and baked beans. Spicy Jalapeño made up a good side dish.

Thai Cuisine - 

I am not really a big fan of Thai food because it resembles some of the south Indian cuisine, at least the vegetarian ones. But some dishes I tried were excellent. My favourite was the pumpkin fry. Spring rolls, Yellow curry and Padthai were also good.

I would strongly recommend the family run restaurant called Thai Basil in Colorado Springs. Their eggplant curry with tangy sauce is amazing. Boiled and served with salt, the edamame pods were delicious as the only veg starter. 

Italian Cuisine - 

Italian food is always my most preferred cuisine after Indian. A pizza that I had at the ice hockey match was delicious but the custom made Pasta with Alfredo sauce at Biaggi’s was amazing. 

Ethiopian Cuisine - 

One of my favourite restaurants in Colorado Springs is Uchenna run by a very sweet Ethiopian lady called Maya. She would take her time to converse with you while you order your food. She speaks various languages and I enjoyed brushing up my French with her this time. Several vegetarian dishes served with fresh injeras are brilliant. A Baklawa and Saragli make great desserts.

Middle East/Balkans - 

One evening, I decided to try the Caspian Café and had a very interesting dish called Moussaka made of egg plant and potato. 

Senegalese - 

I met up with my ex-manager Scott at a very good restaurant suggested by him called Adam’s mountain café in Colorado Springs. THis place has great ambience and would strongly recommend it to visitors. I tried a Senegalese veg dish with Udon noodles. Garnished with dry fruits, it tasted amazing. 

American Cuisine - 

Having spoken so much about world cuisine, how can one ignore the famous American food. For vegetarians, there are limited options but I love the over sized burgers and french fries. At Perkin’s I tried an interesting egg wrap called Wrapping Granny.

But when it comes to Burger, I truly enjoyed the one made at a small restaurant called Jan’s in Buena vista. The patty and the sides were delicious. I also enjoyed Jan’s recommendation - English toffee banana cream pie. During our return journey we stopped at a little café/Bar in Hartsel where I had some black tea and onion rings. Small towns, small cafés have its own charm and the food tastes so much better than the ones served at fast food restaurants.

When in America, one has to taste some delicious Pancakes. IHOP is your best stop for that!

At BJ’s, I tried some amazing Avocado egg roll and Peruvian quinoa bowl. I truly enjoyed the ambience at BJ’s. On a Saturday evening it was very lively. They have their own brewery if you want to try some local beer. And for desserts, I got a free Pizookie for downloading their app on my mobile. It was a bit too sweet but I loved the ice cream over hot cookie. 

How can one go to America and not try some Cheese cakes. I love the plain one. And, Ice creams are always welcome as deserts.

Cooking - 

Having learnt some quick cooking at the hostels of NZ, I made some pastas for my lunch. 

Our hotel had a nice breakfast buffet and a custom omelet ordering facility. Waffles with some honey and butter is always a pleasure.

One of my colleagues, Chung Hee, seeing me buy cookies, baked some fresh chocolate chip cookies for me the next day. She is a brilliant cook and an amazing person.

Apart from these, the cooks at my office canteen would make some veggie rolls or spicy fries for me. As a vegetarian, I always received special attention and the cooks got creative in making something out of the menu for me.

If you are a staunch vegetarian and would not like to experiment, then there is always a all vegetarian soup!