____________________________________________________

Date: April 13, 2007
Times Visited: 5

Vegan Gamers, Rejoice!

A few months back, I heard about a new vegan and vegetarian menu at Backspace Cafe, an internet cafe, art gallery and gaming spot downtown. It’s a bit of a long walk for me to go for lunch, and I already have a default coffeeshop, Red & Black cafe, so I didn’t prioritize my visit. However, once I had read the online menu after hearing a glowing review from a friend, I had to go. You see, the menu features multiple field roast sandwiches, a grilled tofu sandwich, vegan Hot Lips pizza, quesadillas and perhaps best of all – no substitution price for vegan cheez!

My dining partner and I both ordered the ‘Steak’ sandwich on my second visit. Served on baguette, it contains pepperocini, wild mushroom field roast, grilled onions & peppers with rosemary and basil vegenaise. First off, if you haven’t tried field roast yet, give it a go! It’s based out of Seattle, and is not meant to be a ‘bologna’ substitute, but a herb, vegetarian and grain based variation on seitan. It’s something that’s featured on many Seattle menus, but I can’t think of anywhere else in Portland that offers this.

Back to the sandwich: though I had mine without onions and my partner left the pepperocini off of his, we were both immensely satisfied by this meal. Every bite of this sandwich is flavorful – tangy, savoury, herby, and on great bread – even at $7, I could not ask for more. We also shared an order of the basic cheez quesadillas ($3.50). If you’re not one for soy cheese (Follow Your Heart, I think in this case), you may want to skip it, or at least upgrade to the black beans and spinach variation. However, if you’re into soy cheese, don’t pass these up. They’re cheap, melty, filling and the salsa is just spicy enough.

I think the food is top notch for a cafe, the atmosphere is nice and spacious, plus there are multiple boards games as well as computer stations, yet I have one issue with Backspace – I’ve gone 4 times now, and there is always quite a wait for food. At a cafe, you might not expect to wait 20+ minutes for your sandwich, so it’s something to keep in mind. -JD

The Hot Lips Pizza is “single serving” (though it was two pieces too many for me) pizza cooked on site. The pizza changes daily but I was lucky enough to have one packed full of roasted garlic (almost a full bulb) caramelized onions, fancy mushrooms and other wonderful flavors. The price of the single ingredients of the pizza were well worth the $9 price. On top of that we were in an entertaining cafe with Stumptown Coffee, Viso and other great Portland drinks.

My favorite sandwich by far is the sausage and pepper sandwich, minus peppers. They use Field Roast apple sage sausage, cut in half and cover with grilled onions (and peppers if you swing that way). It was so tasty that even my animal-sausage-loving dining companion was impressed by the taste. The sandwich alone was $7, a true deal for such expensive, tasty vegan sausage.

It’s important to note that Backspace neighbor, Someday Lounge, has similar choices in food options. -WB

EDIT:

The backspace menu is Seasonal and may change. The 2007 Summer menu includes The Grinder and the Club, plus many more.

Vegan Jack and Cheddar Cheez Quesidilla with salsa verde

Steak Sandwich with Pepperocini, minus the onions

Steak Sandwich minus the Pepperocini

Sausage and Pepper Sandwich, minus the peppers:

The Grinder

NEW – Club Vegan

NEW – The Caesar with Spinach

NEW – BBQ Setain Wrap

Rating: 4 out of 5
Address: 115 NW 5th St. Portland, OR
Food Served Daily, 11am – 11pm

The Stumptown Vegans Travel!

If you have visited WaterCourse in Denver, CO, you’ve probably heard of City O City, a sister vegetarian restaurant. City O City has more than great coffee and baked goods from this little storefront; they have a full menu including pizza, sandwiches, and other American foods. But that’s only half the menu: the other half, another four pages, contains a long list of beer, wine, and other alcohol drinks.

The cafe portion of City O City is a small, standing room only, cafe with baked goods displayed in refrigerated cases and a full service espresso bar.  The restaurant and bar area is a large, dimly lit space filled with free-standing tables, some with booths and bar seating.

City O City is probably best known for 3 three things: the baked goods, the pizza, and the seitan wings. Most items on the all vegetarian menu can be made vegan including the pizzas.  Their housemade vegan cheese is a simple cashew cheese, which is more like sauce.

I started with the $8 Seitan Wings, from the “To Start” section of the menu, choosing a split plate of both the Buffalo and Teryaki with ranch dipping sauce. The tender strips of seitan were fried before being generously coated in their respective sauces. The Buffalo sauce made its presence known before being consumed.  A whiff of cayenne and vinegar entered my nasal passage and I’d be a liar if I said my eyes didn’t water! I braced myself and bit in.  Frying the seitan didn’t have the crunch I was expecting, but rather, it helped to firm the tender finger-length strips of wheat meat.  As for the heat, it wasn’t as bad as I expected, it was the vinegar that made my eyes water. In fact, I would imagine those who love spicy foods might want to add additional hot sauce, which is available on the table. This isn’t to say my lips weren’t burning, but a plate of the Buffalo wings alone would be too much for this spice wimp. The Teryaki sauce was the favorite of the two.  It had a little bit of heat, but the sweet and salty flavors were both mild in spice and bold in combination.

Next up was The Sherman, an $8.50 sandwich from the “Hand Held” menu. This is a dry rub tofu sandwich topped with coleslaw on a house made sweet potato bun. The frozen, then thawed tofu had a nice crust of Carolina dry rub BBQ seasoning. The blend of spices can only be described as tasting like a Bar-B-Que picnic. Combined with a green chili relish, crunchy purple cabbage slaw, and a fresh-baked sweet potato roll, I couldn’t help but think of a summer time back yard BBQ meal. This sandwich was sweet, savory, smooth, and crunchy – all in one.

The City O City offers pizzas ranging from a vegetarian ‘meat lovers’, called Animal Lovers, to a ranch and spinach pizza.  The 10″ pizzas range from $9-11.  Of course, you can choose your own from a wide variety of sauces, cheeses, and toppings.  I opted for an unique pizza – La Michelle, with a fig base topped with sun-dried tomatoes, capers, and rosemary. The fig base didn’t bring the sweetness I expected. Instead, the tangy capers paired with the sun-dried tomatoes and rosemary, melded together with the house made cashew cheese sauce to touch each taste bud on my tongue. The crust was thin, cooked enough to hold up the minimal toppings, but not enough to provide a crunch that would have worked well the “pop” of the capers and the creaminess of the cashew cheese.

All of their beautiful baked goods are made by WaterCourse Bakery.  It was hard to resist one, so I went with th HoHo.  When I think of Ho Hos, I think of a rolled cake with cream filling coated with ganche. Their Ho Ho Cupcake is a large chocolate cupcake with the top cut off spread with a vanilla cream layer, and dark chocolate ganache on top. Not the same, but still very good. The chocolate cake was dense, but moist, without much crumb, and brownie-like in taste. The vanilla filling was light and fluffy without too much sweetness. I enjoyed the mild sweetness of the frosting because it allowed the sweetness of the chocolate cake to come though. I only wish I had tried more of their baked goods.

My two favorite things about City O City are that they support local and organic farmers and that they are not afraid of unique combinations to bring bold flavors to their menu options. While I typically opt for a simple dish of greens, garlic, and Braggs – City O City helps me reach out to combine sweet, salty, savory, bitter, and sour for an amazing combination of tastes.

Next time you’re in Denver, do not choose between City O City and WaterCouse, or another vegetarian restaurant, find a way to visit both of these delicious restaurants.

Inside:

Seitan Wings:

La Michelle Pizza:

Tofu Dry Rub Sandwich:

Ho Ho Cupcake:

Ho Ho Cupcake, inside:

The developing population of Southern style restaurants into Portland has brought more vegan options to this not-so-obvious genre with Miss Delta, Bye and Bye, and Delta Cafe, among others.   This is no different at The Fixin’ To – Vegan options abound!  If you can get past the odd name, then make your way to St. John’s and squeeze past the awkward entrance and try some of their vegan junk food bar food.

When you enter into the Fixin’ To, you are forced to belly up to the bar since it’s located feet from the entrance. From there you either go right to grab a table in the dimly lit dining area, or take a left and head outside to the partially covered patio.  The interior dining area is a smallish area with a variety of comfortable booths and tables that seems to be arranged differently each time this reviewer visits. But the tvs on the walls are always showing the latest game, but The Fixin’ To doesn’t have a sport bar feel.  This is the place for the more casual sports fan.  The fenced, private, outside dining area is twice as big as the interior and the heat lamps even make it a comfortable option in the colder months.  The high fence, made of old doors, and the crunchy pea stone ground cover will take you to a place where time stands still and all that matters is your current experience.

The menu is small with the vegan items clearly listed: Bean Dip, Hail Seitan Sandwich, Chicken Dumplings, Frito Pie, and The St. John’s Chili Bucket.  All are comfort foods that should be consumed with a stiff drink served in a mason jar, or with a cheap tall boy.  The lemonade, with or without booze, will help get you in the mood for some grub.  The drink menu is not listed on their website, so a visit is a must.

The Frito Pie ($6) is more like Frito nachos.  A pile of Fritos are topped with chili, lettuce, and tomatoes.  A fork is required to consume this mess of a plate. The chili beans and sauce are spiced with a flavorful but mild heat seasoning well so it does not need anything else to make this dish whole, unless you like it super hot, then grab the hot sauce.  There is no need to expedite consuming these Southern nachos to avoid sogginess because the Fritos are firm enough to hold their crunch for awhile.  The lettuce and tomatoes on top do a nice job at making a stick-to-your-ribs meal feel lighter.

The most unappealingly named dish on the menu, The St. John’s Chili Bucket, ($7) is much better  than the name implies.  Is it just me – but a bucket of anything from St. John’s just sounds suspicious.  In fact, the dish is smaller than a bucket.  A shallow bowl containing a soggy corn bread, aka corn pudding, is topped with the same vegan chili used for the Frito Pie.  The corn pudding tasted a bit old with stale corn and jalapeno chunks among the dense pudding cake.  Since the chili is only medium in thickness, it works well with another element like the Fritos or corn pudding.  However, even if this dish was fresh, I do not think it would be a favorite of mine because of the consistency of the mushy corn pudding.

The Chicken Dumplings ($7) contain The Fixin’ To’s wonderfully tender housemae seitan in a soupy gravy that is poured over some very tender dumplings.  Again, it’s  a consistency issue for this reviewer – perhaps I am not a fan of dishes where the sauce, or in this case, gravy, is mixed with a soft central item.  The gravy tasted great with a strong pepper and thyme flavor.  The few pieces of seitan really made the meal, but only left me wanting more seitan.  A serving of dirty rice would make this dish better to enjoy the remaining gravy, but this isn’t an option at the Fixin To.  If you’re a dumpling connoisseur, please, let us know your thoughts.

The menu item I will continue to order time and time again is the Hail Seitan Sandwich ($9).  Tender housemade seitan is marinated in a bourbon BBQ sauce and served with cabbage on an onion roll.  The menu notes the cabbage is actually a cirtus apple slaw, but the power of the BBQ sauce over-powered every other taste, which I could not complain about. Because the BBQ sauce had a deep, warm flavor of tomato, bourbon, and cayanne, it worked in contrast to the cool and crisp cabbage.  The seitan is tender without the chewy, rubbery, or even the too bready texture that some other restaurants in town serve.  The way The Fixin’ To’s seitan seems to melt in your mouth with the great bourbon BBQ sauce makes it a little too dangerous because you can eat the whole thing before even knowing it’s gone!

The Fixin’ To’s service is friendly and quick.  I don’t think I’ve ever waited more than 10 minutes, even on a busy night.  The laid back atmosphere will have you coming back for the stiff drinks and the tender seitan and to hang out with friends on their back patio for long summer nights.  Dishes range from $7-9, with the vegan items being cheaper than the the others.

Frito Pie:

Chicken Dumplings:

Chili Bucket:

Hail Seitan Sandwich:

Tube has both updated their laid back but creative dinner menu and rolled out a brand new brunch menu since the last update on this post. The dinner menu has added mini english muffin pizzas, vegan mac and cheeze (usually with vegan hot dogs) and more Daiya-vegan cheese coated goodies.

The brunch menu is on the same page as their regular – hysterically decent – and I say that full of appreciation.

From a bottle of cheap sparkling wine presented in a chilled Session bucket (the $10 ‘bottle’ of mimosa), with juice dispensed from a soda gun, you should continuously take Tube with a sense of humor – and you’ll be all the better for it. My friend’s tofu breakfast sandwich was even more adorable that the little Nanotears – and topped with American flags. I don’t know if that patriotic touch was special for Memorial Day weekend, but it ruled, either way. On the down side, the hash browns were  forgetfully mushy, but the veggie sausage is a nice cheap side for $2 (for 2 small non-homemade patties). Memorably decent were the thin chocolate beer pancakes ($6 for 3). They’re served on a large plate with maple syrup, margarine, and while I couldn’t quite taste the local porter and the chocolate was very light, I’d go for them again – and share with a friend, as part of decently priced and decently presented vegan brunch selections that are very welcome downtown, from one of my favorite bars.

Brunch is 11am-4pm, Saturday & Sunday

Brunch photos:

Vegan Egg & Cheese Sandwich $7

Bottle of Mimosa $10

Chocolate Beer Pancakes & Veggie Sausage

Updated 4/2/2009:

There’s been a bit of a revamp to the Tube’s menu. The Ham and Cheeze, now the Professor Nanotear muffins – no word if J.K. Rowling tried to sue, are still ridiculously pathetic, and therefore, cheaply awesome at $3 each or 2 for $5.  Happy hour is still fantastically from 5pm-10pm, it’s smoke free (like all bars as of January 2009) and they’ve added crazy vegan nachos.  As in, topped with tofu scramble, salsa and fake cheeze.   The menu is posted on their myspace here.

March 9, 2007
Times Visited:  Forever.

In case you didn’t know, bars in Portland are required to serve food. That being said, some places have varying decencies of fries, some serve pizza, but there’s only place in town you can get a sandwich’The McGonnigle’ containing vegan ham, vegan cheese and chipotle vegeanise on an english muffin – The Tube. I first saw a flier for the Tube upon moving to Portland at Food Fight!, and noticed “vegan happy hour food”. I went with friends from out of town and happily had a vegan grilled cheese.

Now two years have gone by and I’ve started going there again, after learning about $2 well drinks and vegan happy hour food, naturally. The place seems more relaxed, less hipster, but maybe I’m just older (and cooler, right?).

Over half the menu is vegan, and not too shabby at all. Options include tofu scramble plates and tacos, ghost dogs, salad, chips and salsa, vegan ham and cheese panini plates and pasta salad (oddly not tube shaped pasta).

The McGonnigle has become my favorite item. This english mufin sandwich is hard to pass up at $2, and happy hour is M-F till 10pm. It is a skimpy sandwich, but it’s $2 and you’re probably drinking, so chomp away. Mmmm ham tube!

The McGonnigle:

Vegan White Russian:

Tofu scramble taco

Rating 3 out of 5.
Address: 18 NW 3rd Ave Portland, OR 97209
Hours: Happy hours M-F 5pm-10pm

As part of Podcast Episode 15: Healthy Spring Dining.

During the podcast, we reveal our top bowl picks to one another, and discuss bowl options as part of a look at Portland’s healthiest and nourishing dining options.  As always, you can subscribe to our podcasts here, and listen or subscribe via itunes. Don’t forget to leave a comment.

These 10 Bowls are listed in no particular order.

All are vegan with a base of grains, excluding noodles, and are ideally, served in a bowl!

Where to go for Portland’s Top Ten Best Bowls:

1. Broadway Bowl, Native Bowl

2. Chili Bowl, Prasad

3. Veganized Whole Bowl, The Whole Bowl

4. Design your own, Chaos Cafe

5. Design your own, Blossoming Lotus

6. Sonny Bowl

7. BBQ Brussel Bowl, The Bye & Bye

8. New Seasons Wok

9.  Jefferson Teriyaki Bowl, Chef Naoko

10. Yumm! Bowl, Cafe Yumm (Yumm sauce is sold in stores, and there are locations in Eugene, Beaverton, & a new one coming to PSU this summer!)

Honorable Mentions:

• Happy Bowl at Sweetpea Baking Co. (Note – no longer offered at Sweetpea, since our recording)
• Laughing Planet
• Papa G’s
• Proper Plate at Proper Eats
• Taqueria Los Gorditos

We know some of these are only the locations – please share your favorites in the comments!

Chaos Cafe Bowl with Tempeh

The staple Whole Bowl

Whole Bowl, SW Alder

Jefferson Teriyaki Bowl, Chef Naoko

BBQ Bowl, Sonny Bowl

Eastern Bowl, The Bye & Bye

Broadway Bowl, Native Bowl

Bloop, Good For You Goodness:

Prasad, Dragon Bowl:

Prasad, Chili Bowl:

Updated 12/11/2009 – New Daily Specials Menu –

I have experienced Tofufuffalo and thrown down my 40 cents a tofu wing.

And it is great. They have Spicy (Frank’s Red Hot style) and BBQ. At first I was digging the Spicy, but then BBQ won out.  It seemed to be the overall favorite among my friends, but mingling the two was also quite popular.  They’re basically strips of chewy, defrosted tofu, fried and smothered in sauce.  Can’t go wrong there.  Vegan ranch available for dipping! The new sensation has arrived.

UPDATED 8/24/09 – Menu Additions!

Years ago it was Paradox, but in the past year, Hungry Tiger Too has become my default “vegan diner” spot. I’m still sore over Paradox’s booth removal and expansion anyway, sorry!

Obviously, there’s a large separate vegan menu – the blue one.  They’ve recently added home fries, a BBQ tempeh sandwich, a Portabello mushroom scramble, Rosemary tofu skewers and a couple other items.

I never consider the multiple boca burger options, but it’s cool to choose from sizable scrambles, greasy sides, sandwiches, salads and appetizers like nachos and the dear squash filled wontons, a full bar, $4 Mimosas, vegan friendly bloody Marys, and huge vegan pancakes for $3.  It took me until this past weekend, appropriately after the Vegan Prom, to try one, and I’ve seen the light.  They come as a side option to scrambles or $3 individually.

I know you can find corn cakes to drown in maple syrup in this town, and I like the wheat free Chai Blueberry pancake at Jam well enough, but I’m usually wary to order vegan pancakes.  When I want pancakes, I want the eggy, fluffy pancakes from diners in New York that I grew up eating, not grainy corn cakes.

But here I am, recommending HT2′s fantastically giant vegan pancake, taking up an entire plate just like they do at real diners, with a lop of vegan margarine and a mini pitcher of maple syrup.  I don’t know if it’s the real stuff, or even 50% real stuff, but it does its job.  Can I please have a late night and then eat a pancake?  Sure!

I’m not forgetting the whole fried corndog thing with $1 (all vegan!) corndog and Pabst night; I just don’t want to eat them. I do go for the fun of it every few weeks, squeezing into the bar or showing up early to grab a table on the restaurant side.  One day a friend of mine will go for the glory to entertain me…

UPDATED 1/20/2009 – Quick Notes

The Hungry Tiger Too now has a regular menu, and a 2 page vegan menu.  Wednesdays are $1 vegan corn dog nights!  Fridays are $1 off vegan entree (excluding breakfasts).  Happy hour offers cheap vegan and side dish selections, like $4 vegan nachos smothered in cheezy sauce.

Sandwiches now come with housemade chips or slaw, and fries or tots are extra.  Sad, but true – and we hear good things about the chips.

The mac and cheeze is now $9.50 or so – and it hasn’t looked as cheezy as it used to.  On the other hand, the nacho cheeze went from being an oily, not so flavorful sauce to being a more than decent cheezy sauce I’m willing to pay for.

Times Visited: Too Many to Count!

The Hungry Tiger Too is more evidence to the fact that SE Portland and Veganism are BFFs. It’s gaining notice for keys reasons – local ads mention “VEGAN OPTIONS”, it’s within a couple blocks of everyone’s favorite vegan mini mall, and it’s the new existence of the now defunct but popular Hungry Tiger dive bar on East Burnside.

One half of the establishment is a closed-off bar with smoking, while the other half is a restaurant. The restaurant is smoke free and minors are welcome until 7pm. The building itself is a large house, and there is additional seating on the back porch and out front. The restaurant has tables of varying size and booths. The walls of the restaurant are colorful murals of wildlife that prominently feature many appropriate tigers. Vibe wise, I get the feeling that if you dimmed the lights come evening at Cup & Saucer and added more liquor and vegan food, you’d get something similar.

The vegan friendliness is evident on the menu in appetizers, sandwiches, salads, and entrees. Many items are available vegan, sandwiches like the Ruben, (see Portland Vegan Reubens for more love!) and others are vegan by default, like the butternut squash wontons. Vegan friendly options are marked with a character on the menu, and it’s all over it. There is no fun cocktail list in the restaurant, but there are decently priced microbrews and hard cider. You can order from the full bar as well. Standard vegan-friendly appetizers of greasy tator tots, french fries, and crinkle cut fries are available anytime. During happy hour, they are all a dollar-off. Selected drinks are also discounted on designated days.

As for the food itself, let’s talk about the Mac & Cheeze.

Extra points: Bread crumbs, and the serving dish.

I realized with taking my first bite that it wasn’t cheezy, but I kept trying it and kept liking the meal. Non-nooch crazy vegans should check this out! At $8 (now $9.75) it was enough for two meals, and several bites for others to sample. Raves were heard all around. The only downside is the helping of bland, pre-mixed grilled veggies on the side, but like you have room for them anyway. Take them to go and feel a bit healthier with your leftovers.

Breakfast is served all day, and for us it breaks down to biscuits, gravy and tofu scramble. The tofu scramble comes with toast and potatoes. Word is out that it tastes like more than plain tofu, but that can’t be said for the tofu on the salads. The butternut squash wontons ($5) are a pleasing diversion from standard appetizers and potatoes. The filling is mild and sweet, the fried shell is crispy enough and the creamy coconut sauce is complemented nicely by the sporadic sprinkles of sweet chili sauce and spice on the wonton itself.

Sandwiches are offered with vegan mayo, tempeh, and fake bacon. On my most recent visit, the server recommended the vegan Club sandwich ($9). This packed sandwich of three slices of bread, peppered Tofurkey deli meat, store-bought tempeh bacon, tomato, green leaf lettuce, and vegan mayo was not on the menu yet, but should be soon. Served with a pile of deliciously hot tator tots and a pickle, a split sandwich and appetizer is enough to feed two decent appetites. If I had known the price before ordering I would have held off, but I’m glad I tried it. I’d order it again and take half home.

There’s such a comfortable atmosphere and friendly menu at the Hungry Tiger Too, that I was shocked to be one of two people in the restaurant recently. Meet your friends for dinner ASAP, because word will spread….

Mac and Cheeze with grilled veggies

Butternut Squash Wontons

Club Sandwich with Tots

Portland Scramble with hash browns and toast

Vegan BLT with Tots

Nachos

Ceasar Salad

Mandarin Salad

Biscuits and Gravy

Grilled Cheese

Rating: 3.75 out of 5
Address: 207 SE 12th Ave, Portland, OR 97214
Mon-Fri 11am-2am, Sat & Sun 7am-2am

http://tryveganpdx.com/restaurants/hungry-tiger-too/

When I was informed that the Aalto Lounge on SE Belmont had a vegan meatball sandwich, I did a double take. A few years ago I can recall browsing the posted menu and scoffing at a couple of possibly vegan finger foods listed, like a fruit, nut and cheese plate minus the cheese. The cocktail peanut mix is still there, but vegan friendliness is joining in.  When you walk into Aalto, the setting whistles ‘hipster‘ – it shares a front entrance with Stumptown Coffee, for starters.  The tables and setting are slightly IKEA and overall quite clean, there’s a turntable station built into the bar, it’s dimly lit, and most of the people are somewhat disheveled and beautiful.  The walls are wood paneled with rotating vertical wide strips of blue and red and average sized framed black and white photos showcased.  Don’t look up when sitting at the front row tables.  There’s a deer head mantle up front, but there’s a more amusing and colorful large painting of a deer and a newborn to distract you.

Home to another cool back patio to add to the favorite list, Aalto has both the meatball sandwich and a vegan panini on their food menu.  As usual, there’s a list of classic, refreshing cocktails.  During happy hour, the meatball sub is $5 and the cocktail nut mix is $2.  As a hungry vegan, you’re faced with no good reason not to order the vegan meatball sandwich. Unlike the altogether awesome Bye & Bye, the meatballs at the Aalto Lounge are housemade. They’re a bean-based, herbed  firm mass with a hint of spicy heat. Studded with a decent amount of fennel, they’re certifiably delightful.  For the record, I’m only so-so with the taste of fennel, and still found it that delightful.

The sandwich comes with five or more of the hearty bean balls in a zesty, fresh tomato sauce served on fresh baguette. When ordered at happy hour, this sandwich comes with crunchy potato chips and as a dinner item ($7), with a side salad tossed with almonds.  While you will likely find yourself using a fork and breaking apart the bread so it doesn’t fall apart on your lap, it’s truly an oversight when the meal itself is that good.  But, if it weren’t for the comical mess factor of this sandwich, the Aalto Lounge would just scream date location.

Now, don’t get too excited – on my second visit, a vegan friend tried to order the vegan panini listed on the late night menu and it was a no go. The server delicately warned us that it was just a ‘late night menu’ sandwich with white bean spread, salad greens and tomato.  She suggested we  opt for the vegan meatball sandwich, and that she’d talk to the management about increasing their legitimate vegan options.  However, on a third visit, the vegan meatballs ran out and same vegan panini was first reluctantly, then graciously, dished out.  It was grilled and served with salad.  The staff’s nice concern overlooks that fact that the sandwich described could easily pass as at least a mediocre vegan option around town, and according to my friend, it was even better – “gooey and delicious!”  The bottom line?  Hopefully a vegan panini will make its way permanently onto their regular food menu as a second valid  option, so more vegans can give it a try.  Add some olives or fresh basil and call it definitely better than mediocre, I bet.

Seating in the Aalto Lounge has a corner for each of your bar-going personalities.  There’s the basic outdoor patio, with strings of red lights, prime for sitting and relaxing during a warm, early evening.  There are a couple of tables located directly in front amongst heavy foot traffic, large row and small tables for two in the main room, standard bar seating and a dark, cornered back room that you can escape into on your way to the XX or XY bathrooms.  Whichever you go for, order your snazzy cocktail or soda and eat a delicious meatball sandwich, to hammer in the point of this post.

Vegan Meatball Sub:

Cocktail Nuts and beer:

Come nightfall, there are not many places I’m interested in venturing downtown for dinner, Blossoming Lotus for tempeh and soft serve  aside.  But for bar food, I’m down. 

As is the general trend in Portland, downtown bars offer great food.  I’m not saying that the pairing of fake ham log, a teeny slice of vegan cheeze and chipotle sauce glory is a 5 star sandwich, but there’s novelty enjoyment in its cheap pathetic state and I find myself at Tube, XV, and Someday Lounge frequently come happy hour time for casual dinners. Our review of Tube’s long-ass happy hour can be found here, XV’s tale is on the way, and it’s the day for Someday Lounge.

The Someday Lounge is a stylish downtown bar with an all-vegetarian menu.  How’s that for starters? It shares ownership and literally a kitchen with the all-vegetarian (and Stumptown Vegan favorite) Backspace Café just next door in Old Town.  It’s somewhat dark, but moody in a cool, candle-lit and polished manner, as opposed to dingy and divey.  The name ‘Lounge’ is appropriate, as the establishment feeds, imbibes, and entertains with live music, DJs, comedy, art openings, and mixed media events for varying cover charges post happy hour.  Its website has a live stream here of their stage. During these shows there is often a limited menu, so don’t have your heart broken when you show up for a Tempeh Reuben during a performance and it doesn’t happen.

Unless you’re in a group, order at the bar, which has an intimately lowered wood ceiling with twinkling, hanging lights.  My favorite place to sit is upstairs, above the bar and overlooking the main floor.  It’s great for people watching below, both inside and out.  The most comfortable seating arrangement upstairs may be the long, modern leather couches, but it is unknown if they’re real. There are also tables that seat two and four. With their vegetarian menu, I cling to the hope the couches are synthetic.  On the main floor, there are exposed brick walls, a stage area and low and high tables for two. The bathrooms are located in a separate, upstairs area, and have interesting metal doors.  You’ll see what I mean.   There are a few tables outside as well, but you must keep alcoholic drinks indoors.  That being said, it’s a bar with a happy hour where I’ve never had a problem simply drinking a soda. There is no pesky drink requirement listed on the menu unlike many other places.

The happy hour menu options are almost too good to publicize.  I selfishly want to keep them a secret. There are no happy hour drink specials, so order what you will and focus on the food. The vegan options on the menu are admittedly limited for a vegetarian establishment, but the kitchen will veganize certain items that aren’t already vegan.  You can find the current happy hour menu online here. The price of the vegan items plus their tastiness is the cause of my glee.  Like the  at Backspace, which is practically its twin, Someday’s  offerings change a bit with each season. The happy hour prices range from $2-$9 and that’s what this review focuses on.

Getting to the actual food – strangely, I’ve rarely witnessed others eating food there, though I know there’s a smidgen of vegan buzz already. As fun as Backspace’s menu is, go next door between 4pm-8pm on weekdays and try a few of the same items for cheaper!  It’s perfect for someone who wants a Field Roast sandwich but doesn’t want to see a computer in sight or if you want a cocktail with your dinner.   While the neighboring establishments share a kitchen, I’ve whined multiple times about the wait for food at popular Backspace and never at Someday.

One of the highlights of the menu at the Someday Lounge is Seattle’s Field Roast.  The company takes pride in its products tasting like the grains and flavors involved – not on fake meat imitation.  The Sausage & Peppers ($6 during happy hour) features the herby Italian sausage, sliced in half and grilled with red and green bell pepper and white onion, stuffed into a toasted baguette with a housemade rosemary Vegenaise.  The soft and crusty baguettes are always fresh and they should be, they’re from Pearl Bakery down the street.  In terms of fake sausage alone, this sandwich gives you bang for your buck during happy hour.  That stuff is pricey in stores!   As a meal, it satisfies a basic dinnertime appetite, and comes with kettle chips, housemade vegan, wheat free pasta salad or fresh salad greens with a sprinkling of sunflower seeds and a small touch of balsamic dressing.  The texture of Field Roast sausages is damn striking and they’re my favorite* ‘fake meat’ on the market.

The Sweetheart Salad is also available at both Someday and Backspace in small and large sizes.  The large ($5.50) at happy hour is an ample dinner sized salad with vibrant greens, dried cranberries, house dressing, and tangy, thin strips of marinated tofu.  There’s a lot of balsamic flavor going on, so if you’re not a fan, skip this.  The Hummus Plate ($6) with cucumber, kalamata olives, and sliced baguette  is nothing special, but it’s big.   The listed roasted red peppers were subbed with sliced winter-time tomato,  but the spread itself had an on-target dose of garlic and came served on an abundant helping of baby spinach that turned it into an actual meal. 

Going even cheaper, the Soy Tacos ($4 at happy hour) are two basic soft corn tacos with a tasty tvp-type  filling and a small helping of sliced cremini mushrooms, pico de gallo, and vegan cheezy sauce.  The tangy, orange cheezy sauce is featured again on the Philly “Steak” ($5.50), which can be made with tempeh or Wild Mushroom Field Roast.  This sandwich has the sauce, grilled onions, mushrooms, bell pepper, and shredded pepperocinis and, again, is a delicious bang for your buck downtown.  I wish they’d take their cheezy sauce and taco filling and make an official vegan version of their nachos.  For $2 you can get yourself a cup of soup and side of baguette, or spend $4 for a bowl.  It’s usually vegan and the recent Spicy Tomato was a modest mix of peppered heat and herbs.

The Tempeh Reuben and Curry Tofu Bowl are the most expensive items on the happy hour menu ($9).  During my last visit the kitchen was out of the bowl (and the raw Thai Walnut Lettuce Wraps) but they came highly recommended.  The Reuben is big and full of juicy, grilled tempeh and I’ve witnessed two dining companions rave during and after they’ve eaten it.

The Someday Lounge has items you could make at home, but for decent prices and with extra-step ingredients like herbed Vegenaise and grilled vegetables you wouldn’t necessarily throw on the everyday sandwich.  Check it out if you’re downtown, have $10 in your pocket, and don’t feel like playing hipster or Pearl-goer.  This reviewer is clearly an enthusiastic fan.

Tempeh Reuben with pasta salad:

Tempeh Reuben – inside shot – with chips:

Cup of Soup – Spicy Tomato:

Steak Sandwich:

Sausage and Peppers with kettle chips:

Sausage and Peppers with side salad:

Hummus Plate:

Soy Tacos with side of Pasta Salad:

Smoky Sandwich:

BBQ Shredded Seitan:

*Though I’d like to mention that if you can handle gluten and haven’t tried making the variations of Julie Hasson’s steamed vegan sausages at home by now, what’s stopping you??  It’s so easy!

Vegetable Stir Fry with Tofu

Photo by Katie Jane.

Falafel Plate

There are many great local companies that reside in Hood River and Full Sail Brewery happens to be one of them. Luck for us vegans, Full Sail offers another local product on their brewery pub menu - tempeh burgers from the makers of Tofurky, Turtle Island Foods.

The Full Sail Brewery is a bar, with bar food, and a bar atmosphere. It’s loud when it’s full and serves a lot of meat products, but the alcohol is plenty and the view is spectacular! If you visit on a nice day you’ll have the option of outdoor dining, but be warned, it can be very windy and you’ll be surrounded by relaxing wind surfers. Inside seating is varied with different tables tables, bench, chair, and bar seating. No matter where you sit try to find a place where you can look out over the Columbia River and take in Mount Adams, which shouldn’t be hard with the huge picture windows.

Rumor has it that this pub once served Tofurkey Bier Brats (made with Full Sail Ale), but no longer. The vegan menu is skimpy – the Tempeh Burger minus the cheese and aoli, and a salad with pears and walnuts. Skip the fries – they are fried in the same fryer as the dead animals. Go for the mixed baby greens as a side and you’ll have a great meal.

The tempeh buger tastes like it is the SuperBurger product, which is surprising soft, and flavorful for a normally dense tempeh. I enjoyed the addition of onions in the soy and rice cultured burger. Since it’s a premade product I assume the quality is similar from burger to burger. The addition of roasted red onions made the burger taste great with the fresh mixed greens.

So, next time you find yourself in Hood River and you’re sick of eating Chinese food at China Gorge, or maybe you’re done with your daily brewery tour, try Full Sail Brewery pub for some beers an a tempeh burger. Full Sail is a great place to kick back and enjoy the Northwest.

Tempeh Burger:

Other places for vegan food in Hood River: Mother’s Grocery, 6th Street Bistro, Acre Coffeehouse, and Andrew’s Pizza. Avoid Bette’s and Egg Harbor.