Monday, June 25, 2012

Taste of Bloomington had many vegetarian options

Every June, the City of Bloomington comes together for the Taste of Bloomington event. Dozens of Bloomington restaurants come out to provide small servings of some of their delicious cuisines for about $1-4 per taste. It is a great opportunity to taste test a variety of dishes from many different restaurants and give you a great idea towards which new restaurants you might be interested in visiting in the future. The event is held at Showers Commons, which is where the Farmers Market is every Saturday.

Bloomington's restaurants are quite good at having many different vegetarian options, but I was worried as to whether there would be enough vegetarian options at The Taste. More than half of the restaurants had vegetarian options, but I only sampled a few. I'm a lacto-ovo vegetarian (I eat egg and dairy products), so I was fine. I'm not sure how many of the vegetarian options were also vegan, so you might want to check on that before you try them.

Here's what I had a chance to sample:
  • Carmelized Corn & Black Beans from DATs. I think that they said this was vegan. I've only had Cajun cuisine once before, so I wasn't sure if I'd like this. The dish packed some heat, but was really flavorful. The staff told me that they also have several other vegan and vegetarian food options for us to enjoy.
  • Veggie Momo's from Cafe Django. These were really delicious. I will definitely visit them again. 
  • Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream from Chocolate Moose. This was my first time trying vegan ice cream and it was surprisingly delicious. Instead of using dairy milk, they use coconut milk. It only had a slight flavor of coconut, but I guess if you can't stand the taste of coconut, you probably wouldn't enjoy this.
  • Savory Phyllo Tarts from Food Works for Middle Way House - Bloomingfoods. The proceeds from eating at Food Works pay the wages for the battered women residents of Middleway House, so I always feel great knowing that my money is going to help people in need. They also had Fresh Fruit Wraps.
  • Mango Lassi from Taste of India. This was my first time trying this type of drink. If you've never had one before, it is a beverage made from yogurt and mango. It was a little too sour and bitter for my taste, but I was glad that I tried it! They also had some Vegetable Pakoras: Fried Vegetable Fritter, but I was too full to eat anymore.

Here's some other veg-friendly options I noticed:
  • Vegan Raspberry Lemonade Cookies from Baked!
  • Naan from Bombay Cafe (It's an Indian bread)
  • Granny Smith & Pecan Salad from Brothers Bar & Grill
  • Greek Salad - Spinach, Black Olives, Red Onion & Feta Cheese or Piavolo - Tomato, Cream, White Wine Sava served over Linguini from Bucceto's 
  • Veggie Burger from Buffalouie's
  • Pesto Gnocchi - Potato Gnocchi w/Spinach, Roma Tomatoes and Parmesan in light Pesto Sauce, Penna a la Vodka - Penne Pasta in a Creamy Pink Vodka Sauce, and Veggie Kabobs from Butch’s Grillacatessen & Eatzeria 
  • Cheesecake Factory Cupcakes & Cheesecake and Frozen Yogurt from Campus Candy
  • Smoked Veggie Kabobs from Chapman’s Restaurant & Bar
  • Fried Macaroni & Cheese and Spinach Artichoke Dip & Chips from Crazy Horse
  • Tropical Fruit Smoothies from IMU Catering
  • Chips & Dip, Cheese Quesadillas, and Corn on the Cob from La Torre
  • Nutella Crepe from Nadia's Bistro
  • Penne Rosa from Noodles & Company
  • Avocado Shakes and Tofu Sandwiches from Rush Hour Station Diner
  • Potato Okra and Eggplant from Samira
  • Sweet Corn on the Cob and Mac n' Cheese from Smokin' Jacks Rib Shack
  • Gazpacho - Tomato Base & Fresh Vegetables and Caprese Panini - Focaccia, Mozeralla, Basil, Tomato, Olive Oil, Lemon Juice and Black Pepper from Soup's On
  • Sweet Rolls - sweet yeast bread filled with cinnamon sugar, walnuts, almond cream, nutella and topped w/cheese frosting from Sweet Claire Gourmet Bakery (I'm really sad I didn't get over here to try these!)
  • Tortilla Chips with Mango Salsa from Talons Restaurant at Eagle Pointe
  • Goat Cheese, Romano Cheese, Sliced Tomato, Baby Spinach on Wheat or Sourdough and Mac & Cheese with American Cheddar on White or Sourdough from The Big Cheeze Food Truck
  • Oven Roasted Goat Cheese & Toasted Chibata from Truffles/Alchemy/Mikado
  • Watermelon Gazpacho w/Local Chilis, Heartland Family Farms Cucumber and Cilantro from Upland Brewing Company
As you can see, there were lots of vegetarian options at the Taste of Bloomington and even more options if you visit Bloomington's many restaurants. Check out VegIU's Bloomington Restaurant Guide for vegetarians and vegans to learn about more veg-friendly food options in Bloomington.