Situated simply 17 minutes by automobile from Emory College, Cafe Sunflower gives a stellar vegan delicacies with a wide array of meals from all around the globe. Whether or not you’re a plant-based eater, trying to dip your toes into veganism or are simply hoping to accommodate your vegan or vegetarian mates, this cafe is the proper place to go for a memorable eating expertise.
I went to Cafe Sunflower with my dad on Feb. 23, a birthday custom that began a number of months earlier than the pandemic started in 2020. For a Wednesday night, the restaurant was surprisingly crowded, with virtually each desk occupied. The eating house itself was informal and relaxed, with easy picket decor. The hanging lights and trendy paintings across the restaurant brightened the inside significantly, giving it a captivating atmosphere.
(Krithika Shrinivas / The Emory Wheel.)
For our appetizers, we ordered the Buffalo Lollipops and Steamed Dumplings. The lollipops have been my favourite a part of this dinner. These soy rooster drumsticks have been coated in a wealthy buffalo sauce with a vegan blue cheese dip on the facet together with a number of refreshing sticks of celery.
The drumsticks have been so tender and succulent, and their daring flavors have been complemented nicely by the sunshine and creamy dip. My solely grievance was that there weren’t sufficient of them!
The steamed dumplings have been very flavorful, as nicely, crammed with a colourful mix of Asian cabbage, carrots, tofu, black mushrooms and spinach and accompanied by a piquant soy-ginger dipping sauce. This appetizer is a good alternative for anybody who enjoys Asian meals however prefers a milder spice stage.
(Krithika Shrinivas / The Emory Wheel.)
From shrimp tacos to orzo eggplant lasagna, Cafe Sunflower presents delectable major programs from numerous worldwide cuisines. We determined to get the Pesto Pasta and Spicy Pad Thai Noodles, previous favorites of ours that we wished to expertise on the Cafe Sunflower.
The pesto pasta was mouthwatering, with a walnut pesto sauce that would simply go for conventional pesto. The dish was topped with broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, artichoke and capers, with two items of garlic bread on the facet to make for a well-balanced and filling meal.
Whereas the pesto pasta was a deal with, the spicy pad thai noodles have been a bit disappointing. Not as a result of the dish wasn’t tasty, however relatively as a result of the noodles have been a really Americanized model of this vibrant, zesty Thai dish, coming throughout extra as a bowl of pasta than noodles due to the creamy sauce.
(Krithika Shrinivas / The Emory Wheel.)
A sensible choice for many who comply with a gluten-free weight-reduction plan, these rice noodles have been garnished with zucchini, inexperienced beans, pink bell peppers, mushrooms, baked tofu, kale, carrots and crushed peanuts with a wealthy coconut-tahini sauce. The sauce jogged my memory of alfredo sauce, besides that it was strongly infused with coconut essence.
It was a far cry from conventional pad thai, which is nice, savory and tangy, and it didn’t reside as much as its spicy commercial. Nonetheless, this entree was comforting and the assortment of greens made it wholesome and crowd pleasing.
We selected to skip dessert, because the restaurant solely presents a choice of vegan muffins that we didn’t need in the mean time. From earlier experiences, the muffins are delicious, with my favourite being their carrot cake.
Skipping dessert gave us time to take a look at the numerous plaques on the entrance of the restaurant which might be devoted to Lin and Edward Solar, the cooks and homeowners of this nationally acknowledged and award-winning restaurant.
Whereas their Sandy Springs restaurant, based in 1994, closed after 25 years of being in enterprise, the Buckhead restaurant, based 3 years later, is open and thriving. The cooks based Cafe Sunflower after studying about holistic well being and changing into vegetarians within the early Nineteen Nineties.
Already within the restaurant enterprise, the homeowners bought their current eating places to discovered Cafe Sunflower, hoping to make vegetarianism extra accessible and to change a standard notion of vegetarian fare as flavorless and boring.
The cooks achieved this mission, as the worldwide delicacies supplied at this restaurant is delectable. Cafe Sunflower has revolutionized the plant-based culinary scene in Atlanta, and I’d extremely suggest it to everybody, vegan or in any other case!
Total: 4.5/5
