Sunday, January 27, 2013

Restaurant Review: Cantina Laredo

Here's my quick take on this restaurant, as it pertains to vegetarians.

Homemade chips and salsa were complimentary and were very good.  We were given both a mild and a medium salsa to try.  I liked the latter.  Both did contain cilantro.

For around $8 we got an order of guacamole made at the table.  The menu said it served 2-4, but with 2 avocados that would mean very large serving sizes of the calorie-rich dip.  We were asked if we wanted tomatoes and onions.  I don't remember being asked if we wanted cilantro--which would have been preferable, since I don't care for it.  It was very noisy so I may have just missed the question.  The guac was delicious and we had to bring the rest home with us.  We were given an extra bag full of warm, homemade tortilla chips to bring home with it.

On the dinner menu, I found 2 choices clearly marked vegetarian on the menu.  One was a spinach enchilada with Jack cheese (vegetarian); the other was an avocado and artichoke enchilada over a bed of spinach (which sounded vegan).

I was wondering how the avocado/artichoke enchilada could be served over spinach--doesn't "enchilada" mean "in chile"--in other words, dipped in chile sauce?  That entree did sound better to me, but I didn't want to have more avocado, so I chose the spinach enchilada.

hmmm.  It was ok.  The filling was rather bland.  There seemed to be no chile in sight; it was covered in a sauce that I'd liken to a thinned out version of sour cream--way too much for my liking.  The menu said there were mushrooms in the filling but I couldn't find any.

It was served with some flavorful rice and black beans on the side, kind of standard-tasting.  I do appreciate the menu marking what was vegetarian, and for making the effort to include 2 meat-free options on the menu.  I would suggest, perhaps, the restaurant offer a more standard Mexican item on the menu that's meat-free, to widen the choices for those of us who love spicy stuff.

The staff was friendly, the atmosphere was fun, and the restaurant was spotless.

Quorn Chik'n Cutlets

As you may remember, I've had mixed experiences with "fake meat" products.

Today I tried a Quorn brand product for the first time:  "Chik'n Cutlets".

I'm pleased to report they met all my criteria:
  • Reasonably priced
  • Doesn't taste too much like meat
  • Doesn't have a weird taste or texture
  • Not too difficult to make
I made a gravy with vegetarian broth and warmed the cutlets in the gravy in a 425 degree oven for about 15 minutes.   I had them with vegetables, potatoes and stuffing.

VERDICT: Good comfort food for a subzero day!