Tony surprised me this weekend and took me to a vegan restaurant for dinner. I had been curious about going to a vegan place for a while now. We tried going to one that was by our house but unfortunately it was permanently closed. I always had a preconceived notion that vegan food would be bland in taste. I mean without that flavor punch of delicious fats and oils you’d get from animal products, can it really be that good?
Tony found this little gem through Google maps, it had a 4.9 rating so he figured it be a good choice. When we got to The New Vegan it was a quaint little cafe off the beaten path of the busy Atlantic Avenue in Delray. I admit I was skeptical of the menu when I first saw it. There were just so many food combinations that I’d never had. Flax seed, quinoa flour, kale, dehydrated, raw, is what I was seeing. I said to myself, this is totally going to be tasteless. Boy was I was wrong, I was very wrong.
We were greeted by a very lovely girl named Bailey who we told was our first time here. She gave us some background on the cuisine. They are completely soy free, gluten free, and wheat free. They also try to buy all their produce as locally as possible, this is a huge plus for me. She brought us water that was infused with lemon and cucumber to help with digestion, yay another plus! Not going to lie, I played it safe when I ordered but hey that’s OK just testing the waters! I ended up getting a dehydrated portobello burger and chickpea patty topped with veganaise , lettuce, and tomatoes. Tony got a falafel burger which was a patty of dehydrated chickpeas and fava beans also with lettuce, tomatoes and veganaise. They were both served with a small salad and a blend of lightly curried brown/black rice with kale, tomatoes, and their home made BBQ sauce. Tony and I were blown away when we finally took a bite of our food. Talk about packed with flavor! I didn’t even miss not having cheese (they do offer daiya cheese.) While it may not exactly be a beef burger, there was nothing to envy. The manager came up to our table to see what we thought about our meal. We just started raving about how delicious it was. She was very kind and talked to us a bit about the cafe. Even though we were stuffed we ended up getting dessert which we almost never do. I settled on a nice slice of walnut brownie to share. The brownie was made with millet, flaxseed, cacao & walnuts. It was warm fudgey and delicious, who needs eggs anyways? They were even nice enough to give us 2 slices!
Overall we had a great experience at The New Vegan. Not only was the food delicious but the staff was so lovely. Tony enjoyed it so much he said we should go once a week. This is coming from a person who enjoys his steak haha. I encourage you to try this little mom and pop cafe in Delray Beach, you won’t regret it.
The New Vegan
Scraping the plate clean.
Curated by Paola 