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Mr. Sushi
(513) 827-9345
580 Walnut St
Cincinnati, OH 45202

By the time we met up with our friend after work and got downtown it was going on eight o’clock. I don’t know if that’s early or late by weeknight downtown standards but we found Mr. Sushi at light capacity, with only a few tables of hipsters at the front making a ruckus. We’d heard that the service was slow but were surprised that both our appetizer of vegetable tempura and our combo plate of sushi came out quickly. Maybe it was the right time of day or that our sushi didn’t require any special handling like an exotic dead-fish roll.

The tempura veggies were a little pricey at $5 and there wasn’t as much as I would’ve expected but what we got was a tasty mix of deep fried peppers, onion, carrot and zucchini. Pretty typical stuff but good. The Vegetable Roll Combination on their web menu is a little different than what we had. Ours was an AAC (Avocado, Asparagus, Cucumber) roll, a Vegetable (Carrot, Avocado, Cucumber) roll and Inari for $13. Both are pretty typical rolls but Mr. Sushi’s had a sweeter flavor that I think of fondly as I type this and the Inari, of course, were scrumptious; a little small but well packed with tasty rice, nice and cold.

The only downside, really, is that Mr. Sushi is downtown but for the crowd who live, work, and play down there on a daily basis it’s well worth stopping in. They’re maybe a little pricier than some of the nearby alternatives but not by much!

Fusion Wok Sushi Bar Front

Fusion Wok Sushi Bar
(513) 898-1633
3645 Stone Creek Blvd, Suite H
Cincinnati, OH 45251

Katy: We went to check out the new sushi place in the Stone Creek shopping center on Colerain south of I-275 for dinner Sunday night. We were excited that there would be an alternative to Kabuto in the area.

Fusion Wok Sushi Bar decor

Shawn: Kabuto is a pretty miserable stop for sushi so, like Katy said, we were thrilled to see a new place opening up. Located in the fancy-pants area of Northgate, Fusion Wok is a small restaurant, not much bigger than University Heights’ Maki Express, with similarly spartan decoration. The furnishings are nice and new with lacquered dark wood and the sushi bar is as colorful and lively as any but overall it’s a typical sushi joint.

So that leaves us with the food. A complimentary dish of sugared peanuts surprised us both but I passed on account of them being nuts and all. After a few questions with one of the chefs to confirm what was vegan we had ordered veggie roll ($3.25), sweet potato roll ($4.25),  avocado roll ($2.95), cucumber roll ($2.50) and some inari ($3.50).

Fusion Wok Sushi Bar sushi

Katy: The presentation of the sushi was very nice and we were thrilled to see the sweet potato roll is tempura sweet potato like we’ve had at Tokyo. The inari had a very small amount of rice and the tofu wrapper was folded up into itself making these the smallest we’ve had at this price.  The veggie roll had a miso sauce on top that was a little sweet & spicy (very slight) and very tasty.  Nothing thrilling to say about the avocado or cucumber rolls, they were tasty, not bad and not amazing – average priced.  In total, I think all the rolls were reasonably priced for size & quality except the inari being skimpy.

We are looking forward to going again within the next week to try non-sushi foods.  Shawn uploaded their menu to Urban Spoon, but as of this moment it hasn’t shown up yet.

Here are the rest of the photos we took

complimentary treat	veggie & avocado rolls
cucumber & sweet potato	complimentary treat
soy sauce

Loving Cafe
(513) 731-2233
6227 Montgomery Road
Cincinnati, OH 45213

Loving cafe always has specials on Saturday’s at lunch, but some of them have been added permanently to the menu.  My favorite is the BBQ Chik’n Wrap pictured below.  For those concerned, it’s not spicy at all from what I can tell.  It’s more the sweet BBQ flavor similar to the BW-3′s sweet BBQ sauce that’s 1 or 2 from the bottom in spiciness.  Inside the wrap is fried rice with veggies in it like edamame & corn, lettuce, vegan mayo and some sort of fake chicken that has a great texture and taste.  It’s all I’ve ordered since last fall when eating there, I believe.  I crave it sometimes, yum yum!

Melt
(513) 681-6358
4165 Hamilton Ave
Cincinnati, OH 45223

Actually, Melt is great for any meal. I always get the same meal, except at brunch when I can’t.  This photo is from a lunch with Shawn, myself and our friend @Simpleton001.   Shawn (left) got the vegan coney which is served open faced & he got mixed greens.  Center is my halvsies custom seitan burger, vegan cheesy sauce & vegan mayo.  Other half is vegan Caesar salad with tofu.  I order this EVERY time.  On right @Simpleton001 tried the sandwich I get with a side of rosemary redskins.

Melt for lunch

Los Panchos
8598 Colerain Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45251-2914
(513) 923-3400

Once we became vegan we stopped getting Mexican food because we associated so much cheese with that cuisine.  This isn’t an unfair way to look at it, but we’ve made up with Mexican food, although our choices are very limited.  The first time back to Los Panchos, our closest Mexican restaurant to home, we felt as if we’d cheated even though we still ate vegan.  They have a veggie burrito that comes with rice & bean and a small amount of cheese, but they almost always remember not to put cheese when you request that.  I’m not a fan of cilantro, so finding Mexican places that don’t use it in everything makes me happy.  When Los Panchos first opened it was back and forth whether you got any, but lately it hasn’t been excessive in my meals.  They have the type of salsa I prefer, where is like a spicy tomato & pepper puree and, as I said, they are convenient to home.  Unfortunately, they have slow service at any time of day (but not always), but definitely Friday and Saturday nights.

Here are some dark and blurry pics for your eye straining pleasure.  The super quesadilla our non-vegan friend got probably couldn’t be made vegan without it just becoming the veggie burrito anyway.

Doodles in Hyde Park has many vegetarian & vegan options!  Check out this stuff…

Cancun Mexican Restaurant
11930 Hamilton Ave
Mount Healthy, OH 45231
(513) 851-6310

Shawn and I were driving home down Hamilton Ave. and we were hungry!  I recalled there being a Cancun Mexican restaurant on route and suggested checking it out.  We had eaten at the Cancun on Glenway Ave. back when we lived in Westwood and were still meat eaters.  The only things I recall about that were the building being attached to Western Bowl (bowling alley) and the salsa being loaded with cilantro.  I may or may not have mentioned that cilantro is the bane of my existence.   Most people either love or hate it and I’m in the hate realm.  It literally tastes like metal to me.  meh.
The parking lot was littered with holes, the bar next door had smokers on route to the front door, I was on the verge of saying forget it.  We went in anyway and saw a half dozen vegetarian options.  Typical Mexican restaurant vegetarian fare such as bean burritos, cheese enchiladas, and bean and cheese tostadas.   The last item was called a “Kentucky Burrito” that sounded unlike any other items we’ve had at Mexican restaurants so we got in line.  A couple in line saw us looking at a menu and assured us their food was “really good”.  Once we were seated and our chips and salsa arrived I was thrilled to see that the salsa wasn’t as I remembered the Western Hills location being.  It was the salsa style I like which seems as if it’s pureed tomatoes and peppers with some spices.  It was spicy and good with a little green (possibly cilantro), but so little it didn’t take away from the good and spicy taste.

We both ordered the “Kentucky Burrito” without cheese, but it arrived with cheese.   We shoved our cheese to the edges of the plates and dove in.  The burritos were filled with carrots, celery and potatoes and it was covered with a tomato sauce.  The plate also had refried beans, rice and what several Mexican restaurants call “A touch of salad.”  A lettuce and tomato salad with a vinegar based dressing.  The burrito was tasty, but the inner veggies seemed seasoned in a way that almost clashed with the rest of the meal.  As if they were a veggie stew, seasoned as a normal stew and then thrown into a Mexican meal.  Different, but I’m unsure I’d eat it again.

Today we went to Melt and had a wonderful brunch.   Shawn got the vegan biscuits & gravy and I got the Rosemary Redskin Mess.  Both were delicious and came out very quickly despite being so crowded.

The dining room floor overlooking Fountain Square

We didn’t plan it when a friend of ours invited us downtown to Via Vite but we continued on our vegan pizza vision quest last night. Unsure of what was vegan beyond a side of Bruschetta (which was tasty as well), we had the red-headed Maggie to thank for guiding us through the menu towards one of Via Vite’s wood fired pizzas. All of the pizzas on the menu include meat or cheese (the crust is vegan) so we had to DIY it — again with the unshakable Maggie at our side — with some basil and peperonata.

Even after Maggie’s detailed explanation (did she just give us an insider recipe?) I wasn’t sure what to expect but a stew of red and yellow peppers, onions, vinegar and sugar sure sounded tasty. And tasty it was! A little runny, as I’m sure it normally sits amid cheese, meat and other toppings, but with fork and knife in hand, I dove in. I suppose the next line would be that I dove into the deep end and cracked my skull on the bottom because after being goaded into juuuuust one more piece I was starting to feel a little overstuffed. Overstuffed quickly turned into stomach pain which lasted through the night but I’m not blaming the quality or ingredients, only my stubborn desire to eat delicious pizza.

Honestly, the peperonata pizza was so great that I’m more than willing to put up with some indigestion to have it again, and if that’s not a glowing endorsement (albeit one probably not fit for a slogan) I don’t know what is!

I submitted a web form on Panera Bread’s website saying the following

Please consider changing the recipes for some of your soups that don’t
have meat to make them vegetarian.  The Broccoli Cheddar would be a
really easy switch.  That was my favorite before I went vegetarian.
Anywhere you could substitute vegetable broths for meat broths would be
appreciated.  I only have 2 soup options since I hate cilantro.

I received a reply back the same day, which was nice, but the answer was more of what all vegetarians get everyday.  A whole lot of who-cares-that-you-can’t-eat-this-we-won’t-change.

The email specifies that I shouldn’t copy it anywhere so let me paraphrase for you:

They said that due to Broccoli Cheddar being their most popular soup, they didn’t feel they should change the recipe.  What they are not considering is that currently they are excluding vegetarians from eating this soup, but if it were vegetarian MORE people could eat this soup making it MORE POPULAR…HELLO!  It’s yet another closed minded view of food that most meat-eaters sadly have.  Most meat-eaters eat whatever so why would they care if meat broths were substituted with vegetable broths?

Here is my plea to anyone who has a free moment, please go to Panera Bread’s contact us page and submit a form asking that they make the Broccoli Cheddar vegetarian.  They appear to think I’m alone here and have no idea how many vegetarians are out there.