| If you're a vegetarian in Calgary, you get used to jury-rigged meals in non-vegetarian restaurants. The vegetarian option often consists of a meat-based meal without the meat, so vegetarians can miss essential proteins.
I realize that some chefs would rejoice if every vegetarian died of malnutrition, but vegetarian meals should command the same care and attention to detail as ones with meat. Calgary has lagged way behind other cities in terms of the number of choices available for vegetarians (Cranks Restaurant in London and Greens Restaurant in San Francisco have been around for ages), but some of the places that do specialize in vegetarian (and, in some cases, vegan) fare are doing a good job of it. There are others in town, but these are two favourites:
COMMUNITY NATURAL FOODS SUNFLOWER CAFE
The Sunflower Café at Community Natural Foods (1304 - 10 Ave. S.W.) recently underwent a facelift and a menu overhaul. It's still a buffet, but now your meal gets weighed and you pay per hundred grams, Mongolian style. While this may be an easier way of pricing for the café, this system always seems incongruous. For example, a potato might weigh 200 grams, as might a piece of organic cheddar, but the food cost is vastly different.
In my experience, it also leads to an expensive lunch, although at Sunflower Café it’s one that is admittedly good. The lasagna was rich with tomato sauce and not too heavy, had a nice scent of herbs, and the cheese was good quality. I had this with some salad and a small bowl of carrot soup for $11.68 – and I couldn't help thinking that this was a lot of money for a restaurant where you have to bus your own dishes. The tofu stir-fry with broccoli and peppers was hot and tender. The tofu had been marinated and had a ginger undertone, indicating lots of experience cooking tofu. Again, though, I was surprised at the $7.66 price tag.
For dessert, there was a solidly textured piece of carrot cake ($4.95), which had a pleasant hint of cinnamon but was heavier than you might expect, maybe due to the spelt flour it was made with. The coffee was outstanding.
I like going to the Sunflower Café – they use good organic ingredients and the food tastes good, even if it's not the cheapest lunch in town. (For a fantastic place similar to Community Natural Foods, check out the Kootenay Co-op in Nelson, B.C., the best organic food store I've ever been in.)
ANPURNA VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT
Deep in the heart of east Calgary lies the Anpurna Vegetarian Restaurant (corner of Memorial Dr. and 52 St. S.E., phone 235-6028), a tiny family-run place, with all sorts of west-central and southern Indian dishes, most for around $4 or so. The thali ($9.95 at dinner) was fantastic value – two small bowls of vegetarian curry, some dal, a bowl of rice, some roti, a papadum, a little bowl of sour pickle and a coconut dessert. There's enough to eat, but the variety is what appeals to me in that you can mix and match all the tastes.
The idli sambar soup ($4.25) is unique – a hot, thick, spicy lentil soup with dumplings, cooled by yogurt and coconut. Similarly the papdi chat ($3.95) was interesting – a large plate of crisp wafers cut in strips, potatoes, chick peas and onion, all cooked together. It reminded me a bit of a Chinese crisp noodle dish in texture. There are also nylon bajia ($4.25), deep fried potato slices served with an intriguing tamarind chutney.
All this is great, but be there before 8 p.m. because that’s when the kitchen closes and "NO EXCEPTIONS" is written on the menu. |
