Chino Latino

Chino Latino is a local restaurant owned by Parasole which serves "Street foods from the hot zones." It's a mix of Asian, South American and Latin American foods. The waitstaff is always friendly and is willing to go to great lengths to figure out what is vegan and what is not.

This is tofu satay, which was a new offering. We usually get portobella satay, which is really tasty, but this was excellent as well. Crispy fried tofu cubes on skewers, served with sweet and sour dipping sauce, quick-pickled cucumbers, and sticky rice.



I enjoyed my skewer with soy sauce and added hot sauce. I really wish this was served with the garlic soy sauce that accompanies the portobella satay. We also had several veggie potstickers, but I didn't take any photos of those because I inhale them all too quickly. Last, but certainly not least, we had "Popocatepe" aka "nacho fries." I order it minus the dairy (cheese, sour cream, and chile de arbol sauce which apparantly has dairy in it.) It's served with pico de gallo, black beans, and guacamole.

Pizza Luce Brunch - Breakfast Burrito, Hashbrowns, "Cheese" Toast

Pizza Luce brunch, once again!



I finally had the breakfast burrito, which is the last vegan item on the brunch menu that I had not tried. It was very tasty! It's scrambled tofu with peppers, onions, black beans, veggie sausage and soy cheese wrapped in a tortilla and smothered in quinto sauce (tasted like enchilade sauce sort of) and pico de gallo and more soy cheese. It's served on top of jalapeño hashbrowns and a side of salsa. I also had a side of their awesome vegan hollandaise sauce because it's great with everything.

Axel ordered their vegan cheese toast with soy cheese (they use Follow Your Heart mozzarella) as well as jalapeño hashbrowns with a side of the vegan hollandaise.

Fasika

This is one of my all time favorite comfort foods: the veggie sampler from Faiska, a local Ethiopian restaurant here in St. Paul. It's just really tasty and nutritious: lots of lentils, cabbage, veggies, greens, split peas, all cooked in different spices and served on top of Injera, a spongey pancake-like bread made from teff flour. The best part about Ethiopian food is that you eat with your hands, using the injera to scoop up the food.

I highly recommend clicking on the above photo to fo to the Flickr photo because I labeled everything. I'll try to describe it as best as possible.

In Center: Misir Key Wot (red lentils cooked in Berbere sauce) and from L to R: Atkilt (cabbage, potatoes and carrots); Gomen (cooked greens); horseradish? puree at the top; some unknown potatoe-y thing; kik alicha wot (split peas cooked in curry and other spices); beets; and a salad with oil/spices as dressing and peppers and tomatoes.