Alamo Drafthouse New Vegan Menu - Austin, TX

I got a tweet the other day from the Alamo Drafthouse telling me that I was invited to a tasting for their new vegan menu (which will be available at the Village location only). This is awesome, and something I've been hoping for since I starting going to the Drafthouse 11 years ago.







The tacos were tasty, with crunchy tortilla chips in it, and slightly spicy salsa that complimented it nicely. The bruschetta was also good, with super creamy avocado and good flavors provided by the lemon vinaigrette and balsamic reduction. The samosa tasted fairly standard for samosas (delicious, in my opinion), and have my vote for the easiest thing on the new menu to eat in the dark). The cookie was warm and chewy, with a nice fruitiness from the cherries.

When the menu launches tomorrow, the bruschetta will be a full cup of avocado and tomato mixture, with crostini all around the edge of the plate.

Some of the other people at the tasting mentioned that a chocolate dessert would be quite welcome, and Trish, the chef, said that she'd had a hard time finding vegan chocolate at a good price point. We told her about the vegan chocolate chips in bulk at Wheatsville, and suggested that she contact some of the vegan bakers in town to get suggestions from them about where to buy. I also mentioned that I would love to see soy milk for the coffee drinks at all I the locations, and Trish said that she would make sure that it happened, since it should have been happening already (she said if it wasn't, it was an oversight).

In Which The Hedgehogs Make April A Faux Egg Salad Sandwich

After a long day of faire, April discovered that she had an unwelcome, unexpected visitor. She drove home, and the hedgehogs sent her to relax while they made dinner. Since April had been planning on making the Faux Egg Salad from page 50 of "Vegan a Go-Go!: A Cookbook & Survival Manual for Vegans on the Road", the hedgehogs decided they'd make it for her.



The hedgehogs had almost everything they needed, but realized they didn't have any garlic or pickles. However, they had a GIANT bunch of parsley, so they added lots of that.


Buttercup says that Hedgie is going to owe her BIG TIME after this.

After mixing everything together and tasting it, they decided it was good, but needed a little something. They added about 1/2 teaspoon of Kala Namak (black salt) and two yolk's-worth of The Vegg, and mixed some more. This time, it tasted really good!

Hedgie and Buttercup made a sandwich with some of the Faux Egg Salad and some avocado, and toasted the whole thing.


"Hey, Hedgie. How are we going to get it up the stairs to April?" "Oops."


Full Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate links included in this post. I receive a small commission if you click through to Amazon and purchase products using these links. That being said, I'm currently in the process of trying to pay off a $34,000 hospital bill, so if you want to buy something, feel free to click!

RESTAURANT REVIEW - The Dojo, Austin, TX

Since April had an extra unplanned week in Austin to heal from her gall bladder surgery, she decided to make the most of it and eat some delicious food! She had heard all sorts of good things about The Dojo, so she and her friend Alloni took the hedgehogs out to see what all the fuss was about.

The Dojo
9070 Research Blvd., #305 Austin, TX 78757
Facebook page and Twitter page







April had heard that The Dojo was one of the handful of new restaurants in town with vegan ramen, and was excited to try some. What she didn't realize was exactly how many other vegan options there would be on the menu!







Deciding on just one thing each seemed an impossible task to both April and Alloni, so they decided to pick a lot of different dishes. (Leftovers are always good, and it seemed like a good time to celebrate April being to eat All The Food after the gall bladder removal.) The hedgehogs, of course, urged them to get as much as possible (hoping that they could grab a taste of everything.)



The Okonomiyaki Style Potatoes (vegan version) were quite tasty, though April and Alloni weren't expecting French fries. There were four or five different things on top of the potatoes with flavors that all blended together nicely.



The Beets And Avocado Tempura was your basic veggie tempura, but the tempura coating definitely took a backseat to the perfectly-done beets and avocado (not overly greasy or "too fried").



The Tofu Steak was the definite winner for Favorite Dish for both April and Alloni. A semi-firm, creamy tofu block was immersed in a thick, sweet soy sauce with mushrooms and ultra-thin noodles.



The Nasu Scrambled (Stir-fried eggplant and tofu in red chili sauce) was tasty, and April particularly liked the eggplant.



The Veggie Gyoza were very good, but perhaps a touch on the oily side.



The Shichirin Yaki Veggie Set, at $13, was April and Alloni's most expensive purchase. Lightly seasoned raw beets, portabello mushrooms, and shishito peppers are meant to be cooked over the small "table grill" to the diner's preferred doneness, and then dipped in one of the accompanying sauces. It tasted good, but Alloni and April decided that next time, they could buy veggies and cook them at home for less, and have more money to spend on the other inventive dishes from The Dojo.



Finally, for the lovely ramen! The Veggie Miso Ramen, with bean sprouts, nori, fried tofu, scallions, and corn, was definitely delicious, with a flavorful broth and excellently-done noodles.

After all that food (part of which went home as leftovers), neither April nor Alloni had room for dessert (though the hedgehogs both claimed to be ready for some). Both the Homemade Coconut Ice Cream and the Mochi Tempura are vegan, and will certainly be on the list of things to get on April's second visit to The Dojo. Buttercup wondered if the Vanilla Plum Wine Float (vanilla ice cream and plum wine) could be made vegan with the substitution of the vegan coconut ice cream, and Hedgie pointed out that the Dojo Parfait could probably be made vegan with the ice cream substitution and the omission of yogurt and Pocky.

Completely stuffed, April and the hedgehogs went home to prepare for their imminent flight back to Kansas!

In Which Everything Goes Awry (RESTAURANT REVIEW - Crazy Cajun, Port Aransas, TX)

Something that April didn't mention in the last few blog posts was that, upon returning to Austin, she had a gall bladder attack every other day. The 3rd one was extra painful, and didn't stop after a couple of hours like all the rest did. After several hours of pain, she decided that a trip to the emergency room was in order. A couple of days later, the gall bladder was history, and April was discharged from the hospital. The doctor said that it would be a bad idea to try and fly back to Kansas and play at the faire, so April reluctantly agreed to take another week off. Her fiance had already planned a trip to the Texas coast with his friends, so April went along with them. If one is going to recuperate, the beach is a nice place to do so!



The downside of recuperation was that it hurt to laugh, breathing deeply was impossible, and occasional abdominal discomfort made things not so great. The upside was that, with no more pesky gall bladder, April could eat pretty much whatever she wanted. Her fiance, Tim, and all of their friends had rented Tim's family's condo in Port Aransas, so a full kitchen as well as community grills were at their disposal.

Tim started out the long weekend by making a ton of chalupas (one of April's favorites!) with Daiya cheese, refried beans, avocado, and Wheatsville's popcorn tofu.



The next day, a couple of their friends took turns grilling all sorts of things. April and Tim (the two vegans in the group) got grilled corn on the cob, veggie skewers, and grilled pineapple and strawberry skewers (delicious!)



For desert, there was Purely Decadent Chocolate Obsession and So Delicious Cookies 'n' Cream.



On the last day, everyone wanted to go eat at The Crazy Cajun, a place they had enjoyed on the last trip to the coast.

Crazy Cajun
303 E Beach Ave, Port Aransas, TX 78373


The hedgehogs have their own special spot in the car.

April was a bit worried about trying to eat at a seafood restaurant, but Tim assured her that there was something they could eat. Upon arriving, the hedgehogs explored the waiting room -



After a bit of a wait (accompanied by what may have been the Crazy Cajun himself - a guy with a fiddle and a harmonica), the group was seated.


For reference, thecrazycajun.com doesn't actually work.

The actual Crazy Cajun entree is a large bucket of corn, potatoes, and dead sea animals that gets dumped on the paper-covered table, while diners are given wooden mallets to crack open shells. April and Tim sat at one end of the table and did their best to ignore the carnage. The veggie option (which isn't on the menu) consists of a smaller bowl of just corn and potatoes. Make sure to tell the waiter that you don't want them cooked in butter.



The Crazy Cajun uses a spice mix that's actually quite spicy but very, very tasty. Tim bought a big bottle of it to take home.


The Blues Brothers in the window of The Crazy Cajun.

While April has almost no sense of smell, she has heard that The Crazy Cajun has a fairly strong fish smell (perhaps a rotten fish smell), so people with sensitive noses might want to find someplace else to go.

Gen Con 2013 & RESTAURANT REVIEW - Cafe Gratitude, Kansas City, MO

When last we left our intrepid explorers, they were looking for parking in downtown Indianapolis for Gen Con 2013.





An hour after reaching downtown, Hedgie finally spotted a garage that only charged $10 a night (there was no free parking anywhere). April parked and proceeded to make multiple trips from the garage to the convention center and then more trips to the hotel (because walking 8 miles in Toronto wasn't nearly enough), as the hedgehogs provided moral support.

April got her CDs set up on the table she was sharing with Marc Gunn -



- and went to play music for all of the wonderful geeky attendees (including an adorable Robin).



While at Gen Con, food consisted mainly of heat & eat Indian packet meals, cereal, and Cliff/Luna/Pro bars, so the hedgehogs regret to inform you that there are no exciting food pictures. To make up for it, here are some pictures from Gen Con itself -


Cardhalla. Anyone who wanted to could add to the impressive array of card structures.

Amazing cosplay -



After 4 days of exciting and exhausting fun, April and the hedgehogs packed up, said goodbye to Indiana, and drove to Kansas City, MO, where April would be staying during the Kansas City Renaissance Festival. April had a free week in between Gen Con and KCRF, and was planning on flying home to Austin for a quick visit, but had a chance to eat at Cafe Gratitude before the flight.

Cafe Gratitude
333 Southwest Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64108
Facebook page





Everything at Cafe Gratitude is vegan, and lots of it is raw as well. The names of all the dishes are affirmations, and they even have a "community supported grain bowl" called "I Am Greatful", that helps to feed the hungry - "Shredded kale with quinoa, black beans & garlic-tahini sauce. Payment is by donation. Minimum donation is $2.00. Suggested value is $7. Feed yourself & someone in need $14. For grateful bowl policy details, see server."

On this particular visit, April had the "I Am Rich" juice (orange, carrot, lemon & beet) and the "I Am Fabulous" (a raw lasagne which isn't actually on the menu), which were delicious.



For dessert, she splurged a bit and got the "I Am Joy", a vegan truffle that does a great job impersonating an Almond Joy candy bar. (So very, very tasty.)



Since she went to Cafe Gratitude the day before her flight, April decided to also get something for the next morning's breakfast. The "I Am Peace" (live onion bagel with cashew crème cheese, nori “lox,” tomato, onion, capers & sprouts) sounded intriguing, so she got it to-go.



A note on the "I Am Peace" - it was delicious, but the "bagel" was really more of a raw flatbread.

Here's what April and her friend got the last time they visited Cafe Gratitude -


I Am Worthy - kale, beet, celery, apple & ginger juice.


I Am Awake - gluten-free buckwheat-banana pancakes drizzled with maple syrup. (Delicious!)


I Am Creative - a unique creation of pizza flavors with tomato, basil, hemp seed pesto, nut parmesan & cashew ricotta cheese on our live onion sunflower crust. (This may be April's favorite thing.)


Dessert Tray. We'll have one of everything, please.


I Am Bliss - chocolate hazelnut pie. (Very rich, very tasty.)