The Hedgehogs Return To Kansas (RESTAURANT REVIEW - Baan Thai, Leavenworth, KS)

After an extra week in Austin to recover from gall bladder surgery, April was feeling good enough to make the trip back to Kansas so she could perform at the remaining weekends of the Kansas City Renaissance Festival. Before she left, Floyd decided to show her how much he was going to miss her -



...or perhaps he was just being silly. The world may never know.

The hedgehogs were excited to get back on a plane! This time, they were going from Austin to Colorado, then Colorado to Kansas.









Once they got to Colorado, the hedgehogs were both very excited to have their first ride on a moving sidewalk -



After all the fun of the sidewalk (Buttercup felt a bit ill, but Hedgie wanted to do it again!), April and the hedgehogs discovered that they were going to have their first ever ride on a propeller plane.



As neat as the plane looked on the outside, it didn't have very great views from the inside -





(Though, the hedgehogs commented that getting to see the landing gear (wheels) get drawn up into the wing upon lift-off and then come back out at decent was pretty darn cool.)

After getting back to Kansas, April's host, Duane, agreed to go with her and the hedgehogs to check out the Thai restaurant down the street.

Baan Thai
301 S. 4th St., Leavenworth, KS 66048 (also has a location in Manhattan, KS)
Facebook page

They started out with some Spring Rolls (Cabbage, carrots, celery, bean thread, with spring roll wrapper, deep-fried and served with sweet and sour sauce.)



Baan Thai didn't have April's go-to Thai dish (Musumun Tofo Curry) on the menu, so she decided to try Pad Preaw Waan (Sweet and Sour) - tofu stir-fried with pineapple, cucumber, onion, bell pepper, and tomatoes. It was delicious! The flavors went together well, the sauce was great, and the spice level was just right.




Hedgie figures that by being helpful, perhaps he'll get an extra taste.

On the way out, the hedgehogs stopped to make a new friend, who seemed a bit taken aback at their presence -

RESTAURANT REVIEW - Roll On Sushi, Austin, TX

Roll On Sushi
5350 Burnet Rd., Ste. 2, Austin, TX, 78756
Facebook page

The day before April left for her tour, the hedgehogs decided that they wanted some sushi. Since everyone was raving about Roll On Sushi, they decided to see what all the fuss was about.

April started with some edamame "Roll On Style", which means seasoned. It was a very tasty starter!



Since she was about to head out on a long road trip with not a lot of vegan options, the hedgehogs convinced April to splurge and get both the Hippy Roll (inari, cucumber, avocado, asparagus, gobo, ume paste, taukwan, kampyo, sushi rice, and nori) -



and the Fruity Vegan (cucumber and tempura fried jalepeños topped with a strawberry and mango salsa).



Both rolls were very tasty, and April's looking forward to trying the Respect My Asparagah roll (asparagus, candied walnuts, goat cheese, sun dried tomato, sushi rice, and nori with a balsamic glaze) with avocado instead of the goat cheese.

RESTAURANT REVIEWS - Teji's, Round Rock, TX & Clay Pit, Austin, TX

Teji's
1205 Round Rock Ave #115, Round Rock, TX 78681
2100 B Guadalupe Street, Austin, 78705
Facebook page

Clay Pit
1601 Guadalupe St, Austin, TX 78701
Facebook page

While April has been to Clay Pit a few times in the past, Hedgie and Buttercup have never had the pleasure, and Teji's had been highly recommended, so they convinced her that it would be a good idea to have Indian food for lunch and dinner before her long tour started.

April had visited the new location of Teji's on Guadelupe once before, but hadn't tried the original. She met some friends there for lunch, and decided to try some stuffed fried Anahaim peppers, which were REALLY spicy (she ended up taking most of them home to eat with vegan sour cream). The peppers looked suspiciously like fried mice, which made Hedgie and Buttercup very worried.



Baigan Bharta has always been a favorite for April's, but the Stuffed Baigan ("Baby eggplant stuffed with Indian spices in thick tomato & onion gravy") looked amazing - and didn't disappoint!




One can never have enough Indian food, so April took the hedgehogs to have dinner with a friend at Clay Pit. One great thing about Clay Pit is that all of the vegan options are clearly marked on the menu.



April and her dining companion started out with some veggie samosas and a batata cham (potato patty) that were really delicious - crispy on the outside, savory smooth on the inside, with just the right amount of spice.



For a main dish, April tried something a little different - Vegetable Ayam ("garden fresh vegetables prepared with fresh garlic & herbs in delicious yellow goan curry.")



The Vegetable Ayam is definitely a new favorite!