Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Veggie Vacation


I know I haven't posted in a while, but I went to Europe and then got the flu. The two events overlapped by about 2 days. I'm still recovering from the flu (1.5 weeks later) and have much less energy than I'm used to. I took about a week off from push-ups but am back to my regimen now.

We went to Amsterdam and Paris. I'm not going to lie and say I ate vegan all the time, but some of my favorite meals were vegan.

Fresh mint tea on our first day in Amsterdam helped wake me up:



Maoz makes amazing felafel, and they have branches in the US, including a DC branch coming soon! (Finding this out just made my day.) Every component of the felafel is great. The patties are light and crunchy, the bread is super-fresh, and the toppings are tangy and spicy.



Amsterdam's also famous for its fries, which we got topped with satay (peanut) sauce, due to my intense dislike for mayo.



Where does one get great fries? Why, the Chipsy King, of course!



One of the best meals we had on the trip was when we ordered rijsttafel, the Indonesian meal where they pull out all the stops. About half of the places we saw had a vegetarian rijsttafel. Check out this insane spread for just the two of us (not even showing the first course, a tomato vermicelli soup)! I imagine there was some honey involved but I don't think there was any dairy or egg in the meal. There were "shrimp chips," though. My favorite dishes were the coconut cabbage and the corn fritters.



Paris was not a vegan tour de force but I loved our street, Rue Mouffetard (we rented apartments in both cities rather than stay in hotels). Behold the glories of the street market!



One of the temptations in the farmer's market was morels. But at 80 euros for a kilo, I had to pass. I did see them this weekend at a farmer's market in DC, though, for about the same price, in case I change my mind!

9 comments:

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

I'm jealous of your Europe trip! (Not about the flu, though-- hope you're feeling better!!!)

Anonymous said...

wow! how exciting! i love discovering new food when traveling. i hope y'all had a blast.

on another note, my sweetheart just discovered that he'll be studying at the Sorbonne for a year, so he'll get to see some of Europe as well... though we'll miss one another terribly...

Katyola said...

Hey, great post -- I just posted pictures from Paris, including the macarons (decidedly NOT vegan). Not to quibble, but the rice table did have a hard-boiled egg (I ate it, but I don't think you did). I'll never forget this trip!

Theresa said...

Welcome back! It looks like a fantastic trip! Too bad about the flu, though.

Jes said...

Looks like a delicious trip! Maoz is so wonderful. I had it in Philly & fell in love with it. I mean, what's not to love about all-you-can-pile-on falafel toppings?

Simple and Divine said...

Hey! I came across your blog from Miss Chocolatecoveredvegan and I am so glad that I did! :)
Your pictures from Europe are beautiful, especially the one of the fruit at the market!

I am SO interested in Maoz because we have a couple of them in the Philadelphia area and I have yet to try one out! What's it like? And how the heck to you pronounce it?! lol

I hope you enjoy your thursday and once again, great job with your blog! I love it :)

Cheers

Anonymous said...

I'm in the mood for Maoz, good news about one coming this way!
Your pictures are divine, them Europeans sure know how to live.

hs

Anonymous said...

So jealous of your trip to Amsterdam! I have GOT to get back there one day.

I haven't had falafel in AGES. Must look into getting some in DC soon!

Monika K said...

Wow - you went to Paris! And Amsterdam! I am tres jealous!