We leave this weekend for a week in Victoria, BC and a week in Seattle! We’re very exited to get away and looking forward to spending time in two places we’ve never been. I’ve done a lot of research on places to see, places to eat, but it’d be great to get some recommendations!
So, how about it? Any recommendations?
Many recommendations and a must for Seattle: Sutra cannot be missed (http://www.sutraseattle.com/), Wayward (U District) and Highline (Cap Hill) have great comfort food – I typically go Wayward for breakfast and Highline for dinner, Highline is healthy/comfort (2 locations – West Sea and U District), Plum is great and they have multiple locations that differ from the menu at their main spot…. And many more. Enjoy!
Thanks! I had seen the menu for Highline and Plum and they were definitely on our list to hit up; glad to hear they’re good! I hadn’t seen Sutra—it looks amazing! And I’ll look Wayward up too. I found that it can be difficult to find breakfast places that have vegan options; everything seems to have egg and cheese. Thanks again!
Plum Bistro in Seattle. The spinach crepes are amazing.
Duly noted! 🙂
I hate to be a stick in the mud, but I found Plum Bistro absolutely disgusting. Everything was oily or oily and bland. More than one dish literally dripped. I asked the staff if that’s how the dish is normally served with that amount of oil and they said yes, which was unfortunate. They had a lot of traditionally cheesed laden items on the menu, like grilled cheese and macaroni and cheese, but had just replaced all the cheese with Daiya. What a shame when there are so many good and tasty cheese replacements or just tasty vegan food in general without all the mock cheese! The interior was modern and fun and their water service with a slice of orange and cucumber was something I’ve done again at home, but if water was the most pleasant memory from the menu, I don’t think that’s a good sign, There were a few things on the menu that were passable, but after the oil attacks we had on the other plates, we didn’t even feel good or hungry anymore. Even their salads were oily.
On the more positive side, I’d say Cafe Flora is nice for breakfast or lunch with some vegetarian, some vegan options- very nice vegan coconut ice cream! Their pate platter and coconut tofu is pretty choice. They also really understand the difference between vegetarian and vegan there so you don’t have to worry they’ll mess up your particular needs. Carmelita is a great dinner restaurant. A fancy setting, but without the snobbery. I’d like to try Sutra too one day, but Carmelita is a way more affordable way to get really good quality and a good experience without the same price tag. I know they’re vegetarian, but I’d just call about how vegan they might be.
Sunlight Cafe is the oldest vegetarian (and vegan friendly) restaurant in Seattle with a fairly solid reputation for over 30 years and worth stopping by if you’re in that area. It’s, as I remember it, pretty ‘comfort food’y and not too posh. If you go as far as the University District (which has some really cool shopping) on 50th and 12th ish area I think, Ceders makes pretty decent Indian food and Chaco Canyon is vegan and raw vegan with really special items. I had a raw sandwich, something sort of wet and akin to a ‘tuna’, though without a lot of mock stuff to make it, and it was really fabulous and filling. I recommend their hot juices such as the lemon ginger cayenne. All fresh squeezed! I’m sure you’ll want to verify the street addresses first though… or not. Maybe you like an adventure! : )
Of course, you should definitely hit the Pike Place Market if you have the chance. There’s little snacks and gifts and great fruit and veg available there and it’s near a lot of unique gift shops, all in walking distance. If you have a rental car, I recommend one of the parking lots on 1st and Virginia (I think that’s the street?) right next to the hair cutting salon, Vain. It’s three or four blocks from the market and way way cheaper than you’ll pay elsewhere.
Don’t know Victoria as well, but I do specifically remember there not being many vegan, or even vegetarian places, when I went, at least right in the touristy hotel streets we were on. There’s a great coffee shop in Chinatown, however. This man who travels all over the world seeking out great coffee and bringing it back, or something like that. I wish I’d remembered the name, because it was the best cup I’d ever had but you could probably ask around. If you get a chance or have the finances, take one of those bus tours that lead up to the Butchart Gardens. It might sound like it’d be cheesy, but the drivers seem to know a lot about the city. Even driving through the suburbs on the way to the gardens came with interesting stories so you weren’t just watching a soda boxing facility and another few grey buildings fly by your window, but you got a history lesson and some interesting tidbits to bring home. It ended up being one of my favorite features of our trip and pointed out to me tons of places I would have otherwise missed.
As for the city itself, I never got to see that crazy miniatures museum, but it sounded cool. If it’s in season, there should be an art fair down by the water (I think it’s every day?) and outside of the tourist area and in the city proper, there’s stuff like a Lush and a nice bookstore. Tea at The Empress was delicious, but definitely not vegan.
Wow! Awesome! Thanks for taking the time to give me your recommendations! I’m glad to hear your thoughts on Plum—if there are better places for vegan food, then it doesn’t sound like Plum would be worth the time. Cafe Flora and Sunlight Cafe were on my list and I emailed them both about what types of cheeses they use because I’ve been to veg restaurants who didn’t know their cheese contained rennet. Flora got back right away and said they use cheese suitable for vegetarians. (Sometimes my son will eat cheese in restaurants, so I wanted to make sure). Sunlight never got back to me—hopefully, they didn’t find it insulting that I’d ask! We are staying just a few blocks from Pike’s Market, so we plan to spend lots of time there. We’ll mostly be walking and using the transit system, so hopefully, we won’t have trouble getting to some of the restaurants. As far as Victoria goes, I was actually surprised by the number of vegan-friendly places there were—particularly downtown. The Butchart Gardens are definitely on the list and I found a shuttle that’s somewhat affordable. We’re really looking forward to going up there to see the gardens. Thanks again—I’m going to print out your comments so I can remember everything! 🙂
That really sounds like a lot of fun! I bet your trip will be fantastic. I’d really like to see Victoria again so maybe when you come back you could tell us about a few of the V friendly places you hit up for if I ever get to go back.
April, you have to go to Wayward…it is a vegan greasy spoon restaurant, go for breakfast. Across the street is our very own vegan store, Vegan Haven. A few doors down is a Thai vegan buffet, Araya’s. Around the corner is Full Tilt ice cream which has great vegan flavors. Also Citra has amazing vegan soy soft serve yogurt. If you don’t have a Veggie Grill in your neck of the woods, it is an absolute must! As for touristy stuff, you have to ride the monorail and see the space needle, take a ride on the ferry. There are boat tours that take you around and show you famous places such as the Sleepless in Seattle house. Victoria is fun. I do all the typical tourist things there, minatures, wax museum, Butchart. Enjoy your stay! Looks like the weather is going to cooperate.
Thank you for the suggestions! Do you live in Seattle? We will definitely check them all out—I’m looking forward to seeing Vegan Haven! We’ll be there June 9-16 🙂 We decided we’re ready to move to Victoria! Love it here! So you think the miniatures is worth it? We weren’t sure, but it sounds interesting. We had time to kill yesterday in Seattle before heading up north, and ate at Hook & Plow. The chef made us a special vegan risotto that was to die for! Thanks again for the suggestions!
Ah, I wish I could make some suggestions but the last time I was in Seattle and BC was about 20 (yikes!) years ago. Can’t wait to hear about all the discoveries you make. Safe travels!