Hello, one
and all! Sorry for yet another delay
but since I’ve returned from my cousin’s wedding, I've been working constantly up until this last Friday. 10 days in a row sure
can fly by when you’re not looking.
Since I
last left you, a lot has happened.
First of all, I booked a vacation for this fall to Ecuador and
Peru! It’s going to be amazing. Or at least I hope it will be amazing! It’s the first time my wife and I have been
to either country but it’s part of our world domination tour. We’ve been to Ireland (nearly all of it),
Northern Ireland, London, Germany, Puerto Rico, and Costa Rica (to name but a
few) so far. I’m really looking forward
to finding new vegan places in each country and reporting back on them.
You’d think
that’d be all, but you’d be wrong. We
also booked our (last major) vacation for 2015. Brussels, Amsterdam, Bruges, Paris, various cities in Luxembourg,
and wherever else we can manage to visit are all on the list. This will mark the first time we’ve been to
all of these places. I told you: world
domination tour. I say it’s our last
major vacation because after that, we might stick to small trips here and
there. We just wanted to go out with a
bang. It might seem a bit crazy but we
generally live like misers for most of the year. Plus, my wife never uses her vacation time so that helps to pay
for our tickets. I just didn’t want you
all to think that the title of my blog was a bit misleading. I still wear the same clothes I’ve had for
over a decade. See? Broke. With that being said, I may be posting fewer
restaurant reviews in an effort to save money.
SAD, I know.
Anyway! Now that you’re all caught up, let’s get to
the heart of the entry. I wanted to get
to a restaurant we went to in Lockport, IL a short while back. I just never got around to mentioning it
thanks to all the craziness going on in my world. It’s a shame because the restaurant in question is quite good and
worth the trip if you’re even remotely close-by. You see, we went to Healthy Sins Vegan Café for a raw lunch.
I’ve never
been to Lockport despite the fact that I’ve lived about 45 minutes away for
most of my life. I wish I had visited
it sooner because it looks like nothing has changed since the 1930s. You half-expect Bonnie and Clyde to run out
of a bank at any moment.
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| I found the speakeasy! |
It’s got a
small but cool main street and you can walk along the Illinois and Michigan
Canal that runs next to their main street.
It makes for a peaceful Saturday if you’re looking to get away.
The
restaurant itself was very cool and unexpected given the 1930s vibe from the
town. The restaurant has artwork
hanging up along the walls and the tables themselves are in the shape of
leaves. I’ve felt that the one problem
with raw restaurants tends to be that the meals look smaller than you would
want for the price you pay for them.
Don’t get me wrong – I love raw restaurants and Chicago has/had a few
that are quite good. But, as the Broke
Vegan, it’s not a type of restaurant I’d go to each week.
That being
said, this restaurant’s portions were decent.
I did spend quite a bit but that’s mainly because I wanted to make sure
I had enough variety to give a decent review.
We ordered two appetizers, two main meals, and two desserts for about
$60. By comparison, we ate at the Loving
Heart (see the review further down the blog) for about $25-30 and ate like
kings. If we were just going there any
other normal day we probably would’ve only spent about $45 or so. That being said, we went for lunch and were
full for most of the day.
Our first
appetizer was an order of bagel bites.
The ‘bagels’ were dehydrated bread slices (probably made of a
combination of flax and some sort of seeds if I had to guess). There were six slices and each slice had its
own topping. There was a pesto, a pumpkin
seed cheese, a taco ‘meat’, an egg salad, a tuna, and a ‘sloppy joe’
topping. I would have to say that my
favorites were probably the taco meat, the egg salad, and the sloppy joe. I loved the variety and the unique ways they
were able to create raw, vegan toppings.
The second
appetizer was an order of nachos that featured dehydrated chips. The dish came with taco meat, guacamole,
salsa and onions, and sour cream drizzled over it all. These. Were. Fantastic. The menu says it’s a meal in itself and
that’s no joke. We probably could’ve
just had the two appetizers and two desserts and been content.
My wife
ordered the pizza after much debate and was really impressed with it. It looked delicious and I probably would
order that the next time we went. The
waitress had recommended it to her and said it was a popular choice. So if you’re new to the raw scene and don’t
know what to get you might want to check that out.
I ordered
the sloppy joe’s because I grew up addicted to sloppy joe sandwiches and
whenever I see a sloppy joe option on a menu, I have to give it a shot. It wasn’t too bad but not my favorite raw
dish. I was originally going to go with
a raw pasta dish and probably should’ve because I think after eating all that
other raw taco meat, I was on raw vegan meat overload. It was an interesting take and I dig their
attempt at it but by the end of the meal I was about ready to explode. The dish also came with a small side salad
and a small fruit salad.
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| Why can't I eat the picture?!? |
The dessert
I had was a raw apple pie, which – and I cannot stress this enough – was
amazing! It tasted like it was cooked
and was probably one of the best raw desserts I’ve had (not counting
homemade). That was worth the trip to
Lockport alone. Just look at the
picture! I’m drooling even now.
All in all,
I would definitely return here and I recommend it to anyone who wants good food
and is looking for a little indulgence (as far as spending a little cash
goes). The staff was super friendly and
the décor and vibe were cool.
Just down the street is Naked
Sprout Organics Market, which makes its own juices and smoothies. I would also recommend stopping inside to
grab a drink before you head back home.
I had an oatmeal cinnamon smoothie, which might sound odd but was pretty
good! It had a bit too much nutmeg for
my liking but was tasty none-the-less.
My wife, however, had the strawberry-lemon cheesecake smoothie and – hot damn –
it was so, so, so good! It was like I
was really drinking a mashed up cheesecake.
I promise
not to be gone for as long as I have been for my next entry. I have a few things lined up to talk
about. Hope everyone is well! Until next time, keep calm and vegan on!
You can check out Healthy Sins Vegan Café HERE. They are located at 928 S. State Street,
Lockport, IL, 60441.
You can check out Naked Sprout Organics Market HERE.
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