Black Sheep Burritos and Brews

Tucked right off the Marshall University campus, Black Sheep Burritos and Brews is a cool modern Mexican fusion restaurant. Ohio diners might be familiar with Casa Nueva and Mad Mex, two establishments with similar menus and bars.

There is also a Black Sheep in Charleston, West Virginia. The atmosphere in the Huntington outpost is laid back, and service matches the decor. 

The bar features a number of craft beers, as well as great cocktails. Margaritas are a safe bet. The horchata drink, made with the traditional spiced Mexican rice drink, Rumchata liqueur, cinnamon and cardamom saffron simple syrup, should make cocktail aficionados with a sweet tooth smile. The barrel-smoked Old Forrester Old Fashioned sounds bourbon-snob approved.

The menu is loaded with vegan and vegetarian dishes. Burritos, quesadillas and tacos are filled with international fare with the flavor of the Mediterranean, Thailand or China. There are also gluten free items. Side dishes are all vegetarian with a few vegan choices.

In addition to meatless salads, there are also chips and salsa, guacamole and queso dip. Veggie taco options include portobello mushroom, tempura fried avocado and beet. Burritos include Thai tofu, General Tso's tofu, falafel and hummus, a regular Mission style burrito and a vegan burrito with miso glazed smoked tofu, kimchi and  seasoned rice.

The vegetarian nachos are piled with black beans, queso, pickled jalepeños, pico de gallo and lime Sriracha crema. It's a satisfying combination that sometimes over-saturates some of the chips into a mess.

The Thai burrito is filled with tofu, rice, pickled daikon carrot slaw, smoked cashews, cilantro and peanut hoisin sauce. There are crunchy textures as well as delicate tofu. The burrito is sweet with a hint of spice.

 There is also a popular brunch menu at Black Sheep. There are plenty of sweet and savory choices, as well as a vegan tofu scramble.

Hae Paul's

Hae Paul's is a new Korean restaurant Downtown. Operated by standout chef Paul Yow and his wife Hae Ran, Hae Paul's prepares classic Korean dishes as well as other dishes rooted in Korean tradition but fused with Mexican elements.

Service at Hae Paul's is quick, which bodes well for the Downtown lunch crowd. The server capably answered all questions about vegetarian dining concerns as well as those of the "what is that, exactly?" variety.

Interestingly, all of the items on the menu that don't list meat or fish as an ingredient are vegetarian, and most of the other items can be prepared for vegetarians. Prices are reasonable for the exceptional quality. 

The mung bean cake is served on a bed of greens dressed with vinegar and sweet chili oil. The mung bean patties have a light texture with layers of earthy flavor.

The green pea dip with crispy pita tastes great, but its name does little to describe what comes on the plate. The peas were chickpeas, the green was an herbal dressing and the pita was toasted but hardly crispy. While the dish was successful, its description could use some fine tuning.

The jap chae are sweet potato noodles tossed with a rich soy sauce, carrots, green onions, green peppers, spinach and shiitake mushrooms. The noodles are a light vehicle that carries the flavor of the dish. The vegetables add a nice textural contrast.

The Korrito, a Korean burrito, is a star on the menu. When requested vegetarian, the grilled tortilla is stuffed with sticky barley rice, a spicy black soybean hummus, carrots, red onions and romaine lettuce. The Korrito is served with a deep soy marinade and a candied jalapeño sauce that is both sweet and smoky. 

Orders are served with a variety of side dishes. The slaw had a light essence with a hint of smoke. The potato wedges were thinly sliced with a perfect crunch.

Dessert options seem to change regularly. 

Hae Paul's should quickly establish itself as a go-to destination for lunch. With fresh, exotic flavors and fair prices, it should be on everybody's Downtown dining radar.

Local Cantina

Local Cantina operates on the Grandview strip, preparing stylized interpretations of taco truck fare paired with beer, margaritas and other cocktails. The concept is reminiscent of Big Star in Chicago - a kitschy dive bar replete with inexpensive Mexican dishes.

The decor echoes this ethos. The walls are adorned with Mexican knick knacks and mustache artwork. 

Bar patrons and tables are sated by the endless self-serve well of chips and salsa on the floor.   While bottomless tortilla chips and roasted tomatillo salsa are tempting, my inner mysophobe thinks that this could become a breeding ground for germs during flu season. Consider this a warning for hypochondriacs.

The margaritas are made in a variety of formulations. Most are very good, but the drinks with agave nectar are overly sweet and lack finesse. The beer selection is good enough to keep craft enthusiasts as well as the Miller/Bud crowd happy.

The other appetizer dips are excellent. The guacamole has a great flavor with layers of lime, garlic and cilantro. The queso looks bland, but actually has a spicy base that lingers perfectly. The bottomless chips come in handy with these appetizers.

There are two vegetarian tacos on the menu at Local Cantina. The refried beans are vegetarian, and they are the base of a soft taco that also has cheese and the typical veggies. The rajas taco is a Central Mexican classic made with roasted poblano peppers, onions, cream and spices. The tacos pick up a richness that supports the smoky peppers. 

Dessert was a deep-fried chocolate chip cookie that failed on every level. The texture was tough to the point of being inedible. 

Service was uneven on multiple visits. Orders were delivered at inexact intervals, making it seem as if courses should be ordered in steps rather than all at once. Servers were not knowledgeable about vegetarian dining options, but also did not hesitate to ask the kitchen when requested.

Chago's Cantina

Chago's Cantina is a Mexican/Latin American restaurant in the Belmont area of Nashville. Located near Vanderbilt and Belmont College, Chago's offers plenty of options for vegetarians.

While the food is the main attraction at Chago's, plenty of people show up for the drinks. Chago's makes margaritas in all sizes and formulations. There is also a decent beer selection, and happy hour prices make the bar a destination.

While there are traditional Mexican and Central American staples on the menu, Chago's puts a fusion twist on many of the dishes. Its closest approximation in Columbus and Pittsburgh is Mad Mex. 

The menu at Chago's is labeled for vegetarians and vegans, including the sides. Service capably addresses dining concerns. 

The guacamole was average. It was well made, but lacked any real punch. 

The pupusas, on the other hand, were great. The traditional Salvadoran corn pancakes are stuffed with beans and cheese, then topped with white curtido slaw. It can be ordered as an appetizer, or as a main course with rice and beans. 

Casa Nueva's fall enchilada is delicious

Seriously, what else can I say? Just about everything made at Casa Nueva is delicious. I shouldn't have expected less from the fall offerings. The autumnal enchilada is made with spinach, scallions, mushrooms, carrots, lettuce and jack cheese. I chose the marinated tofu as my main ingredient. It was topped with a delicious apple salsa. If this looks good, you can also check out my previous musings about Casa, one of Athens' finest restaurants.

Inchin's Bamboo Garden

Inchin's Bamboo Garden inhabits the realm of P.F. Chang's with a decidedly Indian subcontinental influence. The Atlanta-based chain offers freshly prepared Chinese dishes that are prepared in with richer, spicier Indian undercurrents.

The restaurant is larger than it appears from the outside. The walls display vaguely Asian art work with bright primary colors as a backdrop.

The menu has a large variety of vegetarian options, from soups to salads to appetizers and main courses. Bamboo Garden is also halal for my Muslim brethren.

I started with chili mustard paneer. Paneer is a mild, cubed Indian cheese, and it was made with a mixture of Chinese hot mustard and a spicy red chili sauce on a bed of cabbage topped with scallions and other assorted veggies. It was a great combination of subtle spice and rich mustard with the veggies adding an extra dimension to the flavor.

My main course was Szechwaun tofu. It consisted of fried cubes of tofu made with a spicy, earthy Szechwaun sauce alongside red onions, peas, green and red peppers and mushrooms. The sauce was more flavorful than your typical cookie cutter Chinese joint, and it was spicy, just as they advertised on the menu.

The wine list was well chosen for an Asian restaurant. It isn't spectacular, but there are a few gems available by the glass and bottle. They also feature beer and mixed drinks. I tried the Lychee Pamatini, which was nicely garnished with Lychee fruit but not nearly as delicious as I imagined in my head.

The service was a little inattentive. The server could have made more trips to the table and took an extended time to get the bill out. Having only dined here once, however, I can hardly say this issue is true at all times. Service could have been better, and it definitely could have been worse. I'll give them my Get Out of Jail Free card on this one and hope it improves in the future.

Bamboo Garden

Bistro 86

Located in the midst of a desolate stretch of industry in Grandview, Bistro 86 offers a plethora of vegetarian options for the vegetarian diner (e.g. you). They offer traditional favorites alongside a few more adventurous offerings, and Bistro 86 is well worth tracking down if you're in the mood for carefully prepared Asian meals.

Bistro 86 has been the recipient of some fairly good reviews, both of the realm of newspapers and the blogosphere. Bistro 86 was also recognized as one of the area's top 10 new restaurants in Columbus Monthly.

The reason for this is that they make great food. The menu is laden with vegetarian choices. I started with the Vietnamese basil rolls, which use a rice wrapper filled with sprouts, cabbage, vermicelli, carrots and mixed greens with a heaping helping of basil that comes through beautifully on the finish. They are light and sublimely delicious, served with a side of peanut-sprinkled hoisin sauce.

Personally, as a vegetarian I have an aversion to vegetarian versions of carnivorous dishes. I have no need for a veggie burger, nor do I want a vegetarian chicken kabob or any of the other million dishes you can name in this vein. Sometimes I'll eat a veggie burger, for sure, but I have never seen the reason for a restaurant to undertake these useless endeavors.

The exception to this rule was found in Bistro 86's General Tso's tofu. This is a simple, classic dish that screams for the dead bird to be replaced with tofu. The cubes are breaded and fried, served in a slightly sweet but sneaky hot red/brown sauce with an abundance of Szechwaun peppers. It is flavorful enough to make chicken lovers bag the bird for good (On a side note, Maxim magazine did a feature on the mysterious origins of General Tso's chicken, which can be found here).

These are just two of the many vegetarian and vegan items on the menu. There is vegetable tempura, two vegetarian tofu stir fries as well as a vegan dish prepared with macadamia nuts in addition to other items too numerous to mention.

The staff is friendly and very helpful. The server spent time helping me pick her favorite vegetarian items from the menu. The one shortcoming (or benefit, depending on how you look at it) is that Bistro 86 has no liquor license. This means you can't order drinks with your dinner, but you can bring your own bottle and save the restaurant markup.

Bistro 86 is as good as advertised. Stop in if you're tooling around Grandview after checking out the pictures below.

Bistro 86

It Was Good to Have Known Yu's

I was saddened to learn that last night was the final curtain call for Yu's Fusion Bistro in Lewis Center. This place was a fantastic concept in a less than ideal location, and it's a pity that last night was the last time I'll get to dine at this quality establishment.

Yu's carefully crafted Asian fusion cuisine. Unfortunately, they were tucked away in a plaza on Route 23, far away from the mainstream. The place wasn't visible from the intersection of 23 and Powell for anybody without eagle eyes. If they were located in the Polaris area, or even better, in the Short North, this place would have had people lined up out the door. For those who missed Yu's, it's too bad you just drove by the spot.

The bartender was an absolute talent. He does not drink, but he carefully considers flavor profiles to create drinks with complex tastes that compliment the cuisine. The mangotini was delicious. The lychee saketini, made from gin, sake and lychee liqueur, was divine, as was the pomegranate cosmopolitan.

The food was as good as the drinks, too. I started with the vegetarian spring roll. The presentation of a dish commonly prepared at other eateries was elevated by the with cool rice noodles at Yu's.

I was even impressed with the black and white scallops, so much so that even though I wouldn't eat them, I would photograph them.

My main entree was a spicy tofu (pictured above), and it was absolutely outstanding. The carrots, onions and pea pods were also in the dish. It was excellent.

It is too bad that that this is the last time I'll get to dine at this place. Some of the employees will move to Windchimes Chinese Restaurant, which shares the same ownership if not the carefully crafted menu. Hopefully the concept can be reborn in another place with better success. Unfortunately, all that lives on is the memories and the pictures below. Check out the pictures.

Yu's