Show Me What You Got Shawty...

Part of the awesomeness of NYC is the fact that you never know what you are going to get when it comes to the other riders on the subway...

Luckily for us, we were sweetly serenaded to by a maybe, slightly inebriated passenger. With the nicely wrapped bottle in a beautiful brown paper bag, she belted out to us the lyrical masterpiece of Jay-Z.."show me what you got lil mama, show me what you got pretty lady, show me what you got shawty..."and so it was repeated for the entirety of our subway voyage. Unfortunately for Absola, she was not able to control her uncomfortable laughter. I don't think the artist was disturbed by her hysteria though.


After our free musical performance we needed some food, and there was a vegan joint just around the corner from Washington Park that we decided to opt for. "We at Red Bamboo are dedicated to your health through our commitment to excellent vegetarian cuisine. Red Bamboo focuses on creating unique and authentic vegan and vegetarian meals using the finest soy, gluten, fruit and vegetable products available. Our foods, ranging from Caribbean spiced seitan to Creole Soul Chicken to Thai Summer Rice Rolls, reflect the wisdom of diverse culinary traditions..."

Down a few steps in a long narrow old building, is the home of Red Bamboo. It is a good place for some soul food type lovin' in the belly. Everything is pretty much fried and delicious. Since the restaurant is so small, we had to wait a little while before being seated, luckily there was a nice Priscilla-esq store near by. We were called about 10 minutes later and got to grab a seat in the dark red ambiance lighting, with all exposed brick and bench style seating. The service was great, the food even better and the prices terrific.

B and I split the Almond Coconut "Chicken": Crispy golden soy chicken encrusted with toasted almonds and shaved coconut. Served with a sweet chili dipping sauce…

Also we went for some more chicken ( I love faux chicken) with the Soul Chicken Sandwich:
It was panko breaded soy chicken nuggets with romaine lettuce, tomato, vegan mayo and vidalia dressing served on a roll with your choice of fries or salad…

Abby tried the Asian Dumpling appetizer which consisted of plump steamed spinach dumplings filled with shredded soy protein, carrots, cabbage served over a mixed greens salad and soy-ginger dressing…and Michael went for a Four Cheese Ravioli. Ricotta, romano, parmesan, and mozzarella cheese ravioli smothered in a roasted garlic marinara sauce served with a side of garlic toast…he only ate about half and took the rest back to the hostel..which he then forgot about until the day we left. Not going to chance looking inside that take-out box...

Red Bamboo was a nice unplanned dinner, very filling and you'll definitely not want to eat anything for the entire day before heading here, but worth every deep fried, all vegan bite.

Chai Cupcakes and Broad Ripple Brew Pub

Merry late Chenmas to everyone! I hope you all got what you wanted and more. Christmas time always seems to be a very jolly time, but always really stressful too. So that is also partly the reason why I haven't written about things that have happened too recently. I did want to talk about some wonderful baking adventures that I went on with Abby a little while back. Taking out the old Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, and whipping up some Chai Raspberry Cupcakes were most delectable. 

Since Absola is always on the go, it's sometimes hard for her to actually have enough time to come over and make some vegan goodies. We were able to decide on a good time and we thought it'd be appropriate to turn one of our favorite drinks from Starbucks into a cupcake. Chai and raspberry might not sound too good, but trust us, it is amazing. Brandon is usually the judge of what is good or not, and he successfully ate about half the batch in one sitting. So proud. 

Abs has all of the good frosting decorating tips so the baby cakes turned out very nice. All swirley twirley and beautiful. Good enough to wear as a dress, if I do say so myself.
With bellies full of sugar it was only appropriate that we then met our friends down at the Broad Ripple Brew Pub.  Abs wasn't able to go so I made sure to order some extras and eat it in memory of her absence. 

The BRBP has a lot of nice vegan options. My friend Anna and I split some vegan's Shepard Pie and hearty veg friendly Sloppy Joe. The sloppy little sandwich was a vegan’s delight. Pair it with some nice fried little beets and carrot chips and a girl is going to be a happy girl for the rest of the evening. There was also a "Susie's Beer" on the menu that sparked some attention, so Justin and Brandon thought that would be fitting to order some of those. Since I am not a big beer fan, I passed and nursed on the lemon water. Jealous, right? I know, I live life to the fullest. 

So if you're in Indy and you are looking for some good vegan options, head over to the Brew Pub, but maybe not on a Friday or Saturday night, cause you could be with the not-so-cool crowd and you might be sitting next to the Abercrombie wearing, backward hat-tool that would shout random crude comments about a lame-o game or something, and that would be a total buzz kill.

1.. 2...3 ! Sisters Cafe

Down in the heart of Broad Ripple lies an old Victorian house that has been renovated into a quaint little vegan restaurant. It seems more like it should be a B&B with it's wrap around porch and bright colored paint job, yet who would have thunk it that it would hold such amazing delights.

I have ventured down to 3 Sisters Cafe a couple of times, always kind of waiting to be disappointed, since something in Indianapolis surely can not taste as good as other places like, oh I don't know, The Chicago Diner, or Pure Luck, however, this little gem holds it's own. Yesterday, my awesome friend Absola (yeah it's Abby, but come on, for her personality you need a more "unique" name) met me for some late afternoon eating at the Cafe where we decided it was necessary to split a few things. Both of us trying to branch out and try new items on the menu, Abs got the Portobello Sandwich and I ordered the Three Way Salad.

The Portobello isn't like any normal mushroom sandwich. They had taken several kinds of mushrooms, mainly portobello, and pureed them with bread crumbs and some tasty herbs and spices. Then they grilled the nice little patties and placed it on a big ol' wheat bun with the standard lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and onions. As a side she had the red skinned potato salad.
Yeah, I was taking half of that thank you.


When my nice little innocent salad came out, I was greeted by a plate that was about half the size of the table! The thing was seriously huge. Trust me though, I was not complaining. The nice assortment of greens was topped with warm grilled pineapple, and not that canned crap. Grilled tofu, sliced and grilled almonds with avocados and edamame. Honey lime vinaigrette was the dressing of choice. Abs partook in that adventure as well. Considering we were not able to finish our meals, one could easily state that we were well served. The food was amazing, service is usually pretty friendly and on top of things, however, yesterday I think was a bit of a crap day for our waitress.


After having some amazing food with superior company, Abs and I walked on down to the Girly Chic Boutique. If you have not been into this shop, you MUST go.. not only for the clothing, but for the style of the store. The shop owner was completely inspired by Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette. Pretty much a funfetti cupcake threw up and created a second version of Eden. The place has the feel of a vintage rescue squad going in and decorating the place with random objects of yesteryear and creating a really welcoming and fun enviornment. All of this eye-candy can make two girls very thirsty.
Monon Coffee Shop it was.

Once done meandering thru the rows of tulle and hand crocheted flower hats and shirts, we picked up some black board special vanilla soy spiced lattes. The nice thing about the Monon Coffee Shop is that, unlike some over abundant coffee stores, these drinks are actually still made with hand-poured and timed shots, so the flavor is a lot more delectable than that of, oh say, Starbucks.

So kiddies, the moral of the story is: go to 3 Sisters AFTER buying some nice tulle skirts from Girly Chic (we still want to feel good about ourselves while we're in the dressing room), and then head over to the Monon to pick up some truly "hand-crafted" specialty drinks.