We try to make as much of our own food as we can, including starting last some Fall to make some of our own staple items, like my own mustard, salad dressings, butter substitutes and more. I love knowing each specific ingredient in everything we use. So it is a treat when we eat out, and we are trying all the plant-forward restaurants we can find.
So after running some errands the other morning, we decided to try The Chicago Diner, which came highly recommended. This place bills itself as a non-meat comfort food destination, and I have to say I think it lived up to it’s moniker.
We started off with a mushroom barley soup that was a great contrast of the velvet-smooth thick broth with the chewiness of the barley and mushrooms. Out of this world. I need to try to make something like that for these cold winter days.
That was followed with some dynamite Buffalo seitan “wings”. The texture is probably the closest we have had to real meat and the sauce was a dead ringer for the buttery original.
My entree was a potato tempeh hash with a biscuit and gravy. I never have particularly high expectations of plant-based versions of classics, but this was not that far off from the real thing. The biscuits were light and flaky and covered with a surprisingly good gravy. The tempeh chunks were seasoned right and could pass for sausage and the tofu scrambled eggs were nearly identical to chicken eggs. I was impressed. That doesn’t happen.
Hubby had a pretty nicely spot-on version of a sherpherd’s pie that he enjoyed. It had the usual mix of veggies, but some seitan for a beef substitute. The crispy potato cake was a nod to the traditional but gave an unexpected crunch.
All in all, we’ll definitely be back to The Chicago Diner. We both want to take a crack at the mushroom lentil loaf and we might have to save room and split a shake next time.
VegScore: 100%
The Chicago Diner is 100% vegan, with some egg and dairy cheese options available for some items. Some oils, sugar and salt may be used in some items.