Hubby and I were in the lower Connecticut River Valley last week visiting family. I’d say it was a little hit or miss when it came to the plant-based options. However, one place stood out that we really enjoyed which was ION in downtown Middletown, Connecticut.
Hubby was out that morning and something made me search the intertubes for “best vegan place near me.” ION popped right up as the best vegan spot in Connecticut since 1992. How could I go wrong? And only about 15 minutes down the road, like everything in Connecticut, right?
So we head out for Sunday brunch. Easily found some street parking. I would have sat outside were it not for the fact that it was already 90 degrees out with 75% humidity. Gross. Inside, we were immediately seated and menued up. The place was modestly busy which was nice. Our friendly, most excellent server was soon by, helping us get started with some yerba matta iced tea and some freshly juiced carrots. After determining that we could not, in fact, have one of everything, I settled on The Southern Benedict for myself. I was always a sucker for eggs Benedict in my pre-plant-based days (Ask me some time about our trip to New Zealand!) We also split their kale salad, which was out of this world. I don’t know why it tasted so freaking good other than the fact that I find more and more that nutritious foods actually do taste better. It had quinoa, beets, tahini, red onion and sunflower seeds. We almost got a second one. My Benedict had the lightest piece of corn bread I think I’ve ever had. I always think of cornbread as a dense yellow dwarf star, and this was nothing like that. Easily the best cornbread I’ve ever had anywhere. The rest of the breakfast was lovely comfort food, the likes of which I don’t really make at home anymore. That was nice. Reminded me a bit of the Chicago Diner.
They also had some neat ways of doing things that I hadn’t seen before. For instance, instead of going the usual coconut flakes route for their “bacon,” they did a version with crisped up rice paper that was really nice.
We tried to figure out how to come back to this place, but it didn’t work with the allure of the Connecticut coast for the rest of the crew, but the next time we’re in the lower Connecticut River Valley, we’ll be sure to stop by and you should too.