The Unvegan

Recent Posts

10 Years of Unvegan
A Quick Bite at Burrito Express
Serendipity at Northern Waters Smokehaus
Twerks and Burritos at Casa Amigos

‘Sausage’

Meaty Hash at Savory’s

So savory.
So savory.

In a rare move since moving to Western New York for the summer, I consulted the interwebs to grab a meal at the last-minute. By this I mean that nearly every other spot I’ve hit up so far has been on recommendation from an actual human. On this occasion the interwebs sent me to Savory’s in Hamburg for brunch. We were seated immediately, but not before catching a glimpse of the specials.

Bowled Over at The Breakfast Club

Better than cereal.
Better than cereal.

Breakfast is definitely a meal for bowls. Cereal, yogurt and oatmeal all call for bowls or bowl-like conduits. The Breakfast Club in Commerce, Michigan, though, is breaking that mold just like its namesake movie broke the mold of teen movies in the ’80s. You see, they offer savory breakfast bowls and I just couldn’t wait to get one for myself.

Eat at Joe’s Burgers

Simply amazing.
Simply amazing.

Restaurants make outlandish claims all the time, and usually along the lines of “Best [insert food here] in town.” Joe’s Burgers in McLean, Virginia doesn’t care about the competition and instead proclaims their burgers as “Simply Amazing.” My friends who took me there seemed to agree, or else why would I have found myself there perusing their menu of inspired burgers (albeit mostly with some sort of vegetable component).

Not Breaking Bread at E2

Just a little more polenta.
Just a little more polenta.

I know, I know. Brunch is getting boring. It’s a little ridiculous covering three of these in a row, but that’s just how my life works sometimes. So, for yet another brunch, I headed to E2 over in Highland Park, but this was a brunch unlike any other. You see, this brunch happened on Passover and thus my options were limited, but not so much that I would have chosen anything differently [EDIT: I have now returned to E2 and had some non-Passover goodness, see below].

A Touch of Taiwan at Rose Tea Cafe

It always starts with sausage.
It always starts with sausage.

How do you know if an ethnic restaurant is authentic? You look inside and see if people resembling that ethnicity are inside. Or, better yet, you let one of them take you there. At least that’s how it went down for me when a Taiwanese friend of mine invited me to Rose Tea Cafe in Squirrel Hill (supposedly the Oakland location isn’t as good) to get some Taiwanese food. Rose Tea Cafe isn’t just some tea house, it’s a full-on restaurant with almost too many options to choose. So we turned to my friend to figure out what to get.

Searching for Seoul Sausage

Sausage with a soul.
Sausage with a soul.

A with most entertainment, things are not always as they appear. Reality TV isn’t always reality, “based on a true story” is typically nothing like the truth and Guy Fieri doesn’t actually drive that red convertible to every diner, drive-in and dive. Likewise, food almost always looks better in ads and on TV than in real life. Nonetheless, after watching Seoul Sausage on the last season of The Great Food Truck Race and subsequently learning that the winning crew had put up a bick-and-mortar shop, I knew I had to get some of their sausages in my mouth.