Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Vegetarian Brunch

It’s nice to go to a restaurant and have a tough time deciding what to order, because there are so many delicious vegetarian-friendly choices. This happened Sunday at Finnigan’s Wake, an Irish pub at 620 Trade St. in Winston-Salem’s Arts District.

As I settled in to wait for friends, I was excited to see that almost everything on the brunch menu was either vegetarian or could be made so with the substitution of faux “bacon” or “sausage.”

It took a while, but I finally chose the Winter Harvest boxty – two savory, thin, potato pancakes enclosing a filling of sweet, cooked pears and apples, and candied walnuts. This was served with a grilled tomato, hash-browned sweet and white potatoes, and a cheese toastie – the sides that come with most of the brunch entrees. It was all delicious.

There are other boxty fillings available – on this visit, all were either vegetarian or could be made vegetarian.

I’ll definitely be back to try the other boxties, and such intriguing-sounding offerings as the portobello and eggs, and the artichoke-cake benedict. (The artichoke cakes turn up elsewhere on the Finnigan’s Wake menu. They might be best described as like a crab cake, but with artichokes instead of crab.)

With the kitchen’s creative use of faux meats, Finnigan’s is vegetarian-friendly at every meal. It’s particularly satisfying because the vegetarian items, such as the tasty vegetarian shepherd’s pie, fit in with the Irish theme of the restaurant.

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4 Comments:

At 3/06/2007 10:26 PM, Blogger lauren pressley said...

Do you know if FW has anything Vegan? I've been wanting to go for some time now, but don't know if their "meat" is Vegan.

Thanks!

 
At 3/10/2007 8:36 AM, Blogger Julie said...

Hi, Lauren,
Thanks for your comment! But unfortunately, I don't know the answer to your question ... even if the "meats" are vegan, there is cheese in many of the dishes. I'll try to find out more, though, and will let you know if I do.
Julie

 
At 3/12/2007 9:05 AM, Blogger lauren pressley said...

Thanks!

 
At 3/15/2007 8:35 AM, Blogger Brain said...

I remember reading a while back that you guys were saying that WS was a good town to eat if you're a vegetarian. Definitely NOT so if you're a vegan.

I feel your pain, Lauren. I chose to eat vegan because of health reasons, first and foremost, but I was just as excited about removing any form of animal cruelty from my life and the huge environmental impact of veganism. But you and I are definitely running against the herd around here. It's got me wanting to move to Carrboro/Chapel Hill, Asheville, or somewhere out West, where vegetarian means vegan.

There is nowhere in WS where you can enjoy a fine vegan meal that's not Asian, if you really think about it. The best I've had are Nawab in WS and PF Chang's in GSO. I've heard about Boba House in GSO, too. Fire and Sticks Japanese in HP is good, too.

Keep the faith!

 

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