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.