Positioned just 17 minutes by car or truck from Emory College, Cafe Sunflower supplies a stellar vegan cuisine with a extensive array of meals from all all-around the globe. Irrespective of whether you’re a plant-primarily based eater, wanting to dip your toes into veganism or are just hoping to accommodate your vegan or vegetarian pals, this cafe is the excellent spot to go for a memorable dining experience.
I went to Cafe Sunflower with my father on Feb. 23, a birthday custom that commenced a number of months in advance of the pandemic started in 2020. For a Wednesday night, the restaurant was surprisingly crowded, with virtually each and every table occupied. The eating area by itself was casual and peaceful, with uncomplicated picket decor. The hanging lights and contemporary artwork all-around the restaurant brightened the interior substantially, supplying it a charming atmosphere.
(Krithika Shrinivas / The Emory Wheel.)
For our appetizers, we ordered the Buffalo Lollipops and Steamed Dumplings. The lollipops were being my preferred portion of this evening meal. These soy rooster drumsticks were being coated in a wealthy buffalo sauce with a vegan blue cheese dip on the aspect alongside with a couple of refreshing sticks of celery.
The drumsticks had been so tender and succulent, and their daring flavors have been complemented properly by the light and creamy dip. My only grievance was that there weren’t more than enough of them!
The steamed dumplings were being very flavorful, as properly, crammed with a vibrant mix of Asian cabbage, carrots, tofu, black mushrooms and spinach and accompanied by a piquant soy-ginger dipping sauce. This appetizer is a terrific alternative for any one who enjoys Asian meals but prefers a milder spice level.
(Krithika Shrinivas / The Emory Wheel.)
From shrimp tacos to orzo eggplant lasagna, Cafe Sunflower delivers delectable key courses from a variety of intercontinental cuisines. We made a decision to get the Pesto Pasta and Spicy Pad Thai Noodles, aged favorites of ours that we wished to expertise at the Cafe Sunflower.
The pesto pasta was mouthwatering, with a walnut pesto sauce that could simply go for regular pesto. The dish was topped with broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, artichoke and capers, with two pieces of garlic bread on the side to make for a very well-well balanced and filling meal.
While the pesto pasta was a treat, the spicy pad thai noodles ended up a little bit disappointing. Not because the dish wasn’t delicious, but fairly because the noodles ended up a pretty Americanized edition of this vivid, zesty Thai dish, coming across far more as a bowl of pasta than noodles simply because of the creamy sauce.
(Krithika Shrinivas / The Emory Wheel.)
A good option for those people who adhere to a gluten-no cost food plan, these rice noodles were being garnished with zucchini, environmentally friendly beans, pink bell peppers, mushrooms, baked tofu, kale, carrots and crushed peanuts with a prosperous coconut-tahini sauce. The sauce reminded me of alfredo sauce, other than that it was strongly infused with coconut essence.
It was a significantly cry from common pad thai, which is sweet, savory and tangy, and it didn’t dwell up to its spicy ad. Even so, this entree was comforting and the assortment of greens created it balanced and eye-catching.
We chose to skip dessert, as the restaurant only gives a assortment of vegan cakes that we did not want at the second. From past ordeals, the cakes are scrumptious, with my favourite remaining their carrot cake.
Skipping dessert gave us time to glimpse at the several plaques at the entrance of the cafe that are focused to Lin and Edward Sunlight, the chefs and proprietors of this nationally recognized and award-successful cafe.
Whilst their Sandy Springs restaurant, started in 1994, closed following 25 many years of currently being in business enterprise, the Buckhead cafe, founded 3 a long time afterwards, is open up and flourishing. The cooks established Cafe Sunflower immediately after studying about holistic wellness and getting vegetarians in the early 1990s.
Already in the cafe small business, the entrepreneurs offered their existing dining places to found Cafe Sunflower, hoping to make vegetarianism a lot more accessible and to change a prevalent notion of vegetarian fare as flavorless and tedious.
The chefs accomplished this mission, as the world wide cuisine presented at this restaurant is delectable. Cafe Sunflower has revolutionized the plant-based mostly culinary scene in Atlanta, and I would hugely propose it to all people, vegan or usually!
All round: 4.5/5
