Back in October I mentioned a few of my favorite vegetarian meals in Louisville and I thought it was time for a sequel. Despite “falling off the wagon” as it were during the holiday season in
terms of eating meat (my family, bless them, serves ham at every turn)
I’m now firmly back to my flexitarian ways and eating meat only very
rarely and constantly looking out for good, interesting vegetarian food.

In this edition of Vegetarian Food in Louisville I’m going to talk about four restaurant choices for the hungry vegetarian on the prowl.

Simply Thai
I’ll confess straight up that I am not an expert on Thai food. I’ve
probably eaten Thai food less than ten times in my life and didn’t
enjoy it most of those times. But I’ve made a couple visits to Simply
Thai (fine, my arm was twisted the first time) and the food was so
yummy I’m declaring it a winner. Thai food, like most Asian food, is
quite vegetarian friendly featuring lots of dishes that are meatless by
default and several dishes that prominently feature vegetables, meaning
the dishes are defined by what they have instead of what they don’t.
That’s a nice change from a lot of places where “vegetarian” dishes are
basically meat dishes with the meat removed which leaves….well, not
much.

What I really like about Simply Thai is that you can add not only tofu
but TVP (textured vegetable protein) to many, if not most, of the
dishes. That’s a nice option for vegetarians and vegans that you don’t
find at a good many places. The last time I was there I had the special
of the day which was a curry with wheat noodles, tofu and and a lettuce
mix that was insanely good. It had the perfect blend of coconut milk
sweetness and heat. So, so good.

Simply Thai
318 Wallace Avenue
Louisville, KY
899-9670

Ramsi’s Cafe on the World
I love Ramsi’s for their abundance of wonderful vegetarian and vegan
dishes but I’m a little bitter at Ramis’s for having lousy service the
last two times I’ve been there and even having bad food the most recent
time. That being said I still like the place and plan to go back so I
think it’s absolutely worth more than a mention when talking about
vegetarian food in Louisville. To be honest, save a couple exceptions,
in my experience stellar service isn’t what Ramsi’s is all about. It’s
about efficient service because it’s a really popular and busy spot and
that’s ok. It’s just when it’s not terribly friendly and yet also not
efficient that bothers me. The last two times I’ve eaten at Ramsi’s
have been like that. I say that not to be Ms. Negativity but to instead
give a realistic impression of the type of service you might expect.
Hopefully when you go the service will be both friendly and efficient
so you can completely and totally enjoy dining on some really excellent
vegetarian and vegan food.

There are honestly too many vegetarian and vegan options at Ramsi’s for
me to even hit the highlights. Instead I’ll mention three, ok four, 
favorites of me and my veggie and vegan cohorts. While 1001 Arabian
Lentils used to be my absolute favorite now its a tie between the
lentils and East Meets South Fajitas made with vegan beef.: “Beef
tenderloin strips, bell peppers and red onions, with Mexican rice, sour cream, and guacamole on the side. Served with Indian Paratha bread for wrapping.” Coming in with a strong number two finish
on my list of favorite dishes is the tofu version of shrimp creole.
Just be sure to state in advance if you don’t want it too-too hot.
Finally, the Jamaican Seitan sandwich is a spicy mess of yumminess that
is totally worth dripping sauce on your chin.

Ramsi’s Cafe on the World
1293 Bardstown Road
Louisville, KY
451-0700

Sweet Surrender
Yes, I said Sweet Surrender. Though they are a dessert shop they also
do lunch. Not just any lunch but a purely vegetarian lunch. I swoon
just a little bit over that fact. From 11AM-2PM weekdays vegetarian
sandwiches like portabello panini and curried egg salad share the small
lunch menu with a couple soups and salads. But the really great part
about lunch at Sweet Surrender? Half slices of cake! For lunch only you
can buy half slices of Sweet Surrender’s decadent cakes for $3.00. You
and your lunch partner can each get a different kind, swap bites and go
back to the office without being in a complete sugar coma. Well played
Sweet Surrender, well played.

Did you know that you can get free cake during your birthday month at
Sweet Surrender? You totally can so look into that when you go there
for lunch.

Sweet Surrender
1804 Frankfort Avenue
Louisville, KY 40206
899-2008

Corbett’s

I recently disclosed that I haven’t been to Corbett’s. It’s totally on
my agenda to get there soon, it just hasn’t happened yet. Even though I
haven’t been there I’m including Corbett’s in this list because of the
high end/fine dining establishments in Louisville Corbett’s appears to
be the most vegetarian/flexitarian friendly.  I’ve said over and over
again that not every fine dining experience needs a slab of meat (or
fish) but most nice restaurants in Louisville seem to disagree.

Some vegetarian options at Corbett’s I’d really like to try:

For lunch

• Roasted vegetable ratatouille, Weisenberger mills grits, goat
  cheese crostini
• Roasted vegetables on focaccia, grateful greens, oil
  and vinegar, cous cous
• Kentucky farm house grilled cheese & tomato soup, house chips

For dinner

• Root vegetable cappuccino with cayenne chive, truffle oil
• Wild mushroom risotto, truffle oil, English peas and butternut squash
• Okinawa potato ravioli, leek fondue, garlic chives and pecorino

Corbett’s
5050 Norton Healthcare Boulevard (in Old Brownsboro Crossing)
Louisville, KY 40241