you may have read a recent post of mine in which i criticized flore cafe, a new vegetarian coffee shop under the same ownership as the vegan restaurant flore, for deciding to offer eggs and real cheese in some of their dishes. thankfully, the original flore is still 100% vegan and 100% delicious.

i have been grabbing a lot of take-out from flore over the past few months, and here are a few of the things i’ve been eating.

portabella panini: Marinated grilled portabella with soy mozzarella, kale and creamy dill dressing on organic ciabatta bread. Served with choice of potato salad, side salad or fruit. $10.25

flore’s portabella panini is pretty awesome. the bread is crispy and fresh, the portabella is juicy, and the kale is soft. you can tell flore really strives to use quality ingredients in all their dishes, and this sandwich is no exception. the only thing in this panini that could be improved upon is the melty-ness of the cheese. it tastes just like standard follow your heart vegan cheese, and as you can see in the picture, the shreds are intact. oh well, i guess them using the second-place-winning vegan cheese isn’t that bad. 🙂 the meal as a whole is still very delicious, and i could drink a gallon of the creamy dill dressing it comes with.

southwestern seitan quesadilla: Whole wheat quesadilla of cashew cheese, seasoned seitan, diced tomato, and shredded lettuce. Served with sides of pico de gallo and cilantro cream. $7.95

next, the southwestern seitan quesadilla is probably my favorite thing i’ve tried out at flore. huge, meaty seitan chunks all mixed up with a really creamy cheese sauce, plump tomatoes and soft lettuce in a double-grilled tortilla. so good! and for only $7.95, it’s definitely worth a try. i tell ya, after ordering this once, it was hard for me to every taste anything new at flore again. their seitan is some of the best ever.

the salad is also really good, and comes with a whole slew of fancy and yummy ingredients.

the salad: Bed of mixed baby greens topped with portions of tofu egg salad, shredded carrot, baked tofu, roasted beets, edamame salad, tomato, avocado and daikon sprouts. Served with a side of hummus and choice of thousand island, miso, vinaigrette or tahini dressing. $9.95

the tofu egg salad bit is insanely awesome, as is baked tofu. everything in this salad tastes light and deceptively healthy, and flore does a great job at pairing flavors. beware fellow bell pepper haters: the edamame portion of the salad came with mixed in peppers, even though i requested none in my salad. i just had to pick around that section. still tasty though, and definitely worth 10 bucks.

basmati brown rice bowl: Brown basmati rice with crispy kale, shredded carrot, raw sunflower seeds, lime wedges, daikon sprouts and avocado served with your choice of teriyaki seitan or baked tofu and sides of tahini dressing and tamari. $9.95

the basmati brown rice bowl is the latest thing i’ve ordered from flore, and of course i love it. it tastes a lot like the salad, actually, but comes on a fluffy bed of brown rice. i can’t get over all the delicious unusual vegetables flore manages to pack into each dish. it makes every meal exciting, because i am always eating something i’m not used to getting at other restaurants. the only thing is, a lot of their dishes taste similar—maybe because they use the same sauces and ingredients from dish to dish. so the wrap tastes kind of like the salad, as does the rice bowl, etc. still, all are very yummy.

so there ya have it, just a quick look at some of the several delicious vegan options on flore’s huge menu. the restaurant can get pretty crowded, especially in the evening, so i suggest calling ahead and ordering your food. oh, and add an extra 5-10 minutes to the time they tell you it will be ready—they always seem to be running a bit behind.