Last year, I ate a 72-ounce steak with all the fixings. That's right - four and one-half pounds of cow. Let that serve as an indication of my relative inexperience with vegetarian cuisine. For my latest review, I decided to patronize 20 Carrots Cafe, an establishment that is decidedly not carnivore-friendly. However, for that special veggie, it might be the right place.
Twenty Carrots is a cute little cafÇ on Central Avenue south of campus, and is a convenient lunch spot between classes. Walking in, you notice a beautiful, expansive mural of a seascape painted behind the counter. The smallest tables in 20 Carrots seat four people, and others can accommodate up to six or eight, encouraging an almost communal eating experience. Outside, two tables offer a pleasant view of the campus and Central. It's a great spot to see some characters.
The 20 Carrots menu is rather extensive and actually includes a bit of non-vegetarian fare in the form of chicken, turkey and fish. While tempted by the idea of eating something that was once alive and moving, I decided to take advantage of the rare occasion of being in a largely vegetarian restaurant. I stepped out and ordered a Boca cheeseburger. For those ignorant of the wonder of the Boca burger, it is a vegetarian beef alternative that is probably as close to real meat as the patties at any fast-food chain. In other words, not bad at all.
My meal came with a colorful corn salad and red, white and blue corn tortilla chips. The burger was topped with a veritable vegetable garden. It was piled high with carrots, cucumbers, onions, lettuce, sprouts, mayo and mustard. This tower of vegetarianism was pretty good, but it's tough to compare in taste to real beef. For dessert, I ordered an "Avalanche" smoothie, which is a mixture of bananas, peanut butter and chocolate syrup. Like much of my meal, it was decent, but not terribly flavorful.
My companion on this outing was my friend Elizabeth. While probably not able to ingest the same quantity of steak as I can, she is certainly the most obstinate anti-vegetable person I know. Elizabeth was a real trooper and actually ordered something completely vegetarian, also - a grilled cheese sandwich. As Elizabeth noted, "You can't mess up grilled cheese."
The most disappointing parts of the meals were the side dishes. Elizabeth chose the brown rice that looked like it contained some spices and extra veggies. However, it had a little less taste than steamed rice. My side dish was the corn salad. While not bland, the taste was quite unusual. I'm still not sure if I liked it. Elizabeth assessed it properly, saying, "It's all, like, festive or something." It was festive, indeed. I just don't know if that's good or bad.
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Twenty Carrots is exactly what it advertises - a cafÇ specializing in vegetarian, even vegan, cuisine. Unfortunately, it might be hard to enjoy if you are used to a big, greasy dose of beef. In addition, it is surprisingly expensive, coming in at a price a little high for what you get. Elizabeth's grilled cheese was $5.65, while my Boca burger cost $6.55. I found the experience slightly disappointing, and, unless you just can't abide the thought of munching those cute bovines, I would recommend skipping 20 Carrots for a place more exciting to the taste buds. Twenty Carrots Cafe can be found at 2110 Central Ave.
