Lyndon City Line Diner

Lyndon City Line Diner: Breakfast

The biggest draw for Lyndon is that they serve a wide variety of dishes, from homemade waffles to a very nice homemade hummus, so you can accommodate a wide variety of eaters from vegans to picky small children, and that after a long night shift they’ll serve you a cocktail at 8am without wondering what is wrong with you. And the dessert case that I swear speaks directly to you. We showed up with an 8-person group and the place was already pretty packed, but able to accommodate us.  Although they were out of the one special I wanted, darn, they were very quick to intercede and kept us informed. And none of went hungry, or thirsty for that matter. I think they also serve the biggest variety of toppings for Belgian waffles, although this is hardly a definitive study. Still recommended. I can't speak to the York location, haven't been there, so results may vary.

Brunch at Pour and some whining

3/3/13

Pour: Brunch

Brunch with the family! Pour wins some points by not only serving Brunch but also not being BYOB, and I happen to like people serving me mimosas. The brunch menu at Pour has several unique full meal items, charcuterie options, and several side-dishes to make up your brunch. My only complaint is that between the menu online and the actual menu they seem to have taken away the veggie-option of oatmeal, leaving side dishes. Even the pancakes are non-vegetarian. Not all was lost! The grits of the day were cheese and between that, some coffee cake, a wedge of lovely goat cheese, crusty bread and some lovely blood orange mimosas, a delightful brunch was had. Bryan and my brother enjoyed Toad in a Hole with grits, my father the surf and turf lobster and eggs, and my mom went with a charcuterie platter and grits. The berry coffee cake was very nice, and the staff pleasant, and the atmosphere quite nice as well – especially admired was the orange couch lounge area. 

There is this problem I’ve noticed with some of the nicer Lancaster restaurants, as a vegetarian you are frequently better off going to less expensive places because while side-dishes and cheese plates are lovely, sometimes you wish just one of the 20 entrées could have been made with the meat or seafood as an option. And I try to avoid asking for substitutions unless the place goes out of their way to say it is permissible. Places I haven’t even bothered going because of this are Belvedere and Penn Square Grill. Places that this is not the case include Fenz, The Pressroom, J. Jeffries, Iron Hill Brewery, Ma(i)son, and Te’.

El Rodeo ad Stacked Carvery

3/1/13

El Rodeo: Lunch

You know, I know that El Rodeo and the many similar Mexican places scattered through the East Coast with similar names are not, in fact, authentic Mexican cuisine. But El Rodeo has some amazing guacamole and they’re always very nice about whatever weirdo requests we may have. And who doesn’t like a place that lets you order a side dish of cilantro? And they have a bit over the other Mexican or Mexican-ish places around here in that they serve alcohol. Sorry, it just doesn’t really feel Mexican without a margarita and a BYOB margarita wine is just not the same. I’ll sacrifice a little authenticity when the food is still tasty, the staff polite, and the liquor plentiful.

3/2/13

Stacked carvery: Lunch

Bryan and I hit up this place for lunch. The staff was amazingly nice and hospitable, and the sandwiches decent, and the location works really well if you happen to be downtown (say, at Central Market) and want a quick sandwich. A couple of vegetarian-friendly options, including a meditarrean-style sandwich. BYOB. However, there are lots of places to get decent sandwiches downtown, including Isaacs and a bazillion cafés, so I’m not exactly sure I’d make Stacked Carvery a regular stop.

The Fridge and Ode to Beets

2/26/13
The Fridge: Dinner

I was driving back from class and thought “I need a beer and a pizza.” And was fortunately left class early enough to make it to the Fridge, which does exactly those two things. Oh sure, there are some peripheral items, some baked tofu, a few sandwiches, some cupcakes and a soda – but mainly: Pizza and beer. We decided their niche is more of the interesting flavor combinations, such as fig and brussel sprout and bacon, of the pizzas, as the plain pizza was less than exciting. However, so many beers! I had a delightful organic chocolate stout and Bryan had some lambic. You can mix and match for your own six-pack to take home, or can order a flight, and they are very pleasant.  Would certainly go here again for just that purpose, have a beer or two and a pizza or two.

2/26/13
Food share update

Beets! Beets to make your bodily fluids pink! Red beets are one of those wholly unnatural looking foods. Beet hummus, my snack food this week, looks like food they make put into sci-fi movies to make you think “oh, you can’t tell we’re not on planet earth anymore! we’re in weirdo space because looks at this crazy food!” Like that scene in Galaxy Quest with the water beetles. Beet hummus belongs there.
Other foods you can make with beets include amazing savory pastries – which is what I did with the remaining beets. First I made a pie crust ala Smitten Kitchen’s all-butter crust. I didn’t do all the chilling and rolling though, just mixed and spread the dough in a pie dish with my fingers. Then layered apple slices and beets with chevre between the layers. Stuck it in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes. Probably could have squeezed out two thin layers of crust rather than one chunky bottom crust and some décor on top, but whatevs. And maybe could have been improved by several additional layers with some chopped walnuts. But really, even just this lazy rendition was pretty great.
Next I’m eyeing some parsnip cupcakes.

Introduction, The Seed and Rice and Noodles

This is experimental, I was frustrated by the lack of Lancaster-focused food blogs, seeing one only updated two years ago and the PA Dutch blog that isn't solely food-based and reads more like an advertisement than reviews - which is okay! Sometimes you want advertisements to find new places! So then I thought why don't I just start my own? Because I am incredibly lazy, that is why. And how is this going to help me? But I do like food, and maybe this will help someone else eventually. I might also talk about food I’m making with my food share or whatever else interesting and food related.

A small cast of characters: I’m vegetarian. Bryan, my husband, eats meat and is moderately non-adventurous with food, and my sister, Sara, is the quintessential picky-eater. These are usually the people I take out to eat, and help with determining the whether places are worth re-visiting.

2/23/13

The Seed for lunch. http://www.facebook.com/theseedlancaster

So after ignoring the hype in the world about kombucha, I then go to the Seed and decide that I actually like the peculiar taste of it. And they make their own! Freshly brewed! The Seed is also delightful in its vegan-friendly offerings, a pleasant surprise in meat-and-dairy heavy Lancaster. I love, as a vegetarian, occasionally going somewhere where I can actually eat everything on the menu and don't have to try and figure out whether a substitution/omission is possible and/or if I am going to be deeply obnoxious in asking for one.

I haven't brought Bryan or Sara here yet, but there are lots of "normal" menu items like peanut butter and jelly panini, grilled cheese, or bagel if words like quinoa or seitan are scary, so am not avoiding taking them either. Personally, I love the creative combinations that arise from working without meat, and the Seed does not disappoint.

2/25/13

Rice and Noodles for dinner. http://riceandnoodlesrestaurant.com/

Oh, I love this place. This is truly one of my favorite places to go around here, Bryan and I went there the day after our wedding, and will continue to go all the time. One reason being there are a number of vegetarian options, you can bring your gluten-free friend along and the staff is really devoted to being informative about gluten-free or vegan or whatever, and it won't disappoint one's "but.. beef?" husband. They also do take-out, which is nice. I nearly always get the tofu spring rolls, and usually one of the stir-fries. They do the most lovely creative drinks too, iced Vietnamese coffee and salted lime juice amongst them. BYOB. I almost invariably box half of dinner so I can enjoy their desserts, of which they have homemade ice cream now, in addition to Vietnamese tiramisu parfait, taro pudding, and macarons. Caveats, if one doesn’t like say, basil and cilantro, and if hopeful of some ‘regular’ food like say just a nice salad with ranch or a grilled cheese, that is not available. Would not take Sara here.