Post Punk Kitchen Forum

The next time you're in Btown, check out the Owlery. It's closed right now because they're changing locations, but it's all veg and really yummy.

I'm mega in love with The Owlery. Can't wait for that shiitake to open--I'm dyin' for a BALT.

Best thing about Btown is most chain places will accommodate without protest or confusion if you're polite and specific. I had an awesome experience at Olive Garden. YES, Olive forking Garden.

Yeah, I’ve heard great things about The Owlery. It’s relatively new right? It definitely wasn’t around when I lived down there. We would’ve gone there if it hadn’t been closed. Is Little Tibet still open? I miss that place. Same with The Red Sea! But I know they aren’t there anymore.

You guys are making me want to go on a food-cation in Bloomington...

i have dreams about the chicken strips with buffalo sauce. and the ruben. (the b-foods deli ruben doesn't even come close.)
brokenbox- little tibet is still here

Yay! Little Tibet is where my husband and I kinda had our first date, we were with a group of friends though. Our real first date alone was at Dragon Express... ewww.

Hey, no one from Lafayette? Well we are! Um.. the west side payless (i.e., Kroger) has a good amount of vegan stuff- not sure about their other few locations. Sunspot market does too. We had a purely vegan restaurant downtown, but it just closed! Copper Dog cafe (downtown) is explicitly vegetarian. I eat at the Olive House quite a bit. They are vegan friendly and most of their dishes are from the mediterranean and middle east. There are a million Indian, thai, chinese, etc restaurants around here and many have some decent options. Some of the chain restaurants have some vegan options too (Moes, q'doba, chipotle).

I used to do this all the time when I lived in Muncie (a vegan wasteland, or used to be).

I live 9 miles north of Louisville, where the Highlands neighborhood has a lot of vegan options. (And now that the Sherman Minton Bridge is back open, it's not such a pain to get to. I was to the point where I was ready to drive to Columbus/Edinburgh to shop a larger mall because it'd be over an hour either way, but at least I'd be moving and not just wasting gas!) We even have a cafe now in Southern Indiana that is very vegan friendly. So it's not totally a wasteland but these places you guys are talking about sound different and fun to try.

Veg IU's website is very helpful. Vin wanted to go to HuHot for lunch and I balked. I went there, told the waitress what I needed and they rolled the red carpet out for this wookie. They cleaned a place on the grill and sectioned it off from the other food. All sauces specify whether there is dairy, egg, animal stock or aquatic stock, so there's no guessing! Pretty good and not too expensive.

I'm vaguely involved with VegIU, and their website *is* awesome for finding food options in Btown (or on campus, if anyone would be eating on campus for any reason...).

Is everyone okay in SE IN--do we have any PPKers from there? All is well in SC IN.

Henryville is 10 miles north of me...I feel very fortunate and at the same time so sorrowful for my neighbors to the north who have lost so much. We love to go there and hike in the forestry...no idea if it was damaged but I imagine it was. So bizarre....one gas station right off of I-65 is open and operating, just about completely undamaged, and the one across the street is totally obliterated with nothing at all that even resembles a gas pump in sight.

Hi PPK! After 3.5 years away, I'm coming back to Indianapolis for an extended visit. I know a lot has changed and I've read through this post, so don't expect a full recap.

Just a simple question:
What's your #1 favorite spot for vegan eats in the city?

Thai Cafe in Broad Ripple!

This was also my favorite restaurant before I went vegan (one of the few places that made the transition with me). They now have mock meat in addition to tofu (though it's better in saucy curries than in something like Pad Thai). They also now sell their peanut sauce by the jar. They will also accomodate practically any food preference (vegan, gluten free, etc.). It's locally owned, the owner is almost always there, and she's really sweet.

Bloomington peeps, have you tried the vegan ice cream from The Chocolate Moose? I went to the stand the other day and got a vegan strawberry milkshake made with almond milk and their strawberry ice cream. To die! The ice cream is coconut milk based so it's really rich and creamy. I was sooo happy to find strawberry vegan ice cream, which none of the major brands seem to make for some weird reason. I chatted with the owner a bit too, and he was a kind, thoughtful person (and they're thinking about expanding to Indy!). They have the typical vegan mix ins (fruit, nuts, oreos) so you can also get vegan blizzards!

ahhh! i just heard about this. i didn't know you could get the blizzards too. so excited!

Cool, I'll try Thai Cafe.

Anyone know where I can get speculoos spread? (And I don't meant the cookie butter that's available at Trader Joe's.)

Thanks!

I think I may be the only one, but I think Thai Cafe is the worst thai in the city! I’ve been there multiple times and was really disappointed. Maybe I should give it one more go. Thai Taste in Castleton is awesome and they have a vegetarian buffet the first Thursday of every month.
Recently we’ve been eating at the Broad Ripple Brew Pub a lot. They have quite a few veg/an options and good beer! Plus it’s a great mix so it’s easy to go with family or friends who eat meat and every one is happy.
Abyssinia is probably my favorite restaurant. It’s Ethiopian and the Yesmir Wett and the collard greens one are Amazing! I usually don’t bother with the veggie platter and just order what sounds good. It’s a ton of food.
Have fun while you’re visiting. There really are a lot of options in Indy, way more than most give it credit for. It’s no Chicago or Portland, but there is still good food to be had here!

Abyssinia and Brewpub are both great. I'm on the west side, so I've only made it over to Thai Taste in Castleton once, but I remember it being good, and I think everything on the vegetarian buffet was vegan when I went.

BrokenBox, what have you eaten at Thai Cafe? I love the Kao Padd w/tofu, the Padd Thai (admittedly nothing like Padd Thai at other places), and the masaman curry. I LOVE the fried spring rolls and the sauce they come with (no one else makes better fried spring rolls, IMHO) and the deep fried tofu with peanut sauce. These things probably get fried in the same vat with meat stuff (I've never bothered to ask) so probably not good options if that worries you.

Quark,
I live near Butler, so Castleton is a hike for us too and don’t go to Thai Taste as often as I wish. Plus, I hate that area and really have no other reason to go up there. At Thai Cafe I think I’ve had the Massaman Curry and Pad Thai. It’s been at least 5+ years since I’ve been there, so I don’t even remember what I didn’t like about it. I’ll have to give it a go again.

ZOMG! I finally got to the Chocolate Moose and they had the vegan ice cream in stock. It is so popular they're selling it at Bloomingfoods! The strawberry is amazeballs. Aaaaaand, they'll be selling vegan waffles a la mode at the farmer's market!


Vegan waffles....with vegan ice cream! Yay!

What.

Is the farmer's market only on the weekend? I'm usually only in Btown on weekdays, but I want waffles with ice cream....

Yeah, I haven't tried any of the vegan flavors besides strawberry yet because I love that one *so* much... but chocolate milkshakes and oreo blizzards are calling my name.

Quark, yep. Only on the weekend--I know they have a Tuesday evening market once season is in full swing, perhaps The Moose will be there? We should probably hound the owner to rep-ra-zen.

the owlery is opening back up on friday! for real this time!