Worldwide plant-based mostly delicacies at Cafe Sunflower enriches Atlanta’s vegan food scene

Found just 17 minutes by auto from Emory College, Cafe Sunflower supplies a stellar vegan cuisine with a vast array of foodstuff from all all around the planet. Whether or not you are a plant-dependent eater, hunting to dip your toes into veganism or are just hoping to accommodate your vegan or vegetarian good friends, this cafe is the best place to go for a memorable dining working experience.

I went to Cafe Sunflower with my father on Feb. 23, a birthday tradition that started out a number of months prior to the pandemic started in 2020. For a Wednesday night, the cafe was incredibly crowded, with practically each desk occupied. The eating room by itself was casual and peaceful, with easy picket decor. The hanging lights and modern artwork about the cafe brightened the interior considerably, supplying it a charming atmosphere.

For our appetizers, we ordered the Buffalo Lollipops and Steamed Dumplings. The lollipops have been my favourite section of this dinner. These soy chicken drumsticks had been coated in a abundant buffalo sauce with a vegan blue cheese dip on the aspect along with a few refreshing sticks of celery. 

The drumsticks had been so tender and succulent, and their bold flavors ended up complemented nicely by the light-weight and creamy dip. My only grievance was that there weren’t ample of them!

The steamed dumplings ended up quite flavorful, as perfectly, loaded with a colourful blend of Asian cabbage, carrots, tofu, black mushrooms and spinach and accompanied by a piquant soy-ginger dipping sauce. This appetizer is a great choice for any person who enjoys Asian food but prefers a milder spice stage.

From shrimp tacos to orzo eggplant lasagna, Cafe Sunflower gives delectable key courses from various intercontinental cuisines. We decided to get the Pesto Pasta and Spicy Pad Thai Noodles, old favorites of ours that we wished to expertise at the Cafe Sunflower. 

The pesto pasta was mouthwatering, with a walnut pesto sauce that could conveniently move for standard pesto. The dish was topped with broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, artichoke and capers, with two items of garlic bread on the side to make for a properly-balanced and filling meal. 

Though the pesto pasta was a treat, the spicy pad thai noodles were being a bit disappointing. Not for the reason that the dish was not delicious,  but rather since the noodles were a very Americanized edition of this lively, zesty Thai dish, coming throughout much more as a bowl of pasta than noodles for the reason that of the creamy sauce.

A good selection for these who observe a gluten-absolutely free eating plan, these rice noodles ended up garnished with zucchini, green beans, crimson bell peppers, mushrooms, baked tofu, kale, carrots and crushed peanuts with a abundant coconut-tahini sauce. The sauce reminded me of alfredo sauce, other than that it was strongly infused with coconut essence. 

It was a far cry from conventional pad thai, which is sweet, savory and tangy, and it didn’t are living up to its spicy ad. Even so, this entree was comforting and the assortment of veggies made it healthy and eye-catching.

We chose to skip dessert, as the restaurant only presents a choice of vegan cakes that we did not want at the moment. From former activities, the cakes are scrumptious, with my favored currently being their carrot cake.

Skipping dessert gave us time to glance at the several plaques at the entrance of the restaurant that are focused to Lin and Edward Sunshine, the chefs and owners of this nationally acknowledged and award-successful restaurant.

Even though their Sandy Springs cafe, launched in 1994, shut just after 25 decades of becoming in enterprise, the Buckhead cafe, founded 3 many years later, is open and thriving. The chefs established Cafe Sunflower just after mastering about holistic well being and getting to be vegetarians in the early 1990s. 

Now in the cafe business, the owners marketed their current restaurants to discovered Cafe Sunflower, hoping to make vegetarianism much more available and to alter a popular notion of vegetarian fare as flavorless and boring. 

The chefs achieved this mission, as the world cuisine provided at this restaurant is delectable. Cafe Sunflower has revolutionized the plant-based mostly culinary scene in Atlanta, and I would hugely endorse it to every person, vegan or in any other case! 

Overall: 4.5/5