My mother is a Harvard alum and as kids we used to hang out in Harvard Square all the time. I can't tell you the number of times I have walked by Veggie Planet and thought, "I should really check that place out." Well, last night was the night!
After a busy work week I headed to Harvard Square to meet up with a friend in town from New York City. She had a coupon for Veggie Planet and suggested we go to use it together. Since I had been wanting to try it anyway, off we went.
Veggie Planet is located next door to the Border Cafe. You might not notice it because it's hidden in the basement down an unassuming set of stairs.
When we opened the door I was stunned by how tiny it was! There are only four tables for two and then two seats at a counter. That is teeny tiny!
All the tables were spoken for so we gave our name and a cell phone number and headed back up to the street. We bopped around in favorite boutique, Mint Julep, until they gave us a ring about 15 minutes later.
We got a seat right under the specials board. The board was so cheery and fun!
In addition to the starters, soups and salads, every entree Veggie Planet offers can be made one of three ways: as a pizza on whole wheat crust, a top brown rice or a top coconut rice. How cool is that?
I had heard from a trusted source (a co-worker who is a vegetarian and lives with her boyfriend who is vegan) that pizza is the way to go at Veggie Planet. With that in mind, my friend and I each decided to order a different pizza for our entrees.
To start we ordered drinks, an Arnold Palmer for her and a crimson berry iced tea for me. My drink was so wonderfully pink!
To start we split the Greek salad. The salad was considered the small size, but it was huge! We each took three helpings onto our side plates and still couldn't finish it! The salad was dressed perfectly, had juicy tomatoes and roasted red peppers, red onions, kalamata olives and was topped with a heaping scoop of feta cheese. We were in heaven.
After we tapped out on the salad our waiter (who was awesome) brought out our pizzas. My friend went with the portabello red head which comes with roasted portabello mushrooms, caramelized onions, sage, rosemary, romesco sauce and feta cheese.
I know, you're drooling.
I decided on the pizza special which was Brussels sprouts, onions, sesame tofu mash and cheddar cheese. Look at those Brussels sprouts!
The Brussels sprouts has the perfect crunch and char and the mix of tofu and cheddar cheese add a rich, creamy taste to each bite.
We cut our pizzas into quarters and half way through our first quarters my friend asked, "Can we swap a piece?" I was secretly hoping she would say that so I willingly traded. She took a bite of mine and said, "I like yours better!" I was chewing my bite of her pizza and after I swallowed (I'm a lady, no talking with the mouth full) I said, "Me too!" So we swapped all together!
Our waiter came over with our check and said, "Can I interest you ladies in any dessert?" To which we said in unison, "Absolutely!" He crumbled up our check, put it in the trash and said, "Ok! Be right back with menus."
The dessert menu at Veggie Planet was really impressive. There were choices for every kind of dessert lover - the chocoholic (yours truly), the fruit person and even the nut/raisin person.
After a quick debate we settled on a special request, a combination of two of the menu items. Our waiter, who again, was incredible, happily accommodated our order.
What arrived was a tower of local treats! A Taza chocolate brownie covered with a scoop of Christina's vanilla ice cream, garnished with coconut whipped cream and chocolate syrup. Taza Chocolate is based in Somerville and Christina's Ice Cream in based in Cambridge.
I love how our waiter stuck our spoons up into the sundae!
If you took a bite of every component at once, the dessert was incredible. On it's own, the brownie was too dry.
We both agreed the coconut whipped cream was the unexpected star of the dish! It made the sundae taste like an Almond Joy, which is my favorite candy bar.
After dessert we still had a lot of catching up to do and our waiter never once rushed us. We probably sat for 20 minutes after our sundae bowl was cleared and were not once given the hairy eye ball. Don't worry, there was no one waiting in line otherwise we would have given up our seats.
I wasn't sure what to expect from Veggie Planet and I was completely blown away. Their food was exceptional, they support local vendors and our waiter was superb. If you are vegetarian or vegan, you need to add Veggie Planet to your list!
