As I've mentioned in my earlier posts about my trip to New Orleans, I really relied on my friends to point us in the right direction when it came to vegetarian friendly restaurants. New Orleans is known for shrimp, crawfish and vegetables cooked in bacon so I was definitely nervous.
On our last day in the city, after a beautiful ride on the St. Charles Street trolley car, we walked into the French Quarter. We hadn't spent any time in this neighborhood yet, so I was excited.
We were on a mission to find the Meals from the Heart Cafe, which was recommended by a friend (and also has an insane number of glowing Yelp reviews). Though we successfully found it on our iPhones, we couldn't actually find it in person.
It turns out the cafe is actually a counter inside the open air market. We were circling for a good ten minutes!
We ran toward the counter with relief as soon as we spotted the heart sign.
The Meals from the Heart Cafe allows you to sit at the counter or to order your food and eat it at the public tables in the open air market. We decided to sit at the counter.
The waitress manning the counter was awesome. She was so friendly and warm and answered all of our questions about the menu.
I loved that each seat at the counter had a red place mat, adding to the heart theme.
I started with the iced green tea. I took one sip and said to our waitress, "This is way too good. What else is in here?" She explained that they brew the green tea and pour it over ice. Then they add in fresh squeezed lemon juice and keep it in the fridge overnight. The next day when people order it, they pour it over fresh ice cubes and add honey. My god was that delicious! I am definitely going to make this recipe myself! Mmm, mmm, good!
My coworker ordered the vegan shake which was made with fresh fruit, almond extract and flax seed. She said it was very refreshing but definitely tasted healthy, not like a creamy, yogurt based smoothie.
For my meal I selected the veggie omelette. It came stuffed with spinach, tomatoes, onions and a choice of cheese. The omelette also came with a whole wheat, English muffin.
Though the omelette was a generous size, I couldn't taste the cheese at all. The omlette was so big that I barely had room for my English muffin! I only ate one side.
My coworker went with a lunch option - the black bean burger. It doesn't come with cheese, but she said the patty was so fresh she didn't feel it needed cheese. Her meal came with a side of roasted, red bliss potatoes.
The food at Meals from the Heart Cafe wasn't outstanding, but it definitely was good. It was nice to eat at a place that caters to vegetarians and that had such a fun view and atmosphere. Be forewarned, like many places in NOLA, Meals from the Heart Cafe is cash only.
After we finished eating we decided to explore the French Quarter a bit more. We stumbled upon two very funky fountains. I love this one with the jazz musicians!
The second fountain was my favorite. Behind the fountain there was a painting of a scene in the French Quarter. The painting was sandwiched by two teal shutters. The front of the fountain is home to a statue of a woman reclining and basking in the sun.
After snapping pictures of the fountains we walked up to the bank of the Mississippi River! It would be so nice to sit in the sunshine on a bench and just watch the boats go by.
After taking in the view we headed to NOLA's number one tourist attraction, Cafe du Monde! More on powdered sugar bliss in the next post!
