ABQ Vegan Chef Challenge: July 24–27
So many restaurants and so little time left in the month. I am broke, craving raw fruit and veggies, and very glad that I have stretchy clothes. But I continue on for you, dear reader.
Annapurna’s
I was very excited to finally try this place. We never made it there when we were in Albuquerque in 2021, and then also didn’t make it to the 4th street location despite staying in an Airbnb less than two miles away for a month. When I checked online I thought it said that location was only open 8 am to 3 pm on Monday through Friday, so we never went.
We visited the Promenade location on Eubank while driving around looking at houses and it was nice to not have to worry about finding parking. They were so nice there and our Thali plate was fun. I loved getting all the little cups of various different things!
We also got the Mumbai Frankie, which I just love the name of, because it sounds vaguely naughty. LOL. This is potatoes, vegan cheese, garlic sauce, and chili sauce wrapped up in a chapati. Very tasty combo and next time I am going to ask nicely if I can get it in a dosa. I swear that I saw a dosa option for this at Rush of Prana, and I just love the sourdough flavor of dosas.
You can’t go wrong with a vegan mango lassi!
ABQ Coffee/Linda’s Dolci
We went to ABQ Collective back in March of 2021 when we were in town for a month. I remember that there were a lot of plants inside for a plant swap, but everything was mostly outside because of Covid.
Wow, have they grown and thrived since then!
So great to see creative and collaborative spaces like this doing well. There was live music and I definitely plan on going back when I have time to look at everything. We were just there for a quick caffeine and sugar hit to fuel the second half of our house hunting day.
I was super excited to see that Linda’s Dolci at ABQ Coffee had vegan panna cotta, because I couldn’t remember ever seeing vegan panna cotta anywhere else before. I also couldn’t remember ever having eaten panna cotta before going vegan.
It turns out, I’m an idiot.
I don’t actually really care for the texture of pudding or custard type things all that much and creamy + citrus is pretty low on my list as well, so I don’t know what I was thinking. I should have gotten cake!
However, the flavors were delicious and when I added crunchy Grape Nuts and tart berries, it made an AMAZING breakfast.
I’m not sure if I can really make it to all 30 places this month, but I am getting close! You can follow me as PebblesEatsPlants on Instagram or Facebook.
Vegan Chef Challenge:
- Lucky Goose ✅ ✅ ✅
- RubyReds Vegan
- Vegos ✅ (A-Beet-Q Burger)
- Tia Mom’s Cocina
- VeganVato ✅ ✅ (Special Torta, Hella Good Tacos, Elote Tostadas, Taquitos)
- Rush Of Prana ✅ (Acai Bowl)
- El Veganito ✅ (Stopped by, but had to pass because it was too hot out)
- CZV
- Annapurna’s ✅
- The Acre ✅
- Mata G ✅ (Grab & go on 7/1 before they posted their specials)
- Trail Rider Pizza ✅ (Went right before the challenge)
- Holmes Pizza & Arcade ✅ (Went right before the challenge)
- M’tucci’s Bar Roma
- Leona Banh Mi ✅
- El Cotorro ✅ (4 different tacos, including the Vegan Chef Challenge Special)
- ClownDog Hotdogs Parlor
- Kickstand Cafe ✅ (Went 7/3 and they were sold out)
- Hollow Spirits Distillery ✅
- Burrito Baby ✅ (Went 7/4 and they hand’t started vegan specials yet)
- El Mariachi Authentic Mexican ✅ (Calabacitas Flautas)
- Soo Bak Seoul Bowl ✅
- Hummus King & Lady Falafel ✅ (Hummus, Falafel, and Babaganouj plate)
- Blue Door Patisserie ✅ (Cinnamon Pecan Coffee Cake)
- El Káahal Nuestro ✅ (Chicken Taquitos)
- DDs Babycakes
- ABQ Coffee ✅
- Zia Bros Pizza ✅ (Cheezy Bread)
- Tokyo Bankok ✅
- La Posada Dining Hall at UNM
Bonus Places Not On the List
- B2B Garden Brewing ✅ (Tacos with Chips and Guac)
- Flying Star ✅ (Double Chocolate Cake)
- Cafe Nom Nom ✅ (Shanghai Noodles)
- Los Ranchos Bakery ✅ (Blondie and Matcha Ice Cream)