As I stated before in a previous post, I recently lost over 25 pounds.
I didn't go on a "diet", I made a "lifestyle change". I changed my eating habits by eating healthier foods and began to exercise.
In order to maintain my weight loss, I try to eat out no more than 2 times per week and when I do eat out I try to select a restaurant that serves healthier food choices. I discovered the Soul Vegetarian restaurant while browsing online. I read the reviews and asked around about it. My friend, Vanessa, had been to the restaurant a long time ago so I invited her to lunch to check it out with me.
 |
| Soul Vegetarian Restaurant @ the West End location |
The overall atmosphere in the restaurant was nice. They have a hot bar where you go down the line and choose from the items they have already prepared for the day. They also have a separate room with a small juice bar. This restaurant prepares all of their foods without using any animal products.
When we first walked in the restaurant, it was a bit confusing. There were no greeters or waiters/waitresses to assist first-time customers. We arrived around 2pm and there was only one customer in line to get food from the hot bar. She quickly left and the place was empty. There was one man sitting at a table in the front of the restaurant. I think he might have worked there. He told us to just take a left turn and get in line. We made our way to the hot bar and all of the food was covered. The server just sort of stared at us as if we were supposed to know what was in the covered bins.
I tried explaining to her that it was our first time in the restaurant. (They apparently changed the format since Vanessa had last been in there.) Still no assistance. I literally had to ask the server to uncover each bin so I could see the available food choices. It would have been nice to have a menu or something.
We both decided on Vegetable Plates. I had mac & cheese, collard greens, sweet potatoes and cornbread. I had read about how good the mac & cheese was in the online reviews so I definitely wanted to give that a try.
Vanessa ordered the mac & cheese, collard greens, broccoli stir-fry and a salad.
We made our way through the line, paid for our food and sat down at a table and began to eat. Every thing was very tasty. The mac & cheese was my favorite. I really enjoyed it. It didn't taste like regular mac & cheese, but it was very delicious - creamy & cheesy. It lived up to the reviews that I had read online. Vanessa really liked the collard greens. She couldn't stop talking about how good they were. I heard sounds of "mmm, mmm" as she was eating. I have to admit, they were pretty tasty.
During lunch, I began to cough (I was getting over a cold). That's when I realized we didn't have anything to drink and no one bothered to ask us if we would like something. I finally had to get up from the table and walk over to the cashier and ask if I could get a glass of water. One of the servers finally brought over one glass of water. Then about 2 minutes later, the man working the juice bar brought over 2 more glasses of water. By this time I was getting a little annoyed.
Vanessa was kind enough to go to the juice bar and purchase me a bottle of fresh juice called Royal Ginger Root. She thought it would help my coughing...and it did! The juice was a little spicy from the ginger. It had very good flavors of ginger root, pineapple juice, lemon juice and also water.
Vanessa also purchase a slice of carrot cake for dessert. The cake was very moist, not too sweet and tasted just like a regular slice of carrot cake. I give the cake 2 thumbs up!
Overall, the food was extra good. The service...not so much (at least for a 1st timer). I'm sure I will have a better experience service-wise when I go back because then I will know exactly how things work.
Verdict: I will definitely visit this restaurant again.
