Description: A vegetarian- and vegan-friendly restaurant that is “committed to using only whole fresh foods (organic) whenever possible,” according to the site. They serve a variety of hot and cold dishes that do not use dairy products, eggs, refined sugar, salt, or artificial flavors.
Why Karyn’s Cooked: Here’s the big surprise…
I WENT TO THE RESTAURANT WITH VEGGIEGIRL!!
It was SO.MUCH.FUN. to meet VeggieGirl and another friend when they were visiting Chicago! I knew I wanted to try out a vegan or vegetarian restaurant because I have never been to one before. We reviewed our options and decided that Karyn’s Cooked was the best location for all of us to get to – and dinner was served!! It was a wonderful evening outside of the blogosphere!
What I Ordered:
I started out with an order of Thai Skewers, which was basically seitan with a choice of peanut or barbecue sauce. I decided to get two with peanut and one with barbecue.
For my entree, I got a bowl of the meatless chili, a steaming bowl of spiciness with beans and soy ground “meat.”
The meatless chili was served with a piece of vegan corn bread.
Review: It was my first time trying seitan, and I honestly had no idea what to expect! I actually didn’t particularly care for the skewers. There was something gritty about them that I didn’t like, and they had a strange aftertaste. It’s hard to describe in words, but there was just something off about the whole dish. I only ate two out of the three pictured. VeggieGirl suggested that it may have had to do with the fact that the seitan was sliced so thinly. I’m willing to give it a try in another form, but I don’t think I’ll go with this one again!
The meatless chili was excellent! I honestly couldn’t tell the difference between this bowl of soup and the carnivorous kind. The bowl was huge though, so I only finished about half of it. I asked for a cup, but they gave me a bowl – talk about super-size me!
The cornbread was by far the best part of this meal – I ate and enjoyed every bite! I like cornbread in general, and the vegan recipe tasted just as good as any other recipe I’ve tried. I love the texture – dense, but with a crumbly effect that goes down easy. I need to start making more cornbread at home!
Get Yours: So overall, Karyn’s Cooked had a lot to offer and would be a great place to visit during a trip to Chicago.
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[…] was my second time trying seitan. The last time was with VeggieGirl! I have to say, it went much better this time around. The way it was cooked made it much more […]