Our hotel was located just outside of Philadelphia. We arrived at the hotel much later than we had planned, so instead of taking the train into the city right away, we decided to search for a vegan-friendly restaurant nearby.
We chose Blue Sage Vegetarian Grille on a whim and arrived just before they ended their lunch service.
I ordered a big ol’ bowl of the soup of the day – a spicy peanut and sweet potato soup consisting of Thai basil, celery, and onion. The soup was very creamy and 100% vegan. The sweet potato chunks made the soup very filling. I almost didn’t have room for my entree.
I ordered the Buddha tacos for my entree. The white corn taco shells were stuffed with a peanuts, avocados and tomatoes dressed in an asian sauce. The tacos were served with a citrus-beet arugula salad.
My only complaint about these tacos were that they were served cold. I’ve never eaten tacos with a cold filling…the temperature turned me off. Also, the taco filling was very similar in taste to the peanut and sweet potato soup. I consumed a whole bowl of soup before the tacos were served, so having an entree with a different flavor profile would have been better. Next time I’ll stick to the soup since it was so tasty (and maybe try a dessert).
Blue Sage Vegetarian Grille is located at 772 Second Street Pike, Southampton PA 18966.
For our first dinner in Philly, we went to the Philadelphia Chutney Company, an American-Indian fusion fast-food restaurant.
We ordered dosas, which are giant Indian-style crepes made with bean and rice flour. They are stuffed with potatoes and spices and come with a variety of chutneys. These were the biggest dosas I have ever seen! But SO GOOD! We also ordered some deep-fried fritter things. This was my favorite place to eat in Philly because of the super-sized dosas 
Philadelphia Chutney Company is located at 1628 Sansom Street, Philadelphia PA 19103.
If you have a hankering for a vegan Philly cheese steak sandwich, head to Govindas’s Vegetarian Restaurant.
Danny ordered a pepper steak sandwich–soy steak and rainbow peppers grilled in olive oil with Govinda’s special house gravy and soy cheese. YUM.
Since they didn’t have gluten-free bread, I ordered the golden tofu wrap without the wrap–tofu slices soaked in ginger, tamari, and tahini sauce, served on rice with sauteed peppers. I also ordered a side of the sabji veggies–mixed veggies sauteed in Indian spices.
The veggies and rice were good, but I didn’t like the texture of the tofu. It was too chewy.
Govinda’s is located at 1408 South Street (the corner of Broad and South street), Philadelphia PA 19146.
For our last dinner in the Philly area, we went to Wild Ginger–a vegetarian and Asian cuisine restaurant. Wild Ginger isn’t located in the city of Philadelphia but it was close to our hotel.
Wild Ginger’s menu has an entire page devoted to vegan dishes. They have vegan chicken, ham, duck, fish, meatballs, and seitan. You can even substitute these vegan meats in other menu items (not located on the vegan page). Just look for the little green leaf symbol next to a menu item.
I ordered the spicy Hunan style tofu since most mock meats contain wheat. The tofu was lightly fried and the sauce was not too spicy. Very tasty. And it came with a cute little rose made of carrot peels.
Wild Ginger is located in the Justa Farm shopping Center at 1928-30 County Line Road, Huntington Valley PA 19006.
I have a post about NYC and VA coming up. I swear we did more than just eat on this vacation…but since we are foodies, trying vegan foods at new restaurants was our main objective on this vacation
