Vegan MoFo Day 4: Falafel's Drive Through, Mitsuwa, Nuggets!

J had to go up to Saratoga today for a dentist appointment, and as the Emperor and I didn't have much going on, we decided to tag along.

Now, I am not a big fan of San Jose and the surrounding environs. However, I AM a big fan of some things up that way. No trip over the hill is complete without a stop at Mitsuwa Japanese Superstore. J also wanted to get a falafel sandwich or two at Falafel's Drive Through. And of course, we had to do something for the Emperor, too... so we went to Wildwood Park briefly after all of our tooth drilling and errand running.

We ate plenty of good things, but this just wasn't a great food day for the Emperor. He didn't seem very interested in eating anything we offered him. He had a rough night last night... I think the pig-in-a-blanket that he ate was just too much food for him, and then he tried to nurse a couple of hours later, and he ended up vomiting vegan hotdog chunks into my hair at 1:30 in the morning. (Only highlight that last sentence if you have a high gross out threshold.)

But he was pretty cute anyway, as you'll see in the pictures.


What is it: Apple #1!
My thoughts: Still yummy. I'd think I'd be winding down on the apple love after the past two weeks, but I'm still feeling it.
Emperor's reaction: He politely nibbled bits of it but didn't eat a whole lot. He was more interested in banging pots and pans.


What is it: Black coffee at the dentist's office.
My thoughts: I NEVER get to play with the Flavia machine at the dentist's because I am always the person whose teeth they're working on. So I was very excited to go with J today and futz around with this thing. I was saddened to find that the only sweetener they had on hand was saccharin (yuck) and the only creamer was DairyMate or whatever (double yuck) but hey, I like black coffee anyway.
Emperor's reaction: Boy, he wanted this coffee BAD. Of course he didn't get anything. Mean mom alert!





What is it: Falafel sandwich from Falafel's Drive Through
My thoughts: I like this falafel. I don't LOVE it though. My husband is pretty fanatical about it, as our several of our friends. I dunno, I think it's kinda dry, and yet somehow greasy at the same time. On the other hand, I was starving when we got there (no breakfast other than coffee and an apple) and if these sandwiches are one thing, it's filling. Mmm, filling.
Emperor's reaction: He was intensely skeptical, as you can see above. He had one bite of the falafel and one bite of the pita bread and that was all he was interested in, thank you very much.


What is it: Dolmas (stuffed grape leaves) from Falafel's Drive Through
My thoughts: Okay, this is weird. They heat their dolmas. I have eaten a LOT of dolmas (and I mean a lot, I love the things... put anything in a grape leaf and I'll eat it) and I can't recall ever having them hot before. Very tasty, but the temperature's a little disconcerting. Their filling is really squishy, which I like.
Emperor's reaction: He wanted to pick these up and hold them (bad idea, since they're kinda oily on the outside) but didn't seem interested in eating them at all. He had one bite of filling and refused a second bite.



What is it: the ONE thing at Falafel's Drive Through that the baby liked! A housemade pita chip.
My thoughts: They're just fried pita with a bit of zatar smeared on them. That said, they have ZATAR smeared on them. You know I love zatar, internet!
Emperor's reaction: I thought they were okay but the Emperor thought they were WONDERFUL. He ate two big strips of pita chip. Cruncha cruncha.





What is it: Drunken Whale sake
My thoughts: Tasty! I like dry sake. I am sorry there's no particularly easy way to figure out if a given sake is vegan or not. Like most other types of alcohol, some producers fine their sake with fish scales. Yucky.
Emperor's reaction: Ha ha, you saw the picture and thought I gave my baby sake!

He's actually drinking water out of a sake cup. The sake glasses are exactly the right size for him to hold onto. He drank about three little shot glasses of water while I was making dinner, and then dumped the fourth one all over himself. Sigh.





What is it: cold swiss chard salad with lime soy sauce.
My thoughts: You know I'm hot for any swiss chard. The lime soy sauce is REALLY lime-y, in a good way. This was a nice simple side. I'm sorry I didn't have two bunches of swiss chard.
Emperor's reaction: Right after the picture he's in, he grabbed a big handful of chard, stuffed it in his mouth, and ran away laughing. He came back for a little more after that, too. Success!



What is it: Chickpea nuggets
My thoughts: This is the chickpea cutlet recipe from Veganomicon with some slight modifications. I shaped the dough into nuggets instead of cutlets, lightly rolled them in panko, and baked them. Pretty tasty, but next time I want to bake them for a bit longer. Oh yeah, I also ate them with tonkatsu sauce from Mitsuwa. Mmm, tonkatsu sauce.
Emperor's reaction: How weird are this kid's tastes? He ate one tiny nibble of a nugget and then lost interest.


Food not pictured today:
A coffee that I made at home and drank in the car
Apple #2 when we got home from the dentist
Snack mix from Mitsuwa
A can of unsweetened oolong tea
Some chocolate

And here are your bonus pictures. The first one is the boy inside of Mitsuwa, the second one is him in the Mitsuwa parking lot: