Thursday, May 28, 2009

miyake vs green elephant

we had a bit of a devastating experience at miyake last night, where boo, m, enoch and i went with the intention of celebrating boo's birthday. it's been months since we've eaten out, and boo had been savoring the thought of spicy crunchy inari sushi for quite some time. however, when we sat down and started perusing the menu, we quickly realized that not only was there no spicy crunchy inari to be seen, there was not one single vegetarian item. everything involved either fish or pig innards, seriously. i thought all four of us were going to burst into tears. m asked the chef about the menu change; he shrugged and said, basically, yes it changed, and no, there's nothing vegetarian. i know, i know - it's a sushi place, and sushi basically means raw fish. but i've never been to a japanese restaurant in my life that didn't have inari, veggie, or shiitake rolls or maki, or at least noodles with vegetables and tofu.

luckily, we thought of green elephant, which just happens to be totally vegetarian (mostly vegan, in fact), and also just happens to serve absolutely delicious asian food in a lovely space with great service. also, most importantly, boo loves it there. it was a birthday miracle.



















boo got his favorite, the vegan "far east duck." there's enoch with his chinese broccoli and crispy soy fillet. m had a yellow curry dish, and i had spinach noodles with vegetables in shiitake-ginger sauce. everything tasted great.



















i don't think boo minded a bit when the whole restaurant sang happy birthday to him as his dessert arrived, either.

12 comments:

Liz Woodbury said...

um, p.s. boo does not have a strange claw hand on his right arm. that came out really weird in this picture due to the way he was moving that hand, i guess. weird.

erin said...

I know what you mean about the vegetarian selections at the japanese places...I usually order the baby an avocado roll and Jeremiah and I sometimes split a giant bowl of veggies, spicy broth and ramen or udon noodles.

Looks like he had a nice birthday! Yay for Boo!

Liz Woodbury said...

he really did have a nice birthday! thanks, erin!

Michael said...

happy birthday!!

good to know about Miyake. I'll cross that one off my list.

Michael said...

oh.. speaking of.

does next week work?

Liz Woodbury said...

yes, i'll make it work! i sure hope your back feels better...

charlotte said...

oh my god, he is SO OLD.

Liz Woodbury said...

no kidding - today was 8th grade step up day!

Mary said...

what does that mean?

Liz Woodbury said...

it means he got to meet all of next year's teachers! it'll be a whole new batch.

margot said...

i am so sad to hear about miyake! what a tragic story. however, i did go to green elephant once with dad and miss gliss, and had a lovely experience involving some sort of delicious dessert with taro and ice cream...

Liz Woodbury said...

we'll take you there when you come home - it's really lovely!