If you’re a vegetarian, you probably have some go-to meatless dishes at your favorite D.C. restaurants. But what about those of us who are merely flirting with the idea of giving up the animal flesh? The transition from eating meat to going meat-free or meat-lite can be a tough one, but there are plenty of health and environmental reasons to eat less animal protein. Luckily, vegetarian food doesn’t have to be any less filling or delicious, as evidenced by this list of our favorite hearty veg dishes. Let us know your favorites in the comments.
Photo via BGR’s Facebook page.
VEGGIE BURGER AT BGR: I’ve sampled a number of veggie burgers around town, but BGR’s is the only one I would order over a beef patty. The mash of black beans, brown rice, and oats is bound together by molasses, making it reminiscent of a burger imbued with sweet barbecue sauce. The result tastes uncannily of pulled pork, sans pig. Dress it up with some lettuce, tomato, and pickles, and you won’t even miss the beef.—Alicia Mazzara
BGR has multiple locations in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.
EGGPLANT PARM AT BUB AND POP’S: Eggplant parmesan is the perfect gateway vegetarian food because frying something and covering it with cheese would make even old shoe leather taste good. Bub’s is probably best known for their meaty Italian sub, but the eggplant sandwich is equally formidable—and it won’t give you the itus after lunch. Crisp fried eggplant is covered with a bright tomato sauce, sharp aged provolone, a flurry of peppery arugula, pesto, and sweet caramelized onions. Each bite is a tantalizing combination of salt, sweet, earthy, and acidic. We also love their Bulgarian feta for another meat-free alternative. —Alicia Mazzara
Bub and Pop’s is located at 1815 M Street NW.
CALABACITA TACOS AT EL CHUCHO: As much as I love carne asada and pork al pastor, I’ll happily pass them up for El Chucho’s calabacita tacos, which combine squash blossoms, gently sweet fried zucchini, smoky poblano pepper strips, black garlic, and fresh, crumbly cheese in warm corn tortillas. These plump little morsels fill me up just as quickly as their meat-filled brethren and taste just as rich. They’re especially good with a dab of hot sauce and washed down with one of the restaurant’s housemade sodas (my favorites are the tart and smoky blackberry poblano and the refreshing ginger lemongrass) or a house margarita rimmed with chili salt. —Jenny Holm
El Chucho is located at 3313 11th St. NW.
FASTING PLATTER AT ETETE: We would be remiss not to mention Ethiopian on a list about vegetarian eats. Ethiopian cuisine has some of the most inventive takes on meat-less dishes—the things they do with lentils are nothing short of amazing. While most Ethiopian joints in the area offer a vegetable combo platter, Etete’s fasting platter is basically vegetables on steroids. Aside from the familiar piles of collard greens, and red and yellow lentil stews, the dish arrives with a bunch of other vegetarian concoctions not on their regular combo platter. With so much variety in every mouthful, there’s no need to even bother with meat. The fasting special isn’t listed on the menu, so be sure to ask your server about availability. —Alicia Mazzara
Etete is located at 1942 9th Street NW.
Photo courtesy of Heritage India.
DOSAS AT MALGUDI: Malgudi, Heritage India’s South Indian spice cafe, serves all-you-can-eat dosas on Tuesdays for $20. Dosas are Indian crepes made with lentil batter and filled with spiced potatoes plus other ingredients. The rotating selection of dosas trends vegan and vegetarian, with perhaps one or two meaty varieties. The dosas are served with chutneys and sambar, a spicy lentil soup. Dessert dosas are chocolate and fruit-filled. The dosa feast is available for lunch or dinner. —Andrea Adleman
Malgudi is located at 2400 Wisconsin Ave NW.
THREE COURSE REGIONAL INDIAN VEG MENU AT MASALA ART SW: This second location of the acclaimed Tenleytown restaurant has introduced a Monday night prix-fixe dinner with a carnivore or vegetarian menu, the latter priced at $24. Each month features cuisine from a different Indian state. May spotlights Punjabi specialties. The three-course meal begins with a fried appetizer assortment that pleases the palate as it bulges the belly. Next comes a full-sized entree of a vegetarian dish. One with a creamy curry sauce is more filling, while a seasoned vegetable selection will seem relatively lighter. Rice, naan bread, a side of curried eggplant and a side of creamy black lentils accompany the entree. A full-sized dessert marks the exclamation point of this hearty dinner. —Andrea Adleman
Masala Art SW is located at 1101 4th St SW.
VEGETARIAN TASTING MENU AT TABLE Table is one of the few upscale restaurants that really give vegetables their due. Even the slew of new farm-to-table places still tend to treat meat as the star and vegetables as supporting characters when crafting their entrees. And many times, the token vegetarian dish is a throwaway in terms of creativity. (Portobello mushrooms standing in for meat? Please, tell me more.) Table, on the other hand, regularly offers an entirely vegetarian chef’s tasting menu as a supplement to their regular menu. At $55 a person, it’s a bargain for five courses of thoughtful and creative food that just happens to be vegetarian. —Alicia Mazzara
Table is located at 903 N St NW.
FIVE GRAIN RISOTTO AT MINTWOOD PLACE: Mintwood Place is a pretty protein-driven restaurant, but their five grain risotto is a standout, regardless of whether you eat meat or not. The vegetables change with the season, but the toothsome combination of farro, wheatberries, bulgar wheat, pearl barley, and buckwheat groats always form the hearty base for this twist on an Italian classic. The grains each bring their own unique flavor and texture to the party, from slightly sweet and chewy wheatberries to earthy, puffy barley. Risotto can be kind of a snooze, but Mintwood Place’s version is anything but. —Alicia Mazzara
Mintwood Place is locate at 1813 Columbia Road NW.
VEGETARIAN PHO AT PHO VIET: Anyone who tells you that there is better veggie pho to be found in the District than the heaping bowl at Pho Viet is a lying liar trying to make sure that they can still get a seat at this relatively small Columbia Heights spot. This is the sort of place that regulars visit multiple times a week, slurping down bowls of pho with the self-satisfaction of people who know they found the good stuff. And many of them—even the meat eaters—choose the vegetable pho, or its half- or full-spicy variants. While the healthy serving of noodles and always fresh veggies and crunchy fried onions are great, the real marvel here is the perfectly seasoned broth. I have no clue how they manage it, but I’m happy to toss some fresh Thai basil and bean sprouts on top and inhale it in ignorant bliss. —Rachel Sadon
Pho Viet is located at 3513 14th Street NW.
SMOKED VEGAN WINGS WITH MUDDY BBQ SAUCE AT SMOKE AND BARREL: Haters are always going to hate on fake meat, and normally I see their point. If you’re going to go vegetarian or vegan, stick to all of the delicious regular veggie foods and stop it with all these convoluted soy and who-knows-what-else concoctions that vaguely resemble the real stuff. But I check all that indignation at the door of Smoke & Barrel, where I bow at the altar of the vegan wing gods that have taken up residence in their kitchen. The crispy “skin” on their smoked vegan wings is some sort of science miracle, the muddy BBQ sauce is heaven-sent, and the “meat” somehow has that stringy quality of real wings. I’m sure the rest of their menu, which features a number of other vegan options, is perfectly good too. But I’ve barely tasted it; I already know that nothing can possibly be better than this perfection on a stick. If you go, tell the vegan wing gods I said hello. —Rachel Sadon
Smoke and Barrel is located at 2471 18th Street NW.
Pumpkin curry at Thai X-ing (via Thai X-ing’s website)
PUMPKIN CURRY AT THAI X-ING: Head to Thai X-ing on any Sunday or Tuesday night for Chef Taw Vigsittaboot’s authentic Thai vegetarian tasting menu. (Their website states most dishes are vegan, so let your server know if you don’t want to be served anything that isn’t.) The standout entree on both meat and vegetarian nights is the pumpkin curry. Made with sweet kabocha squash, fresh basil, and red pepper, this red curry will leave you dreaming of your next visit to this quirky Shaw mainstay. —Lynne Venart, from our Best Vegan Dishes list
Thai X-ing is located at 515 Florida Avenue NW.
BANTIJAN BIL LABAN AT ZAYTINYA: The choices—and names—of the mezze at Jose Andres’ Greek restaurant can be overwhelming, but I never miss the crispy eggplant, bantijan bil laban. Thin discs of eggplant are battered and deep fried to a light and golden crisp. They’re served atop a bed of roasted garlic-yogurt sauce, adding just the right amount of creamy acidity to the tender eggplant, which practically melts in your mouth. —Travis Mitchell
Zaytinya is located at 701 9th Street NW.
