Adventures in Vegan Dining: The Portsmouth Brewery

The GVP, or grilled vegetable plate, deserves to have its own acronym and notoriety in the vegetarian and vegan world.  Why?  Because it, or some similar alternative, can often represent the entirety of vegetarian offerings at restaurants.  Now, I love vegetables; grilled summer squash and zucchini, sauteed asparagus, and steamed broccoli make my taste buds happy.  However, if I'm going out to a restaurant and plan to pay more than a little extra than I would for a meal I could cook at home, a plate of grilled or steamed (likely soggy) vegetables and a plain baked potato doesn't quite get me excited.  Sadly, the vast majority of restaurants, particularly chains, have little, if anything, on their menus that can offer a vegetarian a diverse, satisfying meal.  As for vegans, well, often we are simply out of luck.  You just don't find tofu or tempeh or quinoa or chickpeas or veggie-focused meals not flavored or largely enhanced by cheese on many menus that serve up primarily "American" fare.  And those items that may seem to be vegetarian may not be vegan friendly or vegetarian at all, like veggies drenched in butter or minestrone soup with chicken broth.  Consequently, the GVP and plain baked potato make it my way.  At least I like my potato dipped in ketchup...if that can be considered an upside. 

Despite this challenge, there are LOTS of wonderful restaurants that do remember the vegetarians and vegans among us and even serve primarily or solely vegetarian fare.  These places make me sooo happy.  It feels like a special treat when I get to choose between two tasty sounding veg options, never mind an entire menu full!  In order to find these places, I use the app and website Happy Cow.  Happy Cow, a dining and shopping guide for vegans and vegetarians, helps you to find veg-friendly restaurants and grocery stores near you or near a destination you're planning to visit.  It's a fantastic resource and one of the most often used apps on my phone.  I definitely recommend it for anyone who wants to locate veg-friendly restaurants and also read reviews about their vegetarian offerings.   

I last used Happy Cow earlier last week, when my husband Mark suggested driving over to Portsmouth, NH on Saturday to browse the downtown shops and have a nice dinner out.  Portsmouth is a beautiful seacoast town in NH with a quaint but bustling downtown full of independent shops and restaurants.  A big fan of the coast, shopping, and good food, I didn't hesitate and immediately checked Happy Cow.  Scanning through the list of veg-friendly restaurants and grocery stores, I focused on The Portsmouth Brewery.  The Portsmouth Brewery is one of the more well-known and popular restaurants in downtown Portsmouth, liked for its diverse pub food menu and assortment of brews.  I checked their menu and found they had three vegetarian, likely vegan, meals: Smoked Tofu with Rice Noodles, a Tempeh Wrap, or the Brewery Veggie Burger.  Tofu??  Tempeh??  No automatic GVP??  I was sold!  I forwarded the menu to Mark, who also agreed that it seemed like the perfect choice.  Mark identifies as a flexitarian and eats plant-based meals the vast majority of the time, so the veggie options appealed to him, too; granted, their oft-touted beer selection also did its part to help persuade him.   

Unfortunately, our hopes and anticipation were met with some disappointments.  Apparently some other people had also heard some good things about The Brewery, and we had to talk loudly and sit closely to hear each other--not that this would necessarily be considered a complaint for newlyweds.  Mark also struggled to read the server's lips as he went over the specials.  Other than this slight inconvenience, it was sadly the food that left us less than impressed.  After debating back and forth between the Smoked Tofu with Rice Noodles and the Tempeh Wrap, I finally settled on the Smoked Tofu, which our server confirmed was vegan.  I wish I had tried the tempeh.  The tofu was the most flavorful part of the dish, which may sound like a contradiction, but really was not.  It was slightly sweet with a smokey flavor.  The vegetables were pretty soggy and the rice noodles had really soaked up the sauce, which was described as flavored by ginger, cilantro and hoisin.  All I could taste was salty soy sauce and what seemed to be copious amounts of liquid smoke.  The noodles were nearly inedible after soaking up all that sodium, and after having a taste, Mark grimaced and agreed.  He was also less than impressed with his Brewery Burger, saying that the bun had the most and best flavor of the sandwich.  Not exactly a home run for the veggie options. 

I'm not sure if The Brewery was having an off night or if maybe there vegetarian options need to be reworked.  I wouldn't be opposed to going there again, and would certainly choose the tempeh wrap, but I would likely want to try someplace else next time, like The Juicery for a smoothie or Blue Moon Evolution in nearby Exeter, for which my vegetarian friend gave a rave review, for a nicer, sit-down meal.  Either way, even when there are misses, navigating veg options at restaurants is always an interesting adventure; on the plus side, it helps me to discover more and more of what I do and do not like for vegan cuisine.  On the negative, it could leave me actually craving a simple GVP.           

What are you favorite veg-friendly restaurants?  What dishes do you wish more restaurants would offer?