The next time you're walking around Harvard Square keep an eye out for a restaurant that's a bit hidden from view. Tucked away between Border Caf?© and Loews Cinema is a vegetarian restaurant that is definitely worth the detour. Veggie Planet is an amazing caf?© that boasts locally-grown, organic ingredients that are sure to satisfy both the vegetarian and carnivore alike. The flavors are unique, the prices are low and they certainly don't skimp on the portions.
The menu at Veggie Planet is based on a simple concept - diners pick from a variety of toppings that are served on either a bed of coconut or brown rice or on their famous pizza crust. Those who are indecisive may opt for the "double header," which allows customers to try two flavors in one meal.
Veggie Planet offers salads with innovative toppings such as tofu croutons and tomato dressing, a vegan soup-of-the week, and other options like Mac and Cheese and Peanut Udon Noodles. The dishes feature a creative and tasty flair that's so tempting you'll forget you're eating healthfully.
On a recent visit, I ordered a double header featuring the Unsafe'n Sound (fresh tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, asiago, basil, fried garlic - laced with hot chile sauce and spinach) and the Lunch/Dinner for Henry (roasted butternut squash, caramelized onions, sage, asiago and creamy goat cheese). The plate set me back only $6.90 and was easily enough food for two meals.
The food is certainly not your standard vegetable fare. The Lunch/Dinner for Henry, for example, paired the woodsy flavor of sage with the sweetness of squash. As the perfectly paired tastes melted into clouds of soft cheese, the combination was, well, perfect.
My dining partner that evening opted for a lighter meal, ordering the vegan soup-of-the week - carrot-barley-ginger. The delicate broth incorporated hints of ginger with bite sized pieces of carrot and the perfect amount of pearl barley; every spoonful had just the right proportions of each. Accompanying the soup was a generous slice of crusty organic wheat bread. And like most things on the menu, the price cannot be beat. A large soup costs a meager $4.14 and can easily feed a few people.
Even if veg-fare is not your grub of choice, I can't think of a better place to treat your taste buds to a carne-free meal. Hard to imagine any meat-lover would walk away anything but satisfied after dining on the Mexican Bean (rice topped with mounds of smoky black bean puree, jack cheese, cherry tomato salsa and fried garlic).
And although I wasn't able to sample their fresh pizza made with slow-rise organic dough (their pizza oven was broken on the day of my visit), rumor has it that the crust is to die for. Specialty pizzas range from their own version of the New York white pizza, the Blonde on Blonde (fresh mozzarella, basil-tofu-mash, asiago and fried garlic), to more ethnic-inspired combinations (the vegan Peanut Curry pizza combines coconut rice, tofu, broccoli, peanuts and a spicy Thai red peanut curry sauce).
Veggie Planet hosts a variety of live music acts throughout the week and a Sunday Brunch with live classical or jazz music. Make sure to bring cash, however, because they don't accept debit or credit cards.
