CAFE SUNFLOWER

She says:
Café Sunflower was an obvious choice for dinner with Downtown Boy’s vegetarian brother in town. One of the very few Atlanta restaurants that boasts an exclusively vegetarian menu, Café Sunflower gives non-carnivores the rare treat of being able to peruse an entire menu and choose something besides pasta. Situated in a Buckhead strip mall, the restaurant has an unfortunate location, but once inside the airy (albeit bland) space, the parking lots and neighboring laundry mats are forgotten.

The menu has a huge variety of dishes, ranging from fajitas comprised of soy steak to orzo eggplant lasagna. All of the dishes are on the hearty side, with plenty of faux-meat options. This is actually something I tend to avoid… when eating vegetarian, I much prefer creative combinations of seasonal fresh vegetables and straight-up tofu than the inevitable failure of making soy taste like and have the texture of meat.

He says:
I totally agree with Uptown Girl; I want my meat to taste like meat and my vegetables to taste like vegetables. Still, the couscous w/ coconut curried vegetables and tempeh was an adequate entree. The coconut curry reminded me of certain Thai curries, though the sauce lacked the spices to counteract the dish’s overall creaminess. On the other hand, my brother absolutely loved his fake lemon chicken with green beans and jasmine rice, so I suppose Sunflower Café is doing something right.

She says:
I tried the quinoa, which came with a so-so ratatouille and a slice of almond crusted tofu. The tofu was the best part of the dish, the almond crust giving it a crunchy and delicious outer coating. Obscured along one side of my plate was a vegan cucumber cream, which, once discovered, added a refreshing yet garlicky touch to the dish.

We say:
Café Sunflower is doing a decent job of holding its own in a meat-loving town, but a little competition might do it some good and help to sharpen its edges. That said, when other vegetarian visitors come to town, we’ll probably be back.

Café Sunflower
2140 Peachtree Road
Atlanta, GA 30309
http://www.cafesunflower.com/