Austin is a city with personality, it is home to various people, personalities, attributes, eclectics, eccentrics, creative’s, artists, academics, intellectuals, high-tech entrepreneurs, technologists, celebrities, musicians, writers, runners, marathoners, bikers, be local-buy local crowd, health conscious, green thinkers,……. and a very cosmopolitan population. Hence when it comes to food, restaurants and entertainment, we get to enjoy the best of everything. Mother’s Café is one such eclectic Austin original vegetarian and vegan restaurant.
When we had a couple of vegetarian friends visiting from the east coast, we decided Mother’s Café was a great place for dinner one evening. Though the name itself didn’t sound appealing and interesting for a lovely evening with friends, we went ahead with recommendations from my husband and other vegetarian friends who had dined at Mothers.
The café on Duval near downtown Austin gives a very happening feeling. Being near the city gives this place a more lively and hip setting. The place has a small parking lot but we were in good luck and found a car leaving a spot right in front of the entrance. Mother’s café also had some outdoor seating, but after driving down in a convertible, we preferred to sit inside. On Friday night it was almost full to capacity, but we got seated to a table immediately. The complete vegetarian menu with a variety of options inclusive of Italian and Mexican delighted my vegetarian friends. Our waiter asked us if we would like the complimentary salsa chips, we did and ordered the Guacamole salad in addition.
This vegetarian restaurant gave us such varied options that each of us chose a different cuisine for our entrée. My friends ordered the Chili Relleno, and Szechuan Stir Fry, while I ordered the Spinach Lasagna. My friends were also recommended a Chilean wine with their food by our waiter.
Our food arrived in good time while we were still catching up with each other’s lives. The food was excellent and epicurean in taste. The Spinach Lasagna was perfect, the Chile Relleno ordered spicy by my friend was scrumptious and yummy that I couldn’t resist eating a few bites. The Szechuan Stir Fry with fresh vegetables and tofu made spicy was thoroughly enjoyed too. This place turned out to be quite a surprise!
The ambience was ok, of course we were much nearer to the entrance hence didn’t see the rest of the place. The service was decent and the food was very delicious and appetizing.
Our excellent evening with pleasant conversations, memories and good food needed a finale. Hence for dessert we indulged in the delectable Belgian chocolate cake. It’s impressive that in spite of it being vegan it was so decadent! The cake was also accompanied with a side of strawberries and whipped cream to alleviate the flavors.
We had a great evening, but it was not done yet. We paid our bill and grabbed our to-go box, not surprisingly a recyclable box. Driving further on duval street we checked out the Arabic Bazaar where a backgammon tournament was in progress. Driving through downtown, catching the city life, we headed to another Austin icon, theMozart’s Coffee Roasters.
It was one excellent evening!
Cuisine: Vegetarian; Vegan
Price Range: Not expensive
Dress: Casual
Rating: ***
Website: http://www.motherscafeaustin.com/
Dishes Reviewed:
- Guacamole Salad
- Spinach Lasagna
- Chili Relleno
- Szechuan Stir Fry
- Belgian Chocolate Cake
