Vegan Dining in Portland, Oregon

I realize that readers who are thinking of a vacation getaway have dreams of Mexico, Florida, and the desert southwest, especially at this time of year. In the midst of our minus twenty degree temperatures, I understand that. However, I’m hoping to encourage readers to think ahead to spring and summer. Consider a trip to Oregon and the Pacific Northwest.

Portland is a green city and is noted for businesses adopting principles of sustainability called The Natural Step which began in Sweden in the early 1990s, the development of green roofs, strong public transportation and innovative car sharing. It is a haven for vegan diners.

My husband and I stopped in Portland on our way to a Buddhist center for a three day silent mindfulness meditation retreat in southwest Washington called Cloud Mountain. We researched vegan restaurants on HappyCow.net, an on-line guide to vegan restaurants and health food stores around the world. They have Vegi Maps, live chat lines, community forums to exchange information, veggie blogs for inspiration, and vegan recipes. They list restaurants that are vegan, vegetarian or veg-friendly. On that website, we found Blossoming Lotus and Food Fight Vegan Grocery.

Blossoming Lotus is an amazing restaurant. It bills itself as vegan, organic and sustainable. The restaurant serves casual lunch, fine dining in the evening, and includes a takeout menu. For someone who has so few choices at Fargo restaurants, this was a peak experience. The lunch and dinner menus are extensive and include living/raw selections, a juice bar and gluten-free items.

For lunch my husband ordered the Spicy Black Bean Chili which came with a choice of spelt bread, corn bread (which he chose), rice, quinoa or flax crackers; a Smoked Maple Tempeh Sandwich with romaine, sprouts, stone ground mustard with avocado on spelt bread; and Lavender Lemonade. I ordered the Roasted Beet and Curried Cashew Salad which included sesame and agave roasted beets, tossed with curried cashews, served over a bed of fresh greens, topped with cashew sour cream and sesame seeds. My choice of beverage was Coconut Chai over ice. Each item was fantastic. Could this be Nirvana?

Before we left Portland, we stopped at Food Fight Vegan Grocery, featured in an article in VegNews Magazine. It is a small convenience store that sells only vegan food-vegan junk/snack food, frozen and refrigerated foods, some organic produce and bulk staples, books and magazines. Vegans in Portland may not realize how lucky they are.

We were well fed at Cloud Mountain retreat center, as all meals were vegan, although they provided hard-boiled eggs for breakfast for those that wanted them. After completing the retreat, we headed back to Portland to fly back to Fargo, and felt compelled to stop again at Blossoming Lotus for dinner. The transformation was remarkable: soft ambient lighting, crisp white linen tablecloths and napkins, fancy water glasses.

I would like to tell you that we ordered the Four Cheese Lasagna with layers of fresh seasonal vegetable marinara, semolina noodles, herbed tofu ricotta, roasted zucchini and almond “mozzarella,” and sesame-nutritional yeast “parmesan,” served on a bed of steamed kale, topped with lemon-basil cashew cream, or the BBQ Tempeh Platter, or the Harvest Seiten-flax Pepper Steak with mustard braised kale and whipped sweet potatoes.

Instead, I just had to order the roasted beet salad again, and Ken had to order the spicy black bean chili. They were that good! We did add an appetizer: Live Tahini-Cilantro Pate made with sunflower seeds, served with crudite’ and house-made savory flax crackers. We ended the delightful experience with the tastiest vegan mint-flavored soft serve. Blossoming Lotus is hands down the best vegan restaurant I have experienced. How I wish they would open a restaurant in Fargo.

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If You Go

What: Blossoming Lotus
Where: 1713 NE 15th Ave, Portland, Ore, 503.228.0048
What: Food Fight Vegan Grocery
Where: 1217 SE Stark St, Portland, Ore, 503.233.3910