Sunday, June 22, 2008

Restaurant review: Spiral Diner in Oak Cliff

By Staff of Cliff Dweller

At the Spiral Diner you can kick your shoes off, sit cross-legged in a booth and have a great conversation and meal. If you’re a feet-flat-on-the-floor type, that’s fine, too. Everyone’s welcome.

The space is minimalist — a blank brick wall punctuated with big windows, a silver tin ceiling, and a few black dangly chandeliers to soften it up. The chrome chairs and black checked tablecloths make it feel like a diner. The simplicity fits the purpose of the restaurant — to serve good food for people and the planet. There is a resident baby — owner Sara Tomerlin’s little girl — bouncing along looking over different shoulders as she’s carried around living her life at the diner. Seems like that’s what the place is about, people sharing a part of life together around the table. Knowing each other, knowing what you’re eating, where it came from, what impact it has on you and the earth. (Or just having a tasty meal!) We felt like it could be a Norma’s for vegetarians — a place where people know your face if not your name and whether you like your, um, tofu scrambled or fried.

The staff is friendly and helpful, and ready to define terms and offer suggestions if you’re new to the world of meatless meals. Ever felt the adrenaline behind the fast-food counter — lots of under-paid people trying to do things as fast as possible so you can gobble down barely-real food without tasting anything? Here you can stop and breathe; people moving at human speed enjoying the day and the food and the community. Something pretty zen about it. Not to say you have to spend the day. We ordered tons of food, scrutinized the meal and went home before pre-school bedtime.

Appetizers

Georgia Peanut Soup One diner called this a hot bowl of peanut butter, there was so much richness to this soup. Watch out, though, it has a kick of spice to round out the flavor.

Hummus This is no bold hummus, but if you like a light, lemony taste, you’ll enjoy this hummus as much as we did. You can choose from pita, chips or tortillas, and the small order was plenty for five adults.

Tofu Scramble A little on the soft side, this tofu, we discovered, is a great egg substitute. We added a little salsa and enjoyed the scramble on a tortilla, breakfast-taco-style. Yum!

Entrees

All Raw Salad Beautifully presented with colorful fresh fruit and veggies, the raw salad is one of our favorite dishes. The dressing is especially light and creamy.

Sweet Luv’Us Hummus Wrap This sandwich offers a nice mix of flavors, combining mashed sweet potatoes and hummus with crunchy raw veggies. Another top on our list.

Jamaican Jerk BBQ San’ich There is division among the ranks on this one; some of us love it, enjoying the nice jerk zip, and some of us were a little freaked out by the soft texture of the tempeh. Be sure to try this one; some thought it’s a best bet.

Patty Melt This is a good old fashioned diner cheeseburger substitute — flat and comforting, the patty melt made one of us remember her elementary school days. Check out the dill potato salad for a tangy side.

Red Coconut Curry Noodles A little light on the curry when we ordered, this dish was spicier on a different night. Maybe ask for a little extra spice to enjoy this comforting bowl of yummy rice noodles.

Dessert

Chocolate Strawberry Smoothie Although this drink is quite delicious, we think it tastes more like blackberry than strawberry, but refreshing just the same.

Chocolate Mountain Mudslide. This is no weak vegetarian substitute for a dessert. . . this is the real thing, and ooo it’s good! You’ll be surprised at the sweet and creamy desserts Spiral Diner can produce. We’re going back for more!

Motivated by staying healthy, being cruelty-free, or environmentally friendly — all part of the mission of the Spiral Diner — or just great food? It’s a great place to start the adventure as VegNews’ best restaurant of 2007. We are lucky to have it.

Neighbors Nosh at the Diner

by Connie Marks and Rob Romano

If you’ve ever had a bad experience with tofu, try again with the grilled tofu sandwich. This thinly-sliced and marinated slab of protein doesn’t have the “gross” factor of typical tofu. It is accompanied by the right combination of vegetables and flavors, including a unique pine nut pesto. Doesn’t taste like any particular kind of meat, but it sure tastes good. My new favorite sandwich in Oak Cliff.

Ramsey’s Perfect Protein Platter is black beans and quinoa (a South American grain that is actually a relative of the goosefoot plant. It’s high in protein). It comes with salsa, avocado and tahini dressing, and is served on a bed of greens. Deliciously satisifying and the leftovers were great the next day. It’s a favorite on the menu. Love, love, love the pickle san’ich — a favorite since childhood — dill pickles with mayo on white bread is how we grew up eating it. Here, it’s vegan mayonaise, but you really can’t tell the difference. The bread’s multi-grain and toasted. Yum! We sometimes order this as an appetizer. For $2.25, you can’t go wrong.

Savory Seitan Wrap Seitan is wheat gluten that has the “bite” of meat. It comes with bell pepper, olives, tomato, corn, carrot and avocado in a grilled tortilla. Also, it has a spicy chipotle mayo. Again, you can’t tell it’s vegan. Another favorite is the Big Texas Salad with greens, carrot, peas, tomato, olives, cucumber, raisins and spicy walnuts. We chose the spicy ranch dressing, and it’s indeed very spicy. We don’t know how they make such delicious ranch dressing without the dairy.

Pegasus News content partner - Cliff Dweller

See more stories in:

• Food and Drink > Dining / Restaurants