GOBO on the brain

All day long I was fantasizing about tonight’s dinner.  Kyle and I had plans for a night out on the town to meet in the West Village after I got off work to try out a vegan restaurant called Gobo.  The menu looked unbelievable, so I was basically salivating all day in anticipation.

But first, I had to get through a day of work. 

For some reason I was starving way more than usual today…then I remembered an article I read in Shape mag, which made me feel better (apparently pre-red tent time it’s common for an increase in appetite).  Um, sure, that’ll work as an excuse.

After yesterday’s horrendous commute, I left for work super early today.  Damn Murphy’s Law…of course I made it to the hospital in great time, which left me standing in front of Starbucks waiting for it to open.  Yeah, while they were filling the display case with pastries, I was outside freezing my ass off.  It was a little depressing.  They made it worth my while (free coffee in exchange for losing feeling in my toes – totally worth it). 

Lunch: sammie with smart deli “turkey,” greek yog, bell pepps, on Alvarado street bread

And an apple, odwalla bar, and HUGE bag of dried fruit with carob raisins, figs, and pineapple

I ate almost all of this before noon, so I was left to my own devices for the rest of the day (don’t worry, I managed to find some stuff around the unit…)

Not pictured: raisin bran cereal, grapes, apple sauce, and random leftover candy from Valentine’s Day

And FINALLY, the good stuff…

Kyle met me after work for a hot date at GOBO, in the West Village.  We walked from the hospital and it was a good thing we had a reservation because the place was PACKED and I was starving when we got there.  We started by splitting the five spice tofu rolls with mango puree, which was quite tasty.  The tofu was somehow both firm and yet soft at the same time.  The crispy wrap in which it was fried was flaky, but not overly oily, and the mango sauce had such a new and interesting flavor.  I only wish there had been a dozen more on the plate!

I feel the need to interject here and comment on the wait staff.  It was bad – like, tap-the-mic-is-anyone-out-there-BAD.  There.  I said it.  Now that that’s off my chest we can move past the awkwardness and go forward with the rest of the evening’s eats.

Kyle got the vietnamese spicy stir-fry rice noodles with bean sprouts(above).  He seemed to enjoy it, since he devoured the entire thing in a matter of minutes!  (No joke, Kyle eats faster than a speeding bullet).  As for MY dish (below).  I got the smoked beijing-style seitan with chinese broccoli.  It was not what I was expecting, but still very good.  The “meat” on the top is the seitan, which wasn’t prepared any way I’ve had seitan in the past…it was a bit chewy and reminded me of chicken skin.  That sounds way grosser than it was.  It was actually good, so don’t take that description the wrong way.  What was underneath the seitan was actually my favorite part of the dish.  In addition to chinese broccoli, there was also acorn squash, enoki mushrooms, and some other random greens…I swear the chinese broccoli was actually swiss chard, but what the heck do I know, it was a dark restaurant and my first bite was so hot I lost a layer off the roof of my mouth!

SO MUCH FOOD.  I really liked the enoki mushrooms (which looked like squirts of mustard on top of that seitan), good thing I don’t judge books by their covers.

Yeah, it was tasty.

We also split an order of yam and yucca fries.  They were INSANELY huge.  I didn’t really know what yucca was when I ordered them (it’s a plant root btw).  The yam fries were yummmmm to the max, though.  They were battered in something before being fried, but they weren’t greasy.  They were dense too.  They certainly weren’t like any fries I’ve ever had.  Oh vegan dining, how I love thee.

After our walk back from the subway, I was desperately in need of warmth.  So I thawed out over a steamy cup of sleigh ride sugar cookie tea 🙂

I couldn’t deny myself a dessert plate of goodies!  (figs and carob covered raisins)

NOM!

Bed time, back to work again tomorrow.