Lunch at Native Foods Cafe

In order to start the week off right and cure our Monday blues, Caitlin and I decided to try out Native Foods Cafe for lunch on Monday! Native Foods is an all-vegan restaurant that serves everything from wraps to burgers to salads to desserts to beer! We went to the loop location on Clark Street, but there are a couple different Native Foods Cafe locations around Chicago as well as other cities. We went right during the lunch rush, so it was very crowded but it was definitely worth the wait!

Caribbean Jerk Kale Salad ($9.95)

For my entree, I ordered the Caribbean Jerk Kale Salad. The menu's description is a "Jerk seasoned Native Tempeh, avocado, chopped mango, red peppers and onion tossed with crunchy kale in a creamy jalapeño cilantro dressing. Garnished with green onion and shredded coconut." This salad was absolutely DELICIOUS. I'm not normally a fan of imitation meats, but the Native Tempeh was absolutely delightful. It was perfectly seasoned and even though it sits atop the salad almost like croutons, it had the consistency of a crumbly cheese. The salad was also wonderfully dressed. The dressing was creamy but not too overpowering. I happen to like cilantro, but I know a lot of people who don't and I can honestly say that there was not an overpowering taste of cilantro in the dressing. The chopped bits of mango were a little underripe, but that is actually how I prefer mango. They had a wonderful crunch and added a fruity flavor to the dish. I'm generally not the biggest fan of coconut, but surprisingly I didn't really taste the shredded coconut on top. It might have just blended in with the tempeh, but if you're a big coconut fan you might be disappointed here. The portion was enormous but I still managed to completely polish off my entire bowl. I also had an unsweetened blueberry hibiscus iced tea which was extremely refreshing.

Carrot Cream Cheese Cupcake ($2.95)

I was craving dessert and had heard that their cupcakes were to-die-for, so I decided to order the carrot cake cupcake. Despite being an all vegan cupcake, the cupcake was surprisingly moist! This was a pleasant surprise because in my experience, vegan desserts can have a tendency to be rather dry. The cake was quite delicious and had a nice citrus flavor to it alongside the carrot. The "cream cheese" frosting was plentiful but not overly sweet, as I was able to eat some of it on its own without the cake. It tasted very much like real cream cheese and I don't think I'd be able to tell the difference if I didn't know this was a vegan cupcake! My only complaint is that the entire dessert was extremely cold when it was served to me. This made the frosting stiffer and I feel like it may have muted some of the flavors in the cupcake, making it slightly bland. It might have been better if the cupcake were kept at room temperature and served with slightly less frosting on top. All in all, a nice treat! 

Our trip to Native Foods Cafe was extremely enjoyable and we definitely plan on going back. I'm dying to try some of their wraps and get a little more adventurous with their vegan chicken, and I know Caitlin was eyeing their sweet potato fries! I definitely recommend the Caribbean Jerk Salad if you are looking for something healthy and light. As a whole the restaurant is a little on the pricier side for a quick lunch, but can you really put a price on fresh, natural, vegan ingredients? ;)