I had an appointment in the area a few weeks ago so I did a quick google search for vegan food and Comida Fresca, a fast casual establishment with a bar in the relatively new Whole Foods Metuchen, came up with a decidedly vegan-friendly menu.
We ordered two agua frescas that took an inordinately long time to come out and were cloyingly sweet with little discernible taste other than that the hibiscus lemon was less disgusting than the honeydew lime. BUT we were already eyeing the establishment's pinball machines for a post-lunch game.
I didn't want us to fill up on guac and then not be able to try other things, so we went with the chips & salsa to start. The chips arrived a little oily on wax paper in a baking sheet, so I assumed they'd fried them in-house. The salsa was nice- not too much cilantro and there were a lot of sweet bell peppers in it, which I thought had a great taste and probably filled in the gaps during the tomato off-season.
In our ongoing effort to eat more greens, we ordered the vegan salad option: heart of Jalisco: kale, heart of palm, jicama, bruleed orange (nope; ours were fresh), avocado (it was guac), pepitas, lime agave vinaigrette. This was such an enormous salad that we shared it, used it with our entrees, and even took some home.
My only complaint was how plain it was; the whole was really just the sum of it's parts: kale, hearts of palm, jicama, (not bruleed) orange, guacamole (not avocado), pepitas, and a dressing that literally tasted like lime juice and agave.
We each ordered the vegan taco option (2 per order): faux-rizo: cauliflower rice, tomatillos, jicama,cilantro, vegan lime crema. The presentation was really disappointing, as was the taste. Have you ever tried cauliflower rice plain? Judging by the color, I assumed this must have had some seasoning, but my tastebuds would declare otherwise. There was more jicama, which added a negligible crunch. I guess they were out of the tomatillos (we know Whole Foods has a history of not utilizing their own stock)? The crema was wet, that's about all I can say it added. How a place like Whole Foods could offer such a deplorable and anemic looking vegan option is completely beyond me.
I filled up my tacos with some of the behemoth salad and accoutrements for improved flavor and presentation. VM was not a fan in the least. It honestly wasn't worth the effort it took to chew it.
Pinball fans from way back, we were excited to check out the machines at the end of our meal.
To our surprise, NEITHER of them were in working order.
The restaurant's website has only two photos and one of them is of these pinball machines. For them not to be working was a travesty.
You won't be too surprised to learn that the place was empty when we were there.
Not much else left to say*. Overall, not noteworthy; just skip it. Do better, Whole Foods.
*except I do want to note that Whole Foods is positively BLOWING the free TTLA advertising from Tabitha Brown; I've been to three Whole Foods since who haven't had it.
We ordered two agua frescas that took an inordinately long time to come out and were cloyingly sweet with little discernible taste other than that the hibiscus lemon was less disgusting than the honeydew lime. BUT we were already eyeing the establishment's pinball machines for a post-lunch game.
I didn't want us to fill up on guac and then not be able to try other things, so we went with the chips & salsa to start. The chips arrived a little oily on wax paper in a baking sheet, so I assumed they'd fried them in-house. The salsa was nice- not too much cilantro and there were a lot of sweet bell peppers in it, which I thought had a great taste and probably filled in the gaps during the tomato off-season.
In our ongoing effort to eat more greens, we ordered the vegan salad option: heart of Jalisco: kale, heart of palm, jicama, bruleed orange (nope; ours were fresh), avocado (it was guac), pepitas, lime agave vinaigrette. This was such an enormous salad that we shared it, used it with our entrees, and even took some home.
My only complaint was how plain it was; the whole was really just the sum of it's parts: kale, hearts of palm, jicama, (not bruleed) orange, guacamole (not avocado), pepitas, and a dressing that literally tasted like lime juice and agave.
We each ordered the vegan taco option (2 per order): faux-rizo: cauliflower rice, tomatillos, jicama,
I filled up my tacos with some of the behemoth salad and accoutrements for improved flavor and presentation. VM was not a fan in the least. It honestly wasn't worth the effort it took to chew it.
Pinball fans from way back, we were excited to check out the machines at the end of our meal.
To our surprise, NEITHER of them were in working order.
The restaurant's website has only two photos and one of them is of these pinball machines. For them not to be working was a travesty.
You won't be too surprised to learn that the place was empty when we were there.
Not much else left to say*. Overall, not noteworthy; just skip it. Do better, Whole Foods.
*except I do want to note that Whole Foods is positively BLOWING the free TTLA advertising from Tabitha Brown; I've been to three Whole Foods since who haven't had it.
OMG! I would have been so mad about this!! Not only is the food nothing like what you expected but also not delicious and certainly not cheap.
ReplyDeleteI’m mad at whole foods myself, i was SO excited to have one open in my neighborhood and they’re constantly out of stock of the specialty items i go there for. After repeated visits with the same problems i emailed them and posted an honest review on Yelp, surprisingly i got a reply from the store customer service about how they are working to resolve the stocking issues.
Anyways, it’s worth emailing that store so they are aware of how disappointing that meal was-potentially they’re unaware of the problems
Ttrockwood
It's so frustrating! I've actually given up contacting them about problems because 1) there are so many, and 2) there's never any really positive resolution; they are ALWAYS "working to resolve issues." The day I went in to get a TTLA and the woman told me they were out of ingredients, I posted it on IG. They immediately responded publicly that they'd give me a free sammie. I had to contact them a zillion times to find out HOW and then they told me I'd have to call the store, regale them with the story, give them my name, tell me exactly when I was going to come in so they could notify the sammie counter, etc. Way too complicated for a free sandwich. PLUS, you don't get credit for having sandwich ingredients in stock because you were warned I was coming in for one! I just get what I can there and have totally lowered my expectations. But, THIS? Why bother? Truly.
DeleteWhat a way to make a customer really feel appreciated...! LOL.
DeleteAnd yes, expectations have been significantly lowered for me as well. I’m rather resourceful and have taken to ordering online (from Jet, not amazon!) what whole foods is “out of stock” of that i buy regularly.
Which is rediculous since the store is literally five blocks away from my apartment.
Ttrockwood
Yes, they've been out of stock of so many things since the merge with Amazon AND the prices have increased significantly on a lot of items I used to purchase regularly.
Deletesemi-mean bean!
ReplyDeleteI'm totally defeated by Whole Foods at this point; this is all the outrage I could muster!
DeleteAnd is it mean if it’s just....the truth?
DeleteTtrockwood