Thai tea is better when sipped through a giant straw tucked into a second giant straw and wearing arm warmers. She's a maniac, maniac...
While in Wichita, we got to dine at Zen Vegetarian Cuisine. Zen serves an all vegetarian menu, offering many of your favorite Asian dishes with meat analogs. I don't know if it's run by a cult or not, but the all of the employees sure seemed beatific! Perhaps it was just all of the delicious veggie food they get to eat?
We started with some dumplings which might be the best I have ever had and also ordered edamame and vegetable tempura. One dish sounded suspiciously like Protein 2000, my favorite menu item at Veggie Heaven in Austin, TX, so of course I ordered it. Not quite the same, but delicious and served with a heaping bowl of a beautiful multi-grain rice. Which is cheaper at the restaurant than white rice--I guess they are trying to promote good and healthy eating. (Cult?) I tried a bite of almost everyone's dish and were wonderful. The skipped the one Francie ordered, 'Perfection from the Ocean,' as I never cared for actual fish and wasn't interested in a substitute. Molly, the sole meat eater at the table, declared it the closest faux-meat she had ever consumed. It was a great meal and a beautiful restaurant. Wichita finally has an all-vegetarian place to dine! I'd be there at least once a week if I was still living in the ICT.Confession: I don't really care for donuts all that much. I mean, if you stop and buy a box of donuts and drop them off, I'll probably have one. But I'll pay for it the rest of the day with heartburn. So, I'm probably never going to say, "Let's go get donuts." Just not my weakness, even without the heartburn. Now, offer me a box of chocolate cupcakes and I'll sing a different song.
But all that could change thanks to the Donut Hole in Wichita. Oh my, Molly and I went for breakfast on Saturday and my expectations and preconceptions about donuts have been changed forever. The difference? Cake. Yes, cake donuts. I'm used to being offered one or two cake donuts at donut store and I love the cinnamon ones they serve at Boo's Cafe, but I have never been to a donut shop that served only cake donuts. I should say only cake donuts, I should say: a mindblowing array of spectacular cake donuts. In every flavor you can imagine and some you would never think of: cocao krispies, bacon, buttermilk, peanut butter and more. All transformed into a delicious breakfast treat. And served with great coffee with Cafe du Monde as one of the choices. Coffee with chicory! It was heaven. It was so good, we stopped by on the way out of town that Sunday.
On top of the delicious donuts, the decor is fab and fun and funky. There is a giant cock on the roof and lots of crazy things spread around the interior. If I lived in Wichita, it would be donuts from the Donut Hole for breakfast five days a week and I would be as big as a house. Driving through? They have a drive through open 24-hours a day. Honestly, if you're close, it's worth the stop for delicious donuts and a peek at Wichita, which is a little cooler and a little funkier these days. As always, on the verge. And, you can buy their VERY cool t-shirts and other merch with the awesome logo designed by our friend Chris without ever setting foot in Kansas.
While there, I sampled the original buttermilk, maple and a bite of Molly's chocolate peanut butter.