Baltimore Vegan Drinks at Judge's Bench

Wednesday morning I started my day with a chocolate, peanut butter, and banana protein shake.  I usually work on my shake as I drive and end up finishing it sometime relatively soon after I get to work.  It's healthy and filling, but I still usually end up needing some sort of mid-morning snack, so I grabbed a few French twist cookies that I spotted on my last shopping trip.  Despite the buttery, French look, they are completely vegan! 

 

They are light as air, with a great cinnamony flavor.  Not terribly filling, though - you could easily eat the whole bag if you're not careful! 

 

 

I actually managed to pack a lunch for once, and had a Tofurky sandwich with tomato and vegan pepper jack cheese. 

 

A little while later I snacked (again) on an Asian pear. 

For dinner I drove way out to Ellicott City to attend the monthly meeting of Baltimore Vegan Drinks.  On the drive I spotted these beautiful purple flowers that seem to be popping up all over the city right now.  No clue what they are, but they are gorgeous!   

This months' BVD was held at Judge's Bench, a small pub right in the heart of historic Ellicott City.  The vegan group had the upstairs room to themselves, but it was so small at least half the people there didn't have a place to sit.  Great that there was such a turnout, but it was way too cramped for my taste.  

 

There was a special vegan menu put together for us, but apparently the owner's daughter is vegan so the regular menu always has great vegan options.  Unfortunately, the "special" menu also left off the prices, so you had no idea what you were getting yourself into when you ordered.  Normally, "if you have to ask you can't afford it" doesn't come into play with ordering food at a bar ...

I ordered the hazlenut-crusted cutlet with fries and a Blue Moon beer (my safety beer choice because I know it's vegan).  It took a really long time for my food to arrive (about an hour!), but luckily by the time it did enough people had cleared out that I had a place to sit. 

 

The sandwich was really good, and big enough that I ended up taking half home with me for lunch the next day.  Good thing, too, because my sandwich, fries, and beer cost me $18 before tip!  Seems way too pricey to me ... especially for bar food.  They also got it wrong because I ordered the Dijon sauce and it came with BBQ, but I wasn't about to send it back after all the time.  I was just happy to have something to eat. 

 

I definitely won't be heading to Judge's Bench on my own anytime soon, and I don't even know if I would go back for another BVD.  But I'm glad I tried it, and I'm definitely glad there are vegan-friendly pubs around.  I just think price and execution could be a lot better - and they are a lot better at places much closer to home.