Bloodroot Restaurant – 80% vegan
85 Ferris Street
Bridgeport, CT 06605
This restaurant came highly recommended by many of you. Excellent! From the moment I walked in I felt welcome as I was greeted kindly by three kitties and one of the co-owners of the restaurant, Noel Furie.
Since I arrived after dark I didn’t get any great outside pics but did notice that Bloodroot has a beautiful patio area overlooking water. I can imagine it’s just lovely to sit outside and enjoy this delicious food when it’s warm. In the meantime, the decor inside is just splendid. A unique antique feel, including old fashioned photos covering every inch of the far side wall. There’s also a cozy corner, opposite the dining area, filled with all kinds of books many of which focus on feminism and veganism.
Kitty mania! This first one actually looks a lot like the cat that I shared my living space with for the last few years. He’s looking after my parents right now, while I’m on the road. 🙂
I started with the Cauliflower Soup – cauliflower, carrots, and onions. It was a little spicy, light, and very, very good. It was almost soothing. I noted that THIS is the soup I’d want if I were feeling under the weather. Buried in the bottom of the bowl were two cool little Jamaican flour rolls. Just made of flour, salt, and spices. Kind of a potato-ey texture. It was a nice little surprise to find those little guys hangin’ out there.
I was also fortunate to try a couple samples of Bloodroot’s soup specials that night. The next one pictured (below the Cauliflower Soup) is the Peanut Soup – peanuts, tomatoes, greens, and carrots. I REALLY liked this one! It had a little kick and just the right amount of pizazz. The last soup pictured is the Mustard Greens sample – white beans, mustard greens, and chicken-like broth. A little salty and very good!
This is the Chicken with Jasmin Rice – per my notes, “Oh [expletive] yeah!” This soy-based chicken is some of the best I’ve ever had! And the rice was cooked to perfection – light, fluffy, mild, and oh so good. The rice somehow had a creamy element making it a meal in itself. The dish also featured peanuts, onions, red peppers, parsley, shallots, and avocados as well as a super delicious and light sweet sauce. I wouldn’t have thought to pair the avocado with these other yums but it worked super well. Adding a bite of avocado to a scoop of rice with a piece of chicken mixed in made it ten times creamier and almost rich, in a way.
The owners of Bloodroot, Selma Mariam and Noel Furie wrote a cookbook a few years back which has recently been updated from vegetarian recipes to over 350 vegan recipes. I took a quick look through while waiting for my food. Looks great!
I also found it so exciting to learn that Selma and Noel had just returned from a trip to Istanbul, Turkey. In honor of their visit they were planning an all-vegan Istanbul night that weekend. How awesome is that?!