Pomegranate Cafe (Phoenix, AZ)

One of my favorite (if not THE favorite) parts of travelling is seeking out good places to eat. Fun fact: I typically look for the best rated Neapolitan Pizza place in big cities and keep a record of the best that I've tried in cities such as San Francisco and Washington D.C., but that's a story for another day. As I posted recently, I am currently into food that is healthy, but also savory and filling.

I'm staying in a Holiday Inn Express on the Outskirts of Phoenix this weekend for the Valley of the Sun stage race. This is my first stage race ever, and so far, it has gone well. I got 3rd place in my category in the 14.5 mile time-trial yesterday morning, and got second place and won King of the Mountain today in the road race. I currently am in either 2nd or 3rd (No official results from today yet.) in the general classification with one stage, tomorrow morning's criterium, left to go.

Anyways, I didn't have to go far from my hotel to find an intriguing place to eat dinner. I didn't have time or money to seek out the place to eat in the Phoenix area, but I found a local eatery that may have well been that must-go restaurant: A little restaurant named the Pomegranate Cafe.

I found this place by searching for nearby restaurants on Yelp. It popped up as a healthy choice so I went with it without thinking twice. The place has a very homely kitchen atmosphere, complete with a cafe bar, a large counter with several Jamba Juice-style blenders, and a huge fridge full of veggies and fruits. Now, I'm not the only person who is into healthy food. Fads in cooking come and go, and many people have caught on to the healthy, organic, gluten-free, etc. movement. That said, most restaurants that I've tried that advertised themselves as a "healthy eatery" were bland and boring. Not the Pomegranate Cafe!

What I really liked about this place was that it made my imagination go wild. While not strictly vegan or vegetarian, they used a lot of faux-meats such as soy chorizo, walnut meat, and tofu. These sorts of meats were incorporated into super creative dishes such as the vegetarian Philly Cheese Steak and the Protein Bowl. Other choices include vegetarian burgers and even a vegetarian "B.L.T." All of their sandwiches are on Kamut wheat breads which are very nutritious. A lot of the dishes were gluten-free and/or raw such as their Tacos Vivos served in red cabbage leaves.

While most restaurants have daily specials such as soup and salad, these guys went a step farther with a daily hummus, burger, and even quesadilla.

Last but not least, there was a great variety of choices for those with a sweet tooth. Freshly prepared juices and smoothies drew attention to their beverage menu, with such choices as apple pie smoothies and fruit juice blends, all non-dairy and made with organic fruit and other ingredients. There were also a lot of raw desserts like cakes, pies, and cookies made in-house in the same healthy mindset as all of their other food.

After a long look at the menu, I went with the daily burger which was a blue chip, salsa, avocado, and black bean patty served on a kamut bun with a side of the daily hummus (caramalized onion) and veggie dippers. I also had a Immunity Apple juice which was freshly squeezed apples with ginger, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper.

I had a great time. My meal was filling but because it was made of such pure ingredients, it fueled me without weighing me down at all.I also got a lot of inspiration for future dishes that I will cook. This place really epitomized my love for healthy food done in a creative way, and I am glad to have discovered it!