{"id":16425,"date":"2020-11-11T10:00:03","date_gmt":"2020-11-11T15:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/?p=16425"},"modified":"2020-10-28T11:50:08","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T15:50:08","slug":"restaurant-review-middle-way-cafe-in-anchorage-alaska","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/2020\/11\/11\/restaurant-review-middle-way-cafe-in-anchorage-alaska\/","title":{"rendered":"Restaurant Review: Middle Way Caf\u00e9 in Anchorage, Alaska"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By Audrey Hunt, VRG Intern<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Located\nright in the middle of Anchorage, Alaska lays a small community of restaurants\nwith vegan and vegetarian menus. Middle Way Caf\u00e9 is one of many that I tend to\nvisit occasionally. The small, but busy caf\u00e9 has been open since 1994. They\nopened with their mission being, \u201cContribute to a healthy, balanced, and\nsustainable life through good food and drink.\u201d First impressions include that\nthe atmosphere is quite welcoming and provides a warm feeling. The light orange\npainted walls, the hanging wall lights, and local Alaskan art decor brings the\ncaf\u00e9 to feel like a home. When walking in you will always find somebody\nstudying on a laptop or reading a book at a table. Now a days, most people have\ndecided to go the Grubhub route, and ditch the dine-in due to the coronavirus\npandemic. Besides that, the restaurant always stays busy from the morning to\nlate lunch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Middle Way Caf\u00e9 is known to have one of the most extensive vegan menus in Anchorage; making it a common hang-out spot for most plant-based eaters. When going into this food review, I wanted to really try everything that they had to offer. I also invited my sister, Ali,\u00a0 (a non-vegan\/vegetarian) to help me review the items. I ordered a variety of different dishes on their vegan menu such as the Red Devil beetroot cake, their gluten-free and vegan chili with multigrain bread, their vegan \u201cMiddle Way Caf\u00e9 Reuben,\u201d the Baja bowl, their vegan lentil burger, the vegan breakfast burrito, and their famous \u201cSummer Breeze\u201d smoothie. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dessert is first! Starting with the Red Devil beetroot cake, it is made vegan and gluten-free (as is most of their desserts). It won high points for presentation. It is a clean cut and very appetizing looking dessert. Their desserts in general, are always nice and moist, and this particular one was exceptional. It was simple, but also rich. All in all, it was a well-rounded and super chocolatey dessert. From a non-vegan stand-point, it was described as having a slight flavor after taste. Other than that it was given a solid 7.5\/10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Next was the vegan chili with the multigrain bread on the side. For a take-out soup, the presentation was rated high, along with it still staying hot after the drive home. More than anything else, the flavor was immaculate. It is made with spicy Cajun spices that were the perfect amount of heat to warm me up on a cold afternoon. It had a beautiful color, between the squash, carrots, and celery, I definitely recommend this perfect fall comfort food. My sister and my grandpa who are both non-vegetarian, also loved the flavor of the chili. Overall, it was rated an 8.2\/10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Next up, we tried the vegan \u201cMiddle Way Caf\u00e9 Reuben.\u201d I was most excited to try this one because a Reuben sandwich is something I haven\u2019t been able to eat since I went vegetarian. The Reuben was made with spiced curry tofu with sauerkraut and vegan Thousand Island dressing on rye bread. It had a beautiful color with the sauerkraut and tofu put together. Most importantly, the flavor was to die for. I could say it was one of the best vegan sandwiches I\u2019ve had. Even people who aren\u2019t that fond of tofu, including my sister, could take down a sandwich like this. The sourness of the sauerkraut with the curry spices in the tofu complimented each other very nicely and made a great, tangy lunch. Overall, it captured the traditional Reuben without the meat! Its total rating was an 8.5\/10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Next was the Baja bowl, which had everything you needed in a well-balanced meal; however, it was the simplest item on the menu. It\u2019s made with a generous serving of black beans, brown rice, lettuce, tomatoes, homemade cashew nacho cheese, and vegan sour cream. All the ingredients came together nicely, and it is the perfect meal when you are hungry and need something to fill you up. The nacho cheese made all the difference when it came to the flavor factor. Spicy, but also creamy when placed with the vegan sour cream. Overall, it was given an 8\/10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The lentil burger was next, which was the highest rated item! It was so good that I didn\u2019t even come home with leftovers. Both my sister and I described it as having a \u201cThanksgiving\u201d flavor to it. \u201cThe lentil patty reminds me of stuffing a little bit, and I love stuffing,\u201d Ali said. The lentil patty was on the softer side, but it was served with vegan mayo, sprouts, tomatoes, and lettuce on a whole wheat bun. It was a definite recommend and get again. Between its presentation, the flavor, and the overall experience it received a 10\/10. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The vegan breakfast burrito was a classic hardy breakfast that you will find many early risers getting at Middle Way. However, the flavor wasn\u2019t entirely there and I felt like it could have been better with some seasonings or perhaps a sauce on the tofu on the inside. Other than that it came with a great presentation, and was perfectly filling. The burrito was made with spinach, tofu, scallions, vegan mozzarella, and black beans served with a side of Pico de Gallo. \u201cIt\u2019s a tad bland but definitely not bad,\u201d said Ali. Overall, the burrito was given a 7.3\/10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Lastly, the \u201cSummer Breeze\u201d smoothie is on\nthe menu. Middle Way Caf\u00e9 has always been a favorite place to purchase smoothies.\nI have to get one every time I go there, and over half the time, it is a\n\u201cSummer Breeze.\u201d The smoothie is made with banana, strawberries, and orange\njuice. All their smoothies are juice-based, making them a tart and sour tasting\nsmoothie, a perfect drink to perk you up in the morning. I never have any\ncomplaints about their fruit smoothies. I am a sucker for them, along with my\nwhole family. This one is for sure a 10\/10 and my most recommended beverage on\ntheir menu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Stumbling upon a vegan food joint is hard\nto come by in Anchorage; however, restaurants offering vegetarian\/vegan menus\nhave been growing. It\u2019s always a treat to find a restaurant like Middle Way\nCaf\u00e9. Though not all vegetarian, it provides extensive options for a vegan or\nvegetarian. If you want to learn more about Middle Way Caf\u00e9\u2019s menu, just visit\nthem at this link and try them out for when you come to Alaska! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

http:\/\/www.middlewaycafe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Menu-change-9-23-19.pdf<\/a> – menu<\/p>\n\n\n\n

http:\/\/www.middlewaycafe.com\/<\/a> – website<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For\ninformation on other veg restaurants, see https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/student\/index.php<\/a>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Audrey Hunt, VRG Intern Located right in the middle of Anchorage, Alaska lays a small community of restaurants with vegan and vegetarian menus. Middle Way Caf\u00e9 is one of many that I tend to visit occasionally. The small, but busy caf\u00e9 has been open since 1994. They opened with their mission being, \u201cContribute to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16425"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16433,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16425\/revisions\/16433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}