Om Garden and Tap Tap

Met up with Lydia for a healthy lunch at Om Garden. This little hippie joint is so un-Miami. Except for the prices, that is.

I had the Venus Pizza and a lemonade, and Lydia had the Good Karma black bean burger. My pizza tasted fine, but we felt that the burger lacked flavor. I did notice the table didn't even have salt and pepper shakers. The standout flavor was Lydia's side of guacamole that she picked at, torn between her food allergies and the tasty avocado and cilantro. We also shared a raw Tiramisu that had the texture of fudge. It was good but too dense; to call it tiramisu seemed wishful thinking. Raw foods often seem to be just approximations of real food anyway. I always figured, if you are going to embrace some restrictive diet, for whatever reason, why try so hard to replicate the foods you are trying to avoid? You end up with pitiful attempts like veggie bacon. Anyway, my portion of the bill for lunch was about $23, too pricey for everyday.

That evening some of my coworkers took me out to Tap Tap Haitian Restaurant to celebrate (mourn) my job transfer. We enjoyed the tail end of Happy Hour, with two for one specialty drinks, and picked among several plates. The best plate was the simplest, the Grilled Chicken plate (Poul Boukanen). Natural and Free Range, to assuage some of that carnivore's guilt. We cleaned out the watercress sauce ramekins, using it on the salad, the bread, the fritters...everything. They graciously treated me to dinner, saving me from completely blowing my eating out budget for the month. I'll miss you guys!