Our food writing class had the opportunity to go on our first field trip, a short journey to a Mexican restaurant with a southwestern flair—Tortilla West, located in West Ghent. This restaurant is especially popular on Monday on Tuesday evenings when they offer beef or bean tacos for just 75 cents apiece.
We visited on a Sunday afternoon after the brunch crowd had departed and before the dinner crowd began to arrive. When the hostess brought menus to our table, we were delighted to discover that their regular menu along with their brunch menu was being served.
This called for a homemade concoction from the make-your-own Bloody Mary bar. Their elaborate station is equipped with salt, pepper and Old Bay rimmers, a variety of spices such as chili powder, cayenne pepper, celery salt and habanero powder and a multitude of garnishes including celery sticks, pickled asparagus and at least seven different types of olives stuffed with anything from caper berries to bleu cheese.
When it was time to order, we decided to split a variety of appetizers to share with the class including crispy fried oysters, tender grilled corn, cornmeal breaded calamari, creamy jalapeno mac and cheese, vegan chicken nachos, tangy tequila shrimp and—my favorite—vegan chorizo quesadillas.
The slightly grilled quesadillas were filled with a savory and saucy vegan chorizo with melted vegan cheese and served with diced tomatoes and red onions and a dollop of vegan sour cream. Many vegan options tend to have a bland or tasteless quality, but this certainly wasn’t the case here. Even though the quesadillas were meant to taste like sausage, it reminded me more of a pulled pork barbecue with the vinegar aroma, undertones of sweetness and completely meat-like texture.
I was also impressed by the natural flavors of the cheese and sour cream—replicating meat is a task on its own, but replicating dairy is especially tricky, and I feel that Tortilla West has accomplished both feats beautifully.
Meat eaters, don’t fret; there’s plenty of menu options that include the real thing, although as flavorful and satisfying as the vegan chorizo quesadillas are, I bet you’ll have a difficult time telling the difference.
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