Dan R.
Yelp
"And every time I eat vegetables
It makes me think of you
And every time I eat vegetables
I don't know what to do"
(The Ramones)
I'm not a vegetarian, but every once in a while I like to check out a vegetarian restaurant to see what their chefs can whip up.
I have to say, I loved every minute of my lunchtime visit to Fire and Spice.
When I walked in, I was greeted by the soothing sounds of reggae music, and that always seems to put me in a great mood. There were three people in line ahead of me, so the short wait gave me enough time to check out the menu.
They offer quite a few inexpensive appetizers, like Samosas, Patties, soup, etc. I started with a $4 Jamaican Pattie filled with "Not Chicken". I believe it was soy based, and it was very good, from the thin flaky crust to the flavorful chicken-like filling.
As is traditional in Jamaican Take Out restaurants, their entrees come in 3 item, 5 item, and 8 item sizes for $12.95, $15.95, and $18.95.
The available items include Ital Stew (with Coconut milk, sweet potato, pumpkin, chayote, red/pigeon beans, garlic, scallion, thyme, pimento, allspice, sea salt, Tofu Scramble (with Silken tofu, herbed seasonings, and tomatoes), Jerk Tofu, BBQ Tofu, Chole (a chickpea based Indian style dish), Red Lentil Dahl (stewed with cumin and fresh herbs), Tomato Okra, Wilted Greens, Cabbage Vinaigrette, very cool sounding Jamaican Run Dung (Two squashes sauteed in coconut milk), plus half a dozen more rotated specialties.
I went with a 3 item plate and chose Ital Stew, BBQ Tofu, and Tomato Okra. They formed a delicious combination that was very filling. The Ital Stew was quite good, a hearty dish with all of that sweet potato, squash, beans and sauce. The Tofu came with a nice zippy barbecue sauce that I really enjoyed. And the Okra came in full sized okra pods sauteed with, tomatoes, olive/sunflower/coconut oil, and herbs.
Service was fantastic! The super friendly young lady was so pleasant and conversational and seemed to know everyone on line in front of me, so they obviously have a lot of repeat customers. But I also saw an obvious downtown office worker there on a lunch run for her office, so their customers are very varied.
I parked in a small lot on the right side of the building but saw a lot of spots on both sides of Capitol Avenue too.