On Friday night I decided to treat myself and take the T over to Cambridge for some vegan comfort food. Veggie Galaxy on Massachusetts Ave. prides itself on providing the customer with classic American Diner foods but with little to no animal by-products. Scanning the menu online, I was able to see all of my favorite foods: french toast, pancakes, milkshakes, mac and cheese. Anything under the sun, they serve, and every item (with the exception of a few) is vegan, or at least has a vegan alternative. The restaurant also caters to gluten-free individuals with ease.

This is the review of my meal at Veggie Galaxy:

The restaurant exudes your typical diner atmosphere with cushy booths and a silver diner countertop. The staff seemed to have fun with each other. My waiter for the night looked like that one guy from the TV show Workaholics (Now, I don’t watch Workaholics, so the white guy with the afro). He was very personable and playful, and gave me great and attentive service throughout the night (Thanks, Workaholics-guy lookalike!).

As far as the food goes, I ordered as much as I could eat. I started with poutine, which, mind you is often hit or miss. While the home-cut fries were cooked to perfection and the cheese substitute was surprisingly cheesy, I wasn’t a fan of the gravy, which seemed to lack flavor and only served to “sog up” the fries. I rate the poutine a decent attempt out of 10. I’m giving them credits for even attempting the Canadian snack. Why doesn’t American McDonalds have poutine? Dear God, Why?

I also started off with a chocolate shake. I’ve found that out of eggs, milk, and cheese, milk is the easiest to substitute, so I wasn’t on edge about the status of my vegan milkshake, and I had no reason to be! It was delicious! No, it didn’t taste like a typical milkshake, but if you like chocolate-y chocolate milkshakes, this would be for you. I rate the chocolate milkshake a swaggy out of 10.

Next, I ordered a short stack of pancakes. I’m reinforcing my statement that the service was great, because my food seemed to get to me in an extremely timely manner. The pancakes come with a topping of banana butter, which I opted out of because I’ve never been fond of bananas, but you can also add coconut whipped cream, chocolate chips, or mixed berries if you like.

What I’m about to say next should be taken to heart, because I have been eating pancakes religiously for my entire life: These might have been the best pancakes I have ever had. They were fluffy but dense and filling at the same time, which shouldn't be possible, but was. These pancakes tasted exactly like regular, dairy-included pancakes, but better. I rate them a HAIL MARY FULL OF GRACE THE LORD IS WITH THESE PANCAKES out of 10.

Veggie Galaxy also has a huge range of desserts, all of which are 100% vegan. I was going to opt for a hot fudge sundae, but since I wanted to get something to go, I ordered a slice of oreo cheesecake. I ended up eating the oreo cheesecake as a late night snack in my dorm. Again, I give VG credit for formulating a vegan recipe for cheesecake, but it didn’t compare to some non-vegan cheesecakes I’ve had in my lifetime. I give the oreo cheesecake a one thumbs up out of 10.

After my meal, I got to meet up and have a lovely chat with Veggie Galaxy employee and fellow Emerson College student Pablo Escobosa. He has been working at VG since September, and has been a vegetarian since childhood. “I like the people the most” he told me. “It’s a very welcoming environment, and it’s really become part of the Cambridge community”. Pablo was able to give me a little bit of a behind-the-scenes look into the way Veggie Galaxy is run, and it does not disappoint. There is a heavy emphasis on recycling, and their take-out boxes and bags are all made of reused material. Most of their ingredients come from local growers, and I was able to look at the many plants in the front window and know that they, also came from the Cambridge area. But Pablo, what if I’m not a vegan, should I bother eating at Veggie Galaxy? Pablo says absolutely! “It’s good food, and more than that you know what you’re getting and you know that it’s gonna be better for you than something that’s been over-processed.”

My favorite part of eating at Veggie Galaxy was how my body felt afterwards. My stomach was filled to the brim, but instead of feeling that sick, burp-y, feeling that normally made me want to sleep for the next hour, I was satisfied without that heavy feeling. This can be attributed to the fact that my meal did not contain any dairy, and dairy is the body fluid of an animal, which inevitably contains mucus and a lot of salt. This can leave your body feeling thick and your stomach uneasy, and your pores congested, which can cause acne and breakouts. I know, ice cream has betrayed you, it has betrayed us all. All the more reason to opt for substitutes whenever you have the option to!

In conclusion, I will definitely be revisiting Veggie Galaxy soon for more pancakes and for more killer service. Until next time, kids!

Oink-free Bacon and Poultry-less Pancakes