The Spicy Spatula

Okay fellow vegans, this is going to be the last post about eating vegan throughout Rome (maybe), Italy. It will cover our last two days of eating and sightseeing and then, we’ll get back to your regularly scheduled vegan food recipes.

Day five began with a leisurely stroll around the city and we stopped for coffee because the Hubs was so aghast at the fact that we were in Italy and he hadn’t enjoyed enough espresso. Mind you, he had like three espressos but apparently that wasn’t enough so I indulged him and we stopped.

I ordered a Coretto, are you familiar with that? It is a shot of espresso with a shot of sambuca and–holy crap balls–it is delicious. Despite the early morning heat, the alcohol was a nice touch and gave me a nice little buzz as we made our way to the Pantheon.

We stopped and took photos of the Pantheon and Trevi fountain several times but this morning was the first time the line wasn’t outrageously long so we were able to go in for a tour. A very quick tour. Although it’s a must-see when in Rome, the tour isn’t much. It’s a quick five-minute run-through, unless you are a religious person and decide to sit and pray or whatever.

But technically this is a religious building so if you decide to go inside, your shoulders must be covered regardless of gender. Also, I learned that this building was for many years, a pagan temple. It was shut down when the Christians took over and only reopened as a gift to celebrate the victory over Marc Antony & Cleopatra. Fun facts, eh?

Barberini Museum

After the Pantheon, we made our way to the Barberini Museum, which I have to tell you is just fantastic. There are so many beautiful paintings in this place and you have time to just sit and enjoy them. Even though many are religious in theme, they were breathtaking and We definitely took our time going through the place so, please, enjoy some of the art here.

Psst…if you want to see more, check me out on Instagram or Facebook.

After all that art, what do you know? It’s time for lunch!

We attempted to hit up Rifugio Romano again but–yet again–we made the mistake of not making reservations and they were all booked up because yes, the vegan food is that good but also the space is exceptionally small.

Luckily for us, just up the street was a vegan/vegetarian Indian restaurant and I’ll have you know that this vegan cannot resist any type of Asian food but Indian is my all-time favorite. I could eat it all day. Every day.

This place was great! There were plenty of fully vegan meals and more than half of the vegetarian meals can be veganized upon request. It was a fun experience, too.

My husband and I eat a lot of Indian food at home and when we lived in Germany and Los Angeles we ate it all the time, but here in Romania, we have yet to find an Indian option not even in Bucharest. So we were stoked to try out a thali. We both discovered that despite our love of Indian food we had never experienced this particular treat, and let me tell you, it was a TREAT! There were lentils and even okra (which I normally hate but I tried it anyway and it wasn’t too bad), veggie soup, curry with chickpeas and of course, plenty of bread options.

We couldn’t have naan because it had butter and milk in it, but they gave us extra types of bread to compensate so who really won here? It was fantastic and I would love to eat at this place again.

After lunch, we made our way to Castel San Angelo which was amazing! I love castles and if there’s ever an option to visit one wherever I am, I’m gonna take it. Period. This one was unlike any of the other castles I’ve visited over the years. First, it is round in shape and the whole place moves up in a series of circular ramps. This castle used be the tomb for Nero and for a time, a prison. It has a long history and there are some cool gems hidden within, including a trap door leading to a cellar that was the equivalent of today’s solitary confinement. It contains art and history, as well as lots of history of the place.

I took a ton of photos and we made our way to the top for a wonderful view of Rome from above. It took a few hours to get through and after that we were totally exhausted but also eager to check out the next vegan restaurant on our list. Ecru.

Ecru is a raw vegan restaurant, which at first gave me pause, but the food was rather good and totally changed my mind about tofu. There was this dish with tofu and a creamy sauce but it was good quality tofu that tasted unlike any other tofu I’d ever tried and it was very flavorful and delicious.

There was also a raw burger made of grains and vegetables served with pickled red cabbage and sauerkraut cream. It sounds odd but it was surprisingly delicious. There was also quinoa vegan sushi that I didn’t love because I’m not an avocado fan but my husband gave it two thumbs up. The quin-fu was also delicious but the photos aren’t that great because we took the food back to our hotel overlooking St. Peter’s Basilica and enjoyed dinner on the balcony.

And after all of this, I’ve changed my mind and there will be one more post on Friday to wrap up Rome but I’ll keep it short. I promise!