Hidden in the corner of the parking garage in West Hartford Center is a small vegan restaurant — Flora. It is located directly across from the Whole Foods parking lot and would probably be missed upon first glance.
Flora is a vegan restaurant that focuses on a healthy and balanced diet. Even if you are not vegan you can choose some meat options which they call “viable fauna.”
You can add shrimp, chicken, salmon, or steak to any dish for an extra charge. They also have special dishes, including those meats if you prefer that.
We went for lunch and were on a time crunch so we were worried about it being a sit down restaurant.
When you walk in, there is a cute little seating area with a large sign that says Flora and some cool moss like wall decor.
Interestingly the restaurant is on the second floor. After walking up the stairs, there was a little side that had some glass tanks where they grew their own plants. That was unlike any place I had ever been.
We were seated quickly as there was plenty of it. They had restaurant style seating as well as a bar.
They had large glass windows and since we were on the second floor it was a different view from most traditional restaurants. It kind of reminded me of restaurants on the shore that usually have an upstairs seating area.
Our server was very nice. I had never been there before, so he did a very good job explaining everything I needed to know about the menu.
He also asked if we had any allergies, especially to nuts because most of their dishes have cashews and other nuts in them.
To start off with drinks, my friend ordered an almond joy milkshake which she really enjoyed. It’s very healthy and tasted good, too.
Since we went for lunch, the menu was slightly compressed. I ordered the Mac & No-Cheese, which is apparently the best mac and cheese ever.
To make it vegan, they use a cauliflower puree and truffle oil to give it a cheesy texture and taste. It was made with elbow pasta and had mushrooms and crispy onions on it as well.
It was $18, but it was a lot of food. I was barely able to make a slight dent.
For being completely organic and vegan, it is surprisingly filling.
We also got an avocado bowl which is another entrée that is made with cashew tomato farro (grain), kale, zucchini, and other healthy additions.
I’m usually very picky, and this was my first time eating vegan food. Because it was vegan, it was an interesting experience.
I liked the food, but it wasn’t over the top amazing. It was pretty average.
Of course, I don’t have any other vegan restaurants to compare it to, but in general it didn’t blow my mind. The menu was also very intimidating and confusing.
I’m not a very healthy eater and their menu just threw combinations of vegetables at me and I did not know what would taste good or not.
It was kind of a shot in the dark so I just decided on the Mac & No-Cheese because I assumed it would be hard to completely veer off of the traditional Mac & Cheese. I wasn’t wrong, apparently as it tasted pretty similar.
Overall, the experience was really interesting and fun. I found it so cool that they had so many things that were not in common with a lot of other restaurants.
I might go back again, but I definitely need to read over the menu beforehand so I have time to figure out which would taste the best.
