PJ's Bistro at Manitou Springs, Colorado

The vegan and I were in Manitou Springs to watch the Emma Crawford Coffin races. We were both hungry (one of us was even more hungry!) so we found a small cafe called PJ's Bistro. The Bistro is a Hungarian restaurant serving Perogi and Potato Pancakes amongst other offerings. I am always looking for great Potato Pancakes, so I ordered them with sour cream and applesauce. The pancakes are some of the best I have had in a great while. The pancakes were well formed, tasty with a nice spicy touch. My wife decided to have a grilled vegetable sandwich, without onions. She also asked for pickles. Her sandwich was very good, filled with lots of veggies (mushrooms, red peppers, and more.) The side of fries were also tasty, although they did not taste of being fresh cut. The service was very attentive even though there was quite a crowd of people in the area. If you are in Manitou Springs (where the motto is keep Manitou weird), stop in to PJ's Bistro for some nice food and Hungarian specialties. I think the next time I am there, I will try the Perogis. PJ's is right on Manitou Ave near the downtown part of Manitou. The restaurant overlooks the staging area for the coffin races.

Dinner at Root Down

Last night the wife and I went with friends to the fairly new and very popular restaurant Root Down located in the Highlands area of Denver. Since there were four of us, we decided to do small plates and share. We picked several dishes that could be made Vegan so the wife could eat them with us. The service was outstanding and very knowledgeable. The food was excellent with standouts being the risotto done vegan (no cheese), the veggie burger sliders (I recommend the mustard), and the Buffalo burger sliders with a nice taste of smoke. The only disappointment was the bruschetta. It was supposed to have grilled peaches, but there was not much peach flavor. As a straight bruschetta it was very good, but I was expecting more of a peach taste. The only Vegan dessert was a banana sorbet that I did not try but received rave reviews from my wife and our friends. The drinks were well made and had some unusual ingredients that actually worked together. I recommend Root Down, although feel that the first meal I had at Beatrice and Woodsley was slightly better.