Café Manna is self-described as “one of the first 100% vegetarian restaurants in Southeastern Wisconsin”. Located on Brookfield Road just south of Capitol, this relatively new restaurant can easily go unnoticed from the street, but is worth the trip. In the interest of full disclosure, it should be known that I am not one to go crazy over vegetarian or vegan cuisine and prefer my dinners to involve some sort of meat. That said, it is something that I knew my wife would enjoy so I figured I’d give it a shot.

My first impression when we walked in was extremely positive. We were warmly greeted by the employees and immediately seated. Although Café Manna is in a very small space, they have it arranged very well and it in no way feels cramped as many small restaurants do. We were promptly brought out a small plate of pita chips and their homemade cashew coconut hummus, which was an incredibly tasty change of pace from the standard bread and frozen unspreadable butter that you get at most restaurants. Coming from someone who normally balks at the idea of a vegetarian entree, their menu had a plethora of choices that appealed to me, with many marked as gluten-free, raw, and/or vegan. I eventually settled on their Peace Bowl with Curried Cashew Crunch and Jessie chose the Falafel Platter. Our meals came out to us quickly and were presented beautifully on the plate. As good as it may have looked, it tasted even better. Many people are afraid of curry because of its spicy reputation, but they were very even-handed with it and it had the perfect amount of spice versus flavor. My only complain with the meal was that the pyramids of rice could have been a little larger, to soak up the extra sauce. To drink with dinner, I had a kettle of Coconut Chai hot tea from Zhena’s Gypsy Tea, which complimented the meal perfectly. Although neither of us felt like having desert after the meal, they had some very tempting options, including Banana Fig Pudding and Ginger Macadamia Nut Carrot Cake, which topped my list of what I’d like to try next time.

I will definitely be eating here again and, unless you are adamantly opposed to vegetarian cuisine, I’d highly suggest it to anyone who asks.

Here’s the info:

Wasabi Sushi & Sake Lounge is the newest restaurant to open its doors in Brookfield, Wisconsin. I’ve driven by it several times while they were still getting everything ready, and had been hoping that we would get a good Sushi restaurant near us. This past tuesday, they finally opened up. We’ve eaten at a few different Sushi places of varying qualities and first impressions are always important if it’s a place I plan to go back to.

When you first walk in the doors at Wasabi, you will immediately notice the atmosphere perfectly fits the cuisine. It is very simply designed, but also very elegant and makes a great use of the space that they have. It is the type of atmosphere where you can feel comfortable in casual clothes, but fit in just as well in a suit and tie. Jessie and I were immediately seated in a very comfortable well-lit booth. The menu was very reasonably priced and we decided to start off with some Miso soup, which was among the best Miso soup I’ve had. After looking over the menu, we decided on calamari and vegetable tempura, a Philadelphia roll, and a Las Vegas roll. Shortly thereafter, we received all three dishes. I was immediately impressed by not only how tasty it looked, but also the effort put in to the presentation. It was as much art as it was food. Not only did it look incredibly appetizing, but it tasted just as good as it looked. After a fantastic dinner, we split some Green Tea ice cream that was a great finish to the meal.

If you like Japanese food or are interested in trying something new, I highly recommend Wasabi. It’s on Bluemound Road in Brookfield, WI just east of Moorland on the south side of the road.

Here’s the address and website: