La Novena

Vegetarian restaurant

La Novena is a small ovo-lacto vegetarian restaurant in El Cangrejo that features only the very freshest, top-of-the-line ingredients. And in this type of cuisine, this is very important as that freshness is a vital aspect of vegetarianism.

My intrepid band of food fans dutifully trekked to this unique little establishment, spoke with Mr. Smith, the owner and inspiration for many of the recipes, placed our orders based on his recommen-dations, then discussed the original art that decorated the walls. When our meal began to arrive, we found we were in for a treat.

The Cream of Carrot Soup ($3.00) was a large bowl filled with the true essence of carrot... fresh tasting, delicately seasoned, and bursting with flavor. It was more a puree of pure carrot than a soup. Used to more cream in my cream-style soups, I was surprised at first at the burst of flavor. Once over the surprise, we found the soup very good.

An appetizer plate of Battered Broccoli/Celery/Eggplant ($4.00) was quite good, especially the celery. The batter was made with alcohol-free beer and gave each vegetable a tempura-like texture. Next was the Spinach Croquettes ($4.00). These came in the form of crunchy fried balls of spinach (fried in Canola oil) that featured a creamy interior. Quite delicious.... and they disappeared fast.

The Whole Wheat Pasta With Fried Almonds ($4.50) was a very large plate of whole wheat & spinach pasta, the latter ingredient not mentioned in the menu, and featured crisply sauteed sliced almonds. Fresh olive oil was the only other ingredient and it was a refreshing change from the more usual heavy pasta sauces one encounters elsewhere. It was light, flavorful and left one full without that "stuffed" feeling. Eggplant In Tomato Sauce & Potatoes ($4.50) was exceptional in that the rich flavor of the eggplant was not lost in the homemade tomato sauce and was perfectly counter-balanced by the more subdued potato chunks. Quite good.

Lasagna ($5.50) was a large square of that item, perfectly seasoned and sauced, but I found the dish overwhelmed by its vegetable ingredients. The pasta flavor was lost, the rich cheese taste was missing, and even the sauce failed to overcome the basic fact that you were eating lots of vegetables...not a bad thing for a vegetarian, to be sure, but for a novice, a bit much.

Green Peppers Filled With Mushrooms ($6.25) was one large red bell pepper, sliced in half and filled with a delicious mushroom mixture with a serving of rice on the side. The pepper was cooked al dente and was very sweet-tasting. Suggestion... instead of serving the rice on the side, mix it with the mushrooms. The pepper halves are then full and the flavor, I found when I tried it, greatly enchanced. The sole disappoin-tment of the evening was my Onion Pie ($6.00). Where I had imagined a fluffy, quiche-like slice of heaven, I was instead served a flat, green little square of.....well, it didn’t taste of onion, cheese, egg or anything else. While the crust was good, the filling was almost tasteless. As it was one of the most expensive dishes on an otherwise very affordable menu, this recipe should perhaps be revised.

Bottom line: if you enjoy vegetarian food, you will love La Novena. If, like me, you are a novice, use the above as a guide and you will leave quite satisfied with the experience.