(Credit: David Morley)
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The place has expanded in the past year: the single rowhouse swelled into two adjacent buildings, with a dining room on one side. They tout a Pigtown location now, too, but I live uptown and rarely venture south of North Avenue.
Upon arrival, a first glance at the menu board might be enough to upset one's stomach. Dishes with names like "Island Stew Chick-Un" or "American-Homemade Vegan Meatloaf" might sound unappetizing, but this ain't that frozen food aisle crap. The chef/owner, Skai Davis, was in the open kitchen whipping up fake meat from scratch, and the place smelled of freshly cooked tofu.
Ha, ha. Just joking. Tofu absorbs the flavors and smells of whatever you cook it in -- haven't you heard? Really, the place smells like spices and incense: in addition to lunch, it looks like you can pick up various Rastafarian wallets, incenses and chewing sticks.
After much deliberation over the dozen or so entrees, I ordered a couple of Yabba's daily offerings. The specials were a little steep to include in a You're broke. Eat here., plus, I wanted some rice with my lunch. The daily offerings include myriad side dishes served with rice. I tried two and my boss tried two. She also had some homemade lemonade.
We ordered at the counter, then took our seats and waited for lunch to be brought to the table.
Where the food succeeds, the services fails. My two dishes and rice came out hitch-free, as did one of my boss' dishes, but when she said, "I ordered the leek dumplings, too," the server raised her voice and said, "Hey, I've only got two hands here. See -- two hands." And she showed them to us. We counted. Yep, definitely two.
A few minutes later, the leek dumplings arrived. The server held them in one hand -- her right hand.
We ate quickly, attesting to how good Yabba's food is. Before we departed, we debated whether to leave the plates for the server to pick up with her own two hands, but decided to bus them ourselves, since we didn't want any bad karma.
Dish: We each got two selections with rice. I had the Live! Kale Salad and the BBQ Tofu. Boss-woman got Leek Dumplings and West African Spinach. I didn't want to share my tofu. It was good: sweet and spicy with a crispy, chewy texture. The kale was awesome, too. Usually, restaurants cook all the integrity from their greens, but these (mixed with a salty dressing and shredded carrots) are barely cooked. I did trade a bit of this for one of my counterpart's dumplings. They were crisp and filled with flavorful leeks. I don't usually like spinach, and I didn't like Yabba's. The homemade lemonade was good, though: not too sweet and not too tart.
Damage: We both got two selections with rice: $7 each. Add a large (16 oz.) lemonade for $3 and you get a total of $17.85 after tax, just under $9 -- had I paid.
Decision: Get your ass to Yabba Pot. It's good vegetarian-style home cooking -- a great spot for a quick, healthy meal with your vegan boss. The atmosphere is a little annoying. Reggae plays too loudly and the tables aren't the cleanest, so Yabba Pot wouldn't be the first spot I'd think of for a date, but, hey, it wouldn't be the last either.
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