Sunday Oct. 11. Today D. and I went to Soy Cafe in the Northern Liberties section of the city for a late lunch. I had tried their wrap sandwiches at an art event in the summer, but we had never actually been there before. It’s always nice to see “Vegan Friendly” on a sign at a cafe!

Soy Cafe has 22 different kinds of smoothies, all made with soymilk! They are all listed as containing honey, but you can substitute maple syrup instead. They also have Homemade Soymilk, Soy Special Drinks (Chai, Hot Apple Cinnamon Soy, Cocoa Mint Soy, etc.), fresh squeezed fruit/veggie juice, and the usual coffee/espresso drinks and tea.

As far as food goes, there are quite a few vegan or veganizable choices on the menu. 4 of the 7 salad choices are vegan. Only 2 of the wraps (out of 8 choices) are vegan or easily veganizable- the Grilled Eggplant (leave off the soy cheese, it’s not vegan) or the Soy Wrap. There are also some toast options- I’m guessing these are like open-faced sandwiches. Of these 3 out of 9 are vegan if you skip the soy cheese. But I’m guessing the melted cheese is most of the appeal of these, so you’re probably better off sticking to the salads or wraps. Maybe they’ll get some vegan soy cheese someday! I also saw some mini vegan donuts there but didn’t sample those.

We got two soy wraps, one with soy beef and one with soy chicken. They also contained wasabi hummus, cucumber, avocado, carrot, and sesame. There is a choice of wraps and we got Garlic Herb. The wraps were tasty, but we both wished there was a bit more of the wasabi hummus for a little more flavor. What there was of it was delicious, but there were a lot of bites of just plain vegetables and soy beef/chicken which were a bit bland on their own. The avocado was a nice touch. I’d probably have added some onions and sprouts if I was making something like this at home, but overall it was a nice little wrap and the portion size was perfect for lunch.

We also each got a smoothie- I got the Pink Panther (strawberries, raspberries, tofu, soymilk, maple syrup) and D. got the Hello Sunshine (pineapple, mango, banana, soymilk, maple syrup). Both were delicious and had a nice thick consistency. We sat in their back garden seating area, which was small but nice.  We don’t live anywhere near there, so I don’t know that I’ll be back anytime soon. Its not the sort of place I’d go out of my way to visit frequently, but it’s nice to know there is another cafe in Philly where there is yummy vegan stuff to be had! If I lived near there I could definitely see myself stopping by often for a smoothie or coffee.