August 19, 2008

One World Cafe

100 West University Parkway
Baltimore, MD 21210

My husband and I decided to give One World Café a try mostly because I had decided to go vegan for the week. Sadly, Baltimore doesn't offer many vegan-friendly restaurants. One World happens to be 1 of 3 vegan friendly restaurants in the city.

Regardless - we made the trek across town to check it out. I hadn't visited this place in over 7 years and didn't remember it being anything but a coffee house/bar. I looked it up and was pleased to see that it offered so much more! Although some of the reviews weren't very promising. One of the biggest complaints was in regards to parking since it's located right by Johns Hopkins University.

We were surprised that we were able to park so easily, closely and for free. My husband pointed out that school wasn't in session so this was probably why it wasn't a problem.

We walked into the restaurant and were quickly seated. I thought our server was attentive and nice. She wasn't super friendly but I don't usually expect anyone to gush or hang about to make small talk.

Their menu is very user/vegan friendly and they clearly mark all menu items with a small "V" to indicate if the dish is vegan or not.

We started off with the Mexican refried pinto bean dip ($4.95) - Topped with house salsa, fresh cilantro & tortilla chips.


The dip was great. Our only complaint was that their chip to dip ratio wasn't very good and we were scooping a TON of dip onto one chip since there weren't enough chips.

I decided to get the Steamed Veggies & Ginger Baked Organic Tofu ($9.95) - served over organic brown rice, topped with tangy tahini sauce.


I thought the dish was good. Plenty of food and chock full of vegetables. I wasn't crazy about the ginger flavor or the tahini sauce but I should have known better. I wasn't really in the mood for something so "creamy" and that's exactly what the tahini sauce is. I think on another day, I would have loved this dish.

My husband went with the Lasagna ($13.95) - made of specialty cheese and pasta loaded with vegetables and made completely from scratch.


He liked his meal but said, "I wasn't overly impressed."

I ate the leftovers for lunch the next day and have to say this was fantastic! It's not often that I get to eat lasagna that is full of vegetables. Most likely - I would order this the next time I visit.

Overall - I'd recommend One World Café for vegans, vegetarians or those who have a vegan/vegetarian in their lives but who are omnivores. They have a wide variety of menu options that looks like it would satisfy all palates.

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