You know how when you hear about how great something is over and over and then you actually experience that thing and realize that it was way over-hyped and your friends actually have terrible taste?
OK, so imagine that, but instead of the thing being over-hyped and your friends having bad taste the thing in question is actually nothing like your friends told you it would be and is actually something completely new and weird and wonderful!
Are you still with me? I hope so because people need to know about that there is a restaurant in Somerville called Veggie Crust and if you haven't eaten there then what are you even doing with your tastebuds?
Until now I have been unimpressed with vegetarian pizza joints. Like, just make a pizza and don't put meat on it. Boom, veggie pizza.
But Veggie Crust is so much more than just a "meatless everyday" pizza joint. They're owned by the same family that runs Dosa-N-Curry, a vegetarian Indian restaurant that is conveniently located right next door.
What makes Veggie Crust something worth talking about is that they took the idea of a vegetarian pizza restaurant, and then got weird with it.
Have you ever in your life seen curry leaf pistachio pesto and portabello mushrooms on a pizza?! Who throws fresh ginger on a barbeque pizza?! Consider the pearls clutched.
Like any other Italian restaurant, they also have a lovely selection of salads and pasta dishes, including a vegetarian puttanesca! Unlike any other Italian restaurant though, they also offer a selection of fresh vegan juices.
For our meal we jumped in feet first and ordered what was, in our opinion, the weirdest item on the menu: the Coconut Corn pizza with coconut Alfredo.
And as if that wasn't enough, when we told the waiter we'd had a difficult time choosing, he told us that we didn't have to! They can combine pizzas!
Ok, so what goes well with corn and coconut Alfredo sauce? Garden Veggie Manchurian. Behold! My creation!
Coconut falls into the same category as cilantro and Vegemite, where people either love it or hate. Personally, I fucking love it. Coconut it my Franks hot sauce; I put that shit on everything.
But I know that not everyone feels this way. My worry was that if the coconut Alfredo was super coconut-y, then half the population wouldn't like it and therefor not order it and therefor not give this restaurant money which would result in it's ultimate bankruptcy and subsequent foreclosure.
But before we go too far down this sauce-based depression spiral, I have good news! While this sauce was decadent and creamy, it had only the tiniest hint of coconut! A mere suggestion of the tropics and tanning lotion! Paired with the sweetness of the corn and the acidity of the tomatoes, this was a weird and lovely slice.
What the right side of the pizza brought in creamy decadence, the right side brought in flavor and spice! Ginger, jalapenos, red onions, oh my! This was like if a vegetable garden listened to punk rock. Was this hot? Yes. But I am a white lady who once called a radish "spicy", so feel free to form your own opinions on this one.
The Good:
- This place is a true one-of-a-kind. It's weird and funky but in a truly unpretentious way.
- Variety. I feel like I have to go back to this place again and again until I've tried every single item on their menu.
The Bad
- Maybe a little expensive? My dining partner and I split a Medium, but if we had been really hungry we could have easily each eaten our own pie. At $14 a piece, that's almost a $30 dinner, and we didn't even get booze!
- Right, they don't serve booze. Any buzz you get from this place has to come from wheatgrass shots.
The moral of the story is that if you are thinking of ordering pizza this weekend, step outside of your comfort zone and get some coconut Alfredo and curry leaf pesto in your life. Your tastebuds with thank you.
