A Reader's Vegan Delight at Maplewood's Boogaloo

It's no secret that vegetarians and, especially, vegans lack many appetizing options at St. Louis restaurants. So when a reader left a lengthy comment this morning on a post about local vegetarian options that my colleague Annie Zaleski wrote in April of last year, it grabbed Gut Check's attention.

The reader, Cully Miller, visited Boogaloo (7344 Manchester Road; 314-645-4803):

I visited my girlfriend in St. Louis over Valentine's Day weekend. She wanted to surprise me with a Vegan restaurant but couldn't find any. She saw some blogs about Boogaloo being able to cater to Vegan customers and called the chef to confirm.

We informed our waiter, Josh (also the manager) that we spoke with Mike (the chef) about a Vegan meal. He walked back to talk with the chef and informed us that he would "scrape something together". As a Vegan, sometimes you have to settle for "scrape something together"; at least that was what I was expecting.

When Josh presented the Vegan Ratatouille made with sweet potatoes and coconut milk, I instantly knew this was going to be delicious... but I'm afraid "delicious" just doesn't do it justice! It was one of the best meals I have ever tasted, so good in fact, that it boggles my mind why anyone would choose to eat animals when such a mouth-watering alternative exists.

Mike (the chef) also prepared for me a Vegan Eggplant dish which also exceeded expectations. The Ratatouille was so amazing, I asked for another helping to take home with me.

Vegans of St. Louis, give Boogaloo a try. You may want to call ahead of time to let them know you are coming because these dishes aren't on the menu, but they went out of their way to accommodate me. Five out of Five stars!

Readers, have you had a similar experience? Any notable vegetarian or vegan dishes that Gut Check should try? (Hard to believe, but we don't live exclusively on bacon.) Leave your thoughts and suggestions in the comments section.