We finally made it to the Green Elephant vegetarian restaurant on Congress Street last weekend-- and I wish we hadn't waited so long! It was an entirely pleasurable dining experience. The service was great, the ambiance lovely, and the food delicious. it definitely won't be long until we're back.

Because we were meeting friends, we planned on an early-ish dinner, and met at 6:30. After sitting down the waiter came over promptly and took our drink orders-- Otis and Andrew each had a beer from the fairly basic beer list, while Sara and I opted for glasses of pinot noir and riesling, respectively. The wine pours were quite generous, in lovely balloon glasses.

The waitstaff at Green Elephant write your order into palm pilot-type gadgets that wirelessly beam the info into the kitchen. I'm not sure if this is a huge time savings for them, but it sure is cool!

The menu was quite large, and we were all chatty and distracted, so we decided to order apps only first. Andrew and Sara are regulars, so they were able to recommend the Green Leaves Wrap with Mango and Herbs, which I would never in a million years have tried-- it's raw collard greens wrapped around raw herbs and mango. Although it sounds weird (raw collards??) it's actually very delicious. We also got Crispy Wontons, which were similar to a vegetarian version of crab rangoon, made vegan with soy cheese, and Deep Fried Vegetarian Spring Rolls, made with shiitake mushrooms. All of the apps were delicious, and despite being deep fried the latter two seemed very light and not greasy at all. The dipping sauces complemented the dishes perfectly, and the portions were quite generous.

We did eventually figure out what we wanted for our entrees, although it was difficult since everything sounded to tasty! I opted for the Hot & Sour Noodle soup, and Otis got the Far East Duck, which is actually "duck."

A word about the fake meats. Otis loves 'em. When he lived in Boston he was a regular at Buddha's Delight. They're not necessarily my favorite-- but I did try his "duck" and it was delicious. Happily for me, since I don't like duck, it didn't really taste like duck, and the sauce was wonderful. Similarly, my soup was great-- flavorful, spicy, and fully of great veggies.

So, if you haven't tried the Green Elephant yet, don't be like me and wait forever. Go!

608 Congress St. Portland, ME
207-347-3111