Market on South in Orlando, FL

I've ended up at Market on South in Orlando on a couple occasions recently. Market on South was described to me in a way that made it sound similar to East End Market or Plant Street Market, as in one building that houses several separate food centered businesses. Technically, that's what Market on South is, but the separate entities are all sold from one single counter inside the building. Until my first visit there, I also didn't realize that everything sold at Market on South is vegan.

Dixie Dharma is the name of the food vendor inside of Market on South that serves sandwiches. I tried their Carolina BBQ Pulled Jackfruit Sandwich. The menu described it being topped with crispy fried onions, garlic pickle, arugula, preserved lemon & coca-cola reduction, all on Texas toast. This was my first time ever trying jackfruit on a sandwich and it was pretty tasty.

I also traded a sandwich half with the person I ate here with and tried the Florida Fried Green Tomato Sandwich. This had deep fried green tomatoes, with smoked eggplant remoulade, garlicky kale & chow-chow on Texas toast. Of the two sandwiches I tried, I preferred this one. Both were good, but this one had a little more going for it. I did like that Dixie Dharma didn't pretend that they we serving meat when they weren't like I've seen done in far too many vegan/vegetarian restaurants. My main complaint with both of the sandwiches was the Texas toast. The white bread didn't do it for me...

Valhalla Bakery is the bakery portion of Market on South. It seems like most of their baked goods are doughnuts, but when I saw they were advertising King Cakes for Fat Tuesday on their Instagram, I stopped in a picked a few up. My most recent experience with vegan baked goods before this from a bakery which will not be named was like eating corrugated cardboard that was supposed to be a brownie, so my expectations weren't high. These King Cakes luckily exceeded my expectations. I had a Publix King Cake the day before, and these were way better. I'm not sure how Valhalla Bakery does it with no eggs or dairy, but the cakes were moist, held together well, and didn't fit the stereotype of vegan baked goods at all. Unfortunately, babies were not supplied with the cakes.

King Cake in New Orleans, LA: (PJ's Coffee, Mardi Gras World, and Gerald's King Cake)

I was in New Orleans while Mardi Gras celebrations were happening. Because of this, I felt the need to eat some King Cake. For the uninformed, my basic uninformed understanding of a King Cake is that they are vaguely based on Catholic traditions and are supposed to be eaten between the Epiphany and Lent. A toy baby representing Jesus is hidden inside the cake. Whoever gets the slice of cake with the baby is then responsible for providing the King Cake at the next Mardi Gras party. I'm sure Wikipedia can do a much better job at describing the cakes than I can. My first King Cake experience happened at PJ's Coffee on Canal Street.

I didn't realize it at the time, but PJ's Coffee is a big chain on the Gulf Coast. After my visit to this PJ's location, I started noticing them everywhere. They were much more prevalent than Starbucks in New Orleans, and I saw them in Mississippi on the drive home as well. I initially wasn't planning on getting King Cake when I walked into PJ's, but their signs for King Cake Lattes peaked my interest. Once I ordered the latte, I decided the next logical thing would be to have a slice of the cake to go with the beverage. The King Cake Latte was really sweet, but I'm not sure if I would have identified it as King Cake flavored if I didn't know that's what I ordered. The slice of King Cake was tasty enough, although not my favorite that I tried on my trip. I did enjoy dipping the King Cake into the King Cake Latte. There wasn't a chance of getting a baby in this cake. According to the cashier, PJ's used to put the babies in the King Cake until someone broke a tooth on one. This apparently didn't go over well with corporate, so now you just get cake.

My second King Cake experience was at Mardi Gras World. This is the Kern Studios location that is open to the public for tours where you get to see all sorts of giant styrofoam and paper mache creatures being made to go on Mardi Gras floats. They begin their tour by giving everyone a slice of King Cake while they show you a video. I'm not sure who made this particular cake, but this was my favorite. It had a strong cinnamon flavor swirled into the slice of cake.

The last and final King Cake from my visit to New Orleans was made by Gerald's King Cakes. I bought this from a Praline store in the French Quarter to bring back to Florida. It came with a baby, although not in the cake itself. There may have been a slight cinnamon flavor, but nowhere as strong as the cake from Mardi Gras World. I also detected somewhat of a lemony flavor, either in the cake itself or in the icing.