I had looked up Dancing Avocado Kitchen (aka DAK) so long ago that by the time we sat down to look at the menu, I was shocked at all the meat dishes offered (actually most of the dishes had meat). In my mind (and bad memory) this was a vegan restaurant, so I was taken aback a little bit. But after studying the menu a while, I found some vegan things I could order. After having a look around the place, I saw their motto: “Where herbivore and carnivore eat together in harmony.” Well, that explains everything! And this would be a great place to go with non-vegan friends, even pescetarians can find something on this menu.
Hubs and I settled in to pick some lunch dishes. All the vegan items on the menu were marked, which was nice and kept me from having to ask a lot of questions. I decided on the Avocado & Hummus Wrap with a cucumber salad side, while Mr. Key Lime went with the Black Bean Soup and a mini order of Baba Ghanoush. We decided everything is prepared as freshly as possible, because we had a leisurely wait for our food, which was fine. We weren’t going anywhere and for healthy food, we’ll wait. And while we were waiting they brought us some fresh sliced cucumbers and dip, which I thought was so nice as a little nosh.
The first item to arrive was the black bean soup. I wish I had the recipe! The soup was very stew-like, and seasoned perfectly. In addition to black beans, it had carrots, potato, celery, mushrooms, a little of this and a little of that. Delicious. The next thing we tried was the baba ghanoush. The Mr. had recently had baba ghanoush at another restaurant, where it tasted more like hummus, and he commented how the baba ghanoush at Dancing Avocado definitely had a stronger eggplant flavor, which was good. I tried it and it was very yummy. For a mini order, the cup it was served in was pretty big!
My avocado and hummus wrap was kinda huge – definitely a full-sized wrap. I had to take half the wrap and half the cucumber salad home with me. Everything in the wrap was super fresh and it was loaded with veggies. Occasionally, I bit into what felt and tasted like undissolved chunks of sea salt and that wasn’t too great, but it only happened a few times while eating the entire wrap. I liked the cucumber salad, but I could taste a strong sugar taste. That was off-putting to me, since I didn’t expect to eat sugar with my lunch. I know some people put sugar in cucumbers and vinegar, but this was the dominant flavor, so I wasn’t a big fan. The other vegan side available that day was Rainbow Coleslaw, so maybe next time I’ll try that. Some of the dishes were served in styrofoam, which is something I’m dead set against. Hopefully, in the future, this restaurant can find a way to use a biodegradable or washable dish.
The atmosphere is casual, with the walls covered in posters and bottles lined up along the walls. It reminded me very much of places in the college town we used to live in, very comfy and laid back. On the way out I noticed some bottled and jarred products and hot sauces for sale, along with chilled beers and vegan cookies. On a shelf in the dining area were bottles of all kinds of hot sauces available for diners to use. There are a lot of tables, indoors and out. The outside dining is in front and, given cooler weather, I would definitely sit out among the pretty plants and mosaic tables.
We will definitely revisit Dancing Avocado Kitchen on Beach Street in Daytona Beach again. We both want to try other menu items and some of their juices.
