Caveman Cafe

After a so-so meal at Two Rivers Meats in North Van, Miss Y was in search of more paleo eats that didn't involve her cooking at home.  Actually, she loves cooking at home since it lets her control what she puts into the food.  Hence, it was more like I wanted to find eats and needed an eating buddy.  I ended up grabbing Miss Y and made our way to the Caveman Cafe in International Village.  This was as close to pure paleo that one can get in terms of eating out (some items are not really all-that-paleo, but again, close enough). 

I started with a bite of the Chicken Wings (added on for only $2.99 with a meal) drizzled with a spicy BBQ sauce.  As for the positives, I really enjoyed the sauce as it was as spicy as advertised.  There was a bit of sweetness at the tail end of each bite.  The wings themselves were a bit dry and overdone.  Furthermore, the skin was not rendered at all being fatty and broken.  Onto the Caveman Lasagna, I chose to have it with meat sauce and regular cheese.  The rest of the ingredients included zucchini, eggplant, carrot, onion, turnip, ginger, garlic and celery.  I decided against having noodles or potato which meant the whole thing was rather wet.  Nothing they can do about that since there was no carb to soak up the moisture.  With that in mind, I enjoyed the lasagna for what it was.  Flavours were there and the amount of melted cheese was generous.  I probably would've liked to see the zucchini and eggplant sliced thin and layered rather than chunks.

I also got the Beef Cheek Platter Feast with spiced rice with black beans and a meal-sized custom salad (with pomegranate dressing).  For around $10.00, this was a fantastic value since there was more than enough food.  Secondly, the generous amount of beef cheek was tender and gelatinous.  There could've been a touch more seasoning, but it didn't make or break the dish.  In addition, there was some hummus and spiced yogurt to complete the platter.  For Miss Y, she had the Caveman Pizza featuring a veggie crust.  It wasn't really a pizza per se, rather it was a combination of ingredients on top of a falafel-looking flatbread (it didn't taste nor have the texture of falafel though).  The chicken was fairly mild-tasting, but still relatively tender and not too dry. Ultimately, there are some items that might appeal strictly to those on paleo diets.  However, with the platter feasts, one can customize their meal at a very affordable price.

The Good:
- Fantastic value
- Loved the build-your-own feast
- Great for those who are on paleo or similar diets

The Bad:
- Some items may not appeal to those not on paleo diets