It’s Only Natural (ION Restaurant) – Middletown, CT

Vegan, Vegetarian, Jewelry, Art, Entertainment
review recommendation
  • Food
  • Vegan Options
  • Vegetarian Options
  • Proportions
  • Service
  • Atmosphere
Popular Vegan and Vegetarian restaurant, with art, crafts, jewelry shop, and entertainment on certain days.

Location: 386 Main Street  Middletown, CT 06457
Price: $$$

Atmosphere:  It’s Only Natural has a very nice indie arty setting.  They sell interesting crafts & jewelry created by independent local artists as well, so there’s a display at the front.  I like the guitar painting, and various canvas art.  There’s also a cute Love a Vegetarian mirror.  ION is in the heart of artsy, cultural downtown Middletown, in the Main Street Market building that has other restaurants and shops.  It is diagonal across from their ION grocery market.

Art at It's Only Natural restaurant, Middletown, CT

Parking:  Pretty easy (as I despise chaotic downtown parking).  Convenient diagonal street parking or the large lot in the back of the building.  Free after 6pm  There is garage parking and parallel parking on side streets as well.

Entertainment:  I haven’t experienced their events yet, but when I do, I’ll update this review.  They sometimes have events like music and psychic readings.

Food:  I was honestly terrified, assuming a vegetarian/vegan restaurant would have just tofu dishes, as I am not a fan of tofu at all.  I tried the vegetarian pizza and surprisingly it was good. It had a very distinct, more wholesome taste in the dough than regular pizza and much less greasy.

Vegetarian Pizza at It's Only Natural restaurant in Middletown, CT

As much as I wanted real crab cakes, a different day, I ordered the vegan Tempeh “Crab Cakes” appetizer, which were pretty tasty. That was the first time I had Tempeh and was scared because they said it was soy based, but surprisingly it didn’t taste like Tofu at all.  I was impressed.  It didn’t taste like real crab cakes, but it did have a meaty crab cake texture.  The taste was like eating a combo of subtle burger meat (more so veggie burger) and bread.  They had some tangy, tarry cream sauce on it that made it tastier.

Vegan Tempeh Crab Cakes at It's Only Natural restaurant in Middletown, CT

The proportions are small (the pizza is very small plate sized and tempeh crab cakes were just two pieces with a little garnish on the side) , and for the price, pretty expensive, which is why I gave 3 $$$, so you’re not going to get full if you have a big appetite, but they have a selection of appetizers and dessert if you’re willing to spend more.

Another interesting thing I found was the price of dish is relative to which meat is being mimicked . Like vegan “seafood” like crab cakes is more expensive than cajun tempeh cutlets.  They seem to put price relative to value on real meat dishes.

Beverages: They also have a selection of coffee, tea, latte’s and smoothies that I haven’t tried yet.  If you have, let me know what you think!

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