Just a short walk from Pikes Place is the light rail stop, so I hopped on for a couple of stops to the Westlake Center station. From here you can catch the monorail to the Seattle Center, which is a bit pricey at $2.50 for the very short journey – but I decided it was worth it for the experience.

The Seattle Center is a very popular place for tourists coming to town. Here you’ll find the iconic Space Needle and several museums. The Museum of Popular Culture is located inside a most unusual building that looks like the aftermath of a road wreck. Close by are the Pacific Science Center, the Children’s Museum and the Chihuly Garden and Glass.

Using the Happy Cow app on my phone I had tracked down Broadfork, a vegan cafe a block or two away from the Seattle Center (they have a second location by the University). They say they a farm-to-fork restaurant offering food that is vegan – so I thought I would give them a whirl!

Broadfork is not a very ostentatious cafe, the decor is very simple and bright. The fact that it has floor to ceiling windows on two sides makes the inside feel very light and airy. There is also nothing very flashy about the seating, with plain wooden tables and chairs. I arrived around 1:00 pm on a Friday and it was quiet – so I would not imagine this place gets very busy.

In keeping with the simplicity theme food is ordered at the counter. The staff were a bit surly and didn’t seem that interested in serving me – perhaps I caught them on a bad day. I settled for the Cashew Curry Bowl at $10.95. The ingredients included brown rice, tofu, broccoli, kale, Nappa, peppers, white cashew curry sauce and of course cashews. For a drink, I fancied trying a smoothie and liked the look of the Berry Bliss Smoothie ($8.50) with strawberry, blueberry in hemp milk.

As things were fairly quiet the food and smoothie arrived promptly – which is just as well as my time to get back to the airport was rapidly clicking down.

The tofu bowl was relatively small for something with an $11.00 price tag. For a few moments, I was a bit confused until I realized what I thought were giant croutons were actually toasted chunks of tofu. Anyway, I tucked in and it was pretty tasty. The curry sauce was delicate and not at all overpowering with the other flavours on offer. Anything with broccoli and cashew nuts always works for me! By the end of the bowl, I was quite satisfied but felt that I could have done with a slightly larger helping (I had left my hotel early in the morning so had skipped breakfast). Luckily, the smoothie – which was delicious – did a great job in filling me up.

Overall, I liked the simplicity of Broadfork – its basic cafe style and uncomplicated food. Certainly, for a quick, healthy bite to each at lunchtime, it is a great place to visit. If you want somewhere for a romantic meal with lots of pizzazz then Broadfork is not for you. My only real issue is one value for money – but its central location near the Seattle Center means that for the area it is probably par for the course.