Hob Nob Farm Cafe
506 West King Street
Boone NC
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Hob Nob Farm Cafe
Open Wednesday to Sunday
10 to 10
A very interesting couple owns this cafe. Nova and Mike Nelson, whom I believe is the chef, seem to love creating new restaurants which combine marvelous fusions of cultures and flavors with very healthy eating, always with vegetarian and vegan options.
The first of their restaurants, at least that we’ve experienced, was called Angelica’s. You could fine Asian-style nori rolls, Cajun red beans and rice and wonderful Italian pastas. Once this restaurant became a huge success, they sold it and moved to another location across town where they founded The Coyote Kitchen. I’ll talk about this restaurant in depth later as it still exists under new management. Coyote Kitchen quickly became our favorite restaurant in Boone with its creative fusions of Caribbean and Southwestern cuisines. Once this was up and running full tilt, they again sold their restaurant and opened a Thai restaurant in yet another area of town. (I did not make it to this restaurant and can not reliably comment on it.) The next thing we knew, they were back at the Angelica’s location with still another restaurant which they call the Hob Nob Farm Cafe. It is marvelous! I’ve never had a bad meal there.
You can get a taste of several cultures at Hob Knobs. I don’t think you can consider the dishes traditional since they definitely display the creative, independent and imaginative tastes of their owner/chef. Your mouth explodes with flavors, sometimes unexpected flavors, which seduce you with each bite to have another, and another, and another …
The cuisine ranges from Southwest USA to Asian to Greek to Cuban to Indian to Jamaican to Southeast USA, all of it simply delicious. I counted 14 vegan options on their lunch menu alone ranging in prices from $6.95 to $11.95 with the average vegan meal around $7.95.
The dinners are another multi-cultural affair with entrees from $7.50 to $14.95. The price depends partly on the kind of protein you wish to add, if any. The average price of a dinner vegan entree is around $9.95. Sadly, I did not see any vegan options for breakfast.
Hob Nob’s serves breakfast and lunch from 10am-5pm and dinner from 5-10pm. Bring cash because they do not accept credit cards. There is an ATM in the foyer for your convenience.
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An update on Hob Knob Farm Cafe as of January, 2014: they are still fabulous! And I agree with Veganj, their tempeh is amazing. The first time I went to Hob Knob–which I heard of through this blog–I was very impressed. I got the black-eyed pea soup, which was fabulous, and the giant Tamale de Bayamo (with tempeh), which rocked my face! We sat at a table with cute pig salt-and-pepper shakers. (The decor is very homey, not remotely pretentious.) My dining partner got the Avocado Tempeh Melt, a vegetarian dish, that looked fabulous as well.
Most recently, I went with three other diners, all of whom got the Jerk Chicken. I again ordered under the Cuban portion of the menu, this time settling on the Plato de Santiago. Make no mistake: it was absolutely fabulous and I finished every bite. But one of the reasons I ordered it was to get fruits and veggies I don’t normally have at home, especially pineapple and plantains. I was saddened to find, when I bit into a bite of the suspiciously “tidbit” shaped pineapple, it didn’t burst in my mouth like the fresh stuff does, but had the lackluster sugary sweetness of canned pineapple. But the plantains were fabulous as they had been before. Another great offering os a house-made hot sauce available upon request!! I should note, however, that their hot sauce is not what I would consider hot (even though our server cautioned us to “be careful” with it as it contained habanero). It was beautiful, bright green, and tasted fresh, but it was not hot. On a happy note: corn tortillas are easily substituted for flour with the Plato de Santiago.
All in all, another good experience, but I was disappointed with the canned pineapple. Maybe when it’s in season they use fresh? I also wish the hot sauce had been hotter, but I’ll admit that I eat Sriracha pretty much daily so my heat-o-meter may be a bit off. The Plato de Santiago was excellent, even without added heat. 🙂 I’ll be back.
No one makes food as hot as I like it either. I think most American taste buds run to the mild side and I’m guessing most restaurants cater to the masses. The pineapple may have been a seasonal thing. I’ll have to ask next time I’m there. I ate at Hob Nob’s last week and had a wonderful daily special. The specials are always so creative, fresh, healthy and delicious as well as reasonably priced. I hardly bother with the regular menu anymore.
We have one particular favorite dish at Hob Nob. The Chiang Mai Noodle bowl contains rice noodles in a spicy sauce topped with sauteed vegetables and pieces of apple and cashews. You can order it this way or add tofu or tempeh for an extra charge. The tempeh at Hob Nob is especially good so we frequently add that. If you want to cut down on the oil, they will use less if requested
Other favorites are the Portobella Tofu Divinewich and the Garam Masala Indian Curry.
You are so right! I’ve tried all these dishes and they are superb!!