Fab Fabian House Cafe (or, a nice place to come in out of the rain)

After a meeting, the rain, and another lunch(?) establishment that didn't pan out, Moz, Mom, and I headed to Old Town Bowie's Fabian House Cafe for a late lunch. So glad we went off the beaten path to get there.
You go through the antique store to get to the cafe. No, actually the cafe is the back part of the antiques shop, because it also had whimsical antiques for sale there, too. A small, friendly place, there were a family there and a cafe regular, speaking with the owners. We were offered samples of the two soups of the day (cream of garden vegetable and Mediterranean lentil); we all chose cups of the lentil soup to go with the various sandwich platters we ordered. (Good thing we had sense enough not to get bowls of soup, or I would have had to be rolled out of the place.)

The sandwiches--the alternative burger, tempeh salad, and the CAT--were all delicious and filling. The tempeh salad, on whole grain bread, was full of fresh dill as well as tempeh and vegan mayo, thankfully. (Apparently, that monstrosity known as sweet pickle relish isn't used in their salads.) The alternative burger contains mushrooms, is nicely seasoned, and very good, even if you choose to leave off the toppings. (Well, I had a bit of mayo on mine, but the flavor still came through.) The CAT was pretty good, because it's mostly avocado and mayo on whole grain bread, and how can you go wrong with avocado?

The rest of the platter was interesting, as the sandwiches came with couscous and a (suspiciously tasting like canned) tropical fruit salad. The couscous initially fell flat, because the dried cranberries and almonds on top led to me to believe that it might be sweet, which was not the case. However, it had a nice smoky flavor from the sesame oil (the couscous was not oily, however), and was fluffy, like properly cooked millet; I think it would make a good bed for a Morrocan-style stew.

All this food was filling enough that no one was tempted to get a dessert, although we saw the regular finishing off a float when we first arrived there. (And that's saying something from this family of sweets fiends!) Fabian also offers smoothies and hot drinks such as Tazo tea (nice!), coffee, and of course...
(This must be the best welcome sign ever!) All the while, we were taking in the quirky antiques in the cafe, such as the fan painted in a giraffe motif, the botanical prints (which were $14 each), and used books. When it was finally time to pay, we went to the front of the store, where the register is currently near a telephone bench (never saw one of those before), surrounded by other antiques. Sweet!

What a nice afternoon, in a place that seemed a thousand miles from the beltway. Friendly people, friendly prices, vegan-friendly food, eclectic antiques, what more could you want? I'll have to find some excuse to slip back there again.