Dish-Tested, Lent Approved at Atlanta Restaurants

Those Friday night fish fries are a Lenten staple, but what about some other ideas for those opting out of meaty menus for Lent?  Rejoice!  Our Atlanta restaurant friends will tempt your taste buds and fill you up without beef, pork or chicken through Lent and beyond.

On Mondays, Spice Market offers its vegetarian bento box created by Executive Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten for only $24 per person.  Each bento box includes white or brown rice, the chef's soup of the day and your choice of three dishes from the varied list:  market green salad with radishes, cherry tomatoes and sesame seed vinaigrette; fragrant mushroom egg rolls with galangal emulsion; vegetables in green curry; spicy Shanghai noodles with chilled silken tofu, garlic and herbs; wok-charred eggplant with sweet chili glaze and peanuts; or spicy Thai slaw with Asian pear, crispy shallots and mint.  (In the W Atlanta-Midtown, 188 14^th Street, NE; 404-724-2550)  

Woodfire Grill stays true to its farm-to-table mantra with a five-course vegetarian tasting menu for $65 (excluding tax and gratuity). Some items in season now that may show up on the menu are sunchokes, micro spring greens, baby red potatoes, arugula, baby Vidalia onions, fennel, turnips and green onions.   (1782 Cheshire Bridge Road; 404-347-9055)

Aqua blue's Crabfest will turn hungry crabs into happy clams, so to speak, through April 18.  Executive Chef John C. Metz and Chef de Cuisine Kien Sam created the limited-time Crabfest menu featuring she-crab soup; jumbo lump crab cakes with avocado, mango, chili aioli, rice wine vinegar and wasabi honey mustard;  soft shell crab rolls made with thin asparagus, crab cake, sweet herb, futomaki, soy paper and red tobiko served with wasabi honey mustard and fresh lemon; a chilled Florida stone crab claw taster served with traditional mustard sauce; drunken king and snow crab legs or large Florida stone crab claws served with green peppercorn cocktail sauce, tri-color tiny potatoes, corn on the cob slather and jicama slaw.  (1564 Holcomb Bridge Road in Roswell; 770-643-8886) 

RA Sushi is always swimming with fish, and they've recently added two more meat-free dishes:  vegetable tempura roll with lightly battered asparagus, sweet potato and Japanese eggplant rolled and topped with colorful crunchy tempura bits and drizzled with a sweet eel sauce and the Tropical roll that rolls cucumber, mango and avocado together and tops them off with spinach tempura bits and spicy shrimp mixed with masago and mango salsa. (1080 Peachtree Street at 1010 Midtown; 404-267-0114)