I came here for a friend's birthday and I must say, what a pleasant surprise! I'm not a fanatic of vegetarian food, but The Plant Cafe definitely takes it easy on the meat lovers. Great choice, Gus!
Walking in, the first thing I noticed was how clean it was! The modern decor, live plant art and pristine bar were dirt free and clean as a whistle!
The pleasant service was also quite refreshing! Minus the bar service...a bit on the slow side, with a handful of patrons. BUT...their saving grace? They kept the drinks a-flowin' for the Birthday Boy...
So, onto the appetizers. I found it clever that they offered carrots, celery sticks, lettuce and radish with a pesto dip in place of the traditional starter, bread...It gave me the impression that we were in for quite a healthy meal!
-Grilled Flatbread: a wonderful starter accompanied with garlic hummus, cumin carrots, beets and yogurt as dips. Yum! Such a healthy combo!
-Duck Confit Pizza: the duck was a bit on the salty side, exactly how I like it...the bitter greens were a surprising twist. I'm not sure it was a good surprise or a not so good one...
-Shitake Spring Rolls: Light, Fresh, YUM. I love it when the rice wrapper is thin, but strong enough to hold the ingredients in.
Now, for the much talked about Plant Burger. I think everyone had some form of the Plant Burger...I found it ironic how the Plant Burger patty looks like red raw meat. I ordered the Wasabi Burger, against the waiter's advice of ordering the mushroom and cheese Plant Burger. The wasabi raspberry aioli sounded intriguing. Result: Intriguing, indeed! The aioli was sweet, with a hint of wasabi. Very different...but I could've done without the sauerkraut...Waiter--you were right...!
Personally, the Plant Burger patty alone was perfectly grilled, wonderful and fresh flavors and best of all--healthy.
The Spicy Green Curry was the most amazing dish of the evening. It was so rich in aroma and spices...mmm...I'm definitely getting that next time! Great choice, Uncle Mark!
Now on to my favorite part of dinner...Dessert!!!! One always makes room for Dessert!
Everything is wonderful and again, fresh!
My FAVORITE was the Lavender Coconut Rice Pudding. A-Ma-Zing! It made me an official fan of rice pudding! I'm always weary of Coconut...not a huge fan. But the lavender balanced it quite well! The citrusy fruit combination also added a yin/yang of sweet and sour flavors making this dish a semi-sultry tasting delight good enough to bring home to savor, if you know what I mean ;)!
Looking at the menu, the chocolate cake looked promising, only because of the Blue Bottle Coffee Ice Cream that accompanied it. I'm a sucker for anything Blue Bottle. But Coffee Ice Cream? No. Maybe it was French Vanilla? Whatever it was, I was not loving it too much. Ahh...what the Blue Bottle name will do to a dessert.
All in all, a great place to have a small intimate gathering or romantic vegetarian meal.
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