There aren't many days I am genuinely inspired to visit a restaurant. Let's face it, we all want to be wowed by plates of the finest fayre, exotic combinations, dazzling culinary creations that prove the worth of the visionary creator, but the compelling feeling to get up and go to visit a restaurant is usually not one of inspiration. It is usually one of mere need for satiety, both of the stomach and posing variety, or of inquisitiveness –testing out the water, assessing for future visits, bragging rights, etc. But although I was inspired for different reasons to have dinner up the Eiffel Tower, I was inspired by wholesome and healthy vegetarian zeal to visit the Grassroots Pantry. I was not disappointed.
The Grassroots Pantry is tucked away in Sai Ying Pun -the old residential part of western Hong Kong that used to be called Victoria. It has a history going back to the original 1840s British settlement of the territory although nothing from that era remains apart from the street names. Located at the end of the teensy-tiny Fuk Sau Lane, blink and you'd miss it: remember it's on the corner of Third Street and the winding Pok Fu Lam Road and you'll be all right.
Until recently I didn't get into much of a quiver about a load of old vegetables on a plate, however it would be delivered, but over the past few months the Memsahib and meself have become a tad more vetable-ish. That's not to say that meat hath not crossed our lips, but to use an iTunes analogy, instead of it being in the Most Favoured Playlist, it's now relegated to the Country Music section -rarely if at all visited and more often than not deleted. Actually, just as a warblin' suth'n blue grass tune may appeal most when accompanied by copious amounts of Suth'n Comfort, so also does the cooked flesh of dead animals. This, of course, may also occur at the time of the day when one's culinary judgement may not necessarily be at its best and probably accounts for the prevelance of devilish, late-night, aromatic Kebabery throughout the city centres of the world.
Hence, we have taken a little more consideration regarding our food. To be precise, we have taken a little more consideration with regard to where our food has come from. As a teacher, I thought it my duty to encourage children to make informed decisions about the food they eat, particularly the meat many claimed not to able to live without -perhaps the most obvious philosophical decision they will make on a daily basis –thrice-daily, even. So I would start with the housing and slaughtering of chickens and ducks and the treatment of sows and their unfortunate 'suckling' piglets. Those being the most commonly eaten meats of the general Chinese population here, there was not time to mention lambs and cows, although a short description of the contents of most of the sausages they regularly consume was usually enough to end on a high (or low) point of popular revulsion. Chicken Nuggets? In most cases they simply had not given it any thought. They had almost no idea how the animals were raised, transported or slaughtered and knew even less about how their meat was processed. Check it out here.
In fairness, the Chinese have until recently had a pretty good idea about fresh ingredients, particularly meat. Resembling medieval faires, 'wet markets' display their wares for all to see, animal and vegetable, and it quickly becomes obvious what is safe and what is to be avoided. The first exposure to live chickens and squiggly fishies ready to be dispatched may arrest the casual camera-wielding observer, but in a city of high heat and humidity freshness and food safety has always been ensured. Well, nearly always. Unfortunately, the plague of Bird Flu put a stop to the Mrs Wongs of this fair city blowing on chicken's bums to gauge the health of the bird from the... response, and the plague of Swine Flu threatened to put an end to pork and humankind altogether! Not many now shop exclusively in wet markets: as enjoyable as it is, most people simply haven't got the time.
So, with inspirational, high-minded quasi-Buddhisty thoughts of animal welfare, we visited the lovely Grassroots Pantry for our daughter's birthday lunch. It is exactly how a restaurant of this kind should be with the focus on good food and on about as much of a bohemian experience of thoughtful veggy life money can buy. And I must say, it ain't that bad. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it was one of the best vegetabalist lunches I've had. It even smelt right!
Vegetarian food is often of a folksy, home-made quality, where the chef has obviously undertaken a course in macrobiotics and left the paying customer with chunky soups, unadventurous salads and not much more. Unfortunately, it sometimes looks like a pile of vegetably vomit. At the very least, the chefs at Grassroots Pantry have thought not only about the ethics of eating, but also of the taste, texture and even the presentation of their dishes. It's not cheap, but neither should it be.
The hand-made menu is hand-written with cute hand-drawn illustrations of each hand-made dish. The starters were tasty, if a little small, and the mains were rich, if similarly portioned. The smoothies were delicious and filling and the deserts a little heavy and in need of the excellent Ethiopian coffee to make its way stomach-side. I had good reports from Alys and Victor of the Blueberry Cheesecake.
Utilizing their philosophy of local, sustainable and mostly organic foodstuffs, they aim to serve 'nutritious, homemade, plant-based world dishes'. And Peggy Chan (far right in photo), their chief chef, clearly knows her stuff having served in many excellent locations in Canada, Switzerland, Tokyo and Hong Kong. Her love of vegetarian food and of how good it can be is evident in each dish. They also host culinary schools of various hues –I might just take advantage of their next wine dinner. As well as a lovely shop-front patio area, they also have a larger room for hosting parties around a long table upstairs.
I knew it would be an excellent restaurant lunch –even without any sort of alcoholic nuances. We left full but not bloated, thoroughly sated but not soporific. If this is healthy eating, then I'll be coming back for more. And it's not only me that's inspired -check out this lovely girly review. Inspirational!
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