Tuesday 24 July 2018

Eating Out: Greenhouse South Brisbane

Greenhouse is a vegan restaurant that has had various locations down at the Gold Coast that I've visited a few times through the years (which you can see here), but they recently opened a location in South Brisbane... right next to West End where all the vegan food seems to be these days! One Saturday after work, I went and got a hair cut (from a vegan hairdresser who is amazing!), and went to meet my friend Tracee afterwards for an early dinner to try out the new location of Greenhouse. I should mention that their menu is the same regardless of location.

We sat down and perused the menu, starting with some drinks (a housemade lemonade for Tracee and a ginger kombucha for me). I would need that kombucha!

Ginger Kombucha and Lemonade at Greenhouse South Brisbane


And then we ordered everything on the menu. OK, not really... but kind of. The food menu is split into two sections - small eats and large eats. We ordered everything off the small eats menu, minus the antipasto plate (which is quite large and is for sharing, I have had one before at the Miami location). So that is... nine items. But to share between two of us. Fine, right? I'm posting a screen shot of the menu here, so you can read all the things and what they are, and then I am going to post them in order of least favourite to most favourite! (PS, you will see that there are often spicy bits involved, we got some of it on the side, though the rest was not too spicy for me, thankfully!) Oh, and sorry for the weird light in the photos. The lighting was very dim, and somehow things ended up looking green.

2018-06-09 21.59.32


Both us felt that our least favourite dish was the Chickpea Fries. There were some texture issues, with the inside just being weird and smooshy and not very satisfying. This was the only one of the dishes I didn't really enjoy, the rest were all good. But I have to rank them somehow!

Chickpea Fries at Greenhouse South Brisbane


The Mushroom Taco was a definite step up from the fries. But just by virtue of being a bit deep fried and smooshy, it lands the second last spot on the list.

Mushroom Taco at Greenhouse South Brisbane


The Sticky Pineapple Polenta was fun, though a bit messy! I sure did take of that bit of chilli. I think I would have prefered it if things had bee a bit more finely chopped for the topping, as you didn't really get to taste all of the flavours at once.

Sticky Polenta at Greenhouse South Brisbane


There is a Nut Mince Taco underneath all of this! This had more classic taco flavours, and was fun and chewy from the nut mince.

Nut Mince Taco at Greenhouse South Brisbane


The Zucchini Flowers were a surprise hit. Initially we were a little underwhelmed, until you get to the inside of the blossom and bite into a delicious almond feta. More feta, less stalk please! The dill cream was also very nice.

Stuffed Zucchini Flowers at Greenhouse South Brisbane


The Raw Taco was so lovely and fresh and light. The chipotle cheese didn't seem at all spicy. Definitely by pick of the tacos.

Raw Taco at Greenhouse South Brisbane


Getting to the pointy end of the list now. Coming in third were the Mushroom Arancini Balls, with a cashew parmesan. These were so satisfying, warm, and crispy. I love a good arancini!

Arancini at Greenhouse South Brisbane


A surprise second place went to the Buffalo Cauliflower. I was most concerned about this, because I was worried that it would be too spicy. But it is negative spicy. Really, it is not buffalo at all. I guess they do say housemade tomato relish on the menu, but the expectation of buffalo is spice. It is a beautiful, almost slightly sweet tomato sauce coating the cauliflower, with a pleasant and creamy (though not really ranch) dressing. So it isn't really what it says it is, but it is really yummy.

Buffalo Cauliflower at Greenhouse South Brisbane


And finally, edging out by a whisker, the Mac and Cheese. Sorry to be predictable. I would like to say that the top three were so close, it was really hard for me to rank them. But it had to be done.

Mac and Cheese at Greenhouse South Brisbane


So there you have it. Go along, have your own buffet, and see what you like! I wish I could say that we finished everything, but in the end we were defeated by three chickpea fries. We just didn't really enjoy eating them. And when you are that full, making yourself finish something that you don't enjoy just for pride's sake is silly... right? I did wrap them up in a napkin though so it gave the appearance that we did it. Heh.

BTW, welcome to my 2018 eating out posts! I finally got here! Though I have jumped over a bunch to post this adventure. Maybe I'll finish blogging my 2018 eats by the end of next year?

Greenhouse Canteen and Bar Brisbane - 68 Manning Street, Brisbane - 3724 2761

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

Dim Sim


Blue brings out her eyes!

8 comments:

  1. I always love your eating out posts. The chickpea fries look beautiful, too bad they were a disappointment.
    I remember making a recipe I found online for raw tacos and the filling was mae with raw walnuts and soy sauce an taco like spices. They were so delicious. I was shocked!
    Blue is definitely Dim Sim's color!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've made walnut mince before and it is surprisingly tasty. Even my mum loved it and wanted the recipe/

      Delete
  2. There's some lovely inventive food in this post and how fab to be able to order everything! I've just been catching up on your last few posts. I hope your dad is doing well x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, he is at home and healing.
      It was a lot of fun to be able to order all of the things!

      Delete
  3. Everything looks great; I'm sure I would have loved the top three, too! Beautiful Dim Sim!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a really great meal... is meal the right word.... feast?

      Delete
  4. Everything looks so yummy! Was it the first time eating chickpea fries? I like the idea of not-so-spicy buffalo wings to have on some days. Because I just love fried food covered in sauce but don't always want my mouth to be on fire XD

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have had their chickpea fries before a very long time ago when they were in their first cafe down the coast, though I don't really remember. I have made chickpea fries at home before that I think were better, firmer.

      Delete