Vegan Mofo Day 7: a brief review of the Urban Herbivore

Today was a culinarily unremarkable day. There was a lot of green smoothie, a little bit of leftovers, and most of it was eaten in transit as I went from home to school to bus station to Toronto to Ottawa... But I did manage to fit in one "proper" meal, albeit in a huge rush.

A dear friend met me at the bus station and escorted me to the new Urban Herbivore location in the Eaton Centre's very swanky Urban Eatery. I have fond recollections of tasty grilled paninis and divine muffins sampled when another friend used to work there, and so I had pretty high hopes.

(photo credit)

Because I'm still off gluten and having a hard time with large quantities of raw veg, I opted for a grain bowl. Coming in at over $9 after tax, it's not the cheapest take-out option, but I'm willing to pay more for real food. For that price you get an ample serving of grain (quinoa or rice) with your choice of six toppings from their generous veggie bar and sauce.

I was sort of underwhelmed with this meal. The ratio of quinoa-to-vegetable was off (about 2 cups of quinoa and the stingiest serving of spinach ever) and the tahini sauce, while very tasty, was meagre. I opted for a simple combination: shredded carrots, baby spinach, roasted beets, marinated mushrooms, and a double serving of steamed broccoli. It was nice that they had such simple whole foods available, and many of the options weren't cooked in oil, which is rare. The beets and mushrooms were particularly delicious. Unfortunately, the quinoa had de puy lentils cooked right into it (normally a delicious surprise but not the greatest news for me considering that I'm still struggling with legumes); I ate around them as best I could but still ingested quite a few and had the tummy ache to prove it.

The plus? In half an hour I ate a healthy, balanced meal and was off to the train station. If for no other reason than the convenience I will come back. Though next time I'll probably opt for a salad.