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Fresh, clean vegetarian dishes so appetizing even carnivores won’t notice the absence of red meat.
The Foundation restaurant on Main Street in Vancouver offers some seriously delicious vegetarian food. Situated off East Broadway and Main, the non-descript storefront fails to warn customers of the healthy wonders awaiting their empty tummies. Inside the restaurant, the eclectic environment and cool tables give a slight 70’s kitchen feel, while the choice of music and variety of customers give it more of an inner-city vibe. Think Sin-city meets Cyndi Lopper.
Laid-back, busy and filled with twenty and thirty-something year olds, The Foundation beats other Vancouver vegetarian eateries hands down. The second night I went, there were two servers managing the entire restaurant, and despite the hectic pressure of a full house, they both offered efficient service, great menu advice, and fun social banter. A big jug of lime filled ice water arrived within moments, items on the menu were explained in great detail, as well as ambiguously worded advice that left the decision up to the diner.
The beverage menu offered a great selection of local draft beers, more exotic beer brews, great, inexpensive white and red wines, and sangria. The wine list is user-friendly, and priced well below the standard restaurant mark-up one expects to pay. All the drinks sampled were surprisingly well made, considering the Foundation is a smallish vegetarian restaurant, and credit should be given to the bartender/server responsible for making the drinks.
All the menu items are creative, incorporating original and high quality products, most of the dishes a winning mix of freshness, taste and presentation. The nachos are pure evil, colourful chips arriving on a long super hot white platter. The single layer of nachos are cleverly arranged so each piece manages to be covered in their delightful cheesy topping, spicy from the jalapenos. A pot of fresh salsa and sour cream accompanied the colourful chips. The yam chips arrived with a side of pureed yam, a pumpkin orange dollop of sweet, whipped yams tasting of guiltless pleasure. A sizable portion of chips, as well as a stack of fresh, warm, and neatly sliced warm flatbread were the perfect carbs to eat with the yam spread. No longer hungry, but feeling the greedy urge to eat more, I ordered the tofu and rice appetizer. Fluffy white jasmine rice lay under a mouth-watering mixture of tofu cubes and a peanut buttery sauce. Shredded, fresh arugala lettuce sat on a perfectly-made feathery bed, upping the pretty factor a few decimals until the plate was devoured.
Reviewed by: Christine G. Louie
Last reviewed: May 6th, 2006
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