Greens Veggie Restaurant

This sunny weekend in Toronto we headed over to Kensington Market to go look at produce, okay no, we went to go to Hot Beans in hopes that they would have Boston Cream donuts. No luck on the Boston creams, but they had coconut lime, which still satisfied our quest for donuts, but still made me hope for a Boston cream filled Monday.

I’ve walked by Greens Vegetarian Restaurant (638 Dundast St W, Toronto, ON) dozens of times, but I’ve never stopped in, or looked at the menu before this weekend. And as usual, I was pleasantly surprised when I finally did. There was only one person in the restaurant when we walked in, enjoying a giant bowl of soup, but on the bright side, an empty restaurant (ideally) means fast service.

Looking over the menu, it isn’t exactly descriptive… or rather, it doesn’t seem descriptive until you actually get your dish and realize it was exactly as describe: simple (at least with the dishes we tried.) I should mention that this is not an exclusively vegan restaurant and some dishes have egg in them, but you can tell your server and they’ll take care of you. Another nice thing about Greens is that you can get 10% off with a TVA discount card.

It’s been nearly a year since my last bowl of memorably delicious hot and sour soup (from Padmanadi in Edmonton) so I was happy to see it on Green’s menu, and even more pleased when we got a giant bowl for $2.99 (this is their small). And even more pleased when it was actually good. I know the next time I’m at Green’s I’ll be ordering another bowl of this soup.

My friend ordered a mushroom asparagus dish, and commented that the asparagus was perfect (tender crisp). It came with a side of much needed hot sauce and while the dish was tasty I’ll try something else next time.

I ordered the fried tofu with pepper salt and it was exactly that: deep fried tofu with pepper salt, nothing else. Not that I’m complaining, it was delicious, though that could be said for anything deep fried. I could have used something to dip the tofu wedges in (however, I’m sure I could have asked for plum sauce and solved my own issue.)

I’m glad we walked in there, I’m glad there was free hot green tea, and I’m glad there was ample hot sauce available. It’s nice to have a vegetarian chinese food alternative to King’s Cafe (which I didn’t enjoy much) in the Kensington Market area (though there is also Buddha’s on 666 Dundas St W). Service was quick and friendly and the air conditioning was strong; I see myself going here again sometime during this summer.