Grassroot pantry when it was located at their original address located in Sai Ying Pun, has been one of my favourite restaurant serving delicious vegetarian/ vegan food that is closer to what I grew up with in Australia and England.
Their popularity grew, and they have to moved to a bigger premises and I'm pleased they are on hollywood road located, at the old press room space. It is spacious, lovely high ceiling and plenty of seats as well.
I often joke with my carnivore friends that I'll dump them at Blue butcher next door, and I'll go indulge at vegetarian heaven next door at grassroot pantry.
It is a bit of a hipster vibe, food was really over priced when it first started back September 2015, and I'm glad they have refined and tune down the prices since. They wanted to go for a fine dining route, but I guess it turned out it wasn't as popular as Peggy (owner) has imagined it. Still what they have now on the menu is pretty good. They have also recently introduced a $198 lunch menu, it is a real bargain, I encourage you to go try it out.
Back to the menu, here are some of my favourite dishes.
The ethnic plate by far is one of my favourite. The early days of grassroot pantry when it first moved to hollywood road, especially the breakfast and even the mains were all on the small size, I remembered having three course meal and still left me hungry. This ethnic ethopian/ indian plate is good to share between 3-4 people as a starter, or a very filling main for one. It is still under $200, so that's a plus.
I like the curry, and also the 'eel' nori rolls. Both done really well and very tasty. They also use a lot of hedgehog mushrooms, for example in their kelp noodle dish. In chinese vegetarian cuisine, they often use these mushrooms to mimic the texture of meat. It is tasty and at least it isn't processed like the mock meat at restaurants or supermarket.
The 'lamb' hot pot was rather disappointing, it has some bean curd and vegetables with fermented tofu/ sauce. It wasn't anything special... taste was ok... but could be better.
I'm not a huge fan of the dessert as it is sweet and very tiny for the price you pay. So I often go without it. Except I opt for their Tumeric latte or moringa matcha tea. Both are great inventions. Tumeric has a lot of great warming medicinal properties, and the way they make it is very tasty. I highly recommend it.
Service can be a bit more responsive. Overall it is good. Faster service if you sit at the bar where the drinks are served. Great place to have a cup of tea/ coffee, and read too.
All in all, I will still go back, less for breakfast, as I find weekday set lunch and dinner to be better for value.
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