Poorly Balanced Vege Mains. Hit and Miss Quality. June 2024

A large menu with many options - including many vegetarian options. Unfortunately the mains vege options were nutritionally unbalanced and a poor value compared to the meat options.

We started with the hummus/baba ganoush plate and a soup. The soup was fine and my companion enjoyed it. I could not say the same for the hummus. It was thin and lacked tahini and cumin and tasted mostly of olive oil. In fact the oil had separated/or been added and it made the hummus oily and bland. The baba ganoush was the same - lacking flavour, thin and oily. These two items came close to being the worst of their kind I had ever been served in a restaurant. Perhaps they were stretching them out ...The bread was hot but oily and very salty. Not great.

My companion tried the salad, which was fine - nice looking greens and nuts. I wish I'd had it instead of the hummous plate.

My own dish was the Halloumi cheese with Quinoa plate. It offered the highest protein vegetarian option. The Quinoa was too dry and not cooked properly. It was not great and I would not order it again. . To be honest I just wish places like this would learn to prepare properly balanced vegetarian meals and offer a real choice. I'd be willing to help them with the menu myself ....

The wait staff were courteous and attentive but clearly had no understanding of these issues. If I had not been so hungry, having not eaten all day, I would have returned the hummous plate.

As someone who works in the fine food industry (over 50 years) I am still amazed that vegetarian and vegan options are so mundane and limited outside of the large cities. At least the vege options are better in Port Perry than they were forty years ago, but quite frankly they should be much better. In most large cities in Canada I can order a vegan/vege meal for much less and obtain a high protein well balanced meal.

Come on Marwan's - you can do better!