Green Cuisine Vegetarian Restaurant — Restaurant in Victoria

Green Cuisine is an adequate vegan institution in Victoria. I wish I could say more than adequate, but I really can’t. For most items, they do not really do a poor job, but they certainly don’t do an excellent job as well. I suspect that many of the glowing positive reviews are because people are rating vegan places on a relative scale, i.e. relative to other vegan places, for which there are very few. As a lifelong vegetarian and someone who was vegan for nearly half a year, I wish more people would demand of vegan restaurants what we demand of any restaurant. It isn’t enough to made food at an average level that one might settle for at home. If you are going to sell prepared food as a product, and if you have the experience of making the food 7/days a week, the public should demand a higher bar in taste.

The most striking example of how Green Cuisine fails is, oddly, their soy-based proteins: tofu and tempeh. In general, the tofu is alright, but I wonder it never appears in hot and properly spiced curries; doing this could truly let the tofu shine, and this is precisely how a number of Asian cultures handle tofu (save for Japan, who do their own thing and do it quite well too). The tempeh is typically a disaster. Tempeh is originally from Indonesia, and much can be gained by drawing from how Indonesians make tempeh delicious. Whereas Green Cuisine seems to cook tempeh with some sauce, with little time spent on marinating (I base my observation based on the lack of flavor on the inside of the tempeh), in Indonensia tempeh is marinated and cooked with spices, rendering tempeh delicious throughout and quite addictive. Also, on a given visit to Green Cuisine, with a 50% chance you will run into this abomination that is tempeh sitting in some sort of sad-looking brown sauce. I’ve even heard comments from others around me saying “well, that doesn’t look very good”, knowing that they could freely express themselves with little chance that I would not chime into to say “yup, it’s pretty gross”. If only Green Cuisine could master the basics of making vegan protein palatable, they might draw some omnivores and might even allow vegans to rate the restaurant as a good restaurant, not just a good “vegan restaurant”.

That said, I think their cornbread is awesome, and (when available) the cashew cream broccoli soup is quite tasty. Still, given the price of the by-weight foods, I expect a higher...

Probably the only place in the area one can get a decent lunch for under $5 (if one is mindful of the weight). Their soups are always delicious (Cashew Tomato, and the Mushroom are my favorite), and I have a hard time picking between the cornbread and the foccacia, as they're both so yummy.

Praline brownies and gelato satisfy my sweet tooth, and the kraut bar makes my tummy so happy. I love coming here to hunker down and study (free Wi-Fi) with a lot of tea (lots of selection), or on dates/with friends. I'm not a vegetarian, but I feel like the food here is just as satisfying as the non-vegan versions. It's great that they list all the ingredients, for those who have allergies, or if you're like me and just like to know what you're eating.

I've been eating their tempeh since I lived in Calgary, and it's so affordable and versatile. Their kombuchas are very reasonably priced, and the baked goods (muffins and stuff) are a great grab-and-go snack.

I also love how the menu is posted online, makes my mouth water and motivates me to make the trip downtown - or I'm often sending friends screenshots to entice them to meet up for lunch.

I've never had anything but good interactions with the staff. The only time I'm every irritated in there is when a customer can't be bothered to clean up after themselves, or people who fill up to-go containers and then eat inside (why??) - but that really has nothing to do with the restaurant itself.

My friend took me here on my first day in town, and I have been in love ever since. When I first moved here, broke and struggling to get hours at multiple jobs, this was the place that kept me healthy and well fed - sometimes being my only meal in the day.

I love you Green...

Green Cuisine is like a staple long-time establishment in Victoria, BC, for everyone. It is a trustworthy & go-to venue to have delicious home-made style food that we don't usually find anywhere else. They have a large seating area & even also a little play area for kids with books & toys, so definitely bring your kiddos along to enjoy healthy vegan food.

Their buffet spread always have a great selection of whole grains, beans, tofu & tempeh. Of course, they also have a salad bar for all your fresh veggies needs. What is exciting is that they have a dessert spread on their buffet, such as pies & cheesecake (vegan, of course!). All these items are charged by weight.

They always have 2 soups of the day for you to choose from. These soups are charged by bowls (not by weight), so it would be smart for you to fill up your bowl should you choose to get it!

Even if I don't eat at Green Cuisine, I tend to drop by their restaurant just to buy their own tempeh. You can also find their Green Cuisine tempeh brand at some of the grocery stores in town but buying direct from their restaurant would give you the best prices!

Pros: great selection on buffet with ingredient list, kids-friendly, they have a large community bulletin board

Cons: mostly affordable but can be unexpectedly pricey, buffet-style so some dishes may not be hot, so many selections, i want to...