Restaurants
Urban Herbivore
Whether you're looking for organic salads, vegetarian sandwiches, vegan soups or just a really healthy, flavourful (and filling) lunch, Urban Herbivore has got you covered.
Sure enough, Toronto is already a great place to find a good meatless lunch, but with the standard sandwich shops are still making a "veggie" sub out of the lettuce and tomatoes other sandwiches include as filler, this Kensington Market kitchen is redefining the Veg Sandwich.
A friend and I pop by in the early afternoon after nearly being sidelined by freshly baked chicken pupusas up the street. They smelled so good, but we were looking for a few more vitamins in this refuelling session. After examining both salad and sandwich options at Urban Herbivore, we order up 2 sandwiches: Avocado and Grilled Vegetable ($6.49).
Everything is made on-the-spot when you order, so we take a seat in the window of this house-turned-eatery and wait.
First up: Avocado. Presented on a multi-grain bun (made in-house), it's packed with avocado, bruschetta-style chopped tomatoes, spinach, sprouts, etc, etc.... and it looks amazing.
"Well how is it?" I ask(as my friend had not even considered waiting 'til my food arrived).
"This is... (chomp chomp) so, (chomp) sooo, (chomp) GOOD. Can't you see I'm eating?"
She looked more like she was inhaling, but there was no time to grow jealous. My grilled vegetable sandwich was here.
As if fresh bread wasn't good enough, these sandwiches are also toasted. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and this one was stuffed with warm grilled eggplant, soft sweet potato, zucchini, chopped tomato, red peppers, shredded carrot, alfalfa sprouts, spinach leaves, olive paste, and the list goes on (pictured at the top).
All that, and it wasn't even heavy or oily. Wow. If it hadn't been so incredibly filling I would have ordered up a second one just for the joy of it.
Finally, on the way out, I picked up some freshly squeezed pink lemonade. Very zesty, my friends. It was great (especially on a hot afternoon), but not one for the wimpy lemonade drinker! I'm pretty sure I looked like I was winking at strangers as I sipped!
All in all, herbivore or not, I'd highly recommend this lunch to anyone. It's practically got me trying to book work in the area just so I'll have an excuse to stop in.
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The avocado is my absolute favourite.
Down with Tapenade!
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2325928153
In the meanwhile though, can I have your portion? I could eat olive tapenade by the SPOONFUL. Mmmmm.
Btw, I LOVE olives! Just came back from a year in Spain and didn't even know olives could come in such countless varities... IN Spain, one doesn't simply choose an olive oil by brand or whether it's extra virgin or not. One chooses by the kind of olive. There's an entire row in the supermarkets or olive oils made with every kind of olive. Most ppl buy large 4-5 litre jars for home consumption... ok, I digress...
The joke is on the buyers.
Sometimes your order isn't ready all at once - but that's pretty typical of many places in Kensington.
Would like to see at least a small focus on organic. I would pay extra for that. Don't think anything is organic currently.
but their juices/lemoades are sooooooo sour for my taste. makes my tongue burn half way
Seriously, since I've had a muffin from there, I've been hooked. I live about a block away from Herbivore, so have possibly too much easy access to the muffins at this place. It's like a crack addiction and it's pretty well where my money goes.
Anyway, muffins aside, their grain bowls and sandwiches are pretty awesome too. Highly recommend getting the celery root, bbq tofu, and seitian as toppings for your bowl.
Sandwiches. The only thing I have tried so far that I didn't really like was the "handwich" which is basically a hand-shaped bun with toasted coconut, tomato, lettuce, and cashew butter on the inside. It was $6 ($2.50 cheaper than their other sandwiches), but I wasn't that happy about the lack of sandwich fillings. The $8.50 sandwiches are loaded full and I can usually only finish half in a sitting.
Kay, final word - seriously, muffins. Try the muffins.
My question - Does anyone have a decent recipe for this?!
Look at their Dine Safe record and tell me if you want to eat there anymore: http://app.toronto.ca/food2/DineSafeMain?userRequest=view_history&;ESTABLISHMENT_ID=10199013
the last two times i've been the staff was super unfriendly (especially today, it was like i was bothering the guy when i asked him what the soup of the day was, i didnt see because he was standing in front of the sign, but he just pointed to the board and said "umm it's always right here."
they were missing loads of stuff, which they didn't bother to say when i ordered my salad, so when i got to the bar to start choosing, they kept saying "oh, we are out of that, that too, etc"
im all about supporting vegan restos but i won't be going back!
-be prepared for attitude from the staff here
-don't bother going on the weekends, it's a zoo
-If you are wearing leather or carrying a leather bag be prepared for bad service.
Fuck, the more I write, the more I realize I should go get my money back. That's a lot of money for a sandwich I couldn't eat.
The cookie was awesome though. Thanks cookie, for saving the day.
It wasn't just one of the staff members we approached, it was the server and the check out attendant. Not sure why there was an attitude problem, we were very pleasant.
Plus a regular salad bowl was $11 with tax! Seriously?!
Awful place. Avoid at all costs.
My experience has been that the staff at the Eaton Centre location are much friendlier than those in Kensington Market, some of whom can be surly at times. I avoid that location as much as possible only because of the way I've been treated there.
Also, it seems to always take them 15-20 min at least to pull a bowl or sandwich together, despite the fact that they have all the cuttings in front of them, cafeteria-style. This place does NOT have the feel of a restaurant even if they'd like to think they are.
Also, YOU'RE A RESTAURANT. If you're open, your one job is to make the food on your menu. Am I just coming in to hang out with you? If you want to stop making food at 6pm, you need to close at that time—don't make people go all the way to your restaurant after work to be turned away 40 minutes before you close.
I've never heard anything like this before.
Terrible service.
I do, however, say it is one of the better vegan places in Toronto simply for lack of option.
Overall be prepared for:
-Horrid service, the cooks hanging out in the back seem friendlier to be honest.
-Sky high prices for non-organic veggies and grain.
-Great bread (last time I was there anyways)
-Sour juices that are, again, overpriced.
-uncomfortable seating
-Good tomato soup