When two culinary forces join up to form the ultimate vegan-friendly hang-out spot, you’d better believe the result is worth a visit (or a few). Melrose Arch’s The Grind Coffee Shop and Hyde Park’s Honest Food Store have opened a plant-based, vegan-friendly, healthy eatery – The Grind Greenery in Melrose Arch. Positioned just above The Grind Coffee Shop, it stays true to the Honest Food Store’s ethos of creating healthy, holistic and honest living. After spending a festive evening at this new spot enjoying a delicious seven-course meal (our stomachs were bulging!), we feel we can say with certainty that the meals are must-trys. While the meals we sampled are not on the a la carte menu, they’re available as event canapés and it would be an injustice not to tell you about how delicious they are. For starters, we tried an oh-so-homely charred red pepper and tomato soup, then a colourful plate of smoked ‘salmon’ ribbons with pickled carrots and a papaya salad before we put our forks through The Shimeji – a turmeric risotto with a corn puree, popcorn and shimeji mushrooms. (It paired beautifully with Bouchard Finlayson Sauvignon Blanc.) There are many ways to prepare the low-fat protein, tofu, and we have to tell you that the salsa verde tofu with kale chips, crispy peas and a spring oil is probably our favourite yet. Also try the nasu nibitashi … Asian braised eggplant. Not ones to shy away from dessert, we loosened our belt buckles and tucked into a blueberry sorbet shooter and raspberry cheesecake with pomegranate seeds and edible flowers. Sweetly decadent. There’s also a range of tasty home-made, sugar-free, dairy-free and gluten-free snacks available downstairs at The Grind Coffee Shop. Mmm. Brekkie starts from R50 and lunch from R70.
Details: thegrindgreenery.co.za or follow @thegrindza on Insta and Facebook
