364 Duckworth St.
Ph. 579-5485
Vegetarians rejoice! Verily, I say, sing it from the rooftops! St. John’s finally has a bona fide vegetarian restaurant! The Sprout is situated in the building that used to house the original Classic Café at Duckworth west. The new business is owned and operated by a pair of women from Ontario, Julia Bloomquist and Marina Schiralli-Earle, who fell for a couple of Newfoundlanders and landed themselves in St. John’s. Word’s been slow in getting out on The Sprout but I think that’s about to change. Recently a few downtown socialites urged me to take a look, so I did.
There was a definite truth, a veracity that permeated
everything from the atmosphere and service at The Sprout to the salads, soups,
bowls, sandwiches and burgers they sell with cute names like The Beet
Generation, Me-so Hungry and Give Peas a Chance. When I first walked in and
spied the server, a thin man with dreadlocks wearing a bandana, I thought it
was all a little too cliché. I soon realized, however, that he and the
restaurant were genuine. I felt more comfortable, more “at ease” in The Sprout
than I do in most restaurants.
The Sprout is a small eatery with 4 tables and 4 booths. In
keeping with its menu, the room had a very “of the earth” feel to it - brick
floor, one wall of exposed stone, paper lantern shades, earth tones and dark
wood. Crafty people might like the few examples of textile art that adorn the
walls. I particularly liked two examples featuring the female torso made from
some sort of embossed fabric. Muted incandescent lighting gave the room a warm,
pleasing glow.
So much of what I saw on The Sprout’s menu looked good to me
I wanted to try it all and don’t forget, I’m an avowed meat eater. I was
famished, to be sure, but the menu descriptions made my mouth water. For
example, here’s how they described a bowl called Papa Ghandi:
“A selection of root vegetables, broccoli and chickpeas
simmered in an amazing sauce made from creamy coconut milk, ginger and our exotic
blend of Indian spices. Served on short grain brown rice and topped with
toasted coconut.” You don’t have to be vegetarian to find that appealing.
My companion and I couldn’t wait to dig in. We soon decided on the Beet Generation Salad for starters. It was a mix of fruits and veggies - beet being one of course. The presentation of this salad was very eye-catching, making it look almost too good to touch. It looked like some sort of multi-coloured ruffled bird. Shredded beet sat on top of shredded carrots, which, in turn, sat on top of mixed greens. Cascading down over all were crumbled bits of feta cheese. The birdlike illusion was fixed by the presence of thinly sliced apple sections that fanned out on either side of the salad like the spreading wings of a grouse. The beet combined with the feta is what made this salad taste so sensational for me. Together, both - one, pungent and sharp, the other earthy and slightly sweet - conspired to turn the entire dish into a perfect concerto of contrasts. Balsamic vinaigrette added extra zip and lustre.
A miso soup, cleverly called Me-so Hungry, was delightful. Contained in the flavourful miso broth were perfectly cut julienne vegetables like: carrot, mushrooms, green onions and wakame seaweed. The soup was described as being, “sure to add a bounce to your step.” Well, at the very least, it perked me up. I let the julienne vegetables just roll around on my tongue and tease my taste buds while glorious beads of flavour fell from them. Then I’d slowly bite into the veggies as even more wonderful flavours emerged.
My companion had a “special” soup for that day - minestrone
- and while he quite liked it, I was not excited by it. I found it only
passable. Apart from lots of tomato sauce, I wasn’t picking up much of anything
else, even though I could see plenty of vegetables in it, as well as chickpeas.
Perhaps the flavours would have been more developed if the soup had had more
salt. In fact, it didn’t seem to have any salt and, for me, that’s as bad as
having too much. My apologies to the anti-salt folks but I don’t think it’s
possible to make most food taste really good without a little salt.
The pad Thai called, Thai One On, was tasty as far as it went but it lacked one of the promised ingredients, tofu. We tried our best but after several searches that would pale those conducted by the U.S Border Patrol, nothing even remotely resembling tofu turned up. I did like the combination of the few vegetables included in this pad Thai - bean sprouts and green onion. Some strategically placed drops of lemon ginger chili sauce along with some freshly squeezed lime gave the rice noodles a citrus tartness that I liked as well.
A friend had suggested I try The Sprout’s chickpea burger,
Give Peas a Chance, telling me I’d be amazed. I gave the “peas a chance” and
was glad I did. It was the best veggie burger I’ve ever had and I believe the
reason it tasted so good was because it wasn’t masquerading as a meat burger.
Instead of using one of those Soya patties dressed up to look like hamburger
meat, The Sprout’s patty was made from mashed chickpeas held together with some
sort of binding agent. It was fried until golden brown and placed between The
Sprout’s own homemade whole-wheat bun along with tomato, lettuce and sprouts. A
dressing similar to a mayonnaise had been spread on the buns and provided just
the right amount of extra flavour and moisture. I remember biting into the
thing once I’d put the two halves together and thinking, as I chewed the
marvelous concoction, “This is soooo good.” The crunchy coating on the outside
of the patty, the tender texture of its insides, the dressing, the tiny hint of
honey in the bread, and even the fine sprouts made the burger incredibly
flavourful and delicious.
For dessert we tried The Sprout’s vegan - non-dairy - date and cranberry square and a serving of what our server described as a decadent vegan chocolate mousse. For me, the date square, while dry from the lack of butter, was miles more pleasing than the mousse. The square was sweet and tart - from the cranberries - but also fairly light. The mousse, which had been made by whipping cocoa and silken tofu together, was bordering on leaden. I was presented with three scoops of it but would have been content with half a scoop. After the first mouthful, for about 15 seconds I thought I was tasting something truly divine but then, like an unexpected large wave, the weight of it registered inside my abdomen and a cloying powdery residue rapidly formed in my mouth. Sadly, I realized I had just tasted the result of a dubious experiment. However, on the whole I was very pleased with my meal at The Sprout. And, as I have become thoroughly addicted to their Give Peas a Chance burger I will be returning to this new vegetarian restaurant. The lure of the common chickpea is insidious and inescapable. Perhaps a warning should be mandatory.
Our meal for two at The Sprout - including 4 glasses of wine and tip - cost $77.37.
Best Points:
The food is quite good.
Areas for Improvement:
Work on your desserts.
Ratings Category:
The Sprout gets 8 out of 10 points.