As a carnivore, vegetarian restaurants have never appealed to me as much as steakhouses but I think after this meal at The Acorn, I think I've been converted.
The Acorn is located on Main St and I came with Misu, NatureGirl, and NonProfit Girl for a girls night out. We had to wait a good 30-45 minutes even though we arrived at 6:15pm! By the time we sat down, we were agitated, hungry, and praying that the food was worth the wait.
Their menu items are nicely labelled with GF (gluten-free), RAW (raw food that has not reached 115 degrees Farhenheit), and V (vegan). As a person with a semi gluten allergy, it was nice to see so many choices to choose from because you don't usually get that in many restaurants.
We started off with the
Sunflower ($10) which consists of a leek + sunflower seed pate, watercress emulsion, pickled pearl onions, and taro chips. This was our favourite appetizer of the night and we couldn't get enough! The pate was scrumptious but it would've been nice to have a few more taro chips to eat it with.
Since NonProfit Girl and I are major mushroom lovers, we opted for the
Mushroom ($9) which consisted of raw king oyster mushroom satays, kohlrabi + herb salad, and almond sauce. The presentation was a little lacking but the mushrooms completely made up for it. They were meaty and beyond flavourful.
NatureGirl ordered the absolutely beautiful
Zucchini ($16) which consisted of raw zucchini tagliatelle with candied olives, blossoms, tomato + pine nut salad, and a cashew rose sauce. This ladies and gentlemen, is a must order! Not only was this stunning in presentation, but the taste was beyond amazing. The thick cashew rose sauce was a perfect compliment to the delicate and light zucchini 'pasta'.
Misu ordered the
Kale ($15) which was essentially like a kale Caesar salad. She thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the tempeh, which she was craving at the time.
This is another must order item and is probably the most popular and talked about dish on the menu. The
Halloumi ($19) consists of beer battered halloumi (semi-hard, unripened brine cheese), zucchini pancake, smashed peas, yogurt, and lemon balm. I only had a bite but it was enough to blow me away. The cheese tasted almost like fish and chips which was weird but so amazing in its own way.
Again, being the mushroom lover that I am, I eventually decided upon the
Chanterelle ($15) which had marinated summer chanterelle mushrooms, green beans, quebecois camembert, walnuts, and roasted garlic vinaigrette.
The salad was refreshing and light which was great, but I wish there were more chanterelle mushrooms to balance out the bitter greens. Overall, it was a pleasant dish, but it could not compare to the Halloumi or Zucchini.
No girls night out is complete without dessert! The
Goji ($11) raw chocolate tart was the most anticipated dessert of the night but it surprisingly did not deliver. The chocolate was smooth which was great, but we all agreed that the walnut crust tasted a little off and the concept of goji-in-dessert will need some getting use to.
What won us over was the
Lavender Creme Brulee ($8). I don't know how they did it, but they got the perfect balance of lavender and creme brulee with no one component overwhelming the other. Perfect dessert to end off the splendid evening.
The Acorn is definitely a restaurant I would love to revisit and it impressed the heck out of all of us which was saying a lot considering we came in with pretty high expectations. If you want to skip the lineups, get there early... but either way, the food will be well worth the wait.
Service Rating:
4/5
Food Rating:
4.5/5
Price:
$$$-$$$$
Overall Rating: 4.5/5
Happy Eating!
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