Raw energy

Café My House caters to vegans and raw foodies
Ottawa XPress

Article By: Colleen Johnson
Photo By: Ben Welland

Café My House is a restaurant with a conscience. The health conscious and eco-friendly message comes through on the menu and on the restaurant’s website. The tone is positive rather than preachy. This casual bistro serves up primarily vegan, vegetarian and raw food. However, a few dishes contain seafood and one has ham or bacon in it, making this place an ideal spot for a vegetarian to take his or her omnivorous friends.

Brunch here is varied and available all day. Though the omelets made with fresh local eggs sounded tempting, I opted to try the gluten-free, vegan French toast flavoured with coconut and banana. Served with a side of agave syrup and a handful of fresh berries, this breakfast surpassed my expectations. I had wondered how good French toast could be without any eggs, but I found that the banana, agave syrup and large flakes of coconut did much for the flavour of the dish.

My date opted to order off the tapas and “house plates” menus. The mango and zucchini rolls were both delicious and beautifully presented. These lovingly prepared morsels were raw, vegan and gluten-free. Thinly sliced zucchini held delicate pieces of carrot, mango, dill, avocado and cucumber, which were wrapped up and cut like four pieces of all-vegetable sushi. They were served with a creamy dill and pine nut pesto for dipping.

The tofu mushroom steak was rich in umami flavours. The dish featured a marinated slab of firm tofu with sautéed King Eryngii mushrooms, a ginger sauce, lemony roasted kale, roasted heirloom beets and carrots, as well as brown rice and a smear of lemon tahini pesto. The dish was near perfection save for the pesto, which was an unappetizing shade of grey.

The raw banana cream pie was too virtuous for my tastes. The nut crust was decent enough, but the banana filling had an odd texture that was more like marzipan and not at all what one would expect out of a classic cream pie. The chocolate ice cream that was served on the side was more my speed.

Café My House is willing to put their money where their mouth is when it comes to sustainable transportation. Show them your bus pass, bus transfer or bike helmet and they’ll knock 5 percent off your bill’s total. I’d bet more people would take them up on it if they weren’t so far from the downtown core.

Café My House
1729 Bank St.
613-733-0707

Brunch: $7.95-$14.95
Tapas: $5.95-$14.95
Mains: $11.95-$19.95