The Food Forest located at 135 Hunter St W in Peterborough

I was really glad that we were able to check this restaurant in Peterborough out!  I really enjoy dining at unique and one-of-a-kind restaurants and The Food Forest definitely lives up to it.  Moreover, this restaurant is a vegan restaurant that is completely plant-based and gluten-free.  It’s important to balance our diets with clean eating and The Food Forest is all about it!

“The Food Forest is Peterborough’s only gluten-free and 100% plant based cafe; containing no meat, dairy, or eggs (vegan).”

We stepped foot inside this cafe on the Canada Day long weekend Monday around noon.  There were a decent number of customers here in this quaint little cafe.  We found our own seats first before wandering over to the hostess at the cashier to ask for a menu.  She brought over some water as well and informed us about the specials that day (Polish cabbage soup and a white bean burger with roasted garlic aioli).

View of the counter from where we sat. Their washrooms are downstairs

There were a lot of choices on their menu and I was so excited to try the food out!  They had an expansive variety of smoothies, organic juices, appetizers, fresh salads, bowls and pastas, burgers, and sandwiches.  I find vegan food really creative because they use plants to make “meat-like” dishes and items.

Menu cover

The Food Forest menu – juices and smoothies

The Food Forest menu – appetizers, salads, bowls and pastas

The Food Forest menu – burgers and sandwiches

Cute sprig on the table

We both decided to get a smoothie.  Ken got the Minty Green Chocolate Chip Smoothie.  Since my first choice was unavailable, I chose the Banana Island instead.  These were available in 16 oz or 32 oz cup sizes.  Even when our 16 oz smoothies arrived to the table, they were so big!  The smoothies themselves were very chilled and cold so I found myself leaving it on the table to warm up first before finishing it up.

Banana Island Smoothie (16 oz). $7
-homemade creamy coconut mylk, banana, vanilla, garnished with shredded coconut
Minty Green Chocolate Chip Smoothie (16 oz). $7
-homemade creamy coconut mylk, spinach, peppermint essence, banana, raw cacao nibs

The Banana Island Smoothie was made with homemade creamy coconut mylk, banana, vanilla, and garnished with shredded coconut.  The taste was indeed very creamy and smooth.  It smelled of banana and coconuts.  The sweetness of the banana was evident throughout the drink.  The shredded coconut on top of the drink gave some grainy texture when drinking it. 🙂

The Minty Green Chocolate Chip Smoothie was also made with homemade creamy coconut mylk and blended with spinach, peppermint essence, banana, and raw cacao nibs.  This tasted strongly of peppermint and the raw cacao nibs were a little minty too.  It was slightly sweet and the spinach gave the smoothie a beautiful green colour.

Living Taco. $13.50
-two dehydrated red pepper and sweet corn wraps stuffed with chili walnut ground, fresh tomato corn salsa, green onions, mixed greens, drizzled with their cashew sour kream

The Living Taco that I ordered consisted of two dehydrated red pepper and sweet corn wraps stuffed with chili walnut ground, fresh tomato corn salsa, green onions, mixed greens, and was drizzled with their “cashew sour kream”.  It was plated with a side of alfalfa sprouts and a slice of lime.

Mmm, another beautiful thing about vegan thing is that it always looks dazzling and colourful.  The rich textures and colours of this living taco just jumped out at me.  I was so excited to grab it to munch away.

I wasn’t disappointed at all with this popular item.  The dehydrated red pepper and sweet corn wraps went so well with the stuffing.  Everything was so fresh from the corn salsa to the mixed greens to the chili walnut ground (which was a really unique and creative way to add protein to the taco I must say).  I loved this!  It tasted so refreshing and delicious at the same time. ❤

BBQ Black Bean and Chickpea Burger. $14
-house recipe, a hand pressed black bean and chickpea veggie patty with savory roasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds, parsley, carrot, and caramelized onions with hints of smoked paprika and oregano.  Served on a toasted gluten-free bun and topped with vegan mayo, onions, baby greens, tomato, sprouts with a choice of regular or spicy homemade BBQ sauce. Served with a side of kettle cooked potato chips

The BBQ Black Bean and Chickpea Burger that Ken ordered used their house recipe, a hand pressed black bean and chickpea veggie patty with savory roasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds, parsley, carrot, and caramelized onions with hints of smoked paprika and oregano.  It was served on a toasted gluten-free bun and topped with vegan mayo, onions, baby greens, tomato, and alfalfa sprouts with a choice of regular or spicy homemade BBQ sauce (Ken picked the regular BBQ sauce).  It was served with a side of kettle cooked potato chips.  Wow!  Even their description is a mouth full! 😛

So fresh!

This was another beautiful invention of a veggie burger.  I haven’t had many veggie burgers in my lifetime (a notable one would be the one from Johnny Bistro) and this one was great!  It was a very saucy BBQ burger (the extra napkins from the server were appreciated) and the veggie patty was great.

We took our time to finish up our smoothies before we went about on our day.  What a wonderful vegan, plant-based gluten-free cafe this was!  (They also have vegan desserts too.)

The inside of the cafe

Storefront

Vegan friendly