Sherman's Food Adventures: Nourish Kitchen & Cafe

Nourish Kitchen & Cafe

Although Nourish Kitchen & Cafe has built up quite the following in Victoria and beyond, I wasn't really familiar with the place.  By virtue of staying nearby (Inn at Laurel Point) and walking past it daily for the past 4 days, it was a given we were going to dine there eventually.  So we decided to hit it up for brunch on our last day staying in Downtown Victoria.  So what makes Nourish so special?  Well consider that it appeals to Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten-free and Paleo-diets as well as everyone else.  Wait, is that even possible?  I guess we were about to find out.

To start things off, we had the Hummus with Roasted Veggies.  At first, I thought this would be a small appie, but since it was on the lunch menu, I guess it was enough for a meal.  Featuring perfectly roasted parsnips, peppers, broccoli and cauliflower, this would've been delicious (not to mention healthy) by themselves.  However, they rested on a bed of hummus that was probably intentionally chunky.  There was texture and smoothness combined to create a great dip for the sweet veggies.  I would've liked a bit more tang, but that didn't make or break the dish.  I also got a small cup of their All the Power Chicken Bone Broth with ginger and turmeric oil.  This was flavourful and full of umami complete with substantial natural chicken flavour.  Tasty, yes and also good for you!

Onto my main, I went for the Sleeping Beauty Pancakes with featuring cardamom oat pancakes, apple compote, organic pomegranate whipped cream, bee pollen sprinkles, maple syrup and smoked bacon (added for $5.00 more).  These were thick, but surprisingly light considering the use of oats.  Slightly fluffy with a firmer exterior, these were sweetened by the compote and syrup.  When eaten with the smoky lean bacon, the pancakes had a fruit sweet and smoky salty combo flavour.  Surprisingly good considering this was gluten-free.  My son was appalled that we brought him to a place like this and had his eyes only on the Normal Breakfast.  This consisted of 2 farm fresh eggs, salad, buckwheat seedy toast and smoked bacon (also added for $5.00).  As much as this was gluten-free, he loved the crunchy and nutty toast.  Eggs were perfect and the bacon was lean and meaty.

Viv ended up with the Bonita Bowl sporting 2 soft poached eggs, cilantro hollandaise, molasses and chili baked beans, roasted squash, avocado and apple salsa, salted cabbage, pickled jalapenos and crumbled chorizo (also $5.00 more).  This was gluten-free and could be had as dairy-free too.  This was pretty substantial with a wealth of meaty and mild chorizo and 2 perfectly poached eggs.  The hollandaise was tangy and light with a bit of herbaceousness.  Lots of things going on including flavours from all of the ingredients that included sweet, spicy, tangy and of course salty.  Miss Y, who joined us, and my daughter both had the Benny Gone Nuts with 2 poached farm eggs, blanched kale, mushrooms, baked sweet potatoes, turmeric cashew hollandaise and haus verde pork sausage ($5.00 more).  This was gluten-free and dairy-free, but was no worse for wear because of it.  Hollandaise was earthy and tangy, eggs were runny and the use of veggies rather than bread made a unique but ultimately tasty concoction.  Sausage was meaty and full of flavour.  Yep, we liked this place despite my initial reservations.  If you are nearby, give it a try.

The Good:
- Appeals to all forms of diets
- Food is actually tasty
- Quaint house

The Bad:
- It ain't cheap, but fair for Downtown Victoria

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