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Grassroots Pantry
Add: 108 Hollywood Road, Shengwan, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2873 3353
Hours: 9am-10:30pm
Website: www.grassrootspantry.com
Price: 150~250 HKD/person
Visited: Aug 2016
My first meal in Hong Kong this time was at Grassroots Pantry, a vegetarian restaurant with one core philosophy: “to create food that heals with the highest culinary standards and using the freshest, most nutrient-dense of sustainable, plant-based ingredients.” That reads like a mouthful, but what it’s basically saying, is that they make healthy food that tastes amazing. And it’s true.
到香港的第一餐，和一位注重養生的朋友相約在上環荷李活道上的 Grassroots Pantry 吃午餐。餐廳的創始人 Peggy Chan 本身是素食者，堅持用 raw food 的烹調方式將營養豐富的食材做成美味料理，不論吃素還是不吃素的朋友都很推薦。
First, the design. Grassroots Pantry’s interior is bright and airy thanks to the large windows and a lofted ceiling. The combination of light grey cement wall and warm orange couches is lovely, and the plants adorning the space is more than welcome. Above the bar suspends a selection of gorgeous decanter lights from Lee Broom – a personal favorite.
店裏設計清新明亮，淺灰色的水泥牆搭配溫暖的橘紅色沙發，吧台上方吊著好多我喜愛的 Lee Broom 玻璃燈飾，室內養了不少綠色植物，感覺非常好。Grassroots Pantry 似乎是個很受外國人歡迎的地方，餐廳裏過半的客人都不是本地人。
Word has it that Grassroots Pantry was the first shop in Hong Kong to use acai berry, and their recipes are laden with nutrition-packed ingredients like flaxseed, buckwheat, kohlrabi, cashews, chickpeas, and the likes. They promote “raw foodism”, which is about eating unprocessed and uncooked foods. The cooking process involves sprouting, soaking, fermentation, pickling, dehydration, etc., which is a time-consuming process, all aiming to preserve the maximum amount of nutrients in the food.
據說 Grassroots Pantry 是香港首家引進巴西莓 (Acai Berry) 的店家，也經常使用亞麻籽、荞麥、苤藍、腰果、鷹嘴豆等健康食材。這裡采用 raw food 技巧來處理食材，包括發芽 (sprouting)、浸泡 (soaking)、發酵 (fermentation)、 醃製 (pickling)、風乾 (dehydration) 等。比如，要入菜的種籽必須浸泡于自家榨制的堅果奶中至少8小時使之發芽，讓種籽的營養容易被人體吸收，是費時費力的烹調方法。
I started the meal with Enricher (55 HKD), a smoothie of banana, mango, pineapple, spinach, Italian basil, flaxseed, and organic soy milk. So yum – I decided then that in the future I shall make all my smoothies with soy milk.
先來一杯 Enricher 果昔（55港幣），裡面有香蕉、芒果、鳳梨、菠菜、意大利羅勒、亞麻籽、有機豆奶。大愛，決定以後我的所有果昔都要用豆奶做（哈哈不誇張）。
Kelp satay noodle salad (178 HKD), a lush plate overflowing with satay hedgehog mushroom, spring rolls, fresh herbs salad, sweet & sour kombu vinaigrette, and chili cashews. An gorgeously textured dish proving exactly that vegetarian food doesn’t mean a compromise in creativity and flavor.
第一次來，聽朋友推薦點了 kelp satay noodle salad（178港幣），盤子上豐富的堆著 satay hedgehog mushroom（沙爹猴頭菇）, spring rolls（春卷）, fresh herbs salad（新鮮香草沙拉）, sweet & sour kombu vinaigrette（酸甜昆布醋汁）, chili cashews（辣腰果）完全證明了素食是可以很有創意很美味的。
Then there was the Sri Lankan Hopper (138 HKD), which is teff injera with free range egg, local tempeh kari, cilantro chutney, and sambal balado. I admit that half the dish looked foreign to me (teff injera? tempeh kari? sambal balado?!) but the plate was delicious. I later learned that teff injera is an East African sourdough-risen flatbread with a slightly spongy texture, made out of gluten-free teff flour. Interesting.
Sri Lankan Hopper（138港幣）， 裏面有 teff injera（埃塞俄比亞薄軟餅）, free range eggs（散養雞蛋）, local tempeh kari（天貝咖喱）, cilantro chutney（香菜甜酸醬）, sambal balado（印尼辣醬）。菜的名字裡面有一半都是我沒看過的東西，所以很好奇的嘗試了。原來 teff injera 是用 teff 面粉做的發酵薄軟餅，由于無筋，是麸質過敏人也可以吃的食材，搭配一旁的蘸醬，很美味。
There are also some more common dishes on the menu such as poached egg avocado sandwich, country baked eggs etc., for those who just want something familiar and comforting.
菜單上也有人見人愛的水波蛋牛油果三明治、鄉村烤蛋等，適合給想要輕松享用熟悉菜色的人。
What a charming place. Definitely would make this a go-to eatery if I were living in Hong Kong. Whether you are vegetarian or not, be sure to give this a try when you are in town – it might just change your opinion on a meat-free meal.
好地方啊，如果我住在香港，一定會經常來報到。不論你是否吃素，來香港都可以試試這家餐廳 － 它可能會改變你對素食的看法。
Grassroots Pantry
地址：香港上環荷李活道108號聚賢居D舖
電話：+852 2873 3353
營業時間：9am-10:30pm
網站：www.grassrootspantry.com
價位：人均150－250港幣
造訪日期：2016年8月
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