i try the greenhouse

I wont lie, this is not the first time I have tried The Greenhouse. And to be honest, if The Greenhouse were a person I'm pretty sure it would be my soulmate. I really love everything about this restaurant. From the their philosophy to their decor to the way they fill your water glass with a watering can. It is eco-friendly without being preachy or hippie-ish.

On this particular trip I was joined by Louise. Thelma was terribly busy soaking up the sun in Broome. We didn't book, thinking we would be fine rocking up at 6.30pm on a Tuesday night. The Greenhouse, however, was full. The friendly waiter asked if we could wait a moment while he checked to see if he could fit us in. He said he could give us a table but he would need it back by 8. That was fine by me. I usually devour the food at a ridiculously rapid pace anyway.

Now, Louise is vegetarian. And, The Greenhouse does share plates. Trust me though, some of their best plates are the vegetarian ones. We chose a pizza with golden beetroot, goat's curd and rocket (pictured, $15). The size of the pizza is perfect and means you can get other plates without filling up on pizza. It had a thin, crunchy wholemeal base with the perfect amount of all three ingredients. It was simple and proof that simple is delicious.


Our second dish was mixed tomato, curd, wheat, chia seed (pictured, $14). The simplicity of the dish, like a lot of The Greenhouse dishes, means the ingredients have to be topnotch. And they always are. The tomatoes were fresh and rich in flavour. The chia seeds had been mixed with water to form a gel (they absorb up to 12 times their weight in liquid) and drizzled around the plate. The crunchy wheat provided a wonderful textural contrast to the smoothness of the curd and the chia seeds. A generous sprinkling of fresh herbs added an extra dimension of flavour and colour. A perfect spring dish.


For the third dish we ordered pumpkin and chickpea tagine, green chilli yogurt (pictured, $20). It was thick and very tasty. The generous chunks of tender pumkpin and roast capsicum were delicious with the rich tomato-based sauce and the just-crunchy chickpeas. Neither of us were a fan of the chilli yogurt. It was a strange combination and we felt the dish was better off without it. So the blob sat relatively untouched in the centre of the dish.


At this point, we glanced at our watches and noted the time was 7.45pm. We suspected our friendly waitor would want his table back meaning we would have to forego dessert on this occassion. We shall just have to make a return visit. And truthfully, (continuing the 'honesty theme') our bellies were content. Not full. Just very very content.

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