Lunch in the Glebe

“Let’s go to the Pantry,” my co-workers said. “It’s a vegetarian place in the Glebe community centre.”

“Give me a break,” I said.

But I like work lunches, so I went.

Glebe community centre

Poster

Banner

It’s hard to understand why there is a restaurant inside a community centre. You go up the stairs into a huge empty room underneath a dome. I think this room is used for craft sales and such.

The Pantry itself is a couple of small rooms and a tiny kitchen. The furnishings are all old and mismatched and knick-knackety, and someone has carved KMB 2007 above the door.

My co-workers, Joanna and Jennifer. I hope they don’t mind being in a blog. I’m sure they’ll let me know if they do.

Food began to arrive. Everything is home-made here, and a lot of it is organic.

This is tomato dill soup. I didn’t have the soup, but everybody said it was good. I liked the bowls.

I had the daily special, which was Baba Ghanoush.

Baba Ghanoush is eggplant mush, seasoned with the usual middle eastern stuff: garlic, lemon, tahini. It tastes like hummus. It’s good as a vehicle for its seasonings, and as a way of getting rid of excess eggplants. It was served with a good salad with goat cheese and olives, and a rice dish with pine nuts in it.

I also had apple pie and coffee. The waiter showed us a raw apple, kind of a small wild-looking one. The pie was good. I was going to take its picture, but I had already eaten it.

So… I think the Pantry is a great place, like a little neighbourhood gem hidden away in that odd location. You can’t get a beer there, or french fries, but if I lived in the Glebe I’d probably go there a lot anyway.

Here is a link to a review of it in the Ottawa XPress. They like it too.

On the way back to the office I saw this poster for the Rock Camp for Girls. If you’re a girl between 13 and 17, you should go. It only costs $3, and you get lunch! Then you’re a rock star.