Vegetarian coffee shop near Parliament Hill, operating since 1992. Offers smoothies and fresh juice, daily specials, Indian thali plate, burger, and more. Art exhibit by Sri Chinmoy graces the glass walls. Casual fountain-side dining. Open Mon-Tue 8:00am-8:00pm, Wed 8:00am-6:00pm, Thu-Sat 8:00am-8:00pm, Sun 8:00am-6:00pm.
Categories: Vegan-friendly, Lacto, American, Indian, International, Organic, Juice bar, Take-out, Fusion
18 Reviews
First Review by chevredansante
Contributions +28
Wonderful - Edit
Really enjoyed my meal here with 3 friends. I had spinach and potato curry with rice and dahl. My friends had a noodle dish. The service was very efficient and food was delicious. I was the only non meat eater and everyone really enjoyed their meal- always a good recommendation when meat eaters enjoy vegan food! Servings were of a good size and thus could not manage dessert. The small restaurant is inside a building which was very beneficial as when I visited Ottawa was experiencing very hot weather. The air conditioned space was very welcome.
Pros: Excellent food, Quiet ambience, Good value
Cons: Table was very small for four people but managed
Contributions +43
Peace and love! - Edit
This is where I go when I want simple, nourishing food prepared with love. If you're hungry, get the Thali Plate! It's a combo platter with veggie curry, dahl, brown rice, salad, samosa and pappadum.
Pros: Healthy, simple food, Friendly, Inexpensive
Contributions +16
Delicious and Reasonably Priced! - Edit
Wanted to try something new and was thoroughly impressed by Peace Garden! All the food is homemade, very fresh, made with love and delicious! I had the Vegetable Korma special and it was very tasty. A nice variety of menu options as well.
Pros: good vibe, yummy food, good value
Cons: location in government building
1 Response
Ceara 08 Jan 2015 - And one more thing - it is listed as "vegetarian" but to my understanding they do serve meat there (they were serving a meatloaf the day I ate there). It doesn't bother me but I'd then list this restaurant as very veg-friendly and not fully vegetarian.
Contributions +75
Inspiring place ! - Edit
Fresh, tasty and cheap. A bit hidden in a building (we struggled to find the place).
Good quality of food, nice place to rest. Very relaxing. We had indian style food this day, but you can also choose to have soup/salad/sandwiches to eat quickly.
Le lieu est difficile à trouver mais nous avons ensuite découvert un petit havre de paix niché à l’intérieur d’un immeuble.
Malheureusement, les choix restent encore limités à soupe/salade/sandwiches/plats indiens pour lesquels nous avons opté.
Les plats sont délicieux, frais, abordables et le service adorable. Enfin le lieu est vraiment agréablement décoré. Si vous êtes dans le quartier, c’est le meilleur endroit où aller.
Pros: Fresh and tasty, Friendly, Very restful
Cons: Short menu, Not easy to find
Contributions +40
quainte and delicious - Edit
Not a fancy place but it had great food! The staff was super friendly as well! It's more like a cafe, you can serve yourself some things like soup as they prepare your dish! Neat artwork and incense was available to purchase as well!
They are a restaurant inspired by Sri chinmony! There are other locations as well! Hope to find them!
Pros: great food, friendly staff
Cons: inside a business building ( not a con but somethi
Contributions +16
Great place for quick dinner! - Edit
We first had trouble to find the place since we did not have the exact address and it is inside an office building but we were happy to find this small restaurant!
We had a vegan curry from today's special under the recommendation of the waitress. It was delicious, presented without pretence but absolutely delicious!
Contributions +14
Tasty food lovely small cafe - Edit
Please note this is not a storefront. You need to enter into the plaza and they are located in the courtyard by the fountain.
A small pleasant cafe that serves soups, salads, wraps, a few flavourful but not spicy Indian dishes, drinks and desserts.
My husband, daughter and I had the Indian bowl special of dahl and chickpea veg curry served with rice. We got a smoothie for her and for dessert shared a chocolate mousse pie.
I personally loved that the dahl and curry had all the flavour minus the burning heat that I normally associate with Indian cuisine.
The serving size was generous and I left feeling very stuffed . The cafe hours and downtown location are convenient.
Contributions +48
Good for tea - Edit
Much of the food here is brought in. Soup I think is homemade. Okay, nice service, brilliant location. Building door entrance is impossible for the strong to open. It is a deterrant. (But the food and service is not.)
Pros: byward market location, heritage building, nice environment
Cons: bldg door hard to open, food only okay
Contributions +39
Unprofessional - Edit
My boyfriend and I ordered an Avocado/Tofu salad about half an hour before closing time. We sat down and after 20 minutes (we were the only customers there) we were told that they had ran out of ripe avocados for the day. We asked if they already prepared the rest of the salad, which they had, so we decided to have the salad without the avocado anyway. Then after another 10 minutes we got a plate with some salad, cucumber, tomato and a very dubious piece of crusted tofu. It wasn't good and I'd rather they told us that they couldn't serve us the salad since they ran out of ingredients. At least the staff was nice about it and didn't charge us the full price.
They don't have too many vegan options either and the place is in a shopping mall, which I thought wasn't the nicest location to eat.
Pros: friendly staff
Cons: inside a shopping mall
1 Response
Richard Haney 24 Nov 2011 - Dear JMNL:
My experience at almost any restaurant is that if I go there just before closing time that ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN and I become MAXIMUM FLEXIBLE. I have been to this restaurant dozens of times over the years and have found them to be impeccable in every way. Please give them another chance (NOT at closing time!) and I believe that you will reverse your opinion and remove your negative Happy Cow Review. Thanks for your consideration.......HAPPY EATING!! Richard Haney
Contributions +9
Best Coffee on the Market - Edit
A new coffee machine just arrived. Really good coffee added to an already really good menu - esp. Dal.
Contributions +288
Great food, great service - Edit
We went there on Sunday evening, there was no other customers. i wanted something Thai,but they do not have, however they told me that, 'if you really wanted that, there is a very good non-vege Thai restaurant down the road, which they can also do something vegetarian.' We decided to stay. We had the special Kashmiri dal rice ($9) and a Thali($12). Both tasted very good. We had an extra spring roll ($2.5) too, equally very good. Samosa which came with the Thali was so so though. The Thali was also served with fresh salad. Initially we wanted a Thai sweet potato soup, but they said,it would be too much for us to finish the food, so our order was rejected (which later on proved that they were right). To our surprise, they gave us a complementary small bowl of soup, just to taste. When we went to pay, they had some desserts which they had to get rid of as they will make a fresh one tomorrow. So they gave us two complementary take away desserts too!
Pros: Food, Service
Cons: *
Contributions +740
Peaceful setting wonderful food - Edit
I had the Chickpea curry over brown rice and it was outstanding. The spices were perfect and the cauliflower just slightly crunchy. The combination of coconut milk and cilantro put it over the top.
They had three evening specials each for $8.50- which I think was quite good based on the large portion sizes. They also had numerous dessert items. They also sold sandwiches and wraps. I had a huge oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. I had planned to save half of it for later but just couldn't wait.
The restaurant is inside a small mall right beside the Byward Market.
Pros: peaceful, perfectly spiced, good location
Contributions +60
Cute place! - Edit
I love the look of this cute cafe inside a mall. It is nicely decorated. You can order food from a menu or pick yourself some treats that are on the counter and at some places around the tables. It is not all vegan, but most of the time it is clearly indicated on the items. I went a few times mostly to try sweets. I tried the vegan truffles : chocolate, mint and peanut butter. They were all good. I also had many cookies and squares. They offer smoothies and fresh juices, and some food plates. I tasted the samosas but never really ate lunch or breakfast there. I cant make a complete review because of that, but for sure i recommand this place for smoothies and truffles!
Contributions +164
Yum! - Edit
I was sick the day we went, so the split pea soup was heavenly. I also ordered a special dish - Thai noodles with green curry, and my husband ordered a sausage wrap. We finished off with a vegan muffin. The noodles and soup were great, the sausage was pretty good, and the muffin was good but tasted very "healthy." The service was really slow, but the staff was very nice and we weren't in a hurry, so that was ok.
The location was very convenient to the Byward Market (we were tourists visiting for the first time).
Pros: Food was good, Fair pricing, friendly staff
Cons: Odd ambience, slow
Contributions +20
Excellent experience - Edit
I just got back from Peace Garden. The staff were very friendly and the food was great. I had an indian combo special and a Pad Tai dish and also samosas and spring rolls. They were all excellent. The other stuff looked great too.
Pros: Food, service
Cons: having to get through the market
Contributions +54
A nice option in the market - Edit
I'm definitely more of a fan of the sister restaurant, Perfection-Satisfaction-Promise (also known as Painted Potato to some), but the location of this place makes it a great option for vegans and vegetarians who are shopping in the market, and want something yummy and filling. If you're generally looking for downtown though, PSP is the better of the two.
PG caters more to the market crowd with a lot more faux meat options than PSP. It's hard to review it because it seems like the meal is hit or miss depending on who's doing the cooking that day. I've had the tofu steak served to me in many different ways... some delicious, others not so much.
However, there is always soup or dahl on, and they are generally no-fail. Salads are simple and straight-forward, which can be hard to find sometimes! There's also a lot of wraps to go, and a wider selection of desserts in the form of cookies and bars, if that's your thing - I recommend the BGoods bakery cookies when they're there. Also, it's a quiet location (in the Le Droit building), which makes it a nice place to get away from crowds.
Pros: location!, healthy, vegan friendly
Cons: small space, some dishes are hit and miss
Contributions +50
Decent food but a bit pricey - Edit
My wife and I were downtown in Ottawa and wanted to find a vegetarian / vegan place to eat near the National Gallery and
Parliament Hill so luckily this place was quite nearby. It's inside a small mall of other shops but is numbered clearly outside. The location is fairly small but has an interesting decor.
We ordered the vegetable soup (about $3), the "un-burger" (about $6, teriyaki rice with tofu (about $7) and the veggie dog (about $4). We also ordered some small cookies and a muffin for later (between abut $1.50 and $2 each).
The soup was very good and was much appreciated on a chilly morning. The veggie burger had a great patty (I asked what brand it was but the guy who served us said that information couldn't be given out) but I found the organic bun to be a bit tough.
I think that a small pile of home-cut fries would have gone better than the lettuce leaf, beat and carrot shavings and slices of cucumber since they seemed more like a way to fill the rest of the plate to me.
My wife's teriyaki rice with tofu was quite bland yet very salty. The smoked-flavour veggie dog seemed ok but I'm not a fan of veggie dogs as they seem a bit mushy in general. My wife wishes it was labelled as smoked-flavour because she would have gotten something else if that were the case.
To sum up, some of the food was good but some was "just ok". The location is very good for those wanting to check out Parliament Hill and the museums.
Pros: some good food, nice decor, near museums/Parliament
Cons: some items not labelled (vegan/veg), bit pricey, needs more accurate menu
Contributions +14
Stunning! Five-star service, five-star food! - Edit
If the charming atmosphere of this bistro doesn't get you, the smile and shine of the employees' faces will. The food is prepared with care, to a strict standard. The menu offers a wide range of vegetarian and vegan foods. Food is served promptly even at peak times. It's really a jewel in the business.
Pros: Wholesome, exquisite food, Compassionate staff, Prices below expectations
Cons: Can be warm inside, Hard to find a seat, Don't speak French
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