Genesis in the Hills

No I have not forgotten about blogging, or about my vegan apprenticeship.  I have just been busy with an exam and moving house.  Ok, so yes, maybe I have been a bit lazy too.

So what better way to jump back into blogging than with my very first restaurant review.  (I am glad the spell checker is working or right now you would be laughing at how I spelled restaurant.)

The subject of my debut restaurant review: Genesis in the Hills.  What a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon!  A vegetarian paradise and a vegan refuge.  (Am I getting carried away?  Maybe I need an editor.)

It is a bit of drive from the city to the Perth Hills.  So it is not really convenient for an "I'm hungry - where is the nearest vegan friendly restaurant" kind of moment.  But it definitely lends itself to a leisurely Sunday afternoon drive and a long relaxing lunch.

From the car park it is a short walk up the garden path to the restaurant.  

Up the Garden Path.  Thanks for the photo Brett.

Being a sensible sweet toothed vegan apprentice I ordered the lentil and vegetable soup for lunch, leaving plenty of room for dessert!  The soup was light and refreshing, rather than hearty.  It was served with a couple of slices of nutty rye bread baked.  The bread was baked on the premises and was really delicious.

Lentil and Vegetable Soup.

The most popular choice at our table was the veggie burger.  I thought it was beautifully presented.  But one of the veggie-burger-eaters commented that they like to be able to pick a burger up to eat it.  This was not an eat with you hands kind of burger.

Veggie Burger.

The desserts looked amazing.  My choice was obvious: "The Vegan Cake".  It didn't seem to have any other name that I could tell.  When the waiter brought the cakes over to our table he called out "Vegan Cake" with more decibels than really seemed necessary.  At least in a vegetarian restaurant the word vegan does not draw the stares that it might have in a more mainstream establishment.

The Vegan Cake.

Verdict on The Vegan Cake?  Amazing!  Fudgey, moist, sweet, but not too sweet.  So satisfying.  Think sticky date pudding with figs and walnuts instead of dates and caramel.  Fortunately someone reminded me to take a photo before I gobbled it all down.  My camera was not doing it justice at all, so thanks Brett for letting me use your camera to take this photo and the one below.  I have been wanting to buy a new camera for a while.  Now I really, really, really want a new camera.

The proprietor was kind enough to pose for a photo.  She was worried because there was not many slices of cake left for the photo.   That kind of seems like a good sign to me - as it shows that plenty of cake had been eaten!

The friendly proprietor, Rivka, and what remains of the cakes.

The prices where pretty standard cafe prices.  The bill for my husband and I came to $57 for 2 mains, 3 hot drinks and 2 slices of cake.

Will I go take the drive out to Genesis in the Hills again?  Absolutely!  I would take the trip just for the cake.  I would have bought a few take-home slices on Sunday, but unfortunately I had already eaten the last slice!