New Menu at Garden of Eat’n

Featured Partner

Halifax has been losing some great restaurants lately. Hart and Thistle was one of my favourite summer spots. A Nash beer on the patio with a view of the Halifax Harbour and my laptop made for many great (and productive) summer afternoons.

With so many new restaurants opening their doors, it is sometimes too easy to forget about existing favourites. Or that a restaurant doesn’t have to be new to really shake up the local dining scene.

So I was really excited when Garden of Eat’n invited me to check out their new menu and their new morning café. I use to go to Garden of Eat’n all the time, after a happy run-in with their very unique Quinpool Road patio a few years ago. It had been too long, and I was told the new menu was quite the change from their Acadian meets Persian meets Mediterranean past.

GOE Patio

Chef Benjamin Kelly describes the new menu as “international comfort food meets global fusion”. There is such an art to food and menu creation. I get stuck in a list of easy favourites pulled from a book so when someone puts delicious mystery dishes in front of me that they just dreamed up, I’m in awe.

Chef Benjamin dreamed up a menu designed to take your tastebuds around the world with every bite. You need to taste it to really understand, but I brought a few visuals to help you out.

Korean Stew with house made Kimchi…

Korean House Beef Stew with Kimchi

Jerk Chicken Poutine…

Jerk Chicken Poutine

House Made Truffles…

Truffles Dessert Art

Gluten free chocolate mousse cake…

Gluten Free Halifax Restaurants

Hungry yet?

We tried a range of items from the kitchen, starting with the chef’s favoruite, the Jerk Chicken Poutine. It isn’t what you’d expect from the name. The dish isn’t spicy, it actually has a nice sweetness to it. Drew and I love unique poutine. So far on our travels, we’ve been lucky to experience a few stand-outs – boar poutine, lobster poutine, and pulled pork and jalapeno bacon poutine. The Garden of Eat’n version takes the cake for most unique so far.

But Drew and I had different favourites – both from each other and from Chef Benjamin. For Drew, it was all about the Tempura Sweet Potato Fingers. For me, the Korean Stew made with beef from Oulton’s (Martock Glen Farm). It was so tender and warm and delicious, the best kind of comfort food.

Tempura Sweet Potato Halifax

I couldn’t eat the sandwich with housemade bread and Saint Paulin cheese. Being wheat-free can be difficult. But, there was lots that I could eat. The menu was packed with gluten free, vegetarian, and vegan options.Sandwich with Saint Paulin Cheese and Blueberry

Since January, Drew and I have drastically reduced our meat consumption. We loved chatting with Chef Benjamin about the choice to incorporate many flavourful, meatless creations. “There’s a common misconception that If you don’t have meat on a plate it’s not worth doing” Benjamin said. He has also dreamed up some interesting dairy replacements, using coconut to make cilantro coconut milk reduction and coconut milk sour cream.

But if you are a meat eater, don’t fear. In addition to the yummy options above, they have donair spiced scallops, Moroccan spice sheppards pie with lamb, and a slider trio (for burger lovers who can’t choose).

They also have one of the prettiest salads I’ve ever seen (think wedding centerpiece pretty). The food looks pricey, but is actually quite palatable – meals range from $7 – $17 and the plates are perfect for sharing.

Pretty Salad with Flowers Wedding Centerpiece

GOE Salad 2

Chef Benjamin is an artist outside of the kitchen, as well. He sometimes hops on stage for an impromptu performance with Garden of Eat’n restaurants house band, The Hearth and the Harrow.

The band was playing during our visit.  Peter, Nik and Brandon (and sometimes Benjamin!) play every Saturday night at 8 pm. Their music is a mix of soul, blues, and high lonesome Bluegrass. It was no surprise after hearing them sing to learn that their musical influences include Blind Lemon Jefferson, Big Mama Thornton, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan.

And you’ve gotta hear Nik’s voice. I took a rough clip of their cover of “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” (Leadbelly/Nirvana) while I was there. Even without a proper mic on my camera…man! Check it out:

Garden of Eat’n has also been hard at work on their café. They now open daily at 8 am, serving up espresso, lattes and other coffee treats, but this isn’t just any old coffee. They are one of only two places in Canada (we found just one other that is in Toronto) who import organically grown, fair-traded green coffee beans from the Himalayan Highlands in Nepal.

 

They import them directly from a co-op called Kar.ma that hand-sorts and hand-washes the beans, which are then roasted here in Nova Scotia. Nepal has long been known for its tea, but only recently for its coffee. The beans are grown at high altitudes – 3,000 to 6,000 feet above sea level. The steep mountains produces a unique coffee with a rich, nutty, earthy flavour, little acidity and almost no aftertaste. Garden of Eat’n pair their coffee with organic dairy and organic soy milk (though I had an espresso and wouldn’t even think of adding a drop of milk or sugar to it!)

himalayan coffee canada Halifax

The Local Traveler is helping Garden of Eat’n get the word out about their new menu. They’re supporting our content as a featured partner. We couldn’t be more excited than to be working with a restaurant we love, and it was great to re-visit Garden of Eat’n and get to experience their new menu first hand. (Drew has already been back twice this week). This post was experienced and written by us, and the opinions in this piece are our own.

Planning to check out Garden of Eat’n (and house band Hearth and the Harrow)? If you stop by, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below, or on Twitter or facebook.

Subscribe to me on YouTube
Follow our adventures live:
@GillianWesleyNS
@DrewMooreNS
Join in the conversation, like us on Facebook

Garden of Eat'n Buddha Bar & Cafe on Urbanspoon

About the author

The Local Traveler

Two travellers' tales of finding adventure on the East Coast. This blog is dedicated to the best parts of travel, and to discovering, celebrating and promoting things to do in our corner of the world, and sometimes beyond. We especially love craft beer, day trips, romantic escapes, local food & hidden gems. Join our community on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and share tips and photos of your favourite East Coast adventures.

Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube