It’s a café, coffeehouse and a haven, no, an absolute oasis, for deliciously guilt-free dishes and custom cold and hot drinks made entirely from plant foods. For vegetarians and vegans, The Greenhouse Café has already become well known in a very short time since opening in fall of 2019. As for the thousands of Berks Countians who swore on New Year’s to eat more mindfully and healthfully in 2022 — adding fiber, cutting back on daily meat intake, avoiding saturated fats and foregoing dairy — this inviting restaurant is a clear destination to trust for astonishingly tasty, wholesome, satisfying dinners, as well as lunches and breakfasts.
Co-owners Uday Shah and Nikki Motichka are genial, caring chefs with clear dedication not only to plant-based foods, but fantastic flavor. They check with patrons to please their palates, tweaking culinary creations toward a more perfect eating experience. They support local suppliers and cook with ingredients in harmony with the seasons. Uday himself comes from a tradition of South Indian cuisine, remembering spending time in Temple City, Madurai, site of a famous 6th Century temple. “I am a lifelong vegetarian,” he says, smiling, “and I have never eaten meat.” Nikki has been a vegetarian for years and has come to embrace a vegan diet. She says many of their customers are omnivores who want to expand their lifestyle.
Located next to Bell Tower Salon & Spa just off Penn Avenue, there’s never a worry about parking. The Café’s interior sports an airy, cosmopolitan atmosphere, offering exciting daily specials in addition to popular standards. They’re open most mornings through early afternoon, while Wednesdays and Fridays offer additional hours for dinner. Dishes on those nights might include entrees like dairy-free lasagna, Alfredo or couscous with roasted cashews and lemon-garlic sauce.
As a way of serving the larger Berks community, the restaurant also offers order-ahead takeout for various private gatherings or holiday events, so that all guests can enjoy a gluten-free Lentil Loaf, Baked Mac and Cheese, Roasted Garlic and Rosemary Potatoes, Red Velvet Cake and a variety of other fine foods.
Delightful Soups; World’s Smoothest Hummus
Try the pretty, aromatic Tomato and White Bean Soup made creamy with cashew cream and devoid of any acidic aftertaste. Those soft white beans are “just right” in texture and taste, reflecting the Café’s expertise in cooking legumes from scratch. Very satisfying; quite perfect for dipping with breads. In fact, every day Nikki makes new soups for dining in or taking out, artistically mixing up the most astonishing combinations. “I make over 40 different types of soup a year,” she admits, saying she takes great joy in coming up with different seasonings for her vegetables, lentils and bean broths.
Also available daily is a super, uber-fresh Hummus Plate, made from scratch, of course. The chickpea dish comes with pita triangles and is topped with Indian-spiced veggies on top, often with carrots, cauliflower and pickled cabbage slaw. “We use a very high-quality olive oil,” say Uday and Nikki, which partially explains how incredibly silky-smooth and mild, yet lovely, their hummus is. It’s a must-try dish, for sure — great for sharing as a high-protein, low-cholesterol appetizer or light meal.
Extraordinary Egg-less Salad Sandwich and Other Surprises
More eating pleasure emerges in the Egg-less Salad Sandwich, a lively, egg-textured choice enhanced by red tomato slices and curvy microgreens (lightly sweet and spicy). Likewise, The Greenhouse Café has perfected a mock tuna in its Chickpea by the Sea Sandwich, also embellished with microgreens and tomato slices on a wholesome, luscious bread. Both sandwiches come with a choice of chips or side salad. Both are crazy-good. So yummy.
Caesar Salad lovers will flip over the Chik’n Caesar Salad bowl, loaded with crispy Romaine lettuce, an engaging house-made Vegan Caesar dressing and herbed croutons. Artfully arranged on top of this salad entrée is a generous portion of yummy grilled Vegan Chik’n strips.
The Strata (gluten-free) is one of those really wonderful dishes that moves easily from breakfast to dinner. Attractively presented, this is a true original where the main focus on a golden, loaf-like square made of tightly knit veggies (spinach and carrots), house-made non-dairy feta, chickpea-flour base, topped with tomato and drizzled with a zesty, creamy sauce. Herbed potatoes accompany.
Coffee, Chai, Smoothies and Golden Milk
Freshly made coffee with oatmilk is “the usual” here, though choices abound from almond to soy milk. Greenhouse Chai is like none other, as the highest quality ingredients make this drink 100 percent authentic. Some patrons can’t get enough of their Wild Berry and other smoothies. And expect pure magic in Golden Milk, a custom-made, warm cup containing turmeric, akin to a warm sunset that lingers in mind and heart.
Last but not least by any means, The Greenhouse Café stuns with its mouthwatering baked goods: gluten-free carrot cake, classy coffeecake and ginormous banana-walnut muffins containing a whole banana in each muffin!
The Greenhouse Café
484.509.2121
18 State Hill Rd., Wyomissing
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