Jennifer P.
Yelp
My husband and I were wandering around Agricola when we spotted En Vie. We were still pretty full from lunch, but it was our last day in Halifax for that trip, and En Vie was on my list of restaurants that I wanted to try in Halifax, so on a whim we decided to go in for a little snack. Overall, I felt that the food was ok.
En Vie is a vegan restaurant, and I really like how they indicate which items are gluten-free, nut-free, and soy-free, since many vegan items contain these ingredients that some people may want to avoid for various reasons.
My husband and I decided to share an appetizer and a dessert. We got the soup of the day, which was a vegetable and chickpea soup ($6) we added sourdough bread for an additional $2. We also got the Strawberry Shortcake ($12).
We got the small size for the soup, but there was an option of the large size for $10. The small size was about a cup. I thought it would be a puree, but was pleasantly surprised that it was actually chunks in broth. It was mostly chickpeas, tomatoes, onions and green onions. It was flavourful. The extra $2 got us 1 slice of bread, cut into two pieces. The bread was a bit salty for my liking and there was too much of a butter-like spread on it which made it too oily/greasy for my tastes.
The strawberry shortcake was described as a "sponge cake", but was incredibly dense and too heavy for my tastes. The "coconut whip" was also really dense. I expected a whipped cream texture, but it was more like coconut oil mixed with coconut cream and then chilled. The menu said it would come with toasted pistachios, but our dessert had none (sad face). The strawberries were in a sauce and they were ok. There was an edible flower on top of the dessert which made it look pretty. I think I was disappointed with this dessert because it was very different from what I expected and it was also really small. By the name and menu description, I expected a light sponge cake with whipped cream made of coconut milk and fresh strawberries, what we received was much richer and denser. Oh well.
Service was friendly, and the inside of the cafe looked nice.
I personally was not wowed by the food, and I felt that $20 before taxes and tip for 1 cup of soup, 1 slice of bread, and a small dessert was too pricey, but others may feel differently.