Chickpea
Forget expensive, tiny tapas-style plates of your favourite cauliflower, hummus and falafel—at foodtruck-to-restaurant Chickpea, you need to bring a container from home for your leftovers. Not that plates are at the same consistency level as a Nuba or as beautiful as Jarn (until Jamjar redesigns its restaurant logo, that’s what I’m calling it in protest), but I could happily eat this Mediterranean vegan comfort food daily and be fully satisfied and remain financially stable. Oh, and did we mention glasses of house wine are $5? The space is a cool and funky Main Street spot to hang out, and acrylic wall murals, classroom chairs and an indoor tree add a pinch of artsy Salt Spring-lite. Menus are even inserted into repurposed children’s books—
I Spy, anyone? Your order: the Chickpea Experience platter ($16) comes with parsley-onion-andchickpea falafel, crunchy fried eggplant, a generous portion of creamy hummus, side salad in a mint vinaigrette dressing (that I never finish), pita bread, plus their addictive chickpea fries topped with amba mango and sweet chili sauce. Be advised: in the colder months the entire right side of the restaurant is freezing, and year-round the service is friendly but equally glacial. Order everything you need at once, and don’t come here if you’re in a hurry.