Plant Pub [Kendall Sq., Cambridge MA]

Spring Onion attended a skating party in Kendall Square on Monday so we decided to check out Plant Pub, which is right next to the rink, for a few snacks. First of all, I’m blanking on the name, but my work colleagues and I would go to the previous incarnation for lunch. That place was really good so I was sad to see that it is gone. For a “pub,” the space is very underwhelming although they do have a pleasant little outdoor seating area with picnic tables and those oil rig-esque heat lamps. It’s really small inside. Basically it feels like a takeout joint. Friendly service. We way over-ordered. There’s no beer on draft only cans but they have a good selection of New England-centric beers. I had a couple of glasses of an Italian red. B ordered fries (delicious, old school McDonald’s style), the buffalo cauliflower (breading was a bit thick, and sauce was a little cloying… we ate the leftovers over rice the next day which was an improvement), and finally the “garlic fingers,” which turns out to be a pizza that is cut into small, oblong pieces. We found the menu description a bit misleading as we were trying to avoid pizza. But it was tasty. We brought most of it home. It doesn’t qualify as a destination but it’s not a bad place to kick back either before or after the rink. I would think that in normal times they would have a lot of lunchtime traffic.

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How are the prices?

My kids miss the Waffle Cabin at the Kendall Square rink.

Hmmm….I remember thinking “Kendall Sq prices.” I’m going to ballpark it and say with 2 beers 2 wines, and 3 substantial snacks, it was probably $70-ish before tip?

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It’s all relative, but not terrible for the area when some places are charging $15 for a beer…

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I was a vegan/vegetarian for many years and the problem with a lotta of modern vegetarian restos is that they are all carbs. Like it’s vegetarian, where the veggies at?

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Thanks for this report. I was super intrigued when I heard about the concept of a pub with a plant-based menu, but I am over wanting to try Plant Pub now.

“Pub” for me is a cozy spot with a good draft beer selection and a comfort food menu. Not even offering beer on tap is a miss for me. A “plant pub” would be an awesome concept if it actually delivered on pub-ness.

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Part of me couldn’t help feeling that they (Mary Dumont et al) are jumping on the veggie vegan bandwagon with very little risk involved since the space is so small and there’s not a whole lot of branding of stuff like printed menus, dinnerware, etc. The only “things” at stake seem to be the lovely young people who were waiting on us and cooking our food.

Without looking at their website, I think part of their mission is to branch out with more locations. Perhaps this is their beta site and they will become more prolific/pub-like if it catches on in larger spaces. Isn’t there an unrelated vegan pub somewhere in Southie opening up?

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I broke down and googled it. Squeaky Beaker.

If Bytes off Sidney Street has closed, I will be sad for a long time I can’t even bear to Google that place. Long live Bytes!

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Oh, I didn’t know it was her. I have never eaten at Harvest believe it or not. Yea, I don’t know if the vegan thing can work, even if 11 Madison did it. It has to be conscious of the whole low-carb thing, which I believe is the next “trend”. I would try a keto place before I tried vegan. Vegan is supposed to be healthy and it can be, but only if it not overwhelmingly starchy, deep-fried to death, and processed so heavily that it’s not even food anymore, pub vibes notwithstanding. Now I’m kinda curious what the food is actually like, I generally dismiss things like this.

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These highly ultra processed “meat substitutes” are not as healthy as they’d like us to believe. Not so good for the environment either(monoculture). Yes, whole plant foods with lots of vegetables ie. real quality foods!

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Hey Phil!

Yea I looked at the menu, it’s all carbs, deep-fried, and the worst offender to metabolic health, Impossible Burger. I’m pretty disappointed. The lard sitting on the bar for sale at Sei Bar is healthier, no joke. I would seriously revamp, but hey I’m not a professional chef so what do I know about healthy food? I have a lot respect for Dumont’s career and her mission here, but the execution is a step in the wrong direction.

That being said, you literally cannot get a healthy meal any where these days. Everyone is guilty of carbs, vegetable seed oils and so on. I’m not singling Dumont out, I am just saying the mission and execution, there is a serious mismatch.

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@anon6418899 @Trumpetguy totally get it guys about the health / other issues (I’m married to a physician) but when you choose to eat out, sometimes you just gotta set that aside. Plant Pub is not trying to be healthy food, but pub food that doesn’t have meat. I think restaurants that are not vegan or vegetarian probably have giant calorie and fat profiles that you wouldn’t want to know about either. We certainly don’t eat out every day even before Covid. More like once or maybe twice a week. It is what it is

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Mixed Grill at Darul

I totes derailed the vegan thread lol. My job is done for today folks!

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I live for derailment. Please continue. :star_struck:

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