earth's kitchen.

Vegetarians, vegans and lovers of organic food - this is your place.  Earth's Kitchen, placed on the corner of Pirie and Hyde Street, caught my eye when I was scouring Urbanspoon to see where to eat next.  Proponents of all things organic, gluten-free and whatever-is-bad-for-you-free, the owners of Earth's Kitchen have nailed it with their delicious menu and rustic atmosphere.

Their menu isn't huge but there's enough for one to ponder over whilst waiting for a friend.  Vegetarian entrees, salads and pizzas (there are meat pizzas too!) are their main offerings, as well as some on-the-counter desserts such as carrot cake and brownies - all gluten free of course.

Arabic Hummus with organic wheat & spelt flour bread: $12.90

Hummus.  Yum.  Drizzled with olive oil, it was easy to spread on the soft bread and extremely flavoursome with the smoked paprika on top.  I've never seen hummus so yellow before but it tasted really good.  At first I thought there wasn't enough to go around for the bread but it ended up being plenty.  

Herb Roasted Pumpkin Salad: pearl barley, lentils, baby spinach, bean sprouts & spiced yoghurt: $16.90

 The taste was strange.  The spiced yoghurt tasted slightly like satay sauce, but not quite.  The salad was very fresh and I particularly liked the bean sprouts when eaten alone, although the pumpkin was pretty good too.  I don't know if I'd order this one again though.



Roast Chicken & Chorizo Pizza: $21.90

  Chunks and chunks of lemon and chilli roasted chicken and chorizo were all I could see, a very good sign in my books.  The pizza base was thin but still doughy and delicious while the tomato sauce was strong but not that it overpowered the flavours from the meat.  The best part about the pizza was that I couldn't see any excess oil leaking out or leaving a stain on the wooden board.  Some pizzas are just way too oily.  Personally I would have preferred more cheese but for lactose-intolerant people it would be appropriate.

It was a great first time experience here, especially with the grocery store-like setting.  The owners were friendly and the food came out in pretty reasonable time.  The prices were okay, but given that they were using 'all-organic' ingredients I'm surprised the prices weren't higher.  Sizes were pretty generous - the entree bread and hummus and my pizza were pretty big and, as a result, I ended up taking half my pizza home because I couldn't finish it! Definitely recommend this place to people who want to eat healthier but not miss out on delicious food.