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V Rating: VV PEN is surreptitiously located at the corner of two biggish roads in Pyrmont in a converted wool shed. The exterior looks like your run of the mill, humble local cafe serving the office crowd. It’s always intrigued me because the name reminds me of a writer’s activist group - but until recently I’d never ventured in.
Once inside, you realise that it has a tardis like design. The narrow frontage belies the large, single room that makes up the cafe. The interior is very striking, with vivacious red walls, exposed dark wood roof beams, and a large, polished wooden table running down the centre of the room, adding an inner West cum country kitchen feel. The menu, while full of fresh market ingredients, is not abundant with vegetarian options. There are two vegetarian salads, including a salad stack, a vegetarian sandwich, and a vegetarian pasta sauce than comes with a choice of four pastas. There were no vegetarian specials the day I visited, and my first choice of salad was out of stock, even though it was slightly before 12.30 when I ordered. So, while I usually avoid ordering dishes that sound tokenistic, I went the salad stack. My first impression wasn’t great. The stack didn’t come with all the ingredients listed on the menu. Also, when I asked for the optional cheddar cheese I assumed it would be delicately scattered around the plate, not stuck in a chunk at the top of the stack. These things aside, this was one of the better stacks I’ve tried. The nicest part was that it utilised a lot of fresh ingredients, like grated carrot, avocado, alfalfa beetroot and lettuce, rather than being made up of oily grilled vegetables. The dressing was a light, lemon vinegarette, which brought the fresh ingredients to life by adding some zing. I wouldn’t rate PEN as my favourite lunchspot in Pyrmont. However, it stacks up (boom tish) well against its other cafe counterparts. Post a comment
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