I only learned about Gina's a minute before we started off on our Vancouver weekend. It only took us another minute to change our dining plans to make sure we included this, "mostly plant-based Mexican restaurant for queers by queers." It puts the focus on Vancouver's queer women and trans community and is billed as a safe place.
Located in the space previously occupied by Salt on East Pender just east of Main, we showed up unfashionably early on Saturday afternoon. We were seated at their long communal table (there are a few small tables). There is not a lot of signage at Gina's so far, probably because they just opened yesterday, but it is not that hard to find.
The food menu is not long or complicated at Gina's. The emphasis seems to be more on its being a gathering place for people who might otherwise face negativity in a world full of intolerant assholes. We found them to be very welcoming, and the vibe was happy. Still, we're always here for the food!
We started with the Aguachile, mostly because it was something we had never had before. This is a mix of mushrooms, cucumber and onions "cooked " in lime and serrano chile, not unlike seviche (of course, nothing had to die). It was tart and refreshing and came with some crisp tortillas. Nice!
Next up was the Fruta Picada. This was a mix of watermelon, jicama and orange again in a sauce of lime, salt and chamoy. Chamoy is a sweet, tangy, salty, slightly spicy sauce made of dried fruits, chilies, lime juice, etc. It is perfect with jicama.
Next were three tacos. We chose one of each of the three current preparations: Frijoles, Vegan Tingo, and Papitas. The Frijoles are a 'secret family recipe' and were very tasty and smoothly blended.. The tinga were stewed onion and carrot in a chipotle tomato sauce and the papitas were basically mashed potatoes with some chile and onion. All pretty basic but enough to fill that empty tummy. We liked the smoothly blended green salsa that was on the side.
Finally, we tried the Horchata Rice Pudding, which was quite a hit! Rice pudding conjures up thoughts of my childhood, but with the lovely horchata flavour to add some variety!
We were a little confused by the note at the bottom of the menu that states that their Worsestershire, cheese and sour cream are not plant-based. Given that Vegan Supply is right across the road, that certainly doesn't seem like it should be an issue.
We also couldn't figure out Gina's identity. Our server said she was a friend of theirs. A couple of days later I called them and found out there is no Gina, that she is a created character. We sat in front of a poster that quoted some of Gina's wisdom so whether she is a composite of persons or whether their is a deeper personal story that is none of my business, we enjoyed our visit and wish them success!
Food 4 out of 5
Vegan Options Available 4 1/2 out of 5
Comfort 4 1/2 out of 5
Service 4 1/2 out of 5
Value 4 out of 5
