This is a review of my garbage from Chickpea (https://www.ilovechickpea.ca/). It’s not a review of Chickpea, or of their food, though if it were, it’d be glowing. I love Chickpea. I eat there all the time. I ate there three nights ago—or, rather, I ordered in—and these are the remains of my meal. Let’s see: I had the marinated cucumbers with dill and red onion, the Israeli salad, and the schnitzel balagan off the kids’ menu. I thought about adding ice cream, but for some reason, I didn’t.

So. To the garbage:

Volume: This feels like too much garbage. I mean, that’s four containers, there: one for the schnitzel, one for the salad, another for the onions, and a small tub of mango sauce I forgot to eat. And there’s a paper bag.

The problem is, they send too much food. One dinner from Chickpea lasts me three days. I thought ordering off the kids’ menu might make a dent in the massive piles of food, but it didn’t. Really, I’d’ve been happy with food to fill one stomach, which would’ve used one container—and the mango sauce could’ve gone directly on the fries, where I’d have had no choice but to eat it.

Three stars for volume: * * *

Smell: Even given three days, I couldn’t eat all that schnitzel. This’ll definitely start to smell, if I don’t throw it out soon. Still, it’s not fish. It’ll only smell moderately awful.

Three stars for smell: * * *

Potential to Ruin Birds’ Lives and Bother Small Mammals: There’s not a whole lot of plastic here. They’ve done a nice job, keeping the plastic to a minimum. And those cardboard containers should break down fine in the environment: they’re already breaking down in my fridge. Hummus muck all over the shelf.

Four stars for environmental impact: * * * *

Overall, I’d rate this garbage a respectable three point five.