Last October the Vegetarian Society released a list of the top restaurants in the UK. But Restaurant Rabbit Becky Paskin thinks it omitted some of the best, and included some of the worst on offer. Here are her own favourites.
It is hard in Britain, where we have the pick of so many fantastic cuisines, to get a decent vegetarian meal in a regular restaurant; which is why I am so grateful that we have such a great selection of veggie-oriented places to eat without a sticky rib or chicken drumstick in sight. As a dedicated Restaurant Rabbit I feel an almost moral duty to tweak the VegSoc’s controversial list and give a fair representation of what the best vegetarian chefs in the industry are doing to give non-meat eaters a varied, healthy and tasty choice when they eat out.
Greens Despite being a meat-eater himself, celebrity chef Simon Rimmer has become one of the forerunners of the vegetarian restaurant scene since the opening of his Manchester veggie haven in 1990. Expect an eclectic menu of hearty dishes that include Moroccan spiced cobbler with leeks, pumpkin and cabbage in a cinnamon spiced tomato sauce, and bean, veg and brown cap mushroom chilli with chick pea ‘guacamole’ and cumin rice. 43 Lapwing Lane Manchester, M20 2NT www.greensdidsbury.co.uk
Terre a Terre
Creative, modern and stylish, Terre a Terre reinvents traditional meaty dishes for the vegetarian palate by playfully adding its own twist. Decipher the imaginative dish descriptions on the menu and discover creations like buttermilk soaked halloumi in chip shop batter, with vodka-spiked plum tomatoes, pea mint hash, pickled quails egg, sea salad tartar, skinny frites and a ‘lemony Yemeni’ relish.
71 East Street Brighton, BN1 1HQ
Saf
Saf’s mantra is that the healthiest meals consist of raw ingredients, which is why most of the dishes on executive chef Chad Sarno’s menu are cooked below 48 degrees, a process that locks in optimum nutrition and flavour. Typical dishes served at Saf include root vegetable tart with a buckwheat and herb crust, purple sprouting, and creamed spinach, and a ‘buddha bowl’ with teriyaki glazed smoked tofu, organic jasmine rice, wok fried greens, kimchee, kimpura & sambal.
152-154 Curtain Road London, EC2A 3AT
The Waiting Room
Heralding organic, local and seasonal produce as the core basis of its menus, The Waiting Room was voted by the Vegetarian Society as the best restaurant in the UK in 2008. The seasonally changing menu has a heavy Mediterranean and Indian influence, with dishes like half roast butternut squash with spicy puy lentils & mozzarella, and spinach, mushroom and feta curry with basmati rice.
9 Station Road, Stockton on Tees, TS16 0BU
Demuths
Hidden in the cobbled passageways of Bath, Demuths has been serving rich, modern vegetarian fare in an intimate, jazzy, modern-art-decorated environment for the past 20 years. Servings are huge, as are the flavours on the regularly changing, inventive menu that features dishes like beetroot blinis, labna and lavash, and baked blue cheese polenta. The restaurant can get exceptionally busy, so booking ahead is well advised.
2 North Parade Passage, Bath, BA1 1NX
Dandelion and Burdock
Like so many great restaurants, the best are hard to find and D&B is no exception. An intimate vegan restaurant, it serves an almost daily changing, tofu-heavy menu that has in the past featured smoked tofu on a root vegetable mash with collard greens, and tofu and spinach purple hash. Friendly service from a small team who are more than happy to cater for the fussiest diet, makes each visit both personal and memorable.
16 Town Hall Street, Sowerby Bridge, HX6 2EA
Food for Friends
Situated in the vegetarian capital of the UK, Food for Friends is a lively, bustling café during the day that transforms into a romantic, candlelit restaurant in the evening. Serving fresh, seasonal and modern food, both daytime and evening menus offer a range of sharing platters and individual dishes to suit many tastes, from a trio of asian-inspired tofu pockets to a Mediterranean mezze for two.
17-18 Prince Albert Street Brighton, BN1 1HF
Canteen
Canteen retains a heavy focus toward vegan and vegetarian cuisine, but continues to offer meat on its fortnightly, changing menu in order to give vegetarians’ meat-eating friends and partners a ‘compromise’ option. Expect Arabian spiced lamb with cardamom, pistachio and apricot rice sitting on the menu beside coconut curried tofu with coriander and coconut rice.
40 Clifton Street, Cardiff, CF24 1LR
The Red Lion
This old pub in the Suffolk countryside has been transformed from the local pool table hangout into a family friendly vegetarian gastropub, although the building’s traditional features still remain. The Red Lion serves a hearty, homemade menu using local and seasonal ingredients that includes a diverse range of dishes such as African sweet potato stew with roasted red peppers, sugar snaps and baby corn in a spicy peanut & tomato sauce, and Porcini risotto fritters stuffed with gruyere.
Greenstreet Green, Suffolk, IP7 7DD
Café Maitreya
Despite a name meaning ‘universal love’ or ‘loving kindness’ in Sanskrit, Café Maitreya is not a hippy veggie hangout. It is however a gourmet café/ restaurant serving modern and imaginative dishes like avocado shell ravioli and caramelised endive, paris pink mushroom and gruyere tarte tatin in a bright and inviting atmosphere with not one whiff of a joss stick. 89 St. Mark's Road Bristol, BS5 6HY
|