The Gate, Vegetarian Restaurant, Islington

Last Wednesday I had dinner with two school friends Rob and Joel. Our six monthly catch ups had to be brought forward slightly this time to accommodate the impending fatherhood which is soon to bless both Rob and Joel (for the second time).

We take it in turn to pick restaurants and this time Joel nominated the The Gate vegetarian restaurant in Islington.

The menu is a little eclectic with predominantly Mediterranean but also French and Asian influences coming through. It made me a little unsure of what to order, but that could have just been my indecision....

My starter of potato chat (£6) was a level above the other two dishes I had on the night and was an early contender for one of the best things I'm likely to eat in 2015. The dish looked a picture (top left) and was a perfectly balanced blend of crispy spinach leaves and soft potatoes that were subtly spiced and have a lovely little sour tang from a tamarind dressing. Rob and Joel both had the three onion tart (£6) and were suffering food envy.

The food envy was on the other foot when the main courses arrived. Joel and I both opted for the aubergine schnitzel (£14). It was a good dish, just not as exciting as my starter. One of my favourite elements of the dish was the small side of pan fried kale which provided a lovely contrast to the aubergine and potato gratin. The schnitzel was also a bit smaller than I'd expected after the generosity of the starter.

Rob ordered the pan fried broccoli flower ravioli (£13). I didn't get to try the ravioli, but the presentation looked fantastic (similar to my chat) and apparently it tasted just as good too.

For dessert I ordered the hazelnut chocolate semi fredo with autumn fruits and nuts (£7). It had the taste of nutella which was apt tribute to Michele Ferrero, the owner of nutella, who has recently passed away.

The service was friendly, although it was sometimes a little difficult to attract their attention and if I was to go again in winter I'd request not to sit just inside the door which can be draughty. However, I'd happily go back for the chat, try the broccoli ravioli main and to find the star dessert.

You can see all of the places I've eaten at in London on a handy little map here.

The Gate Vegetarian Restaurant
370 Saint John Street
London
EC1V 4NN

Restaurant Review: Vanilla Black, Holborn, London

Roasted Apple Sorbet with Somerset Brandy Cream

On Thursday night I had dinner with my school friends Joel and Rob who I last caught up with at Hix earlier in the year. This time we decided to try the vegetarian restaurant Vanilla Black in Holborn.

Not to be confused with the excellent Black Vanilla ice cream shops in Greenwich and Blackheath, this place is tucked away in the back streets of Holborn and takes a little bit of searching out. It isn't the type of place you'd just stumble across.


I arrived first and waiting at our table I could see the food on adjoining tables. The plating looked Michelin starred; elegant, intricate and small. I hoped that I wasn't going to go home hungry. Despite the small looking portions I was to go home sated.

Amuse bouche

When I first looked at the menu I was a bit disorientated. Popping out of the starters menu was brie ice cream, carrot cake and toasties. The mains wasn't any less confusing with mille feuille, double baked puddings and mushroom mousses. As Joel remarked, it's one of the few places where you feel like you are having something sweet for starter, main course and dessert.

When it came to ordering I decided to select something different from Joel and Rob and to avoid eating the same main ingredient for both courses. (Which basically meant not choosing cheese twice.)

Grilled Carrot Cake with Sheeps Yoghurt
Ginger Carrots and Orange Oil

My starter was the Grilled Carrot Cake with Sheeps Yoghurt. The carrot cake was thankfully savoury and the pickled carrots and carrot puree provided a little sharpness and contrasting texture. I was less sure about the green crushed ice (I can't remember the exact herby flavour, coriander?). I didn't mind the taste, I just wasn't sure the cold worked.

Goats Cheese and Toasted Cauliflower Mille Feuille
Golden Raisin and Cashew Nut Potato and Tamarind Paste

For the main course I had the Goats Cheese and Toasted Cauliflower Mille Feuille. Not really a mille feuille as it only had five layers, it looked a delight and tasted good too. The goats rich inside the 'mille feuille' was rich and filling. I would have liked more of the tamarind paste to cut through the cheese and the mini spring rolls as they tasted so good.

Dessert Roasted Apple Sorbet with Somerset Brandy Cream (top photo) was conventional by comparison. The brandy cream topped with the cinnamon hundreds and thousands was the winner of the dish for me. I was so glad I could eat it guilt free after the marathon!

Dinner at Vanilla Black felt refined. The food looked divine and tasted good. Although I'd be tempted to say it looked a little better than it tasted, but only just. The service was attentive and the dining room had a calm feel. Despite my fears when I first saw the food arriving at a neighbouring table I left full too.

Vanilla Black

17- 18 Tooks Court

London
EC4A 1LB

Restaurant Review: Vegie Bar, Fitzroy, Melbourne

I've mentioned in my posts on Melbourne before that the city has style. For me the suburb of Fitzroy typifies the laid back and effortless chic like nowhere else, so I decided to take Ruth and Andrew there for dinner while we were in Melbourne.

A quick browse of Urban Spoon picked out Vegie Bar so we jumped on a tram and headed out. The huge venue was packed on a Thursday night, seemingly vegetarian food has never been so popular. We were sent to the courtyard out the back for a drink while waiting for our table.

The large menu is, obviously, vegetarian with plenty of vegan, raw food and gluten free options as well.

We ordered some dim sim to share as a starter. Not bad, just nothing special. I think they had probably used wonton wrappers for the dim sim and they were (ever so) slightly rubbery. The best thing about them was the dipping sauces. The soy and sesame oil blend was my favourite.

For my main I ordered the Duo. A chickpea and  potato & lentil curry served with a yogurt dip, roti and brown rice. The chickpea curry had a sweet, coconut based sauce which reminded me of butter chicken curries I have had before. The lentil and potato curry was flavoured with cumin and cinnamon. Both were good. The roti was little bit thick and brown rice a bit dry.

Ruth ordered the House Salad with spring rolls. Aside from the spring rolls I think this salad might have counted as 'raw food'. Healthy, certainly, fresh, definitely. However, I'm not sure a mound of raw vegetables would be my thing. There was only a very mild salad dressing. Go for it if you need your vitamins!

Vegi Bar was good fun. Efficient service, healthy food, large portions and amazing value at three mains plus the dim sim for $44 (we paid for drinks separately).

Vegie Bar
380 Brunswick St
Fitzroy
3065

Restaurant Review: Harvest Vegetarian, Rozelle

Decent vegetarian food. Shame about the slow service.

When I first moved to Sydney I was living a few streets from Harvest Vegetarian Restaurant in Rozelle. With my sister, a vegetarian, visiting Sydney I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to check out the city's only 'fine dining' vegetarian joint.

I was surprised how busy the suburban restaurant was on a Wednesday night. Nearly all the tables were taken and there were people sitting outside too. I think the mid-week rush had taken Harvest by surprise as well, the one waitress was rushed off her feet. It took an eternity to order, for plates to be cleared and I had to ask three times for a bottle of water. Which was a shame as the painfully slow service marred some otherwise good food.

I ordered the Mediterranean Aubergine Tower. The tower of aubergine was alternated with roasted pepper, sweet potato and goats cheese. The richness of the goats cheese was balanced by a zingy tomato sauce. A couple of the bites of the aubergine tasted a bit leathery, like they had been pre-cooked some time before. However, overall it was a good mix of flavours. I didn't feel like I was missing any meat.

My sister ordered the signature Pancake Stack with sauteed brown oyster and button mushrooms. From my quick taste, the mushrooms had been friend in garlic and herbs and had a deep, earthy, garlicky flavour.

For dessert I chose the Zesty Orange and Almond Cake. Whole oranges had been cooked, pureed and combined with almonds. This wasn't a flourless orange cake, but a chunkier affair with large pieces of orange and almond adding texture to the cake. I really liked the large bits of orange that you might find in marmalade, the zesty orange flavours and sweetness of the cake.

I enjoyed the food, particularly my dessert. However, I couldn't recommend you visit until they hire a second waiter / waitress to bring more attention to their guests and speed up the service. Hopefully they were caught by surprise on a busy Wednesday night.

Harvest Vegetarian Restaurant
71 Evans St
Rozelle
2039