The Coach & Horses (Soho, London)

I've known about The Coach & Horses since it opened a couple of years ago, but was put off trying by crappy reviews.

Having visited a couple of times recently I can definitely see where they're coming from - whilst it's great to see an all vegetarian pub in London with oodles of character, the quality of food could be better.

The dining room is above the pub - you have to ask downstairs whether there's space, then ascend a staircase behind the bar. It's all a bit rough around the edges, but in a charming sort of way. The pub itself serves non-vegetarian drinks and is rammed most evenings. The dining room's a bit more relaxed and oozes character - high ceilings, curved wall, open fireplace, bare floorboards etc. Mostly candle lit too, so I apologise for the quality of the photos!

They seem to have a good clientele - foreign tourists during the afternoon for 'afternoon tea' (which looks good but bought in) and the usual vegetarian restaurant sort of folk in the evening.

On my first visit I had their infamous tofuish and chips - the second a burger.

Where else can you get vegan fish and chips with a pint of cider? (no where that I'm aware of). First impressions very good - shame the peas aren't mushed with mint, but it's the Coach and Horses not Mildreds.

On closer inspection however, the chips were crap (bought in, poor quality potatoes, not well cooked) and the tofu unpleasantly fishy tasting. I've had tofu fish elsewhere that's been battered tofu with a hint of nori, but this was a full on fishy taste that was more of an endurance than pleasure to eat (I must confess I that failed to eat it all).

Dessert was carrot cake, which tasted a lot better. Dense and not enough frosting, but a reasonable effort (without wanting to spoil the rest of this post it's the best thing I've eaten there).

The second time I visited I went for their burger. Same crap chips but a decent enough looking bun.

Ever the eagle eyed vegan that I am I checked that they'd not included hallumi, which of course they had:

Yuck! I'm glad I check these things..... Having waited for another meal to be made I was more concerned about missing my train than eating dinner, so skipped the free dessert they offered me. Mistakes happen and I appreciated the gesture.

The burger itself wasn't that great. Having blogged 2 excellent burgers today I know I'm not just being picky. It was mediocre at best - like the tofuish I left half.

To summarize: I like everything about The Coach and Horses, except for the food. As a restaurant above a non-vegan pub (there are better places to drink in the area) that doesn't make for a compelling reason to revisit. I'll give it another go in a year or two - hopefully they up their game in the meantime. Until then however there are better places to eat within a short walk.

Scoop (Soho, London)

Scoop is a chain of 3 "gelato parlours" (that's icecream shop to you or I) in Covent Garden, South Kensington and Soho. Having been to the Covent Garden branch previously I was tempted in through the door of Soho on the promise of vegan churros.

I ended up going a few times last year - a short walk from wfm / Picadilly tube it's convenient for grabbing something cool in hot weather (which does happen occasionally in London). It's also an alternative dessert destination after visiting somewhere like Beatroot around the corner that doesn't really do pudding.

As is often the case at such places it's the sorbets that are vegan rather than icecream. It is good quality sorbet though, so you won't feel too hard done by. Cross contamination's a definite possibility so it's worth staying vigilant whilst they're serving your order - I've heard from other vegans that they've messed up in the past.

Their churros are good, but like most places I was told the chocolate sauce isn't vegan. Thus I've opted for chocolate sorbet instead when I've had them:

I like Scoop. It's one of Soho's better places. Vegan icecream, toppings and better separation would be very much welcomed in the future, unless someone opens the London branch of Lula's Sweet Apothecary here in the meantime!

Vantra (Soho)

Vantra describes itself as being "Pioneering Organic Cuisine". Pretty exciting stuff - it'd be disappointing if it was basically just another grotty buffet.

I've walked past but not been in before. I had 10 minutes to grab takeaway in the area recently, so popped in to see what it was like.

£6 for a takeaway box is very reasonable; perhaps a little too reasonable, given the cost of their rent (just off Oxford Street). When the chain of chinese vegan buffets opened they were incredible value for money - you literally could eat £6 worth of ingredients (cashews, peppers, fresh veg etc) and not understand how they made any profit. As the years passed by the use of decent ingredients waned, until what we had today: lukewarm bland mush with an over reliance on fake meat.

First impression of Vanta? Very good. The staff seemed a bit confused and unprepared for the start of lunch service, but overall they've done a great job of the decor and creating a brand:

All their food is vegan; I got a takeaway box and a slice of good looking banana cake, which comes with soya cream.

The food itself? Meh.

No one thing was exceptional and there were a few flavours I really didn't like at all.

It also didn't smell that good - in fact I felt a little embarrassed getting on the tube with it. Quality wise: it is better than a Tai buffet, but not a lot better.

The cake survived about an hour of walking around London / tube journeys without going soggy in the soya cream. This is testament to quite how dry it was - but tasted good if you rationed out the cream effectively.

Vantra has nothing on Tibits, which is similarly priced and nearby. I will return however I hopefully try an evening meal there.

Tibits (London)

Having had a good whinge about a nearby v*gan restaurant recently, I've nothing but good things to say about Tibits.

Though I know Soho well; the other side of Regents Street is unknown territory. Therefore, whilst I've known of Tibits existence for a number of years, I've never randomly walked past and eaten there before.

I'd planned to visit October Cafe, but it was 9am and I didn't fancy waiting around for it to open at 10. I wanted to try somewhere else new, so found Tibits' location via google.

The format is similar to Aloka in Brighton - fill a plate then get charged by weight. Everything is vegetarian and the majority marked as vegan.

I'd been up for several hours by this point, so had an early brunch, costing a reasonable £6.40:

I've a feeling that they've more hot things available at lunchtime, but I was pretty happy with what I got.

I can't remember what everything was; I had a spoonful of each thing that looked vaguely good. There was definitely a black quinoa thing, some dhal, a fig and tofu salad, cucumber and tofu, a bean thing and some pasta. It tasted pretty decent and was all very fresh.

They've put a bit more effort into decor than most places, but whilst flock damask is totally my thing, I'm not 100% sure that the overall effect is to my taste:

I didn't have room for dessert, so got an apple turnover to take away - again reasonably priced at £1.70.

I took a photo, but I was on a train by this point and the dodgy lighting makes it look a lot less appetizing than it was!

The pastry was as close to perfect as I've ever had. They could have been slightly more generous with the filling and for absolute perfection; included some custard too, but now I'm really picking!

So, Tibits hasn't wowed me enough to be in my top 10, but I'll certainly return and would suggest it to others.

The food is above average value for money - you just won't find yourself laying awake at night longing to eat there again, that's all.

Mildred's & Mrs Marengo's

When I first went to Mildred's in 2004 I was thoroughly underwhelmed by the experience. The food was so-so and service truely absymal.

I had a better experience in 2008 (including a mushroom pie which inspired me to make my own, much better version), but it's not been on my list of places to rush back too.

In all honesty, it's not a bad restaurant. The food's alright and if it were the only choice in the town I lived then I'd probably go a few times a year. London's got too much choice though, including far better value for money options.

I decided to give it another try recently, simply for dessert after visiting Beatroot for mains.

Service this time round was quite friendly. I sat at the front by the bar and despite the uncomfortable metal seating the experience was quite pleasant.

As my eyes are bigger than my tummy I ordered myself a couple of things and a soya latte.

The raspberry truffle torte was pretty good. It'd got the right balance of creamy / chocolatey / sweet:

As a big wedge on a plate with no accompaniment though the overall effect was lacking something - at £6.40 I'd expect a bit more in the way of specialness - homemade iceream, a biscuit etc.

The banana tofu cheesecake really did taste like it contained tofu (e.g. not in a good way). It was like I'd been transported back to the 80s (infact I'm pretty sure it's an adapted cheesecake recipe from Baskerville's 1986 "The Vegan Cookbook"):

The sliced banana tasted good though and appart from that unmistakable taste of silken tofu; the overall dessert was alright.

On their website they have listed "banana tofu cheesecake with coconut brittle and pina colada icecream". If it'd included the brittle and icecream it'd have been a pretty decent dessert, worth the money. Without it though it just lacked.

The bill came to £16.95 including their "optional" 12.5% service charge (which the first time I refused to pay as the service was so appalling).

£17 for 2 desserts and a coffee is understandable in a premium restaurant like Terre-a-Terre, but Mildred's isn't in the same league as far as I'm concerned. Whilst it's above average, it's still very much in the average camp.

In short: their food isn't worth the prices they charge.

As I walked back to the tube I noticed Mrs Merango's on the same street, which I'd heard about but not visited (nor realised it was located so close). I decided to get a couple of cakes to take home for @cherrivalentine.

I immediately realised that it was the same stuff as Mildreds, but at less than half the price!

I got another slice of the raspberry truffle thing and a carrot cake, both of which made it the 100 mile journey home in more or less one piece:

(at first I thought it was a slice of tomato, but was pleased when it turned out to be orange).

I really enjoyed the carrot cake and would buy it again. Both tasted better with a scoop of icecream.

My advice? Skip Mildred's and go to Mrs Marengo's for dessert. It's the same stuff, at much more realistic prices.