Terre a Terre (Brighton)

I eat out at least twice a week, but generally don't reblog restaurants over an over. Terre a Terre gets a yearly mention however, because its food is simply amongst the best in the UK.

Our latest trip was under the guise of Brighton Vegfest, which we travelled down from the Midlands for the day for (see separate post).

We'd eaten dessert at Food for Friends an hour before sitting down for a 3 course meal at Terre a Terre, so it's safe to say we were pretty stuffed.

In my last blog post I complained about the lack of vegan options - that sometimes there's a few, other times a distinct lack. This time however almost ever item on the menu was either V or VO! I doubt they've taken on board my comments personally, but hopefully the overall message has gotten through and this trend will continue.

The menu choice is large, however there's a definite re-use of ingredients between dishes. Perhaps we got unlucky or ordered the wrong things, but it'd be good to experience new flavours with each course.

I'm nit picking - this trip was our best ever to Terre a Terre. I'm glad we don't live closer (could get expensive), but with the recent closure of Saf; London really does need another 'high end' option to rival Manna V.

Is that the supreme master sitting behind @cherrivalentine?

We ordered a couple of starters:

Tarator Tomatoes (v) 6.10
Smoked Sundried tomatoes with beetroot, walnut and flat leaf parsley tarator and focaccia fingers.

Bison Bon Bon Beet’s (gf/vo) 8.95
Pumpkin terrine tarator with bison beetroot vodka verrine, slipcote sheeps cheese bon bons soaked in dill oil with caraway pepper salt, served with a sage onion fritter biscuit, brittle walnut crumble and apple balsamic.

Due to a mix up, we got an extra starter for free (if we'd have been starving this would have been perfect!):

Smoked Tomato and Rocket Salad (vo/gf) 6.10
Leafy salad of rocket, lashings of herbs and smoked tomatoes, shaved Grana Padano dressed with lemon and extra virgin olive oil scattered with tamari oven roasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds

This was the best - by far. Horseradish icecream is not something I've had the pleasure of trying before, but it really did work with the middle column. On the left was the aforementioned tomato paste (which I'm not sure really worked) and on the right a shot of vodka tasting beatroot soup. I mentioned previously my bemusement at Terre's obsession with using neat vodka in dishes. It was just a little too strong for us - with less vodka it'd have been more edible.

I let my obsession with bread get the better of me with this dish, which was more of a 'nibbles for 2 to share' than starter in its own right:

I've eaten far, far better focaccia, but far worse too. I'd class it Tesco standard rather than Waitrose (although both companies seem to be using the same supplier currently). This is the one dish where the tomato 'tarator' actually worked for me - it made the bread a lot more tasty. The smoked sundried tomatoes were new to me - definitely nice to try.

The token salad was pretty nice. The tofu was the best part, although in stingy quantity (we counted 3 pieces):

Main course didn't quite hit the spot for me. It was good to see a lot more choice, but it was my least favourite part:

Aubergine Dengaku (v/gf) 14.50
Slow soft sake baked aubergine sizzled with tahini, sesame and white miso finish served with edamame and yuzu pesto, sesame ginger dressed Arame Wakame vegetable thread salad and a hibiscus, amchur, nori salt dusted puffed rice seaweed cracker.

Bison and Beet Rosti (gf/vo) 14.65
Crispy fried potato, onion and garlic rosti topped with sage baked butternut squash, walnut beetroot and smoked tomato tarator. Finished with fresh slipcote sheeps cheese and beetroot bison vodka sauce.

I've not tried one of their rostis before, which seem to be a standard part of the menu. Frankly, I don't really understand it - it's not something I associate with restaurant food. It also seemed to be an amalgamation of our starters - the same beatroot soup (without the strong vodka taste), some of the salad, tofu and a big splodge of the tomato paste.

It wasn't as much of a miss as last year's main course across the road at Aloka, but I wouldn't order it again - not for £15.

I can't really comment on @cherrivalentine's main as I don't really like aubergine very much! :)

The noodle salad with it was very good though - we've had it before as part of the meze and were pleased to see it again.

I was uncomfortably full by this point. There were 2 desserts, one of which was churros (which I personally don't understand - see previous post for details). I was delighted to see frangepane though:

Frangipane Sizzle Dates (gf/v) 6.85
with mint tea granita and lemon and mint pomegranate gazpacho.

A couple of years ago I had the most amazing frangipane at Terre a Terre - I've been looking forward to its return since. I was therefore disappointed to find when it arrived that it was actually just a couple of dates with paste inside:

This dessert really hit the spot though. The dates were warm, sticky and delicious. Honestly I don't think I could have fit a frangipane tart anyway! The crushed minty ice was refreshing and a perfect way to finish the meal. The pomegranate and berries were good too, although 'gazpacho' is a slight over exaggeration :)

I'm really pleased to see more vegan choice on Terre a Terre's menu. More desserts would be welcome though and an explanation of what the vegan option is on the menu would be extremely useful. Their substitutions are for the most part reasonable (unlike a recent trip to The Warehouse in Birmingham, where the dish just totally didn't work without the strong taste of cheese), but if you know what's coming then you can plan around duplication of ingredients.

We left feeling full and content - the bill was not at all bad considering the quality of food we'd eaten. Open a branch in The Midlands please!

Food for Friends (Brighton)

We stayed at Vegfest for about an hour, then went for a wander around Brighton (Steamer Trading and Heals). As it was particularly wet (and foggy!); both Starbucks and Costa were rammed.

I quickly realised that a better idea would be to get coffee and a dessert from a restaurant instead. It was at least 90 minutes before we'd booked Terre a Terre - plenty of time for a pre dinner snack.

I've not been to Food for Friends since 2002. I remember it being pretty good back then (and the first time I ever bought vegan cake that didn't look like it'd been made in a large rectangular pan in school canteen), but haven't been tempted back enough by their menu since.

This time though it looked actually pretty good - we'll definitely return for a full meal at some point.

Impressively; they have a couple of options on their afternoon tea menu - a vegan cake and vegan scones (I'm not sure why this is impressive come to think of it, but most vegetarian restaurants don't).

We skipped the tea menu though and ordered a couple of desserts off the standard menu:

Rich dark chocolate truffle torte (V,N) £5.95
baked on a hazelnut biscuit base served with berry compote

Hot cinnamon apple and pear fritters (V,GF,S) £5.95
with vanilla icecream and a sweet sesame sauce

Service was polite and efficient, atmosphere good.

@cherrivalentine didn't want to give the torte up when we swapped half way through. Uninspiring as a concept (just about every v*gan restaurant has sold it at one time or another), but a seriously good effort. It wasn't obviously tofu or tofutti cream cheese based - it didn't have any weird hippy flavours either, just rich velvety chocolate. It didn't look like it'd be smooth but it was - it melted beautifully in the mouth and even the base didn't fall apart:

In comparison however; the fritters sounded fucking boring.

It's the token dessert that Chinese restaurants sell, knowing full well that diners will be far too stuffed to ever order it. We chose it anyway (for research purposes) and I agreed to go first:

In a word; they were fucking amazing (that's two, I realise).

Great taste, well balanced, simple yet complex enough flavour, perfect consistency, crisp, light, refreshing.

Completely unexpected; they were potentially the best thing I tasted all day. I would totally order these again.

(that awkward moment when you swap plates, hoping that no one will notice; immortalised in photograph):

For 6 quid each; Food for Friends' desserts are exceptionally good quality for the money. It's everything that Mildreds should be, but isn't.

As previously stated; we'll definitely return for a full meal in the future.

Brighton Vegfest

Having been to many vegan festivals over the past 12 years; I've not frequently them so much recently.

I find it difficult to get excited about of bunch of stalls in an overcrowded room. Isn't that what the Internet was invented for?

Samples are good, but products are either available in shops or they aren't, and it's cheaper to just buy products to try them out than travel across the country to get an eighth of a mouthful for free.

Festivals are and always have been an excuse to meet up with some folk you don't get to see often, pick up a few bargains and then go for dinner. I used to enjoy the London vegan festivals back when there was a bar and a group of people I knew who'd all get smashed at 2pm and we'd sit around outside for the afternoon.

Visiting a couple of West Mids vegan festivals in Wolverhampton is enough to put anyone off for life. Far, far, far too many people, half of whom appear to have randomly wandered in off the street to eat an entire meal in free samples; blocking off anyone else's attempts to get to the front. Both times I didn't make it past 15 minutes before it was time to leave!

I realise this probably makes me sound like a complete snob, but so be it :) I've met many lovely vegans over the years in other circumstances, but at festivals it just turns into a fake cheese frenzied mob. There's no form of politeness or queuing system - it's everyone for themselves in the rush for the samples.

It wasn't until just before 12pm that we decided that Vegfest was in fact enough of an excuse to drive 150 miles for a meal at Terre a Terre. The weather was shite and we've run out of places to visit within 50 miles of Veggie World now. We booked dinner for 6pm and arrived at about 2.45pm.

We did a particularly crap job of meeting up with various people we know, but ran into a few anyway. We stayed for about an hour, then headed into Brighton.

I gave up waiting for the Vegusto stand. I tried a few times, but each time there were people hogging the samples, with clearly no intent of letting anyone else near. I did get to the Bessant & Drury stand though. @cherrivalentine thought it was disgusting. I thought it was edible, but in no way a threat to Swedish Glace.

Seriously; why recreate what already exists and is readily available, when what the UK is really crying out for is US Turtle Mountain style icecream?

I picked up a box of spacebars (£15 for 20) and a fake kebab. It was good, but not up to Vebab standards (a company that appeared at the '05 Birmingham Vegan Festival and hasn't been seen since):

We got some half price Yaoh suncream (the current bottles I have were bought in 2006 - that's how sunny it is the UK) and a load of Jason baby products. The Jason guy didn't seem to be on the same planet as everyone else - it was difficult getting any info out of him about their products. His maths skills were also questionable - 4 for £20 is not a better deal than 2 for £10. Still, £5 a bottle is better than normal.

Overall though; Vegfest was actually not that bad. There were a decent number of influential vendors there and it wasn't too crowded. I'd question whether it's worth traveling a large distance for, but as excuse to go to Brighton before/after it's perfect :)

Manna V (Primrose Hill, London)

With ever decreasing standards of vegan food in central London; I've started exploring into the outer reaches of Zone 2. Despite the lack of tube station (a walk from Chalf Farm or £10 taxi from Marylebone) I'm pleased to say that Manna Vegetarian in Primrose Hill is well worth the effort.

Having visited alone after work one day a month ago I was impressed enough to drive back down with @cherrivalentine today for Sunday lunch. Though relatively close to Marylebone (where I often catch trains to/from on weekdays), it's not open at lunch times and is just a little too far for grabbing food from in a hurry. A shame too; it's far, far nicer than anything in Zone 1.

I was particularly impressed by their ravioli, which despite being more pastry than pasta like is the best I've tasted.

Today we started off our meal with a Meze to share - a selection of 3 starters for £20 (usually £24):

basil & cashew cheese croquettes (v)(n)(gf option) £8
served on a bed of watercress & pea sprouts with our homemade chilli jam

ravioli (v)(n) £8
a crisped ravioli filled with wild mushroom & walnut pâté with fennel cream sauce, sundried tomato pesto & balsamic reduction - also available as a full pasta main dish

raw maki rolls (v)(gf) £8
raw 'riced' parsnip, carrots beetroot and avocado, served with tamari, pickled ginger and wasabi pea coulis

The Ravioli looks more like Jamaican patties than ravioli and the pasta unlike any I've tried before, but the overall effect is seriously good! With the filling, sauce and rocket this is my favourite thing they do. Worth noting however - despite being told that each of the 3 starters are full portion on the Meze platter - there was two ravioli this time not three. Therefore it's possibly more cost effective to order 3 starters (if you want 3 starters!).

Considering they're raw; the nori rolls are extremely impressive. I've tasted better rice based ones before, but change is good. The wasabi dip was good too - definitely wasabi but sweeter and ever so slightly less potent.

The croquettes looked like Terre a Terre's corn cakes, but taste a lot nicer. Manna's homemade cheese is possibly better than Saf's!

@cherrivalentine went for the Sunday roast for mains; I went for the sausage and mash:

cashew roast (v)
high protein roast recipe served with a balancing rich, homemade gravy and seasonal, freshly selected roasted potatoes & lightly cooked root & green leaf or sprouted vegetables

organic bangers and mash (v) £14
organic fennel and pumpkin seed sausages on a bed of parsnip & carrot mas h served with cavalo nero on a red wine, leek & thyme jus

Manna certainly can't be accused of small portion sizes! Between us we couldn't finish it. The roast itself was seriously good though, the veg so so. The jus was a little too rich, but I'm picking. We'd order it again, but have one less starter :)

The bangers and mash score 10/10 for presentation! Taste wise they were more a 6/10 - on a par with those from the nearly identical dish from The Warehouse in Birmingham. It's good to try new sausage flavours and definite effort had gone into the mash. For me there was too much kale, not enough gravy and too much oil on the onion rings. Next time I'm trying something different.

Last time I had their enchilada casserole, which tasted great but was just a little too stodgy. I took a photo on my iphone, but it isn't good enough to post ;)

Completely stuffed; we shared a pudding between us:

mexican chili chocolate cake (v) £8
served with avacado chocolate ganache, tequila lime sorbet raspberry coulis & grenadine coulis

It took 20 minutes to come and was the least impressive of the dishes. The cake was pretty average - the ganache just a thin layer. Overall the flavours didn't fight each other, but it wasn't a marriage made in heaven.

Last time (again the pic looks crap) I went for their banoffee sundae. It was huge and looked fantastic! Flavour wise it was pretty decent - I'm still waiting for a restaurant to serve an actual banoffee pie though (then I'll be impressed!).

Manna has room for improvement, but its already entered my top 5 favourite restaurants in London (possibly my top 10 worldwide). It's great to find another place that makes its own vegan cheese, with good atmosphere and more exciting menu than standard cafe offering.

It's almost Terre a Terre standard, but more experimental and with much better vegan choice.

I'll be returning many times.

Mirch Masala (Leicester)

I've been to Mirch a few times over the past six years. A short walk from one of my favourite vegetarian Indian restaurants in the UK however; it's difficult not to compare the two and always choose Shivalli. Still, choice is good, so whilst in the area recently we checked it out again.

Mirch is large and well located. Interior decor is pleasant and the menu huge. By far the most vegan options area from the Indian menu, but they also offer vegetarian Italian, Chinese and Mexican dishes.

The only thing that lets to place down is the food, which has always been in my opinion slightly underwhelming. They're not afraid to make food that's spicy, but it lacks complex flavours and is more average than fantastic.

As we hadn't planned to go; pictures are off my iphone. On advice of the waiter, we ordered a "Mirch Masala Special Sizzler" to share:

It tasted reasonably good, but was more of a vegetable side dish than a starter! With a good curry it'd have been a worthy accompaniment, but a little odd on its own with 2 forks.

For mains @cherrivalentine had an uttapam, which was actually pretty good:

One of the sides it came with wasn't vegan. We're always skeptical of anything creamy looking, so asked the waiter if it was suitable. He said he thought it was, but went to check, then returned and took it away.

I had a vegetable keema curry and rice:

The rice was good, the curry dreadful. It was TVP in oily spicey soup. I tried to eat it, but didn't make it past a few mouthfuls.

Luckily I also ordered some naan bread:

I remember hearing that certain items marked as vegan on the menu are typos, but the waiter insisted the naan was vegan. The plain was pretty good (it wasn't naan in the traditional sense, but pleasantly edible), but the masala naan far too spicy for my liking.

Like many Indian restaurants they've a big selection of bought in desserts, with limited vegan choice. They sell egg free cupcakes, but not dairy free (a missing opportunity?).

Pricing is good, but it's difficult to get excited about returning - especially when there's such a good alternative a 2 minute walk away.

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.

Favourite Places to Eat in England

I've visited more than 50 vegetarian/vegan cafes/restaurants in England over the past decade and reviewed 33 since I started this blog. Incase anyone's interested, my favourites are:

Overall Top 5

1st: Veggie World (Bletchley)

Simply the best vegan chinese food I've tried, either in the UK or US. Decor could use a lot of work, but the fantastic food and friendly service totally make up for it. Massive choice, almost all vegan. Miles ahead of Loving Hut; light years ahead of the (now gross) London buffets.




2nd: The Warehouse Cafe (Birmingham)

Dependable, well priced, seasonal menu with both cafe options (burgers, wedges etc) and 'sit down meal' courses. Always plenty of vegan choice. Desserts (which were always its weak point) have started to improve in the past couple of months. I've eaten there countless times over the years and a recent evening meal was very good indeed.



3rd: Terre-a-Terre (Brighton)

Terre-a-terre is something special, which is why it gets a mention in the top 5. It's definitely a vegetarian restaurant however: vegan choice fluctuates over time - sometimes great, other times a bit disappointing. Catch it at the right moment and you may get the best meal of your life.





4th: Terrace Arts Cafe (Seaton)

This place is a hidden gem. Choice is great and the food well above average for the price. Waiting times were always an issue, but seemed a lot better on my last visit. There's not a lot of choice in that part of the country, but it is worth an hour's drive to try if you're ever in Dorset/Devon.



5th: The Lakeland Pedlar (Keswick)

Cheap, dependable, generously portioned, warm and filling cafe style food (generally a good thing when you've been walking in the hills!). I've never been disappointed by a meal from here - both the best garlic bread and best cake.




The Best....

A few runners up, most noted for:

Cheap lunch in London: Beatroot (London) - lots of flavours all mashed together in a cardboard box!


Cheesecake: Alley Cafe (Nottingham) - Cheesecake perfection


Dessert: Aloka (Brighton) - Following a truly dreadful main, the best dessert ever!


Dosa: Shivali (Leicester) - Avoid the Sunday buffet, order from the standard menu.


Raw Food: Saf (Shoreditch) - Expensive but some really good food, especially their 'cheeses'


Samosa: Jyoti's (Birmingham) - Their currys suck, but starters rock.


And The Worst.....

Food: The Gardener's Arms
Customer Service: Iydea
Everything: Zilli Green

Veggie World Revisited (Bletchley)

Since my first visit and short review 2 years ago (complete with camera phone pics), I've returned to Veggie World many, many times.

It's odd location halfway between London and Birmingham has led to several days out that 'just happen to be nearby' so we can 'drop by in the evening afterwards'. Bletchley Park twice (well worth visit), Stowe Landscape Gardens, Waddesdon Manor, Clivedon, Claydon House, Upton House, Wrest Park etc. We're running out of National Trust properties within 40 miles now and are considering English Heritage membership next year instead.

Therefore, I figured it was worth an update, with better pictures and recommendations. The menu choice is extreme and value for money varies considerably. We've tried a large selection of it now and some things we keep going back to as they're so good.

Decor's improved slightly in the past couple of years, with better lighting. It's still a takeaway with a few tables though - you'd only ever visit because the food is amazing. They only seem to have one CD, that is played constantly in a loop.

We generally go for 3 savoury courses and skip dessert. We also purposely over-order, so we've a bigger choice and left overs to eat the following day! :)

Starter

"01 Appertiser Combination" is great on your first visit for trying a few things at once. We occasionally still order it, but tend to go with "27 - Crispy Aromatic Veggie Duck" to share, as it's both delicious and excellent value for money:

Other options include:

02 - Crispy Won Ton: Very good - included in appetiser combination
04 - Veggie Ji Skewers: Simply the best satay sauce I've tried:

07 - Crispy Seaweed: Comes with appetiser combination, wouldn't ever think to order alone

08 - Veggie Prawn Toast: Not a personal favourite, but the best I've tasted
10 - Veggie Peking Ribs: Part of the appetiser combination. They're OK, little strange
12 - Grill Veggie Dumplings: We sometimes order these as a side dish with mains
14 - Crispy Spring Rolls: They're OK, have had better.
18 - House Special Rolls: Or 'horse rolls' as we call them - neither of us liked them

Soup

Their soup tastes great and is cheap. "20 - Veggie Sweet Corn Soup" is my favourite, followed by "24 - Veggie Dumpling Soup".

I tried taking a picture, but it looks too gross to post ;)

Main Courses

The menu doesn't make it immediately obvious what is a good combination of dishes to order for mains. Some are just fake meat with sauce, whereas others come with lots of vegetables. Value for money varies considerably.

A few that I remember trying:

32 - Salt & Pepper To-Fu: Not to my taste - a little bland for my liking
34 - Crispy Sesame Veggie Ji: Delicious, but lacks veg - it's fake meat on a plate
35 - Stir Fried 3 Delicious: Unmemorable
36 - Veggie Chicken Macau: Or Parrot Curry, as we call it. This is one of our firm favourites:

37 - Lo Han Chai
39 - Golden Veggie Steak
47 - Crispy Veggie Ji Pineapple: Lovely, but lacks veg - fake meat on a plate
50 - Roasted Char Siu: Good, but lacks veg
61 - Sweet & Sour Veggie Chicken - Great sauce, but the ribs are better and have more texture
63 - Sweet & Sour Veggie Ribs:

65 - Veggie Chicken Balls
66 - Veggie Pork Balls

Their balls aren't so great. As one of my favourite things in non-vegetarian days I've perfected making them at home now - Veggie World's are unfortunately disappointing.

Sundries

I don't swear often on this blog, but Veggie World's chow mein is fucking amazing - there's simply no finer way of putting it than that.

The noodles are 100% identical to those I got from takeaways in my non-vegetarian days and have since failed to find in a supermarket (english or chinese). We generally go for 'duck' chow mein, normally because we've already got 'chicken' and 'pork' dishes.

There's lots of types of rice available, but we tend to order plain steamed rice - cheap and better at soaking up sauces etc.

The formula we work to is: duck for starter followed by a soup course, then 3 main dishes with chow mein and rice. We sometimes order items from the starter menu as side dishes to the main course (satay skewers, dumplings etc). If you order the right things then you can get very full and satisfied for £15-£20 a head

We've tried the set menus a couple of times when we've visited with friends, but tend to order from the normal menu when alone as neither of us like the fake fish dishes. I've tried a few of their desserts, but am usually uncomfortably full by that point.

Veggie World have gotten service down to a fine art - waiting times are extremely reasonable. I believe that they manufacture their own fake meat - I've not tried it elsewhere in the UK (I heard that Peking Palace used to buy from them, before coming a Loving Hut). You can order any meat with any sauce, increasing the choice even further.

Overall, I'll go as far as saying that Veggie World is the best vegan chinese I've tried in the UK/US. It's a good job it's not close enough to get takeaway from!