Rupert Parker Samples Mildreds Restaurant All-Plant Based Christmas Menu.
Mildreds has been around for over 35 years with the original restaurant opening in Greek St, Soho in 1988. Their mission was to serve delicious vegetarian food that was anything but bland and boring. It was such a success that there are now 6 branches scattered all over central London. Even better their menus became completely plant based in 2021, perfect for a vegan Christmas.
My nearest branch is in Hackney, itself a relatively recent arrival, in a new development next to Dalston Junction station. The airy space has floor to ceiling glass on three sides, furnishings all modern, with wood topped tables and plastic chairs. Lighting is futuristic pendant globes and there’s a large bar down one side.
As it’s a Christmas menu, there are already a couple of crackers on our table and they’re offering three courses for £44. We start with drinks, Portuguese red wine for me and pineapple, apple, ginger and turmeric juice for my partner. This is such a hit that she goes on to order beetroot, carrot, apple and lime juice later in our meal.
So to the food. There’s a choice of three small plates or starters and we opt for Ras El Hanout Cauliflower with Saffron Tahini Yoghurt, Goji Berries and Pistachio Dukkah. The Moroccan spices mate well with the cauliflower and the yoghurt mixture acts like a dip for the veg. What can be quite a bland dish turns out to be an explosive surprise.
Our second starter is Kimchi Gyoza: Pan-Fried Dumplings with House Kimchi and Sweet Gochujang Sesame Dip. The crisp open faced dumplings are filled with a greenish pea mixture and get a wallop of flavour from the Korean chilli paste in the dip. Even better is the Kimchi which piles on the heat, without pushing it too far. I should mention that the third choice is Arancini Rosso which also looks like a good bet.
Now for the mains. True to the Christmas theme, these are vegan versions of traditional Sunday roast dinners. Just two choices are on offer so we go for both – Creamy Leek Dauphinoise Lattice is a potato gratin topped with cheesy roast leek and wrapped in puff pastry; Toasted Pine Nut Cannellini Loaf is a classic nut roast made from pine nuts, sundried tomatoes, caramelised onions and white beans.
Both are served with Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, maple roast carrots, parsnips, brussels sprouts, tenderstem broccoli on a bed of sweet potato mash. In addition there are bowls of cauliflower cheese and pickled red cabbage plus red wine gravy and cranberry apple relish. This is clearly festive overkill but none the worse for that.
We plough through this feast of veg but have to admit defeat in the face of cauliflower cheese and red cabbage. After all there’s still dessert to come. And again a choice of three, so we pass on the Tiramisu but go for Black Forest Yule Log and Butter Rum Sticky Toffee.
The Toffee is an impressive lump of spiced date cake with chunks of pineapple compote and gingerbread crumbs for texture. Add salted caramel ice cream and you have the perfect dessert. We also like the Yule Log which is a hefty slice of chocolate sponge, layered with Morello cherry compote, dark chocolate ganache with Chantilly cream on the side.
This is our first time at Mildreds and I must say we’ve been impressed – perhaps more with the starters and the desserts rather than the mains. We’ve both never been keen on traditional roast dinners but aficionados will love the vegan version. We decide we must come back and investigate the other main courses on the menu. After all it doesn’t have to be Christmas to eat vegetarian.
Tell Me More About Mildreds Restaurant in Hackney.
Mildreds Dalston 1 Thomas Tower, Dalston Square, London E8 3GU
T: 020 8017 1815
The Christmas menu is priced at £44 per person.
