Simply Good Vegetarian Food In London. Dished Up With The Warmest Of Welcomes

Much as I try not to be judgemental in life, (or should I call it discerning?), I do sometimes make false assumptions.  Like 'Bradley Cooper always makes a good movie', and 'a classy looking vegetarian restaurant a mere hop skip and jump from the sweeping curve of the legendary Regents Street, is going to have an atmosphere spawned from a transient crowd of diners and not be a place I'd want to linger.  My assumptions tripped me up once again, when I visited tibits vegetarian restaurant in London recently. Not only did I find the food tasty, imaginative and comforting, on a cool November day but also the atmosphere was more redolent of a cozy, welcoming cafe in Devon!. The staff are exceptionally helpful, and friendly. The seating, soft mood lighting, chandeleirs and layout make it for such a sweet space to relax and dine with friends.  

tibits was established in London in 2003 by three vegetarian brothers – Christian, Daniel and Reto Frei, together with Rolf Hitl.    Rolf Hiltl is the owner of Hiltl restaurant in Zurich, that is according to Guinness World Records, the oldest and longest running vegetarian restaurant in the world.

They are now regularly scheduling Vegan Days, when all of the hot dishes are vegan.
A self serve 'pay by weight' restaurant, bar and (for the busy City worker) take away.  All the food is cooked fresh each day (and throughout the day) with a huge array of hot entrees and salad dishes.  Most being created with seasonal ingredients.

Children are welcome and downstairs they have a great little area where the kids can play happily.  I spotted lots of cute wooden toys and trikes for them to entertain themselves with.

Being a buffet type affair, there is a method to employ to get you to the eating stage.  First, bagsey a table.  Plant a hat or something from your person to say 'hey, walk on by, that's my table'. Then..

• Grab a plate from the warmer,
• check out the comprehensive product info if you have special dietary requirements. 
• do a drive-by recce of what is on offer
• decide what you are going to have
• load up
• take your plate to the bar and put it on the scales. The meal will be charged by weight (bread is complementary).  
• Take it to your table and eat.  Simple.

There is a HUGE variety to choose from.  Even for the gluten intolerant, coeliac among us.  Dhal's, pumpkin lasagne, a couple of curry dishes, roasted aubergines, risottos and lots of fresh veg and quinoa salads, lentil salads, tofu based dishes, crunchy falafels, tempura (boo! currently not gf)…and soup!  A good selection of sauces, chutneys and condiments to drizzle, dollop and ooze. I did try and exercise restraint and just eat what would actually just fit comfortably in my stomach! 

they serve a large selection of vegetarian/vegan wine and cocktails.

I was a bit disappointed with the selection of desserts for vegans with gluten sensitivities.  Although I love fresh figs and other fruits, once my eyes have spotted apple crumble, cheesecake and sticky toffee pudding, I want to be able to place genourously heaped spoons of the like into my mouth!  Knowing as I do how easy it is to create gluten free vegan puds I would have thought that they would have had at least one indulgent dessert on offer.  Alas no.  But the silver lining was I left feeling comfortably satiated instead of filled up to the brim, as so easily can be done.

Typical entree costs £10-12

They published a cookbook on their 10th anniversary. tibits At Home, it's seasonally compartmentalised, and is full of beautiful photographs with simple recipes to try.  One of the staff told me that all the photos in the book were taken in the homes of regular diners in Switzerland.  

It was ironic that the recipe I wanted to try first had 'dried green beans' I am sure I have an inbuilt tuner that alerts me to unusual ingredients.  A brief surf online failed to turn up with a supplier.  Luckily, I had been sent the cookbook to review before I went to eat at the restaurant, so I enquired about the recipe and asked where I could buy the dried beans.  'Right here' was the reply.  So I grabbed a bag and took them home to recreate one of their iconic recipes.

It was so simple to make.  Yes, you could make it with fresh green beans but I so enjoyed the chewy texture of the dried beans after they'd been cooked in water and mixed with the other ingredients.

This is the recipe from the book that intrigued me so much. It's a tangle of flavoursome lusciousness. 

Dried Bean Salad with Walnuts

Ingredients:

100g  dried string beans (1 bag from the restaurant)

½ onion, chopped
8 tbsp rapeseed oil (I used 1 2tbs walnut oil)
25g vegetable bouillon (1 1/2 vegan stock cubes)
1 garlic clove, crushed
70g walnuts pieces
4 tbsp red balsamic vinegar (red?!..not seen this before..I used 'normal' balsamic)
5g Fresh coriander leaves 


cook the dried beans in boiling water until soft, drain well and allow to cool.

sauté the onions and garlic in the oil and set aside.

once the beans have cooled mix all the ingredients together to complete the recipe.

spoon into a serving dish.  Enjoy! (and we did!!)

Other recipes in my (backlogged) catalogue of ones to try from tibits At Home, are the  passionfruit lemonade (just because I'm dreaming of days of sunshine, warm breezes and chinking ice cubes), the exotic Goan curry, the light and intriguing coconut and pineapple tiramisu, and the white asparagus with orange sauce.  80% of the dishes are vegan, so some I will have to adapt.  But I love a challenge.

There are currently five tibits' restaurants in Europe.  So, for me, that's one down and four left to try!  Any excuse to travel (and eat).

tibits

12-14 Heddon St, London W1B 4DA