Last night, I took my committed vegetarian friend, who sometimes lives with me, to Tibits in Heddon Street. Prior to her moving in and out of my flat (long story - not very exciting), I had always viewed vegetarians with something approaching disdain, and the food as a side dish to the main event of meat.
But I am prepared to concede that I was wrong (yes, it stings to say that). A few months of cooking veggie dishes has left me feeling fabulous and with a realisation that there's a lot more to vegetarian food than the dreaded tofu - which, to their eternal credit, I didn't see any of on the menu at Tibits.
Tibits have catered for corporate events that I have attended before, and the food has always been fresh and high quality. I was keen to see how this would translate in the restaurant. We arrived and the very lovely duty manager explained the concept to us - you are seated and peruse the menu, then are invited up to the buffet boat to make your selection of hot and cold foods, before paying by weight and ordering your beverage of choice at the bar.
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| The food boat |
Because we are super greedy (and there's nowt wrong with that) we piled our plates high and hit the bar to order some cocktails. The food was fantastic, a real mix of flavours and tastes that dispels the myth that vegetarian food is boring. There was so much choice that we struggled, as did others around the food counter, to decide between all the various dishes, including vegetable antipasto, Moroccan carrots, Asian glass noodle salad, karhai paneer and many others including pasta, falafel, quinoa and chickpea salads, quiche, pasta and healthy greens - a combination of sugar snap peas and edamame beans. All this, plus rice and bread for those who want to carb load. As you'll see from the pictures below, we didn't hold back.
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| The vegetarian piles her plate high..... |
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As do I.
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Despite the fact that there was a mixture of hot and cold foods on the same plate (although you can choose two small plates should you be so fussy), all the flavours combined really well together, nothing was too spicy or too chilled and everything tasted sublime. A particular favourite of mine were the stuffed and deep fried jalapeno peppers, one of my all time loves and very, very good.
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Stuffed jalapenos = one very happy me.
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I've chosen and photographed a few of my favourite dishes below as these were the ones that really stood out for me. First up is the karhai paneer - a mildly spiced curry of paneer (take note - one million times better than tofu), vegetables and ginger. This was wonderful, warming, gentle spices and silky soft paneer cheese.
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Karhai paneer
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Another hit was the vegetable antipasto, which was proving popular with all the customers there, chunky vegetables, expertly cooked and dressed, exactly the sort of thing you'd find in kitchens across the Mediterranean. I think a lot of what puts people off eating vegetables is that we tend to overcook them and then serve them plain, but perfectly cooked and dressed, I reckon we could get everyone eating more vegetables!
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Vegetable antipasto
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And let's not forget the cocktails that we ordered at the bar. As it was a Monday we only had the one, but we definitely made the right choice - Indian summer (well, the sun did show its face in London yesterday) - Malibu, chopped coriander and mango lassi. Wow. Not too sweet, with quite a kick and the added addition of one of my favourite herbs (do other people have favourite herbs? Or am I just weird?). I'd go back for the cocktails alone!
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Indian summer - here's hoping!
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So, to sum up, the food was superb, the staff were friendly and helpful and the cocktail was great. If you are a vegetarian bored of being served the same old goats cheese and portobello mushroom combo that you get in most restaurants, or fancy a meat free feast, then Tibits is your place. Although I won't be giving up meat altogether, I think everyone could benefit from eating less meat (see the link to the meat free Mondays website below) for a variety of reasons and I'm converted to eating better vegetarian food on a regular basis. And for anyone who thinks vegetables aren't filling, I was stuffed by the end of the meal and I only had one, admittedly rather large, plate. Stuffed. As in so full, I was sleepy and content by the time I got home. I'll definitely be going back to Tibits (you can take away as well) and salute them for making vegetables and grains way more exciting than most people (including myself) thought possible.
http://www.tibits.co.uk
http://www.meatfreemondays.com/
