Saturday 13 August 2016

Restaurant Review: The Gate Islington - A vegetarian paradise

When my vegetarian friend Nayna invited me to join her for a restaurant review of The Gate Islington, a vegetarian restaurant I was up for it.  Although we are omnivores in our family (we eat meat, fish, vegetables etc) I like to have 2 or 3 days per week without eating meat or fish and actually you don't miss it.  Mr R never complains if it is a vegetarian meal.

We went to The Gate on a Tuesday evening and were surprised to find it so packed full.  The Gate originally had one restaurant in Hammersmith before opening in Islington, a short walk from Angel Underground Station on the Northern Line.
As we went in it smelled really lovely and herb crusted if that makes sense!  It made me want to order something comforting and filling as well as delicious.

For starters Nayna had a sweet potato soup which was a beautiful orange colour and I went for the Pickled Asian Salad.  The salad was a mega pile of crunchy, vibrant and beautiful slices of candy beetroot, green papaya, heritage carrot, shimeji mushrooms, sweet peppers, frisee lettuce, fresh peach and mangetout with a sesame dressing
This dish was crispy and crunchy and required lots of chewing time, rather a good thing really as the more you chew your food the easier it is to digest.

For my main course I chose Aubergine Teriyaki which consisted of glazed and grilled teriyaki aubergine, stuffed with horseradish coriander pesto, roasted pepper, shitake mushrooms and ginger duxelles, with warm noodle salad with peppers, flat beans and carrots, and mango and coriander salsa. It was not what I was expecting (do you do this and make your mind up what something will look and taste like before seeing it?) but it was really nice, crunchy and satisfying.  It made you feel virtuous just for eating it!
We each had a side order of sweet potato wedges - these were huge and really we could have shared a portion.  At least Mr R got to sample some of this lovely meal!
Nayna had the Sweetcorn and Cilantro fritters which was served with black beans, roast pepper and grilled corn on the cob salsa, topped with char-grilled Mediterranean vegetables and chunky guacamole.
She said the sweetcorn fritter was a bit too large and thought that perhaps the dish would have been better with 2-3 small fritters. The whole plate had so much food on it she could not finish it!

We were both so full up but couldn't resist the selection of desserts.  I had Strawberry Eaton Mess swirled with a strawberry coulis.  This was the perfect end to a really lovely meal and was light and summery matching the summery weather outside perfectly!
Each of the desserts had a suggested dessert wine available by both the glass or bottle.  A dessert wine is often overlooked these days but a practice we should really revive!

You can find The Gate Islington at 370 St John Street, London EC1v 4NN (Tel: 020 7278 5483) and The Gate Hammersmith at 51 Queen Caroline Street, London W6 9QL (Tel: 020 8748 6932).

I was a guest of The Gate Islington.  I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions and photos are my own.

If you want to see what Nayna wrote about the meal just click here.

20 comments:

  1. It was a really enjoyable evening and I loved your company.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a very relaxing evening with good food and good company!

      Delete
  2. I adore how bloggers always have room for their dessert stomachs at the end of a meal... I really enjoyed The Gate...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Being a vegetarian meal you don't fill up with meat protein thus saving room for pudding!!!

      Delete
  3. That certainly does look like a vegetarian paradise. I love it when places are creative with salads like this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The menu is full of innovative and creative dishes

      Delete
  4. The Gate sounds like a good vegetarian option. Eaton Mess is always a winner! R

    ReplyDelete
  5. I've been meaning to try this place for ages! All the food you've posted above looks delicious but I especially love that aubergine.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You must try to get there - it really is delicious

      Delete
  6. The restaurant seems to have a nice selection of vegetarian dishes. Everything looks delicious.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it was a vegetarian restaurant with loads of lovely dishes.

      Delete
  7. All the dishes look so yummy.. It is always fun to dine with friends..:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nayna and I have had some great meals out together!

      Delete
  8. You probably won't believe me, but I have never been to a vegetarian restaurant before! Probably because I'm not a vegetarian haha but sounds like a wonderful place, and the food looks really yummy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I often like to eat vegetarian meals - they can be really healthy

      Delete
  9. Wow, these dishes look wonderful! great to know that there are some wonderful vegetarian restaurants out there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I used to love Cranks restaurant in the 70's in Carnaby Street but sadly they are not there any longer but they paved the way for veggie restaurants!

      Delete
  10. Sounds a really good place, would love to try it someday soon. I like the sound of all the dishes that both of you tried. Manjiri - travelsfortaste

    ReplyDelete
  11. Great review Heidi! Would you like us to send you a Portico Places card? You can get 20% off the lunchtime a la carte menu with it?
    https://www.portico.com/islington/places/the-gate-angel

    ReplyDelete