Plates - London

Fresh from lost of media coverage post Michelin star award - this was our first visit to the all vegan gaff in Old Street London.
Tough to get a table - booked six months ago.
Any of you who saw Kirk Haworth ( son of Nigel - of Northcote fame ) on Great British Menu will understand our excitement at snagging one.

Old Street is an ‘interesting and lively’ location for a posh restaurant - but the room is very nice ( 70-s soul soundtrack to dampen the traffic nose, i reckon ) and remarkably small - how long will that remain the case/ how long they will stay since their star has ascended will be interesting to monitor.

The kitchen in particular looks tiny but there are only 8 or 9 tables from what we could see. Kirk not in evidence which was a surprise given the size of it but service was slick and food was excellent.
Copy menu here

Tasting menu - Plates London : Plates London

Our most frequent ( and inane ) comment throughout was - this is all vegan. We are not vegan and the food was, apart from the bread, a revelation. Two favourite standouts. The tiny bonbon with the first course - a white chocolate sour bomb - was the best thing I ate all night…and the pudding which is decadence incarnate. Plus - its all vegan y’know !

Only one point of annoyance. They charged us for tap water. £5. Not much on a £300 ( ish ) bill - but its the kind of thing that gets right on my pip. Plus on a £300 plus bill its taking the P***.
I was discouraged from objecting and so have fumed about it ever since :slight_smile:

That gripe aside this was the most consistently good food I’ve had since my birthday lunch at Moor Hall last May.

Plus, it’s all v… !

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New season of Great British Menu has a vegan starter now. Can’t remember if they did that last year. Interesting and lots of its looks delicious. Last week someone had a vegan blue cheese and would love to taste that. I do like my dairy though…

You’ll know the old joke.

How do you know if someone is vegan? Don’t worry, they’ll tell you soon enough.

By the by, isnt charging for tap illegal? I’m sure there was something of change in the law a tear or so back about restaurants and tap water. Maybe it was just that they have to offer it, rather thna a price thing.

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Had to look it up…and…
somebody better call the water police !
Free Tap Water | Obligations For Pubs & Restaurants | Freeths

Unless they charged me for putting it into their branded carafe :slight_smile:

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That’s possibly the dodge. Your link includes " It is open to a licensed premises to make a charge for the glass that the water comes in, to charge if it is filtered water or to charge for their service."

By the by, the change in the law was cited by a nearby Chinese buffet as a reason why they were closing. Previously they’d only supplied bottled water at quite a steep price, so I can see how it hit the profits.