(rho's) ALL THINGS EDIBLE: Warehouse Cafe, a nice vegetarian meal

There is a kind of art to cooking and presenting vegetarian dishes isn’t there? Without that savouriness, or umami (if you will) of meat or fish, as a cook, there is always fear that the diner might be left dissatisfied or still hungry at the end of the meal. Perceived value coupled with preconceptions that a vegetarian meal doesn’t fill one up, prove a challenge to vegetarian establishment, that is, if the establishment intends to feed and satisfy both the vegetarian and the carnivore population.

My husband and I, both meat lovers, went out for a meal to celebrate Mother’s Day (month of March in the UK). Since Mum-in-law is vegetarian, lunch was also that. I looked forward to it, but still, husband and I joke about the probability of driving through the McDonalds post meal. However, “The Warehouse Café”, the restaurant of choice, proved that a vegetarian meal can be satisfying and enjoyable.

The Warehouse Café was established 15 years ago in the Friends of the Earth building in Birmingham. UK. The restaurant serves vegetarian and vegan (some organic, some not) food. Their hot drinks and chocolate are fair trade. The establishment’s water is heated via solar power, paper products are from recycled material, and the used cooking oil are filtered and used to fuel diesel cars.

The atmosphere is as I like it, breezy, casual, and friendly enough, but not over-the-top-in-your-face friendly. The menu from salads to mains to sides and snacks and finally to dessert covers enough variety. We were given a special Mother’s Day prix fix menu.

I chose the Beet Salad to start. The beets were cooked perfectly and thinly sliced onto the plate. The round slices were repeated with round thin slices of crisp braeburn apples, then topped with lightly dressed baby greens and a couple of wedges of nicely aged brie. It was very classic and very nice.

My main was a nice bowl of Thai Green Curry with generous amounts of Brocollini, and green peas among other vegetables. In the middle of it was sweet sticky rice. The curry was nice but a little soupy for my liking. The use of sticky rice as oppose to long grain rice was smart as it stuck to the ribs better, and therefore satiated me in the absence of meat or seafood.

My dessert was a warmed pear and apple sauce crumble. Half of a perfectly poached pear sat in a ramekin surrounded by warm applesauce and really crunchy warmed crumble. It was topped with a good quality vanilla ice cream that was so rich it smelled like caramel.

The service’s pace was slow enough that we did not feel rushed but the food came reasonably timely, timing that other establishments are yet to master.

All in all, dining out about the food plus the experience, so I would say this was a very good one. From the atmosphere to the food to service, there is little to complain about. In the end, we did not need to make that McDonald’s stop at all.

http://www.thewarehousecafe.com/

Pear and applesauce crumble with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream