At 10:00pm on our second evening in London- after the unexpectedly unfortunate experience earlier in the evening, we found ourselves hungry and with no plan of where to go and what to eat. I'd like to say that I consulted my trusty mental dictionary of London eats, but the truth is I just scoured the old-school spreadsheet and corresponding map I'd created prior to the trip and had been carrying around for just such an occasion. When we figured in travel time & logistics, as well as a small margin for error, the choice was clear: Mildred's Vegetarian Restaurant.
For some reason that I've yet to pinpoint the origination of, I'd been operating under the assumption that Mildred's was going to be a crunchy, granola, old-school tofu & sprouts vegetarian joint. I'm happy to report that I couldn't have been more wrong. In fact, it was exactly the dining experience we needed- in every respect, given the disappointing one we'd just had prior.
To start, even though it is a vegetarian restaurant, the vegan selections are the majority. They are clearly marked, and most of the non-vegan choices have a vegan option.
The dining room was bright and clean, the customers comfortable, and the staff bustling.
I had the distinct sense that this is where locals come for consistently good comfort food served in a pleasant atmosphere.
So hungry! We started by sharing gyoza dumplings: with mirin and soy dipping sauce. My travelling companion isn't generally one to order fried dumplings, but we were both in a weakened state by this point; they were delish.
He chose the burger special, noted on the menu for having a vegan option: burger of the day (rosemary and thyme risotto) with relish, red onion, rocket and tomato, with fries and basil mayo.
Believe it or not, I skipped the chips (ok; I did taste one- mostly so I could try the basil mayo!) and went instead for this hardy curry: Sri Lankan sweet potato and cashew nut curry served with yellow basmati rice with peas and coconut tomato sambal.
It was so nice to choose from a wealth of vegan options in such a pretty, down-to-earth (but not earthy!) restaurant, chock-full of like-minded folks doing the same. We had a nice conversation with the couple next to us, from the English countryside, who had recently visited NY and we schooled them in NY life outside of Times Square. In the end, we were extremely satiated by our meal and, ultimately, so happy with how the evening turned out...despite the conversation with the waiter wherein I embarrassingly referred to a pound coin as a dollar and was jokingly corrected, "$1.65!"- much to the amusement of the dining room. Always a riot to poke fun at the foreigners! A great place; do give it a try.
London Tip: If you don't wear proper shoes, it will probably rain. Changing into dry socks will help immeasurably (at least until they absorb the moisture still contained within your sneakers). Keep a spare pair in your pocket or risk having to buy a pair in a souvenir shop for 4.99 pounds because you just.can't.stand.it.anymore.
Gives new meaning to the term "tube socks".
For some reason that I've yet to pinpoint the origination of, I'd been operating under the assumption that Mildred's was going to be a crunchy, granola, old-school tofu & sprouts vegetarian joint. I'm happy to report that I couldn't have been more wrong. In fact, it was exactly the dining experience we needed- in every respect, given the disappointing one we'd just had prior.
To start, even though it is a vegetarian restaurant, the vegan selections are the majority. They are clearly marked, and most of the non-vegan choices have a vegan option.
The dining room was bright and clean, the customers comfortable, and the staff bustling.
I had the distinct sense that this is where locals come for consistently good comfort food served in a pleasant atmosphere.
So hungry! We started by sharing gyoza dumplings: with mirin and soy dipping sauce. My travelling companion isn't generally one to order fried dumplings, but we were both in a weakened state by this point; they were delish.
He chose the burger special, noted on the menu for having a vegan option: burger of the day (rosemary and thyme risotto) with relish, red onion, rocket and tomato, with fries and basil mayo.
Believe it or not, I skipped the chips (ok; I did taste one- mostly so I could try the basil mayo!) and went instead for this hardy curry: Sri Lankan sweet potato and cashew nut curry served with yellow basmati rice with peas and coconut tomato sambal.
Ah; better. Once the pesky cilantro was removed, it was exactly what my water-logged, empty-stomached body needed.
It was so nice to choose from a wealth of vegan options in such a pretty, down-to-earth (but not earthy!) restaurant, chock-full of like-minded folks doing the same. We had a nice conversation with the couple next to us, from the English countryside, who had recently visited NY and we schooled them in NY life outside of Times Square. In the end, we were extremely satiated by our meal and, ultimately, so happy with how the evening turned out...despite the conversation with the waiter wherein I embarrassingly referred to a pound coin as a dollar and was jokingly corrected, "$1.65!"- much to the amusement of the dining room. Always a riot to poke fun at the foreigners! A great place; do give it a try.
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| note the water line on my pants from the morning's soaking |
London Tip: If you don't wear proper shoes, it will probably rain. Changing into dry socks will help immeasurably (at least until they absorb the moisture still contained within your sneakers). Keep a spare pair in your pocket or risk having to buy a pair in a souvenir shop for 4.99 pounds because you just.can't.stand.it.anymore.
Gives new meaning to the term "tube socks".
looks like a tasty meal! And I love the socks!
ReplyDeleteTUBE socks! I may have to go to London just to get a pair!
ReplyDeleteThe dinner sounds perfect — curries have a way of taking the chill out of a rainy night — at least while you're eating them. Fries are pretty good at that, too. I'm glad you landed in such a nice restaurant after the not-so-great previous experience.
BYOL- maybe, if you're lucky, I'll sport them with sandals this summer.
ReplyDeleteAndrea- You can probably get them online for 99 cents! We unfortunately didn't make it to any vegan-friendly Indian restaurants during our trip, so I was especially happy to find that so many veg restaurants offered curries.
what a cute restaurant! looks like you had quite a delicious meal!
ReplyDeleteThe socks are awesome! Though slightly less edible than the curry. I bet London really knows how to do a great one.
ReplyDeleteIf you're planning to come back to London, there are a number of Indians behind Euston station, all offering a selection of Vegan options.
ReplyDeleteI do enjoy Mildreds - pleased you found it!!