#FtLionAwards 2021 Veggie of the Year shortlist
After the #FtLionAwards 2021 Best Seafood of the Year (proudly sponsored by the hugely impressive, family-run restaurant in east London’s Forest Gate, Kicthen 37), we continue with Best Veggie of the Year.
As with every year, you have the chance of voting for your favourite on our Instagram and Facebook pages. We want you to either: 1) vote for the following nominees, or 2) let us know both your favourite drink and the place you had it, all on our Facebook and/or Instagram pages.
BELLA COSA
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With a drink and a starter up for contention, Italian restaurant Bella Cosa in Canary Wharf put up this incredible Green Tortelli pasta dish, with soft silky parcels containing a creamy stuffing of lightly piquant ricotta cheese, and floating in a buttery sauce with a touch of sour to it.
Add to that the headiness of the truffles and the earthiness of the mushrooms, both helping to provide that earthy undertone, and we just couldn’t get enough of this umptious plate of umami goodness.
BOMBAY CHOW
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For those of you who don’t know, Bombay Chow in London Wembley is the sister restaurant of Fatt Pundit – #FtLionAwards Best Restaurant 2019. While they have a starter in with a chance, they also served us this unassuming plate of Veg Manchurian, which turned out to be a revelation.
Here we had around half-a-dozen soft and spongy balls enveloped in a rich, smoky and spicy, sticky glaze which we couldn’t get enough of. An absolute delight!
EGGOLAND
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Eggoland in London’s Fitzrovia has been set up by professional boxer Sohail Ahmad, and makes its first entry in this competition with its vegan Fakey Eggs’n’Baccy burger.
This one surprised us, with its segments of sausage managing to deliver on that texture, as well as that mild smokiness. More astoundingly still was the fake egg, which turned out to be ultra soft and apparently scrambled. Truth be told, if we didn’t know this was vegan, we’d probably come away believing it was anything but. A unique experience.
HERITAGE
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With a starter, main, grill and seafood already up for consideration, Heritage in London Dulwich, which was rated a perfect 5/5, presented us this unique Potato and Quinoa Cake.
What an absolutely extraordinary invention this is, with the Quinoa dexterously shaped into delicate balls before being stuffed with a stringy cheese, which really did impart some smokiness, to go with the chilli heat, the mint sauce, the moments of sweetness, as well as the occasional ginger freshness.
MASALCHI
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Double Michelin Chef Atul Kochhar’s Masalchi in London Wembley doesn’t just have a main and grill in for the running, but now has this extraordinarily tasty Chukunder Chaap.
This meaty-textured croquette delivered on the earthy-sweetness of the beetroot, and was elevated by the rich sweetness of the vibrant, burgundy-coloured sauce.
MATHURA
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Another entry by Atul with Mathura‘s Awadhi Gucchi. This Westminster-based restaurant already has a drink and a starter up for an award. And this was the surprise package of the review.
An attractive-looking dish that took us on an undulating ride across the umami landscape. While the morels stuffed with paneer cream worked in tandem with both the dark and creamy-smooth puree, as well as what appeared to be pickled enoki mushrooms, to deliver the earthy with the nutty and mellow sweet, a positively saturated, soft and tender portobello mushroom helped cut through the richness. Stunning!
RAMO RAMEN
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Having been the third and last restaurant this year to earn a flawless 5/5, Ramo Ramen have a main and seafood in with a chance. They now have this Miso Mushroom Ramen, which was their clever interpretation on a cream of mushroom soup, and which turned out to be the surprise package of this review.
While an assortment of quality mushrooms helped to deeply infuse this broth with a sophisticated flavour profile that ebbed and flowed in waves of soothing goodness, the accompanying padron peppers and herbaceous seasoning assisted in making this a phenomenally good bowl.
THE YELLOW CHILLI
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Indian celeb chef Sanjeev Kapoor’s The Yellow Chilli in London’s Wembley currently has two drinks on show, a starter, a main, and now this Sham Savera.
With a soothing cardamom-based tomato sauce, the quartet of so-called dumplings, which were in fact soft balls of spinach, were a perfect foil against the fragrant sweetness of the vibrantly orange curry, being stuffed as they were with piquant cottage cheese. A simple, yet wonderfully conceived and executed plate of food.
