20 October 2014 | Food | By: Sejal Sukhadwala

In this series, we review restaurants from an entirely vegetarian angle. While some restaurants will be specifically vegetarian, others will be mainstream. Well be tasting everything from veggie burgers, to posh meat-free menus. Along the way, well try to find out, as far as possible, whether chicken stock, cheese made from animal rennet, gelatine, fish sauce and so on are not lurking in the supposedly vegetarian dishes.

Raw zucchini rolls

Raw vegan is the fastest growing category of meat-free restaurants in London. Whereas a new vegetarian venue opens only once in a while, raw vegan places no doubt blessed by the glittering stardust of celebrity diets seem to pop up every few months. But whats the food like? To put it politely, its variable. Weve been eating at some of the capitals newer raw vegan cafs recently purely in the name of research, mind but have been sorely disappointed. The wide-eyed, over-zealous, cult-like connotations of many are off-putting to those whore not part of the raw food community. One raw sorry, living food restaurant, for instance, issues a full separate glossary of activated ingredients (no, we have no idea what it means either) used in its menus. Were sceptical, at best, of the raw movements health claims. And then theres the food.

If youre not used to them, raw vegan analogues of cooked dishes just dont taste good. (A friend recently pointed out that it works the other way, too: to a raw vegan, something like cheese on toast might taste vile. Fair enough). So cheese made from nuts, for instance, can be stodgy and tastes far from cheesy; coconut in various guises used in place of dairy gives a fatty mouthfeel; and breads and pastry made from nuts and seeds often taste rancid and have too-brittle texture. Ingredients often appear to be randomly thrown together based on their alleged health properties rather than any regard to taste. Their overpowering flavours and textures would, quite frankly, benefit from being toned down with the application of heat.

However, this is not the case at the RAW restaurant at La Suite West.Like other Anouska Hempel hotels, this chic boutique place in Bayswater boasts minimal design, all stark dark woods, plain cream walls, glossy marble surfaces and clean lines. Other than a pretty landscaped terrace outside, its much more understated and less showy than her other venues. While London was otherwise engaged during the Olympics, RAW quietly opened in the summer of 2012. The small oriental-influenced dining room, moodily lit with retro angular lamps, is suffused with Zen-like stillness and tranquillity.

Despite its name, the restaurant serves raw as well as cooked dishes, and we tried a mixture of both. The raw ones (here defined as not heated above 42C/ 118F degrees) are clearly marked with R, and ones containing gluten with a G. Compared to other similar restaurants, the menu is refreshingly free of weird ingredients like cordyceps and xylitol. Even more refreshingly, it doesnt make any health claims and lets the food do the talking. Beautifully presented zucchini rolls are crisp, wafer-thin ribbons of raw courgettes twirled around slivers of sweet peppers and crunchy sunflower seeds, strewn with red micro shoots and accompanied by mild, creamy avocado pt. Its a pleasant rather than an exciting dish, but the light, fresh flavours get the meal off to a good start.

Eggless pumpkin souffl is made by cooking down the squash with onions and garlic to a thick pure, so that it acquires a fluffy souffl-like texture. Its sweet, mellow taste benefits from the earthy blast of shiitake mushrooms, though the accompanying sesame-herb emulsion is a touch too sharp.

Next is wild spinach gnocchi with spicy tomato sauce, mint leaves and pine nuts. Is the spinach really wild? we asked, intrigued, and were met with a brisk yes, madam. (Service is serious and rather elegant here). The soft, pillowy dumplings come with a pool of flavoursome (though not spicy) tomato sauce and generous amounts of pine nuts, the verdant freshness of mint making the dish come together. Its underseasoned though, and much improved after a good sprinkling of salt and pepper. Raw golden beet ravioli is more stridently flavoured: crisp discs of beetroot with crunchy almonds and the fruity sweetness of dates are paired with broccoli and ginger pesto, and the persistently warm pepperiness of ginger comes through loud and clear.

To finish, orange and date cheesecake, on a hefty (but miraculously un-stodgy) nutty-tasting base has a bright citrus flavour, but the over-enthusiastic sprinkling of bitter-tasting raw orange zest on top is superfluous. The cheese here is made from coconut butter, but its deliciously mellow and creamy, with none of the fatty aftertaste that you often get with this ingredient. Passion fruit bavarois with caramel sauce is wonderfully mild and tangy. No alcohol is served; but theres an imaginative list of properly-mixed mocktails and soft drinks.

See original here:
Vegetarian London: RAW At La Suite West Health Food With Taste