The Gate
Vegetarian
22-24 Seymour Place, W1H 7NL
££
With the fairly recent rise of Vegetarian and Veganism amongst Londonders, dining out for these do-gooders has become a lot easier and a whole load more exciting. With the ability to score a plant based big mac or a pretend peking duck so real that you feel a sense of guilt afterwards, there isn't a whole load of excuses left for the carnivores out there. I am one of those terrible people who can't give up a steak so bloody it's practically still mooing, however, after hearing such good things about The Gate I decided it was probably time to see just how exciting being a good person can be.
The Gate is a micro-chain, with establishments in Marylebone, Islington, Hammersmith and St Johns Wood. Having started working a 10 minute walk away, and with all my friends slowly but surely converting over to the vegetarian way of life, I booked for a Friday evening with a Time Out deal that got you 40% off three courses and a glass of prosecco (total £24). The restaurants interior exudes a simplistic elegance: with pistachio couch seats and dark wooden tables. The upstairs is light and airy, and was pretty much full when we arrived, whilst the downstairs was a warmer, cosier feel and had only one table full. I am always inclined to judge a restaurant (particularly those more high-end ones) by their toilets, and I must say that the bogs here were not what I was expecting at all - awfully stuffy, bright, and frankly a bit grubby with water and tissue all over the floor.
The food, luckily, was more pleasant. To start, we both ordered the Courgette Flower (£9.5), which was filled with homemade ricotta, roasted butternut, basil and semi-dried tomatoes, and served with beluga lentils & aioli. This sounds a lot better than it actually was. In reality, though beautifully presented, it was a deep-fried courgette with something which I think was ricotta stuffed in the crown. I couldn't detect any of the other flavours of the ingredients which were supposedly present and I ended up wishing I had gone for the Crispy Marinated Tofu instead. Don't get me wrong, it was tasty, but just not as tasty as it sounded on paper.
For main, we decided to go halves on the Wild Mushroom Risotto Cake (£16) and the Goat’s Cheese Mille-Feuille (£16) which both came beautifully presented again. The Mushroom dish was made with sauté girolle, pleurote and Paris brown, and finished with a creamy cep sauce, rocket and lemon truffle dressing. Once again, on paper this sounded divine, and once again, in reality it wasn't quite as much of a taste sensation as expected. The risotto cake was crispy, which complimented the mushrooms really well, and was enhanced by the truffle dressing, however, the meal on the whole ended up tasting a bit too earthy, and I couldn't taste the lemon in it which might have offset this nicely. The Goats Cheese dish was layered with pommes dauphinoises, red pepper, courgette, black olives, basil pesto, arrabiata sauce. The potato, however, was still a little hard and the overall flavours a little basic, although you could definitely taste the goats cheese and arrabiata sauce in this one.
To finish, I was convinced I was going to go for the Eton Mess (£6.5), but after seeing the table next to us with the Peanut Butter Brownie (£6.5), there was no competition. To be fair to them, this was a massive portion and was pretty damn delicious. Still warm and gooey in the middle, I think this had to be the highlight of the meal for me. Overwhelmingly rich and extremely filling: it was even a Vegan option, something I would never have guessed due to creamy texture and vanilla ice-cream it was served with.
The Gate is a good shout if you're a veggie wanting to impress a visiting friend or a new date. It will feel posh without the price tag, due to the presentation and sophisticated surroundings. The dishes are interesting and all include some exciting and bold flavours, but don't quite live up to their descriptions, and are on the whole pretty forgettable. Overall, I think The Gate may be enough to impress the veggies out there, but unfortunately it is no where near convincing me to change my evil ways.
OVERALL RATING: ***
https://thegaterestaurants.com/marylebone/
