Mildreds

Vegetarian

79 St Martin's Ln, WC2N 4AA

££

Mildreds is infamous amongst vegetarian and vegans alike. Its original Soho venue has been feeding the masses of do-gooders since 1988, back when veggies were sneered at and veganism was a dirty word. Now, you’d be hard pressed to find a restaurant in the capital without at least a few veggie and vegan delights on offer – with many more upmarket establishments offering a full cruelty-free menu. Given that over half of my friends are now vegetarian (and better people than me) I’ve heard a lot of hype around Mildreds – the place where veggies can explore a whole menu and not be limited by a sub-par burger or a lifeless risotto.

One Wednesday afternoon I went seeking a restaurant to catch up with an old colleague, who is a part-time veggie. We were a little late off the mark in booking, but managed to nab a table at Mildreds Covent Garden – the newest of its kind for 8pm Friday. The location is central but not very vibesy: a stones throw from Leicester square tube and short walk from Covent Garden (aka busy but very accessible). The duck-egg blue, plushly furnished interior, however, was a welcome respite from the rush of city-slickers, tourists and Friday night drinkers outside.

Mildred’s menu is a mishmash of global influence: with dishes spanning from the Thai kaab, over to kofte of the middle east and Mexican nachos. We decided to play sharesies on the starters, ordering the tempeh laab club cultured, prik nam pla dressing, leaves, herbs £8 and the gunpowder bonda pea spinach & potato fritters, mango pickle yoghurt (£7). It’s worth noting here, that the names on the menu make the dishes sound far more complicated than they actually are, meaning you find yourself sneaking a google under the table to make sure you know what you’re actually ordering. For main, we were very much influenced by what the table next to us were chowing down on at the time: I went for the kiri hodi, kadhai masala sweet potato, green beans, spinach, pea basmati, lemon amchar, cashew coconut (£14.5) and Soph the bokkeumbap kimchi fried rice, crispy salt & pepper clean bean tofu, nori (£14).

The laab was disappointing. I wasn’t expecting great things from tempeh, but I was hoping for a little more flavour than what this delivered. Fresh herbs, chilli, and onion made up for it a little, but there wasn’t enough base or body to balance out the sharp and spicy flavours from the garnishes. The fritters were also very bland: dry and dense, lacking spice and flavour: you could tell instantly by their anaemically pale and matt appearance that they were probably going to be lacking in the power and greasy crunch you desire from any decent fried food. The yoghurt that it was nestled on was an equally uninspiringly pale-yellow, and whilst it did something to add moisture back into the dish, it couldn’t save it from its lifeless fate.

For the mains I was keen to avoid any meat ‘replacements’ and let the veg do the talking. As a self-confessed carnivore and lover of red meat, I often find anything masquerading as such bitterly depressing. The lady eating next to me was gorging on an impressive thali-like dish, which had a mild milky potato curry, a deliciously fragrant and rich sweet potato and green bean masala, a sharp lemon amchar and then a truly delightful crunchy, nutty, spicy cashew and coconut mix to sprinkle on top or enjoy cheekily on its own in-between bites. In stark contrast to the flaccid starter experience – this dish was bursting at the seams with flavour. Whilst it wasn’t anything close to being ‘best curry I’ve ever had’, it was definitely enough for me to begin to see what the veggies liked so much about this place. It was warming, filling, well-thought out and presented beautifully. Soph’s dish looked good too – I had a nibble of one of her pieces of tofu and it was delightfully crunchy on the outside and coated in a sweet and sticky sauce: the type I like drenched over my Korean chicken wings. Both dishes were a really generous portion, so much so that we didn’t end up finishing either of them, and therefore had no room for dessert. We washed it all down with a decently priced (£22) bottle of rina ianca, viognier, grillo, santa tresa, sicily which in all honesty was OK… but not something I would order again.

Overall Mildreds was a nice enough experience, but nothing to write home about. I was at first inspired and impressed by the range of different cuisines they were covering, however this probably reflects in the quality of the food: they can do lots of different dishes just fine, but nothing spectacularly. If I was more limited with my diet, I would potentially have a bigger appreciation for the mildly experimental and purely plant-based menu. However, being as passionate about good food as I am, and being as spoiled as we are with the abundance of really great restaurants in London, I don’t think I’ll be in a rush to go back anytime soon. Sorry Mildred’s – you’ll have to stick to your veggie fans for now!

OVERALL RATING: ***

https://www.mildreds.co.uk