Plates Restaurant Shoreditch Review - Shoreditch - London - The Infatuation
"The plant-based food revolution has been going on for quite some time now. If, like us, you’ve become numb to a twee pack of vegan bacon speaking to you like a toddler, then try going to Plates in Shoreditch instead. This vegan fine dining restaurant draws inspiration from around the world, and feels like it's doing something different. It’s unusual, mostly delicious, and it gives us weirdly strong feelings about mung beans. Plates’ tasting menu approach might be off-putting to some. But have faith and give it a shot. You won’t feel imprisoned. Like no other countryside-feeling bolthole, you enter on Old Street. Only the boutique oaty tones of this tight-knit room are genuinely calming. And the staff, some with bows in their hair, others in mossy workwear, have the friendly aura of second cousins who would knit you a woollen hat for Christmas. photo credit: Sofia Shakarchi photo credit: Jake Missing photo credit: Jake Missing Of the food, the less said about a beetroot granita that tastes like foot, the better. Nothing innovative is ever seamless. That said, a butterless sourdough croissant is a genuine revelation and the Radio 4 crowd here feel open-minded to everything. In fact, this little room hums. Apart from when the deconstructed bean lasagna or the raw cacao gateaux is being served. It’s very much the good kind of silence. At first glance, Plates is a concept-heavy restaurant. Really though, it’s somewhere that proves a great tasting menu can be sub £100, under two hours, and truly innovative all at once. There’s a lot to be said about what we consume and the way we do it but, whatever your ethos, Plates is a restaurant that will pleasantly surprise you. Food Rundown Plates is all about seasonality, so it isn’t surprising that its tasting menu will change around the year. As it is, there are a couple of options: one seven-course menu and one eight-course menu—but you’re only missing out on one pudding if you get the former. It’s a menu that runs fairly quickly without being overwhelming and improves as it goes. photo credit: Jake Missing The Tasting Menu There’s a light start of a funky beetroot granita that’s a little too seedy for our liking, but then things really pick up. A bowl of English tomatoes with raspberry jam, vegan ricotta, frozen strawberries, and shiso is light, sweet, and savoury. It’s a great bowl. Then there are a couple of outstanding sauces and dishes. The maitake mushrooms, barbecued and served with an earthy black bean mole, and also that lasagne. The miso and chive sauce is better than a béchamel, and that’s a fact. One of the best bites of the meal is in the first dessert, the ‘herbaceous’ ice cream with chewy beets. You could sell these as strawberry laces and we’d be happy. Before Plates plays the crowd with an ingenious gateaux, filled with sour cherry, and topped with a light sprinkle of ground korerima, a ginger-ish, aromatic Ethiopian spice." - Jake Missing
