By
N.
Posted on 10/04/2008
Whether you're a serious carnivore, vegetarian, vegan, macrobiotic, or you simply want a healthy meal, Terre a Terre should hit the spot and then some.
The Venue
With its rustic decor and warm ambience, Terre a Terre deserves its reputation as one of England’s best spots for vegetarians. A friendly design of simple, warm colours and even friendlier staff complement this upscale restaurant, but the full-flavoured menu and thoughtful wine list definitely completes the experience and is the reason so many regulars recommend the restaurant.
The Atmosphere
The restaurant's vivacious food carries over into the atmosphere with smiley staff and contented customers chattering away and raving about dish after dish. This vegetarian restaurant is about as far away from earnest as you can get and even its ever lengthening list of awards hasn't made it the slightest bit pretentious.
The Food
Defying the stereotype of bland health food, the menu at Terre a Terre is consistently innovative and creative, attracting not only vegetarians, but diners of all stripes. Light appetisers include Wasabi Cashews and Hoisin Tofu with pickled ginger. Starters are based on a variety of flavours from around the world, such as the Blue Cheese Souffle and Walnut Pepper Salt and the Iddli Spice Puff Cakes and Bad Boy Brinjal curry. For the artfully presented main course, try the Polenta Plumps and Toy Box Tomatoes – parmesan ricotta and polenta beignets, served with warm caponata, balsamic baked nicoise vegetables, fried capers and a big rich olive cassoulet with pine nut and basil mince. There are so many flavours to savour but fantastically they complement each other so well they just meld into one delicious dish.
The Drink
With such diverse ingredients you may struggle at first to pick a wine to match your dish but this is one area where the staff really come into their own, plumping for bottles that always work beautifully in spite of the dizzying mixture of ingredients in each dish. All of the wines are organic and you'll even find the odd bottle of biodynamic wine too.
If you're not a wine buff, take your pick from organic traditional cider or beer or let your meal digest over a snifter of cognac, just one of the many spirits on offer that also happen to be organic.
The Last Word
No animal was harmed in this first-rate union of veg-heads and flesh-eaters alike and even if you're a reluctant diner at any vegetarian restaurant you’ll hardly notice the lack of meat in the dishes at Terre a Terre as you'll be too busy scraping your plate clean and singing the praises of the chef.