The Gate Islington - vegetarian restaurant in London

Inside The Gate.  Source: The Gate

The Gate Islington is a restaurant in Angel, London, which serves exclusively vegetarian food.  

While I'm not a vegetarian, I was quite interested in trying out what The Gate had to offer.  After all, I had never been to a vegetarian restaurant before, so it was new territory for me.

I had a +Groupon deal at The Gate: £17.50 for a two-course meal and a drink.  I had the choice of the full menu - no messing around with limited set menus.  

I started with the beetroot 'ravioli'.  Rather than filled pasta, this was beetroot filled with goat cheese.  It was definitely different and I thought it tasted pretty good; the salty cheese contrasting well with the sweet beetroot and apple.

Beetroot ravioli - starter: Roasted and shaved beetroot filled with goat cheese, caramelised apple and walnuts, served with heritage beetroots, watercress and basil & celery granita.

Courgette flower - starter: Filled with sweet potato, pine nuts, basil coated in crisp batter, served with puy lentil salsa.

I chose the chipotle corn cake for my main.  Aubergine is always a winner for me, so I was attracted to this dish.  There's a lot going on here, with lots of different ingredients fusing together both in terms of flavour and presentation.  The end result was good and there was certainly an empty dish at the end.  The corn cake added a bit of stodge too, which made the meal a bit more filling.

Chipotle corn cake - main: Corn & polenta cake , pan-fried & seasoned with chipotle chilli and coriander , served with aubergine, oven-dried tomatoes, sweet potato & served with a red pepper & black bean salsa lime and coriander dressing and crispy fennel.

I went with the girlfriend and a couple of friends, one of which is a vegetarian - so I was in good company for this veggie adventure.  We were impressed with the modern, yet cosy atmosphere, as well as the generally good portion sizes.  We felt the menu and quality was good overall too.

At the end of the day, The Gate won't be for everyone.  And dare I say, I would even have liked a bit of meat with my meal.  But if you're looking for something a bit different and you're open to the idea of trying a vegetarian restaurant, this could be a good place to visit.  

Nearest Tube: Angel

An Italian dinner: fried whitebait, parma ham & rigatoni, veal and tiramsu

The girlfriend managed to bag a three-course meal for two people for just £28 from Groupon - bargain!  We obviously looked at some reviews first; the location was Il Castelletto - an Italian restaurant near Holborn, London.  It had some positive (albeit limited) feedback and we had the whole a la carte menu to choose from rather than being restricted to a set menu, so the deal looked worth trying.

I started off with deep fried whitebait, which is one of my favourites.  Deep fried fish - what's not to like? Il Castelletto's whitebait was not bad; it could have been a bit crispier, but still a good start.

Whitebait with tartar sauce.

The girlfriend went with the Amore Proscilitto Di Parma, which is rigatoni with parma ham and olives in a tomato sauce.  It received a solid report; well-cooked pasta, tasty sauce, nicely presented - and the parma ham worked well.

Amore Proscilitto Di Parma

Sadly, I really disliked my main - the Saltimbocca Alla Romana (veal with parma ham and sage).  It sounds really good on paper, hence why I ordered it, but it had an overbearing sickly sweet taste - almost candy-like.  It's difficult to describe, but I've not experienced that taste before.  I like sweet meats (Chinese char siu being a favourite), but this took it to another level.

Veal - too sweet!

Onto desserts, we got a generous-sized tiramisu.  I'm not a tiramisu fan, so I'm yet to taste one that I would describe as spectacular, but this one was at least on a par with most others I've tasted - so no complaints.

For £14 per head, I'd definitely consider it again (even with the sickly sweet veal) and it's ideal if you're in London and looking for a place to meet friends after work.

I'm not sure if the deal is still available, but keep checking Il Castelletto's page on Groupon if you're interested in the deal we got.

Closest station: Holborn