Ethos

I am always on the look out for new restaurants to visit where I can enjoy some good vegan food so when I recently read Besma's review of Ethos in London I immediately knew that this was somewhere I had to try. 

As soon as we stepped inside Ethos I was blown away by the stunning interior decor. This is without fail the most chic and classy plant based restaurant I have ever had the pleasure of visiting. The numerous tree trunks make you feel as though you are really connected to mother nature and the natural food which grows from the earth. I've described some vegan restaurants as 'earthy' in the past but this takes on a whole new definition! If there is ever a restaurant to diminish stereotypical ideas around veganism it's this one.    

Just like Tibits, Ethos is a vegetarian and vegan buffet restaurant where the amount you pay is dependent on how much your plate weighs. Like most others, I get very excited by the prospect of a buffet. I'm not quite sure why I find it so enjoyable but there's just something quite marvellous about seeing a whole selection of diverse and tempting food laid out in front of you ready and waiting to be picked up. You're in control of what you eat, how much you eat and most importantly there are no rules. If you want five different carbs on your plate you can do it and not feel any judgement in the process. 

Our first point of call was to order our drinks and I was impressed to see such a wide variety on offer. As a non alcohol drinker, I was also really pleased to see a selection of delicious sounding mocktails available as well as some superfood smoothies. I couldn't resist the sound of the Blueberry pina colada!

Our next port of call, and the moment we'd been waiting for, was to visit the buffet.   

On initial inspection I was really impressed by the selection of food available, with the vast majority being vegan friendly too. One stand seemed to be centred around salad and vegetables and included some unusual variations such as broccoli with cashew cheese and roasted cauliflower with cranberries and walnut. It's clear that some thought has gone into these dishes and rather than just providing standard veg they have really considered how to make it all more tasty and flavoursome. 

The second food stand was more concentrated on hot dishes and I guess what you would call the 'main meal' section of the buffet. There seemed to be slightly less vegan options on this stand but there were still some great dishes to choose from including a miso roasted aubergine and a coconut and chickpea curry. As a vegetarian, my husband was in for a treat with being able to pick up some macaroni cheese, halloumi bites and dauphinoise potatoes. 

After selecting our food it was time to get the plates weighed. Now, if you know me you will know that I don't hold back at the buffet. I wish I could be more disciplined and neat about my buffet plates but instead I tend to pick up a little bit of everything I like the look of and pile it onto one plate (When in Rome!). But I guess it's something to be more conscious of if visiting Ethos as the more it weighs, the more you pay... 

My plate of food, as pictured below on the scales, weighed in at a whopping £18.00. There's no denying that this is an expensive buffet! But, after having been price shocked once before in Tibits, I knew what to expect this time around. Which is - if you want a vegan buffet in the heart of the West End of London then it comes at a price. 

The food itself was so on point and everything tasted excellent. I had no regrets about piling everything onto the plate together but my husband commented that if we had been more organised we may have got a small plate of side salad/veg and left the main big plate for the other food. Maybe something to consider for next time but there was definitely no issue with how we done things and there also wasn't a crumb left on our plates afterwards. 

As you can imagine we felt pretty stuffed after finishing off all that food and we did have to take a 15 minute breather before contemplating a visit to the dessert stand. 

My only minor complaint about our Ethos experience would be that the vegan dessert offerings were slim pickings. Perhaps we were a little on the late side of the day and we possibly missed some other options, but when I visited there was only one vegan friendly dessert on offer which was a shame but I didn't mind too much at the time as I was so full up. 

One regret we did have pretty much as soon as we arrived home was not getting a take away box of food to take home with us for the evening. After some shopping around the West End and the long drive back to Essex we found ourselves hungry and wishing we could pick at the buffet again! But it's definitely worth mentioning here that take away boxes are indeed available at Ethos so it would also be a great option if you were in the area and needed to grab a quick lunch.   

I have nothing but praise for Ethos who are effectively and impressively changing perceptions about plant based living, and even if that wasn't their initial intention it's something they should be applauded for. Being vegan can have its moments of feeling somewhat isolated and excluded from conventional living but at Ethos I felt more than part of something. In fact, I felt celebrated. And in the most stylish of ways. Yes it may be on the expensive side, and maybe not somewhere you could afford to eat regularly, but if anything that makes it all the more special. This is definitely a restaurant where I would love to celebrate an occasion and take along some vegan sceptic friends and family. This is the place to show off just how awesome your lifestyle choices are!   

For a live look at Ethos check out my Snapchat video here! 

Have you been to Ethos yet?