Tendril - A (mostly) Vegan Kitchen & Bar — Restaurant in London

Bare with me ... Tendril - Ok soooo… I think this is my first Google review ever? I rushed here in between two old film screenings (London has a lot going on. Great films; The third man & old Japanese sci-fi; A warning from space - though don’t source the American dubbed one that totally rewrites the tone and story) and rushing here: it was more than worth it. I lived through years & years of severe depression and - I truly mean this - while eating here I was thinking: I’m so glad I got through that all, just to be eating this food. I felt frankly emotional. I can’t believe how happy this food made me, genuinely. I was recommended this place, and even with mild positive expectations (I keep it real), I was so surprised by the elegance of simplicity giving me this much flavour! I really didn’t think any food this week in London would surprise me this much. Humble pricing for such FLAVOUR! (I mean it is still London so… haha) Down to earth fantasms; elevation that’s pure humble. I got the white bean spread (this was recommended to me by a friend, saying: Look the words don’t do it justice) FUCK was that right. This spread is at the very very top of spreads and hummus type things. I had that caramelised onion hummus from Sainsbury’s earlier (what can I say, I’m autistic and it used to be a comfort food back when I lived in the UK) and damn that supermarket shit is at the ver very bottom. It gives yah a reference, definitely if you like that Sainsbury’s one, your mind will be blown by this Tendril bean spread. I got the artichokes which were just like; ‘Ooooh and Aaaah, what is this excellence? I feel so fancy’ & then you are just refreshed with every bite. Oh I forgot but the spread came with fresh pita and that bread makes me rethink my heavy critics on our Belgian (I’m Belgian) bread culture where people can’t believe you eat warm food more then once a day and NOT at least two times bread with tasteless crap on it - but this pita makes two or three times bread a day seem a legit option hahaha - well don’t spoil the good stuff I guess with over indulgence… It had proper taste and was moist and bread-y at the same time. I also had the purple potatoes - which is a since opening dish - and that is just earth on a plate - but in the really good way - haha - it’s so warm, cosy, garden-y, but like wow that asian-y flavours make this potato stand out in our western potato diets, and it also totally fits in. Agains so simple, a sweet and tangy moist crunch (if that is a thing). great garnish. I hate calvados, so I took the cocktail that had calvados as one does being an un-autistic autist. Very good, herbal and super refreshing - though rushing between films I was thirsty - but whatever, cocktails can be used for hydration, right? Right? Brilliant stuff here, lovely staff that seem impressed by their own food as if it’s unbelievable, love it, please go. (For reference; I'm a vegan for...

Overall: steeply overpriced for the food.

We've had the dinner tasting menu for £45 per person. I'm all for fancy vegan dining so was quite excited, but I must say the tasting menu repeatedly disappointed.

The starters were a spicy, unremarkable hummus, a will presented but bland tasting aubergine dish, 4 slices of gherkins in some pesto which has barely any taste - so essentially just 4 slices of gherkins, and a beetroot based paste which was probably the only interesting starter.

At this price level I'm used to starters that have a complex taste that evolves in your mouth, interesting textures and bold flavors. Here the taste was uniform and very mild.

The next dish was a patty with some greens. There is an open station where a person with a torch burns the top of it, which is aesthetically cool. But the dish itself is disappointing. My partner's dish came out too burnt. And mine was very difficult to cut and didn't taste in any way remarkable.

At this point a comment on the service. It's a Friday night and service was overall slow. We went through the starters without even getting tap water - which we asked for at the beginning and had to ask for two more times. The waiter did apologize though. When the waiter saw my wife isn't enjoying her patty, they brought her another dish as compensation. And they made sure her dishes don't contain soya which she avoids. So overall the service is good but not flawless.

The next dish was done kind of deep fried leek which was great - but not a fine dining dish. Following that we got our mains: mushroom braised the same way as the patty (burnt and dry, preserving nothing if the natural mushroom juiciness - I didn't eat it), mashed potatoes which were fine, some sauteed greens, and a mushroom croquette that looked nice but the taste was again bland and disappointing.

The dessert was a vegan cheesecake, and my partner got a soya free chocolate ganache with sesame and pistachio. Both of these were great. The cheesecake was not overly sweet and had good texture and a more complex taste than most of the preceding dishes.

Overall I'm all for fancy vegan dining, but that has to come with higher taste standards. I think this tasting menu really emphasized the looks over the contents. All the dishes were Instagram worthy, but disappointing...

I came in early and got the £29 tasting menu, an amazing bargain for the quality of food. To drink, I started with a no-alcohol "Æcorn spritz" which had the pleasing complexity of a conventional alcohol and looked absolutely ravishing. The Lemon and Thyme saison I had later was refreshing.

Going course by course, the aubergine with puff pastry was the only disappointment. The pastry was not crisp or tasty and I struggle to find what it was doing with the tablespoon or so of serviceable but undistinguished eggplant puree.

I was utterly in love with the second course, a blue corn tortilla loaded with delicious and complex components that worked ridiculously well together. The creaminess of the sweet corn nduja over the dense but smooth bean puree was textural perfection. The tortilla was generously topped with perfectly ripe tomatoes diced fine. Olives, similarly chopped small, are a bold but perfect choice.

The third course, fried polenta with peas and grilled courgettes looked and tasted wonderful but I wish the proportions could be adjusted. Just two pieces of fried polenta in the whole serving was not enough. There felt like too much of the veggies. The peas were not sweet...less of them and more of the puree would have been good. Courgettes were more acidic than I would have liked. Tastes like maybe they were marinated after grilling.

I adored the main course of very meaty grilled oyster mushrooms. The plating was unfussy but refined, with a delightful fried potato as I have never had...many many layers assembled before being cut and fried up crispy. One was perfect. Similarly the one grilled asparagus was all I needed. The mushrooms I can taste also had a bracing amount of acidity. But unlike the courgettes the mushrooms have so much umami and richness the acidity was a great complement. Watercress puree and salsa Verde just perfect. Would have preferred another nut as peanut have an intrusive flavor but that is a small quibble.

Dessert tiramisu was fine. Cake had very good flavor and fair texture. Soy cream was perfectly silky!

I recommend Tendril both for the ambitious concepts and care in execution. There isn't another restaurant I can think of where you can sample such a range of fine ingredients and techniques at such a...