Restaurant Review: Food For Thought

Food For Thought is a tiny vegetarian restaurant in Covent Garden. It offers hot and cold dishes, that include vegan, wheat and gluten free options, these change regularly.

I went on a Saturday afternoon and it was super busy. The queue extended up the stairs and out the front door. There is a small amount of seating upstairs with the predominant seating area downstairs. The restaurant has a very relaxed feel, with bench style seating. Food is served and paid for at a counter downstairs.

I went for a tofu and vegetable curry style dish that was delicious, it felt just like eating a nourishing home cooked meal.  They offer a few meal deal options as well, a good way of trying a couple of things, such as a hot dish and dessert or a soup and salad, all at very reasonable prices. The meal was lovely however, due to the fact it was so busy it felt very cramped with people squeezed in and loitering around looking for places to sit.  This meant that we felt rushed to finish. Although, I guess this is a testament to how good the food is!

I would definitely recommend eating at Food for Thought, although I’d try a weekday first as you might have more chance of getting a seat, or alternatively get the food to take out.

If you’d like more information, their website is linked here

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Have you been to Food For Thought? What did you think? Let me know in the comments or via Twitter @lifetimesofjess

In the Kitchen: Fully Loaded Porridge

I absolutely LOVE porridge. I have it pretty much every day, it’s so versatile, super quick and you can’t go too wrong – a definite plus when you’re half asleep while preparing it! This is a recipe for what I call my fully loaded porridge. It’s completely adaptable so if you can’t eat nuts for example just swap them out with something to suit you.

You’ll need:

1/2 Cup GF Oats / 1 Cup Almond Milk / 4 Walnut halves broken up / 4 Pecan halves broken up / Teaspoon of chia seeds / 1 Small banana / Handful of frozen berries / Shake of cinnamon

Place the frozen berries into a pan and cook on a low heat,  keep an eye on them and stir regularly so they don’t burn.  After about 2.5 mins place all the other ingredients, bar the banana into another pan and cook on a medium heat, giving them an occasional stir. I like my porridge on the runnier side so after 2 mins its done. Place your porridge in a bowl then making sure the berries are nice and soft and warm place on top with a sliced banana – then enjoy! If you’ve got a sweet tooth adding some fresh fruit or a drizzle of maple syrup should do the trick.

Let me know if you make this porridge. What are your favourite breakfasts?

Restaurant Review: Ethos

Ethos is a self service vegetarian buffet restaurant close to Oxford Circus. You pay per 100g. At lunch this is £2.50 and at dinner £2.70. Sweet treats are priced individually.

The restaurant is super stylish inside with a rustic feel. The food is laid out to the right and the seating to the left. We sat at a large circular table with cushioned benches.

There is a large selection of hot and cold foods, and they all look delicious. For those non vegan there are some great options such as  halloumi bites, courgette and feta cakes and some amazing looking scotch eggs.

I went for a combination of hot and cold which included a really refreshing and sweet mango and avocado salad with berries, guacamole, hummus, dolmades, Moroccan tagine and seitan  ribs – something I had never heard of before but curiosity won and I thought I’d try it. They have a slightly tough texture. I’m not sure if i’d have them again but it doesn’t hurt to try! I then indulged in a slice of vegan, gluten free banana bread which was super tasty!

My plate cost just over £18.00 which I thought was quite expensive. What do you think?

Ethos provides a lovely relaxed atmosphere with a wide variety of dishes suitable for many dietary requirements.

For more information  visit the Ethos website here

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Have you been to Ethos? What was your experience like?

In the Kitchen: Courgette Noodles and Pesto

I had a friend over for lunch and we wanted something quick, easy and healthy. After looking through a couple of options we decided to make something from the Deliciously Ella cookbook, I’ve made recipes from her blog before but this was the first from the book. We went for the courgette noodles with avocado pesto.

We started with the fun part – spiralizing – we used 2 courgettes as that was plenty for a lunch serving… Then things got silly!

Next up was the avocado pesto. We used, 120g of brazil nuts, 4 avocados, 4 tablespoons of oil, 3 limes and a handful of mint. Note: we made enough to feed four people as i was using it later on as well, tailor the amounts to your needs.

Into a frying pan we added 2 handfuls of chopped oyster mushrooms and chopped red pepper and left to heat for about 5 minutes, we then added the noodles for about 3 minutes and finished with a couple of good dollops of the pesto. We added some mint leaves and cress on top for added freshness.

The finished result! So, the real question is how did it taste? The answer…  Delicious! The pesto was super creamy with a really fresh taste. The noodles gave it a great base and the crunch of the pepper compared to the slightly more chewier mushroom added a fantastic texture. This was the first vegan/ vegetarian meal my friend had eaten and she loved it, in fact she loved it so much she took home a pot of pesto and my spiralizer to make it herself!

Have you tried this meal before what do you think? Or have you tried any of her other recipes? What would you recommend?

You can check out more of the Deliciously Ella recipes here and buy her book here