Cook It! An excellent lunch at Food For Friends

Veg It Ate

As a committed omnivore – carnivores are a different thing altogether – I am also rather keen on good vegetarian food. Please note the word ‘good’. Sadly, vegetarians are not that often well provided for. I have, over the years, been served some pretty disgusting muck masquerading as vegetarian food, so bad in fact that one could assume that the word vegetarian means drab and tasteless, rather than meatless. I am also rather dismissive of those faddy eaters who masquerade as vegetarians but eat fish, cheese, and in some cases, chicken breast. I mean really, commit or get off the pot.

The good news is that in Brighton, vegetarian food is a thing of great beauty, a celebration of meatless cooking rather than a requiem for lentils and the like. It was with this hope in mind that I met Mr M and Mr N, tidily in alphabetical order, at Food For Friends. Food For Friends has been around for as long as I can remember. It was a good place at the start but very much a basic veggie cafe of rather solid foods and hearty salads; good yes, but not to my taste to be honest. In recent years though, and under new ownership, things have massively changed.

These days it is very much a restaurant and it serves some very refined food. That said, it still seems to be remarkably good value.

I had wanted to go along to try out their new mezze style dishes. I like the concept of small plates for sharing – although you do need to know that the people you are dining with also like to share. I know one or two people who prefer to order a dish and then fiercely guard it from incoming cutlery. Mr M and Mr N were happily up for a starting point of shared dishes and I am glad to say that they shared nicely.

But first came three good glasses of a very nice house white and some parsnip crisps, olive bread-sticks (home baked) and a rich pesto in which to dip them.

Our mezze selection included a delicious cous cous with pomegranate, a fig, walnut and smoked ricotta salad that was topped with excellent slivers of deep fried pickled Japanese ginger, some fried tofu with a chilli dipping sauce, crisp fingers of aubergine with a vibrant green sweet and sour sauce and a creamy yoghurt salad too. It was all delicious, all well balanced, and all very attractive to look at.

All the sharing done, and I have to say, rather well satisfied already (the addition of some bread and it would certainly have been a decent lunch at that point) we headed into the main courses. Mr M chose the coconut curry with fried aubergine, courgettes and garden peas served with split pea and sesame dumplings, spiced rice and a crunchy fresh papaya, mango and cashew salad. He loved it, although he would have liked a bit more spice heat, but that’s just him. I tried it a few weeks before and I liked the spice level, especially at lunch time.

Mr N chose baked haloumi, avocado and mango salad served with baby leaves, wasabi roasted cashews and a mango dressing. He declared it pretty damned good too, although he did feel that there was too much mango. Now, in my book that could be seen as a positive complaint. Too little and no, I’m not going to like that. But too much? Well, one can always leave a little.

I chose marinated roast aubergine stuffed with bulgur wheat, Persian barberries, and pistachios served with spicy tomato sauce, tahini rémoulade, wilted spinach and crispy sumac potatoes and I loved it. The creamy aubergine was well spiced, the bulgar well cooked and the crisp sumac potatoes were really delicious. It looked good too. In fact it all looked good, very stylishy presented; another thing that was for so long lacking in vegetarian eateries.

I would also add that all of our dishes were a very decent £12, which for food of this quality seemed a fair price.

I will admit that I did not finish my main course, simply because I was replete. And on that note I will also admit that none of us made it to desserts, although we did each enjoy a piping hot double espresso. I say piping hot because I am getting rather tired of being served cold espresso – heat the cups, you loons!

Food For Friends is a stylish and rather grown up restaurant with a nice interior and excellent staff, who absolutely know what they are doing and the dishes that they are serving. Warm, friendly, stylish, delicious and great value – what’s not to like?

Food for Friends, 17-18 Prince Albert Street,
The Lanes, Brighton, BN1 1HF, 01273 202310
www.foodforfriends.com

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