Tasting Britain were invited to try out ‘Raw’ – a vegan restaurant based at La Suite West Hotel in Bayswater, London. Can’t say all that much about the hotel asides from the fact that the interior design was done by a woman called Anouska Hempel, and that it is cool as fuck. Future Shinto temple full of vegan people or something. It looks a bit like a spa, or perhaps a martial arts dojo occupied by tables and food.
And how about that food? Well, it was a hell of a lot better than I expected it to be. At no point was there a lapse into the dangerous territory of ‘vegan haute cuisine’ (which in my mind would be tiny portions of semi edible plant matter). No, the food was quite recognisably delicious and resulted in me and my buddy Jay losing our shit for the duration of the evening . I have eaten vegan food in the past and to be honest, have found it to be kinda boring. Not bad per se, just.. limited by the constraints of the diet. Not the case here – it’s hearty stuff with lots of textural and flavour variety going on. Salute to the chef, whoever he/she is.
Of particular note is the red thai curry (which Jay got) and the fact that they also do GODDAMN DELICIOUS smoothies (and also steer clear of the somewhat unscientific ‘detox’ cliche).
Would love to come back here and do it all again (even though the menu is tiny so there’s probably gonna be overlap). Or go for vegan afternoon tea in the terrace gardens at the front. Maybe in summer so that the sun will shine and I’ll be able to feel my hands. Hey, wanna feel my hands? :3