Tanya: Sexiness is not a word associated with Veganism, detoxing or being alcohol-free, but here is Redemption bar in Notting Hill hoping to blow away some of the ‘mungo bean eating, hemp wearing,’ stereotypes (co-owner Andrea’s word association rather than judgment…) with a rather trendy health hub in a fashionable part of town…
Rating
Cuisine
Vegan
In A Word
Green
Introduction
My sampling partner and I arrived on a very wet and windy Monday. If there wasn’t already enough to feel shite about, I was also nursing what felt like a three day hangover, so thought this would be perfect in helping me put that pep back in my step [Ed: chin up now…]
I turned up rather restless and run down-jacked up on caffeine in an attempt to stay awake, and was starving not knowing what to fully expect, as I am a self-confessed carnivore. One of the thoughts running through my mind was, ‘would I be satisfied?’
Once we arrived, our host and co-owner, Andrea, greeted us. As you can imagine I was just in the mood to eat rather than talk, but I felt obliged to enter into conversation that seemed to go on for longer than required. I did say I was cranky.
However, once fed and able to think straight, I realized I had learnt a lot about Redemption, from it’s humble beginnings as a pop up to it’s ethically sourced furniture and ingredients, so perhaps a long introduction was necessary.
But this has less to say about Redemption and more about what a moody cow I was, but this was quelled by our super friendly and attentive waiter; a rather young, perhaps university-aged, arty looking fellow like the majority of Redemption’s staff, which adds to the laid back, cool atmosphere that is Redemption…
The Décor
It was not over decorated and there was nothing too fancy apart from the neon, ‘Redemption’ logo, which we were informed was made by the same sign maker Tracy Emin uses, which gave it that city slickness. Everything was neutral with a few hidden treasures here and there, from the metal pots our meals were served in to the beautiful glassware hidden in the corner that sparkled in the candlelight.
Honest and thought out products had been carefully sourced for it’s environmental impact in a really stripped back, down to earth setting, a lot like the food.
The Cocktail
We first ordered cocktails, as you do, alcohol free of course (she says with an air of self-pride) I ordered a Japanese inspired, Lettuce Spray Cocktail consisting of iceberg lettuce, lime, cucumber, wasabi and aloe vera, and let me tell you, it is a lot more exciting than it sounds, a clear winner in all categories.
Ok, perhaps that’s slightly overzealous, but pardon my enthusiasm, as this cocktail was pure de-light, ‘light’ being the operative word (see what I did there) because it was exactly that…oh and fresh. It was like nothing I had ever tasted before and I love experiencing flavors I can’t quite put my finger on, delightful ones of course.
For example I would never have guessed that there was wasabi in the mix, but the physics behind the mixing must have made for some amazing chemistry. You could definitely taste the light, unsweetened flavour of the lettuce, followed by a small burst of lime and cucumber, which gave a sweet tanginess.
I can only assume it was the aloe vera providing some sweetness, but everything combined made for a cataclysmic finish.
(onto) The Food…
The starter
I decided to start with some familiar fare in way of an Asian starter, spicy Vietnamese salad – RAW. This was a combination of green mango, cucumber, mint, carrot, coriander, spring onion, chili and micro shoots. Nothing more, nothing less, it would seem. Oh and with a generous sprinkling of cashew nuts in a nam jim sauce, which I have no knowledge of and neither did the waiter. Anyway, hey-ho, I have no known allergies.
The green mango was the one thing I was looking forward to, as I am a lover of mango and love tasting it in these types of fresh Asian salads, unfortunately that was not to be experienced here. There were so many ingredients, it kind of got drowned out by other non exciting vegetables and as for the chilli, well I didn’t experience much, if any, and because there was nothing to soak up the flavours of the nam-jim, it all sank to the bottom of the dish, essentially just leaving me with a mouth full of veg.
However, as I neared the end, the cashew nuts, which I was so determined to avoid after our nibble platter of nuts, was the one thing to soak up the flavours and it turns out it was tasty. Shame I only discovered this towards the end of the dish and that I had to consume more nuts to find out. Oh well next time I’ll order something nut free as a successor to a nibbly nut sharing platter!
The Main
Anyway on to the main, which I had higher hopes for, if I didn’t already for the familiar Asian starter but c’est la vie. The reason I had high hopes was because Zucchini Pasta Con Pesto is everywhere and seems to be all the rage, so with that in mind, I had no problems in deciding on a main in unfamiliar territory. This consisted of raw courgette spaghetti, tossed in walnut and pumpkin seed pesto, topped with a rocket and tomato salad and brazil nut ‘parmesan.’
It looked how I expected, from pictures strewn across the social media stratosphere, and I was more than ready to dive in.
The first bite was hard to fathom, I definitely wasn’t eating something I was familiar with; the zucchini replacing the natural bite of the pasta with crunchiness was strange to my palette before I could even begin to understand the flavours, again falling to the bottom of the dish. The flavours weren’t bad, despite their lack of the usual pesto ingredients, as the smoothness of the ‘parmesan’ Brazil nut pesto, more than made up for the creaminess in place of the cheese and I was pleasantly surprised.
However after the lacklustre starter, I was craving punchier flavours by this course and wasn’t getting that satisfactory hit. Also I felt like I had to continuously fight off rocket, which the dish was flooded in. By this point I felt like a squirrel quite full on nuts, and admitted defeat half way through.
However, not feeling fully satisfied I decided to swap with my dining partner and moved on to a main of Maki Rolls, filled with red and black quinoa, avocado, enoki mushroom, sesame seeds and micro amaranth shoots. I enjoyed this a lot more, although again, it did take some getting used to the substitute ingredients.
The sushi rice was replaced with quinoa, which was quite grainy, but once dipped in the soya sauce, provided the strong flavour I craved. I felt there should have been some provision of wasabi, for that authentic Japanese feel and kick. Most flavours were familiar of this alternative Japanese dish, and with the presence of wasabi, I could quite get used to this grainy substitute after a few goes.
The Dessert
Although absolutely full on what felt like not much, which was surprising, I still wanted a dessert and decided on the Dark Chocolate Tart, made up of sugar-free coconut milk ‘ice-cream’ with fresh vanilla, atop with berries and raw cacao sauce….
This came to the table atypical of a appetite-inducing desert, even when full to the brim, in all it’s chocolaty-looking cakiness, with my favourite mixture of flavours; tartness of the berry topping against a moreish chocolate base, and looked like a clear winner to satisfy my sweet tooth, however this it did not.
It was a lot like the rest of the meal and fell flat on my expectations. Not very flavorsome, with a very subtle hint of coconut, which overpowered any chocolaty presence, and I am a chocolate lover. And because it wasn’t very chocolatey, I didn’t feel I needed the tartness from the berries to break up the flavours – as there wasn’t really much.
Also the tart was quite hard to dismember – as it was really dense and thick and again I was done half way through.
…And to conclude
Overall I felt there weren’t any punchy flavours, but maybe that isn’t the point of this sort of food. And maybe I don’t have the experience or palette maturity for it right now. It is definitely a lifestyle, which needs getting used to. It’s just good, honest food and that is one thing to remember when dining at Redemption.
Will Redemption make this sort of lifestyle any sexier? Only time will tell, but perhaps it can make that transition easier. I, for one, felt a lot lighter on my feet and satisfied of sorts, after consuming, what felt like my body weight in nuts and vegetables and a few choice grains, rather than leaving in a sedative state. And if I was cranky before, I sure didn’t feel that way when I left…
So if you feel like your liver’s packing in, then Redemption bar is what you need, my child. Repent in the name of health at this alcohol-free, eco-friendly restaurant in Notting Hill.
The Details
Redemption Notting Hill, 6 Chepstow Road, London. W2 5BH
020 7313 9041
Twitter: @redemptionbar
Instagram: catherinesalway