Giraffe (5.0) – Princesshay, Exeter.

I am tempted to go to a place that I know will be bad just so I can get some slightly more negative reviews, maybe I should go and see how bad the bad ones really are as this is going to be a stunning review for Giraffe.

When it’s raining and everything looks very grey, the sun seems to come out as soon as you see Giraffe. Its bright orange decor beaming across to you as you walk past Hotel Chocolat and the Carphone Warehouse, it seems to entice you in with some sort of assumed promise of exuding happiness when you walk in and it is only when you walk in that you come face to face with a large piece of corporate graffiti about smiling.

As you are seated by the friendly waitress, the first thing that really strikes you is the ceiling and the fact the whole front of the restaurant is glass – perfect people watching territory. The second thing you notice is the menu and that everything on it is healthy in one way or another, and that the little V sign is next to over half of everything on the menu.  The menu is available here (opens new window) and after having a look at a stunning breakfast menu too, I had been sold.

So lets get down to the nitty gritty.

This place is clearly as veggie friendly as you are going to get in a restaurant. Everything is marked clearly and they don’t use any GM products, it’s all good and fresh. The website gives you more information about the Giraffe philosophy and the idea of making eating ‘fun’. I have to say, however, that as this is in Princesshay, the prices are pretty steep.

For a Falafel “deluxe” burger and chips and a muesli smoothie (I chose it because it was a half rhyme) cost £12.95. This is a place that seems to charge restaurant prices for ‘casual dining’, but then you have concentrate on what actually arrived on the plate.  A nice big perfectly cooked burger with a careful array of peppers and mozzarella garnished with beetroot and rocket sandwiched between two freshly cooked seed baps, a small pot of perfectly cooked chips and a small ramekin of harissa. You also get a vast array of sauces and dips to choose from, perfect for varied chip dipping.
I had to sit and contemplate whether this was a major flaw, or whether this was justified for what it was. I have paid more for less, and enjoyed it less too, so I could see this as being a hidden part of their philosophy, fresh food and great taste (but you have to pay for it).

So I wasn’t happy with the price, but then I have been known to go to huge lengths to save money and I am not exactly renowned for my generosity either. Take away the price and you really do have a veggie friendly restaurant worth visiting.

The atmosphere was helped by the exotic selection of music, not loud or distracting but enough for you to take it in and realise that something was playing. The man that came in to the restaurant and continued a loud conversation on his mobile, serenading me with his nasal, ageing yuppy overtones right next to my table, was aggravating and even worse, after he’d finished his conversation his wife sat down and he buggered off.

The service was nice and friendly, and I got slipped a 2 for 1 offer for various meals for complementing the food! So really, one felt satisfied physically and within too. I left smiling.

Vegetarian wine? How can it be anything else?

At risk of turning in to a link blog, I am going try and put some input in to this.  Wine is not always vegetarian.  Yes Read more here and be amazed like I was.

Foodeaze, 4.9 (based in the former St George’s Market)

After the response that I received after my last post about Foodeaze, I decided to visit Foodeaze ‘Mk2′. It opened last year and since then it has quietly carried on the noble philosophy of the previous management, and this time it is succeeding. So, as I sat there feeling immensely satisfied after my 4 Cheese pizza I decided that the words I needed to describe it were hard to find, but in terms of price and taste, method cooked and just generally the whole experience really made me feel quite ashamed of my skepticism that I had brought with me.

The building is divided in to two distinct sections. Retail on one side in the food hall, and the restaurant on the other. You know exactly where you are.
My initial criticisms of Foodeaze under old management before were the inability for the customer to navigate the shop without either running in to a poorly placed food area or something else confusing. This time, I stepped in and knew exactly where I had to pay, where I would be served food and where I could buy authentic Italian and local goods. There was signing which told you exactly where you had to be, and one menu for the whole shop unlike before where there seemed to be different menu’s for different sections.

I am really enthusiastic about the philosophy of Foodeaze because Exeter has been screaming out for something like this for years. Effings did it for a bit but sadly folded when they realised that they couldn’t attract people simply by existing in a prominent place, Foodeaze ‘Mk2′ has learnt from the failings of the past and needs to be experienced to be appreciated.

So for the discerning vegetarian, what has it got? What makes this special is the quality of the food, prepared and cooked in full view of the diners the pizza’s are cooked in the traditional woodburning oven and taste simply amazing. The value is also something that impressed me too, £5.95 gets you a huge dustbin lid pizza that you can share amongst friends (think about Pizza Hut or Pizza Express for comparison). The veggie options for the pizza’s outweigh the other options which cheered me up, and not only that but they do panini’s too with everything being baked fresh on the premises made from scratch.
With a varied selection of take away’s and pasta’s all ready to eat in, the options are good compared to many places.
So we have possibly the best value pizza’s/nicest pizza’s (Sorry, On The Waterfront) in Exeter, but what else is there? There is a fish stall, a pasta bar and a huge selection of beers and wines and a staggering amount of locally produced goods. Not only do they keep it ethical, but there is a huge emphasis on promoting and supporting local produce. They are the only place that I have come across serving Buckfastleigh produced Luscombes Strawberry lemonade which is mind bogglingly nice.

The service was friendly and the girl at the till made the experience ‘personal’ by commenting about one of my products, the lady who took my change at the till for pizza was calm and pleasant, and the pizza chef who brought over my pizza was polite and even went and fetched some cutlery for me. It’s the small things that count, and although the prices are good, you don’t pay extra for good service so when you get it free it makes it that much more special.  And talk about value, I managed to eat out for well under a tenner which is a rarity when quality cooking is involved.

Foodeaze is a good cause which needs to be supported, they stand for good food and in my humble opinion seem to be the best place in Exeter to get high end quality produce at a good price. Although the scale is nothing compared to the sprawling pretentiousness of Darts Farm just outside of Topsham, they do seem to have connected with the people of Exeter better then the first time around.

http://www.foodeaze.co.uk

Tibits comes to the UK

http://www.tibits.ch/e/

They’re here, and they’re Swiss.  New restaurant opening in London, reports leisureopportunities.com.  Lets hope they come to Exeter!

Swiss vegetarian restaurant chain enters UK

Tibits, the Swiss vegetarian restaurant chain, is to launch its first UK site in London. The concept, launched in Zurich in 2000 by three brothers, offers vegetarian food in a self-service format and will trade from the early morning through to the late evening and 90 per cent of Tibits customers are non-vegetarian. Tibits’ London site will be a 4,750sq ft site on Heddon Street – Regents Street’s food quarter – and is scheduled to open in August. Reto Frei, co-owner of Tibits, said: “We are delighted to open our first restaurant outside Switzerland, in such a prestigious location and we are convinced that our fresh and stylish approach to vegetarian cuisine will be well received in London.”

Expresso, Exeter Central Station 4.2

At first you might think that I am reviewing an ‘on platform’ cafe that sells generic overpriced croissants to maladic commuters as they realise that the food is no better then it was in the hallowed days of BR.  But I am not.

Station food is one of the most singularly depressing items that foodies endure when they have to travel long distances by train.  Normally expensive (they have to pay extortionate rents to the rail companies that own the buildings) and immensely depressing, but what a change Expresso makes to this.

Exeter Central is accessed through a large concave building on Queen Street in Exeter.  It is small, having been hacked at by Beeching and then subsequent money saving schemes by government’s since.  It is non descript and quite boring as stations go, but as you skulk through the entrance the wacky sign draws you in, and before you know it you’re tucking in to good old ‘caf’ food.

I don’t really see this as a ‘Caf’ it’s not grimy and the coffee is alright, you can get mugs of tea and a foray of other snacks and lunches too but there is never the feeling that you’re in a Cafe but you are.  Cafe’s are a dying breed, the rise of the coffee shop and the dominance of healthy eating means that some of the traditional items are harder to come by.  On my visit I had an urge for a friend egg bap, and I wanted it fast and I needed it now.

Fried egg bap was £2.50 which caught me by suprise, but then you realise you are still in a station building and there is rent to be paid.
So I sit on the nice big sofa with a copy of Exeter Living and view the surroundings, which are unique to say the least.  Strings of lights seem to create a ceiling with an array of ornaments on the walls, menu’s and offers on traditional chalk boards. 

The menu options for veggies are varied, with a varied range of combinations for the famed Expresso toastie, but the volume of options are lacking.  However, given the intimate nature of the cafe it would be expected you could ask them to replace items or change parts of the set menu’s.  The service is friendly, and fast too although the yolks had gone hard and the bread had not be cut, it was satisfying.

As an experience the Expresso is a nice place to come, the veggie options are better then some places but not as good as others yet it has a welcoming atmosphere.  The main drawback about the Expresso is the price, and although there is good reason for this, it makes other places look appealing.  This, on the other hand, depends on what you want.  Cafe’s like Expresso seem to be dying out under the new wave of ‘high class low price’ eating, and if you want a quick cholesterol fueled feast with traditional cafe food then Expresso is worth it.

Oriental City, Pinhoe 4.5

Martin Lai’s second addition to his expanding portfolio of restaurants in Exeter is the Oriental City.  Located in the centre of Pinhoe in the  commuter belt, it attracts patrons from the surrounding areas and Exeter itself.  The decor is ‘traditional yet modern’ with its imported black marble and lashings of chrome.

The service here is pretty amazing compared to other restaurants that I have been to; the restaurant is large so there are always a good number of waiting staff within calling distance and in times of inactivity they attentively come over and make sure that everything is OK.  I found that this was refreshing from other places that I have been to where there has been feeling of being abandoned; the staff at the Oriental City were very attentive. 
Language seemed to be an issue when we visited with a small group.  Some members of the group tried to augment their mouths in to intricate shapes as they spoke in an attempt to communicate our orders and although to those inexperienced with the ways of Chinese restaurants, one quickly learns that numbers are easier to use then intricate descriptions of each item.

I always find that Chinese menus seem to be much more accommodating to Veggies, although I was not able to find out if they had been cooked in separate Wok’s/Ovens from the meat dishes, there were no suspect overtones and after tastes that would make me think otherwise.  The menu is available online here and at first glances the ratio of veggie options in relation to the rest of the menu is quite puny, but a few dishes in other sections could be easily slotted in to the veggie menu. The food itself came in small white ceramic dishes each laid out in the centre of the table.  The vegetables were tasty and well cooked, the rolls were actually crispy (although slightly smaller then would be expected) and the dips provided seemed to compliment the food.  On Lai’s website it states the chefs are ‘carefully selected’ which is apparent as beansprouts here have never tasted so good. 

The prices seem to reflect the food; this is really good restaurant food and not a corner shop takeaway, so expect to pay a little bit extra.  The surroundings are modern and comfortable, the service is attentive and the experience is overall a good one. But the main let down is the range of veggie foods in ratio to the rest of the menu, despite this though there is enough to keep even the militant veggies happy.