Saf, Whole Foods Market, 63 Kensington High Street, London W8 5SE

Saf, Whole Foods Market, 63 Kensington High Street, London W8 5SE
07/05/2012

http://www.safrestaurant.co.uk/

She said…After appearing as interested bystanders for an episode of Antiques Roadshow who were filming at Kensington Palace, we headed for Saf in the former Barkers Building which I had read about as a choice vegetarian restaurant. Indeed it was. Set on the first floor – annexed from the wider food court, this smart, bright, modern restaurant offers a great variety of vegetarian dishes which offer more creativity than the usual vegetarian suspects. We shared a spinach and date gyoza to start which was delicious and I had a pumpkin risotto which was made with pearl barley and included fried sage and cinnamon which was also very good. The portions were satisfying and the flavours smooth. There is a wide choice of healthy juices and cocktails (I recommend the Prima Vera) and deserts – although I didn’t have enough room to try one. I would definitely go back to Saf; it’s a great place for a relaxing lunch with an excellent vegetarian menu at reasonable prices (total bill £36 for one starter, two mains and two drinks). I recommend a table by the floor to ceiling windows.

He said… Another soggy day in London. If you’re looking for comfort there really is no better place than Whole Foods on Kensington High Street, the ultimate temple to gluttony, with its endless aisles stacked high with all sorts of goodies, all familiar but with a California spin that makes the most mundane totally irresistible. If you have no will power then best leave your credit cards at home. I’d been there a few times before, but never twigged that there’s an upstairs food-court. She had Saf on her radar, but I had no idea what to expect, which is actually a nice way to eat. It reminded me of a meal I had in a Japanese restaurant in Brussels, where you simply put your faith in the chef and let him bring out whatever is best that day. This definitely ramps up the expectation and turns up the taste buds to 11 when the food actually arrives. Anyways, today I picked but the menu was so unfamiliar – mostly raw vegan cooking – that it was a similar feeling for me. I went for the vegan Banh Mi (the bloody version is ubiquitous in London this year) with a side of  Kimpura (aka carrot ‘fries’ in a sesame and agave marinade), with a start of gyoza. If you’re anything like me you hear the word ‘vegan’ and you just roll your eyes back and utter a groan of frustrated boredom. But this is the second vegan place I’ve been to that totally rocks (the first is Gobo, in New York) and delivers really flavourful, satisfying food. The only thing I can fault, really, is the mall food-court feel of the place. But if you’re not bothered about the ‘special place’ factor for once, and just want good, unusual food that you’re not going to find anywhere else, then Saf’s the spot.