mildred’s in soho is inching closer to a two decade mark. it holds a bit of an iconic status in the league of veggie eateries. in true cosmopolitan style london has adapted to diversity in its offerings not just in terms of international cuisine but also in the more broken down categories of foodies from veggies to vegans to omnivores and health geeks.
i and i had attempted to eat at mildred’s last year. we met around half seven and walked down to soho from green park with both of us feeling quite hungry. once at mildred’s we were told that we were unlikely to get a table for at least an hour and were more than welcome to wait [mildred’s doesn’t take reservations]. alongside a rather chaotic queue were a bunch of people already waiting, balancing an assortment of wine and juice glasses to while away time. i & i decided we would have to return as our hunger wasn’t willing to wait the time out.
my mum’s visit to london turned out to be an opportune moment to return to mildred’s this time making sure that we arrived early. we were seated almost immediately upon arrival. because mildred’s is almost always busy please expect some hiccups in the service. on the whole though the staff are friendly and are more than willing to give you recommendations and talk you through the menu choices.
the menu is varied and almost all the options sounded very interesting. i am sure it is a total delight for veggies who have a whole menu to themselves rather than isolated incidences on regular menus whose characteristic is to have safe boring options like veggie lasagna or better still veggie burgers. i & i had already set our hearts on the orange and chickpea tagine with fennel cous cous, pickled lemon and apricot yoghurt and flat bread although i have to admit i was briefly tempted by the sunblushed tomato and buffalo mozzarella risotto cakes served with wilted spinach, green beans and grape mustard cream sauce. mum seemed to have a bit of a hard time choosing but eventually settled on the mixed mushroom, porcini and ale pie served with fries and mushy peas. the food arrived swiftly and tucking into it revealed strong and rich flavors. the filling in mum’s mushroom and ale pie was quite strong but balanced out with the soothing mellowness of mushy peas. her thick cut chips had a golden brown skin and were surprisingly un-greasy and yummy.
i & i really enjoyed out entrees. the chickpeas, the fennel cous cous and the pickled lemon and apricot yoghurt had very distinct flavors that complimented each other. the chickpeas were a curry-ish consistency with large black olives in it and the fennel in the cous cous gave it a an edge that transformed an otherwise soothing dish into one with a strong flavor. the pickled lemon and apricot was a welcome addition and the yoghurt that it came in was very rich and creamy. the testimony of the goodness of the food lies in the fact that all our plates were wiped clean.
although rather full we all decided to share some guilt [that is the female description of dessert]. the list of puddings included some rather very creative offerings and our choices were rather on the conservative side with an apple and gooseberry crumble with custard and a sticky toffee pudding with toffee sauce and cream. the crumble turned out to be very disappointing; the crumble topping was a very healthy rendition which not much crunch and barely any sweet and the fruit was a too tart. the custard tasted good but was a tad bit too runny… the sticky toffee pudding on the other hand was lovely. it was a very traditional one with no add ins, the sponge was soft and moist and the sauce that came with it was a perfect accompaniment.
i know i won’t be ordering the crumble but i’m sure to return for the entrees again – the veggie burgers looked quite delicious and so did the sweet potato fries.
