Vegetarian Dining at 1847

Last week the weather was horrendous, gales, driving rain and cold, basically everything you associate with Winter. After all the fairly mild offerings leading up to December it seemed to catch everyone off guard. It was on such a night of biblical weather proportions that Katherine and I headed to 1847 a new vegetarian restaurant that has opened up on St Stephen's street. I had been invited to sample the menu and for full testing purposes taking a vegetarian friend with me seemed only right. Vegetarian definitely seems to be de rigueur in the Bristol food scene at the moment with Flow opening up a few months back and the Black Sheep on Gloucester road joining suit. Hell even Meatliquor has adapted their menu to offer more veggie options for their new Bristol branch.

The gusts of wind blew us through the door of 1847, named after the date the vegetarian society was formed, and we were greeted very warmly by the waiter. The restaurant is smartly decorated mainly keeping to black and white with a few different lighting features to attract the eye. Katherine and I decided upon a glass of wine each and we were brought some olives and sunblushed tomatoes to snack upon whilst we decided what to eat. We browsed the selection and there were lots of things to tempt the eye. The menus are seasonal so there were lots of warm and hearty dishes to comfort the soul.

We decided to have a starter and main each, I decided upon the crispy egg, which topped pearl barley, celeriac and radicchio and Katherine opted for mushroom and walnut paté which came with pickled quince and smoked butter toast. For our mains I went for the much celebrated 'Fish' and chips, ginger ale battered halloumi, triple cooked chips with savoury lemon curd and pea and basil. Katherine went for Beet Bourguignon, beetroot stew with sautéed potatoes and crumbled goat's cheese. Our waiter also recommended a side of caramelised cauliflower with harissa yoghurt

crispy egg with pearl barley

mushroom paté

The egg for my starter was soft boiled with a lovely crunchy crispy crumb on it. The pearl barley was cooked well but generally under seasoned for me, it could have done with a little twist of lemon too. Katherine enjoyed her paté, and there was plenty of it.

On to the mains. Two sizable plates were brought to us. I was greeted by 3 golden globes of battered halloumi sat on a pea green sauce with dots of lemon curd and a mini friar filled with thick cut chips. Katherine's main was a colourful affair with plenty of textures and the cauliflower looked and smelled wonderful, we were looking forward to tucking in.

halloumi 'fish' & chips

beet bourguignon

caramelised cauliflower with harissa yoghurt

The crunch on the batter on the halloumi was super crisp. I wasn't quite sure how this dish would work but the halloumi was such a great fish substitute, the lemon curd really lifted it up and added to the illusion of fish. I didn't miss having fish at all it was really delicious. The chips were pretty good but we decided that they could have done with a little tartar sauce on the side to further add to the dish. Katherine's beet bourguignon was rich and full of flavour although she said she would have liked a touch more cheese. The cauliflower was great, the harissa yoghurt had a good level of spice and it went really well.

We were too full to attempt dessert but the options were enticing. 1847 does a lunch deal where you can have any main and a glass of wine for £10 which is pretty good considering how generous the portions are. In the evening the options appear to be 2 courses for £19 and 3 for £25 I was a little confused why you can't seem to order just one course as there were no individual plate prices. I was impressed overall by 1847, the food is interesting enough to keep meat eaters interested and veggies will be spoiled for choice by the variety. A little attention needs to be made to some of the starter dishes as I didn't find the selection as interesting as the mains and my starter was a bit bland. But the mains really impressed me so treat the veggies in your life to a meal at 1847 they won't be disappointed. To find out more about 1847 visit their website.

This meal was complimentary but we paid for our drinks, it did not impact my opinion of the food when writing this review.