FOOD&DRINK

• I’ve said it before and that (as my long-suffering friends will testify) means I will say it again – a good vegetarian restaurant should be a good restaurant, full stop, and not just ‘good for a vegetarian’. The point being that a history of worthy healthiness has cast a leaden cloud over veggie catering for decades and the lack of a sense of sensuality and fun in the food on offer has often sent non-vegetarians scurrying. Though this is his first visit, Big Brummy has no such qualms about Café Maitreya as his job has meant getting to know the Bristol foodie scene in enormous detail. Nonetheless, when he pushes back his dessert plate some 90 minutes later and says that this has to be one of the best eateries in Bristol, it’s a heartfelt recognition that this is great food used as it should be: to make an intensely pleasurable eating experience. As it happens, it also doesn’t involve meat. But let’s roll back to the friendly greeting and the obligatory bread and olives – obligatory because the speciality breads have always been a Maitreya delight and this batch doesn’t disappoint, particularly a cranberry and basil scone. With a loud and clear Rioja Buradon (at £20 one of the pricier bottles on the wine list but well worth it), it’s a fine start. What’s triggered our visit is the new menu – another selection of fascinating flavour combinations that even gives vegans a choice – and it takes some thinking about. It’s not hard to choose well: a combination of eye-catching ingredients (the salsify au gratin in his Avon Smokie pastry, the ersatz laverbread of nori with beetgreen and wild garlic in my dish) and pungent side-flavours distinguishes each dish. The mains are stunning: Brummy’s potato galette is an impressionist palette of colour, with pickled carrot, sauté ruby kale and caramelised beetroot each giving taste and texture; my superlight spinach roulade is indeed a featherweight marvel rich in flavour, slippery and sumptuous inside with roast red pepper and herb cheese. The ace desserts that follow complete a meal of perfectly balanced surprises – including the very reasonable price tag of £70 including wine – from a menu that is calling me back even before we leave. So much more than merely ‘good’, Café Maitreya is definitely one of the best restaurants in Bristol. Not bad for veggies, eh? (Tony Benjamin)

CAFÉ MAITREYA 89 ST MARK’S RD, EASTON, BRISTOL, BS5 6HY, TEL: 0117 951 0100, WEB: CAFEMAITREYA.CO.UK

VENUE VERDICT

WHEN SOMETHING EXCELLENT GETS BETTER WHAT ELSE CAN YOU SAY?
 

Copyright Tony Benjamin 2011

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