Vanilla Black, Holborn, London

A very pleasant lunch, nice decor & helpful staff.

Inventive cooking, nearly all of which was just right, with only a couple of ‘not for me but great just the same’ combos. Visually stunning food.
Will have to try it a couple more times…..
Reasonable wine list and we drank well.

A real treat for vegetarian foodies, this place is tucked away in dead-at-the-weekend Chancery Lane, which makes it feel pleasantly secluded. Service is excellent without being at all stuffy or over-formal, and the food is superb; I loved the savoury Wensleydale cheesecake starter and can't wait to come back and try more. A perfect choice for special occasions, and yes, do take your meat-eating friends along to change their minds on vegetarianism

EDIT to say that after another superb visit, I have to also compliment the Vanilla Black team on their choice of music. Where else, besides your own home, could you enjoy delicious food and wine whilst listening to Pulp, The Pixies and the Smiths!?

As a fellow vegetarian I was excited about going here.... This restaurant was delightful, the food and service was amazing; I had a very fancy version of chips and curry sauce!

I was lucky enough to be a regular at Vanilla Black at it's original restaurant in York - York's loss is now London's gain.

The restaurant has lost some of it's ramshackle charm (everything matches now), and the decor is a restrained and sombre affair. However this is more than made up for by the wonderful staff and excellent food.

Vanilla Black serve an adventurous and well presented vegetarian menu. Highlights include the 'Broad Bean Custard and Cheese & Onion Vinaigrette
Lemon Thyme Shortbread and Leaves' and the 'Poached Duck Egg and Ribblesdale Pudding'. Both meals were packed full of absolutely wonderful flavours and textures - and the portion sizes were perfect too.

I do miss the amazingly comforting 'cabbage and cheese pudding' they used to serve with a red wine sauce - perhaps that dish is not sophisticated enough for VB's new London location?

Excellent value for money, great wine list, and very helpful staff. VB have got very little to improve on, and are demonstrating just how exciting vegetarian cuisine can be.

Full review at www.grumblinggourmet.com

Hidden away on a tiny cobbled street behind Holborn's bustle, Vanilla Black is a cultish vegetarian oasis more in the mould of laid back Michelin starred food emporia Arbutus than the often holier than thou High Veg of somewhere like Saf. There are no opinions shoved at you, and no ethos that you have to subscribe to, they just want to serve you good ingredients, cooked well, in a calm friendly atmosphere. That those ingredients happen to all be vegetables, seems a coincidence.

Here's the thing: I tend to get anxious if there's a meal without meat in it. Meat is BRILLIANT. Just not, it turns out, as brilliant as a meal at Vanilla Black.

Ghastly earth motherish decor aside (taupe? Beige? AND grey?) it's startlingly special. Terrific staff, a knowledgeable sommelier and tip-top food.

We had delicious amuse bouches (always a nice surprise) and then the most deliciously layered textures and tastes I've had in ages. We were so stuffed after starters and mains that we skipped pudding. That just doesn't happen normally.

I've been trying to manhandle all my carnivorous chums along to try it out and while my suggestion has been greeted by a perfect display of synchronised outrage, I know that once I get them there, they'll see what all the fuss is about. Delicious.

(And I am deducting a point for decor, it's a bit too earnest for such hummana hummana food action)

Well, lawks-a-mercy, I've finally found a good restaurant in the Farringdon/Clerkenwell area! And (oh the irony) it's veggie, unlike me.

After several miserable experiences (unforgivably miserable in the case of Modern Pantry) I was on the verge of giving up. I'd never heard of Vanilla Black until the arrival of a veggie mate set me searching.

Boy, am I glad I found it. I completely agree with every word of the other reviews. This place does proper posh nosh.

My veggie mate was in heaven and this little piggy (eater) wasn't far off.

Staff were lovely, too.

Criticisms? Enough with the Farrow and Ball grey already. It's dated, ubiquitous and downright depressing. However, I'm not about to deduct a star on account of the paintwork.

I've been a 'regular' at Vanilla Black since it moved to London and it never fails to impress - whether going for a romantic dinner with a loved one, or taking a client for a relaxed lunch.

The wine list is very good and matched superbly to the food on offer. The food itself is divine...in particular the deconstructed puy lentil dahl starter and the Hickory-Smoked Duck Egg and Caerphilly Pudding main.

If there's one slightly duff note it's that the VB menu has hardly changed since it opened so a bit more variety wouldn't go amiss to make me keep coming back time and again.

Overall perhaps the biggest compliment that can be paid to VB is that every single meat eater that has gone there with me has ended up going back!

Gasp!! Gourmet Vegetarian food that even carnivores are satisfied by? Tasty veggie delights that your tongue will treasure for weeks to come?

Vanilla Black is out-of-the-way in Chancery Lane, but only 3 mins walk from the tube - a blessing if you’re bored with fighting through Soho and fancy a change. This destinational eaterie is a heavenly escape from the usual bland veggie options that I’ve become resigned to.

What an incredibly decadent way to spend a gastronomic evening. At £24 for 2 courses, and £30 for 3 (lunch costs less), we felt ultra-satisfied and full to bursting after eating as much from the menu as possible (in the spirit of reviewing, of course).

This is what we chose: after an amuse bouche, we started with the deconstructed puy lentil dahl with potato puree and curry oil, and the Black Olive and Saffron Potato with Almond Muesli and tomato paste. Mains were Hickory-Smoked Duck Egg and Caerphilly Pudding, and Parsley and Mushroom Duxelle Mille Feuille - as for dessert, Carrot Cake with Orange Sorbet and sugared coriander and the Chocolate Parfait with passion fruit sorbet and crystallised pineapple was an incredible ending. Trust me, you won’t notice the lack of flesh on the plate.

Oh yes, these people definitely know what they’re doing - Vanilla Black used to be based in York until very recently; I ate there a year ago and fantastised about Donna and Andy bringing their place to London since that meal… who knew my dream would come true? This place has only been open for 3 weeks or so (time of writing May 2008) - I’d get in quick before people start plastering Michelin stars all over it.