To celebrate National Vegetarian Week this week I am sharing a few posts that celebrate all things veggie. With reviews of some products I have been sent to try but today I am reviewing Cote restaurant who invited us along last month to sample their new vegetarian menu. Which was great timing as Caity, my eldest, had recently decided to follow a vegan diet so she was thrilled at the prospect of a restuarant with a whole veggie and vegan menu. Whilst it is true more and more restaurants are catering for vegetarians or vegans it is rare that they have more than one item to choose from, so Caity was in her element, there was even a selection of vegan wine.
Relaxed all day dining inspired by the brasseries of Paris
We arrived at the Basingstoke restaurant and were pleased to see the place buzzing. We all remembered when this space had been a slightly tired American Diner so it was great to see that it was now a restaurant offering more than pizza or burgers as so many of its neighbours do. We were offered a choice of tables, shown to our seats and left with the menus.
Even for the non vegetarians in our group there was lots to tempt us. So much so that we pretty much all went veggie for the night. Three of the Hors D’oeuvres are vegan: two different selections of Olives or a roasted warmed flat bread with tapenade, caramelised onions and roasted vegetables. And two of the starters are vegan, still leaving three choices for vegetarians.
This was the mushroom brioche, oh my word it was perfect.
And below is the eggs Florentine main course:
Again there are two vegan selections on the main course menu and seven other vegetarian options. I am not sure I have ever been in a high street chain restaurant and found nine options suitable for vegetarians, so often vegetarian friends have been lucky to find two.
This was the goat’s cheese salad that Jonnie had, the vegetables roasted to perfect and the tapenade on the bread was incredible. All topped with warm goat’s cheese. Lush.
Also worth pointing out that most of the starters were no more than a fiver and most of the main courses were around the £10 mark which I think is pretty reasonable for the quality of the food. Meaning that you can have three courses and a drink for £25 a head.
If you want a link to the vegetarian menu then click here: Cote Vegetarian Menu
You will be pleased to know that the chocolate fondant is also vegetarian, and delicious, though it did only last about a minute and a half.
Suffice to say we loved dinner at Cote, it was laid back and relaxed, we weren’t hurried, the restaurant had a great atmosphere without being noisy and we couldn’t fault the service. Plus my vegan daughter wasn’t made to feel that her choice to not eat animal products wasn’t an inconvenience to the chef and that she actually had a choice of delicious dishes to chose from.
That alone will make me recommend Cote for future family dinners.
