Randomness Guide to London - Differences between Version 16 and Version 15 of Bacchus, N1 6PJ

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Most of the vegan dishes were adaptations of the non-vegan ones, meaning that we were all eating roughly the same thing — handy in terms of discussing the dishes! The non-vegan components were substituted with other items from elsewhere in the menu, leading to a small panic in the kitchen when the chef realised he'd already given us all the components of the final dessert. I'm not convinced we were really meant to take the resulting "Stella Artois foam" seriously, but then food doesn't have to always be serious.
Most of the vegan dishes were adaptations of the non-vegan ones, meaning that we were all eating roughly the same thing — handy in terms of discussing the dishes! The non-vegan components were substituted with other items from elsewhere in the menu, leading to a small panic in the kitchen when the chef realised he'd already given us all the components of the final dessert. I'm not convinced we were really meant to take the resulting "Stella Artois foam" seriously, but then food doesn't have to always be serious.

Relatively inexpensive “modernist” restaurant in North London, billing itself as “fine dining in trainers”. It's been fairly quiet on both our visits (a Tuesday and a Wednesday), so we didn't get much of an idea of what the ambience is like when it's busier. It didn't feel extremely casual (apart from the bit where the chatty and friendly front of house guy sat down at the table with us a couple of times), but again that was quite likely due to the low number of punters; it might have been easier to relax if it'd been a bit busier. We liked the music — Thievery Corporation kind of stuff.

We chose the six-course tasting menu (£40) with matched wines (£30) on our first visit, and were generally pretty pleased with it. I wrote up our food in greater detail on the chowhound site. Overall, the courses were well balanced and interesting, though there was perhaps a little too much reliance on the "crunchy powder" meme. The three of us did disagree on which bits we liked and which we didn't, which I reckon is a good sign that most people will find something to like here. I think the highlights for me were the Bacchus Bloody Marvellous cocktail (a Bloody Mary made with clear tomato water), the small and tasty rabbit mousse amuse-bouche, the lovely fresh-tasting vegetable salad with edible flowers and a very well-matched rose wine, the perfectly-cooked spiced king prawn that followed the salad, and the subtly delicious almond and garlic sauce that accompanied the monkfish course.

On our second visit, a few months later, we gave them a bit more of a challenge as three out of the four of us wanted to eat vegan (Juliet is a real life actual vegan, and doop and Kake wanted to join her out of curiosity and solidarity). Although we gave them a week's notice of this, the chef decided to wing it rather than planning us a menu in advance, and he did very well too. The crunchy powders were still well in evidence, though for some reason they seemed better integrated this time. We liked the sake we got with the first course, though poor Bob, who gets headaches from white wine, was a little disappointed to learn that the other wines in the matched flight only included a single red. Another disappointment was that the formulation of the Bloody Marvellous cocktail had changed, with the more usual tomato juice being used instead of the clear and more subtle tomato water we had last time.

Most of the vegan dishes were adaptations of the non-vegan ones, meaning that we were all eating roughly the same thing — handy in terms of discussing the dishes! The non-vegan components were substituted with other items from elsewhere in the menu, leading to a small panic in the kitchen when the chef realised he'd already given us all the components of the final dessert. I'm not convinced we were really meant to take the resulting "Stella Artois foam" seriously, but then food doesn't have to always be serious.

Note the restricted opening hours; they're only open evenings, and only Tuesday-Saturday. Also note that they don't offer a la carte menu; but this is scant hardship since they do offer a 9-course tasting menu from which you can choose 3 (£25), 6 (£40), or 9 (£60) courses, and this menu is set to change every month.

The Bacchus website has its own set of forums, and a staff member has been known to post on the eGullet thread on Bacchus.

They have an outdoor area at the back of the restaurant where smoking is permitted, and you can even eat out there if the weather is good. I don't know if it's covered over at all.

(Apparently some people have had trouble finding the entrance; it's on the left hand side as you look at the photo above, which is taken from slightly to the north of the restaurant.)

Other reviews

Opening hours as posted on the Bacchus forum, May 2007. Last visited 10 October 2007 by Kake, Juliet, Bob, and doop.

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