If you’re vegetarian and love a buffet, boy, Fitzrovia’s new opening will be right up your street. Likewise if you’re not a vegetarian but want a wholesome, fresh dinner and a large plate of food in front of you, you’ll be just as satisfied.
The concept
The whole idea of the restaurant isn’t to veto meat or to appeal only to vegetarians but instead to encourage and remind people that you can have a delicious meal without having to have meat. The result is a meat-free restaurant with a self-serve ‘fill your plate then take it to the counter’ concept. Giant plates of pastas, pies, salads, breads and puddings film one side of the space, all wonderfully colourful and deliciously fresh. The concept of there being no meat isn’t blasted out on loudspeakers or written with a smug smiley face next to each dish, meat is just very subtly missing from the table.
The décor and atmosphere
Tucked away on Eastcastle Street away from the hustle and bustle of tourists and shoppers, ETHOS sits discreetly in a row of terraced buildings in Fitzrovia. Passers by stop to stare through the glass window, ogling the giant plates of fresh food atop wooden and marble worktops, which fill one half of the room, before stepping inside because it all looks to good to resist. The paying counter is at the back of the room and you can put money on the likelihood of there being queue stretching across the room with hungry customers holding plates of full food, waiting to get theirs weighed and paid for. On the other side of the room are leather seats and marble tables, blue and gold design accents and elegant silver birch trees scattered around the place. Slightly bizarre but beautiful too.
The food
There really are endless options here with plate after plate of delicious fare piled up high in front of you, with a ladle for easy access and staff milling around like crazy refilling plates and bringing out new and exciting things. If you’re anything like me and get very excited by the concept of a buffet and/or have eyes bigger than your stomach, you’ll have a very full plate very quickly. In retrospect restraint is something I should have practiced before arriving because filling my plate with four ladles of the first yummy looking couscous I saw then meant having to pile 10 other dishes into remaining third of the plate - including balancing one of ETHOS’ signature aloo Scotch eggs onto the pile (which I assure you is definitely worth its weight). Other highlights include the miso-roasted aubergine slices, the zingy mango and cucumber salad, the roasted beetroot, and the deliciously rich arancini.
Granted, I can’t remember all the things I ate but I definitely ate a lot. It’s hard when everything is out in front of you and it all looks so fresh and appealing that you simply need to have a spoonful. It’s much like a hotel breakfast buffet in which you get overly excited, ask for scrambled eggs, an omelette, waffles and pancakes, and then struggle to fathom where it’s actually going to fit inside you.
The difference is here you have to pay every item by its weight – so anything you’re putting on your plate for diversity, extra colour or novelty need to be sacrificed. My plate was stacked, pretty much dripping off the plate, and I did for a minute think that I might’ve to check my bank balance to check I had enough money to cover it, but somehow it was only £15. Magic! £15 for a plate with more food than lunch and dinner combined? Not bad at all. Only thing I would say is be strategic with what you put on your plate: weight = cost — i.e. avoid potato salad, embrace leafy salads.
The verdict: Don’t be afraid by the meat-free tag, ETHOS is a great eatery —whether you’re vegetarian or otherwise — to go for a wholesome, hearty and healthy lunch. You decide whether you want a lot or a little, which makes it perfect for picky eaters, dieters, feasters and regular folk alike. Pay for what you eat and enjoy what you pay for.
by Alice Tate — www.flashanthology.com — @ALICETATE_