#veggie roast

[forever-ago]

Lunch for today & half for tomorrow 🧚🏾‍♀️

[bristolvegetarian]

The quest for the perfect vegetarian Sunday roast - Chequers, Bath

The last time I went to Chequers for a Sunday roast (about five years ago), they didn't offer a vegetarian option, so I ended up eating a roast minus the meat and gravy for not much less than the cost of a full roast.

I returned this Sunday for a friend's birthday lunch. As we were a large group, we were asked to pre-order our meals, and I was cheered to spot a veggie choice on the menu - mushroom and apricot nut roast. Excellent. I ordered that and was quite looking forward to it by the time we arrived at the pub on Sunday

So it was disappointing when the meal arrived, to discover that the veggie main wasn't a nut roast at all, but a portion of mushroom risotto served in a ramekin. No nuts (or apricots) in sight!

I like risotto, but I don't really think it is a good centrepiece for a roast dinner. This one was quite nicely flavoured - unfortunately, it was also quite dry. 

Most of the vegetables were good though. I couldn't fault the mashed swede, roast carrot or roast parsnip. The kale was a nice and well cooked too. The roast potatoes, sadly, weren't up to the same standard. They just weren't very crispy, and didn't taste of much.

The Yorkshire pudding was huge - which you'd hope for 50p extra - but dry and a bit burnt. The base was the only part that was still doughy. The other downside was the gravy - it simply wasn't gravy, but a thick, creamy mushroom sauce, that was far too rich to pour over an entire meal. Luckily, the waitress was very accommodating and made some alternative gravy from the granules that I'd brought with me.

Suffice to say, it was disappointing meal overall, especially for £12.50 - a good 25 percent more expensive than any roast I've had in Bristol! The most disappointing thing was the stealth substitution of a nut roast for a risotto - something you would never normally serve with potatoes and veg. Menus are often subject to change, I get that, but given that we'd pre-ordered, it would have been nice of the staff to have mentioned that the meal had changed ahead of it arriving at the table. Would they have substituted a meat option without saying anything? I doubt it.

[anaphylacticvegan]

Made a nice what's-left-in-the-fridge veggie roast with the rest of last night's seitan and green onions, parsnips, red pepper, and half a sweet onion. Tossed in oil, s&p, herbs, and garlic. Leftovers galore!