Greens Restaurant, Manchester

Deep Fried Oyster Mushrooms with Chinese Pancakes and Plum Sauce

When I mentioned to my husband that I wanted to go to TV chef Simon Rimmer's vegetarian restaurant in Manchester, he replied that would be no problem—he had an upcoming conference in Manchester and we could stay overnight and visit the restaurant. (Manchester is almost a 200 mile drive or a two hour train ride from here.) Great. The conference was in December, he said, but then I found out he meant next December.

So I waited another year, and was rewarded, finally, with a visit to the once-industrial city of Manchester, home of Man United, and to Greens Restaurant, home of delicious vegetarian food.

The wait was worth it. I had my doubts—previous experiences with veggie restaurants in the UK had made me skeptical. And Simon Rimmer isn't a vegetarian himself.

But he does apply an innovative approach to vegetarian cooking, at least with a couple of the dishes we ordered. Sadly, there were only a few vegan dishes on the menu. I didn't ask if others could be made vegan, I was happy to order the deep fried oyster mushrooms as a starter, which came with Chinese wraps, plum sauce and green sticks of cucumber. The oyster mushrooms had a crunchy texture, which made them a surprising—and delicious—alternative to mock duck in similar dishes. My only regret was that I ran out of wrappers before I ran out of mushrooms. One more wrapper would have evened things out.

The carrot soup my husband got stood out in particular contrast to the carrot soup I had in Paris. Sorry, score one for the English. They do know their root veg.

For a main dish, I ordered a pumpkin and aubergine curry. It was good, though curry seems to be a ubiquitous vegan choice on UK menus. My husband ordered the vegetarian black pudding. I'm not sure if it the sausage was vegan, but the bite I had would definitely convince a carnivore of the error of his ways—black pudding, for those of you uninitiated in the ways of entrails, is blood sausage. It was served with smoky tomato sauce, butter beans and cannelini beans over toasted brioche. (This, without the brioche, probably could have been made vegan easily.) Complete with mushrooms, it was reminiscent of the ever-popular "full English breakfast", an appreciation for which I have not developed, mainly because I can't fathom the concept of beans, mushrooms, and tomatoes for breakfast. Dinner, though, is a fine occasion to serve such fare.

Desserts were small, a tiny apple and cinnamon crumble for me and crème brûlée for him, enhanced by a glass of Armagnac. Fortunately, neither of us were hungry, so the idea of paying £5 for such small puddings didn't cause our jaws to drop.

Afterward, I had a discussion with the Canadian server about the state of vegetarian eating in the UK. She agreed that North America has surpassed Europe when it comes to vegetarian, and particularly vegan, eating—Rimmer's restaurant being a noteworthy exception to the overly "healthy" approach most veggie restaurants seem to take toward vegetarianism. We like to indulge as much as the next person, especially when eating out. No need to spare the salt and extra-virgin olive oil when cooking for us, and although we may wear acrylic jumpers and pleather boots, we don't like mushy veg any more than your kids do. Those deep fried mushrooms—now, that's the idea!

I'd like to see more effort put toward the vegan side of things, but otherwise, Greens was definitely worth a trip to Manchester. If you go, make a reservation for 6:30 and arrive at 6:15 in time to snag one of the few parking spaces on the street. Stay in your car until 6:30, though, when on-street parking is allowed. Although West Didsbury is only 4.5 miles from the city centre, you'll have to leave an hour early due to the massive traffic in Manchester.

•Greens Restaurant, 43 Lapwing Lane, West Didsbury, 0161 434 4259

Comments

[bazu]

I'm really wishing I was in proximity to Manchester right now... mmmm.

[bazu]

I'm really wishing I was in proximity to Manchester right now... mmmm.