Last night I went out for my monthly dinner with my friend Jo. We headed to Essence Cuisine which is a raw vegan restaurant in Shoreditch on the recommendation of my colleague’s housemate who is a chef and temped a couple of shifts there.

It took about 15 minutes to walk there from our office, it’s so great to work in the City so Shoreditch is an easy distance for dinner.

On entering the restaurant was smaller than I was expecting but elegant with a lot of chrome and wood.

I had taken a peek at the menu beforehand and had decided on the Cesear salad. It was zingy with the dressing and capers. There were mushroom “anchovies” and I haven’t tasted a vegan version of this ever! It was surprising has realistic they tasted whilst retaining the mushroom texture.

My friend Jo went for the Pad Thai which she said was not what she was expecting but she really enjoyed it.

We had finished dinner by six which was far too early! Usually when this happens we head to a bar but as Jo wasn’t drinking I suggested Redemption which is around the corner. I’ll use their sign to explain their deal.

Jo had a rose strawberry daiquiri which was heady and I went for the apple mojito which contained seedlip a non-alcoholic spirit of distilled botanicals. It tasted amazing and I’m going to look into getting myself a bottle.

After all this healthy food I needed some junk so we headed to Doughnut Time, I picked up a couple of doughnuts for my Husband and me and a couple for my friend Maxine and her son.

I love Doughnut Time and saw that they’ve just brought out mega doughnuts including the vegan “Chris Hemsworth” I think I’m going to have to wait until my birthday for that one!

Have you tried any of these places? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.

Plumes x