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Bristol Post
Bristol Post
Entertainment
Louisa Streeting

I tried Bristol's first all-vegan Indian restaurant which was full of hits and misses

Bristol’s plant-based community has been singing the song of Vegan India for a long time now. Until this month, it had only operated as a takeaway service from Stapleton Road as the plant-based counterpart of Tikka Express, but the owners have recently ditched meat altogether, now solely functioning as Vegan India.

It’s not the first instance of a food business opting to go all vegan. Cheungs Chinese takeaway, which has been running for 50 years, trialled a plant-based menu during the pandemic and has stuck with it since having reached a wider audience outside Brislington through delivery services. The owner admitted that the move in turn meant they have lost some customers in the local area.

The new Gloucester Road restaurant, formerly Atomic Burgers, signposts a new chapter for Vegan India and a triumph for Bristol's growing vegan scene. It's firstly, the business' first sit-down restaurant and secondly, Bristol's first all-vegan curry house.

Read more: Bristol coffee shop owner praises customers for 'amazing kindness' after tip jar stolen

Inside Vegan India (BristolLive)

Inside has been repainted with garish bright green walls and plush seating to match, Union Jack tables, a token flower wall and some eccentric pictures lining the walls. The photograph of a chimpanzee reading a newspaper won't last long, no doubt.

But the food menu is immense in true curry house fashion - a testament to two years' work curating a portfolio of dishes - with a tremendous array of starters, curries, biryanis and tandoori dishes. All of the curries come with a choice of proteins, which are entirely plant-based.

Onion bhajis (£4.95 for two); vegan king prawn starter (£6.45) (BristolLive)

Vegan India is clearly well-versed in making some of the classic dishes well. The onion bhajis (£4.95) were golden and crisp on the outside and softer in the middle, served with a syrupy sweet tamarind sauce. The plant-based king prawns (£6.45), which spookily resembled the real thing in texture, were nicely charred on the outside and topped with sweet, caramelised onions.

The chana puri (£4.45) wasn't what I was expecting - although granted the dish differs from region to region - and was more of a pancake filled with buttery chickpeas coated in a warming masala-style seasoning. The vegetable samosas at £3.95 for two were generously stuffed although the inside was disappointing, more like a bland Cornish pasty filling with very little spice.

Plated up (BristolLive)

Many dishes are Anglo-Indian style as well as traditional curries, including both English and Indian versions of butter chicken. We ordered Indian style for more heat (£10.95). The spicy, succulent sauce was unfortunately overpowered by the strong taste of the fake chicken, which had a texture akin to shredded kebab meat.

The tofu biryani, although a little cold and very expensive at £11.95, was a flavour bomb flecked with fresh coriander. The chef's special vegetable dupiaza was prepared well with a mix of potato carrot and green beans, although I recommend going for one of the other mock meats - chicken, lamb, chicken, meatball or prawns - for something different.

Saag no-paneer (£5.45) (BristolLive)

The highlights of the meal were the side dishes, a creamy tarka daal (£4.95) mopped up nicely with a wedge of fluffy garlic naan (£3.45) and aubergine bhaji (£4.95) that was so brilliantly made the aubergine melted in my mouth. The saag no-paneer was outstanding and eaten by the table in an instant, made with tofu instead of cheese, with punches of garlic and ginger in the moreish sauce.

Both the meat eaters and the vegetarians at my table were impressed by the offering at Vegan India. It's a huge step in the right direction, offering more diversity in Bristol's food scene, but it was full of hits and misses. There is some work to be done.

Despite there being only a handful of tables and delivery orders, the service was poorly paced with very long gaps between taking the order, the starters and the main course. This will improve in time as the kitchen juggles the restaurant orders alongside the deliveries. The fat in the curries (oil instead of the traditional ghee) was also quite heavy-handed at points, making some of the dishes too rich.

The restaurant is decked out with plush green seating (BristolLive)

Price-wise, it's about the same if not a little more expensive than other curry houses due to the higher cost of meat alternatives. Our meal came to around £85 and provided lots of leftovers for the next day. Vegan India on both Gloucester Road and Stapleton Road is open seven days a week.

Vegan India 189 Gloucester Rd, Bishopston, Bristol BS7 8BG. Book a table online or call 01173 336185. Vegan India takeaway is at 190 Stapleton road, BS50NZ, available on delivery apps.

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