Eating out

24. Aug 2016

London, UK: Fed by water

We got fed at this vegan Italian restaurant in trendy Dalston. Pizza, pasta, cheese, vegan meat and sausages are all on the menu!

It was my friend's Sabine's birthday so I decided to take her out for her birthday. It's our annual tradition. This time I chose Fed by Water as I heard a lot about it before. They pride themselves in offering all authentic Italian cuisine, but veganised versions using soy cheeses, seitan, soy sausage, soy salami, etc. On their website they are talking about bringing the nutritional importance of pure water to the public conscience, hence the name. Also they source ingredients locally and environmental sustainability was important to them. Admittedly, at a glance we didn't feel this concept when we arrived. The restaurant was a bit too dark (a lot of black) for our liking and the water concept didn't come across (mind you I am critical, I am a graphic designer by trade). The table cloths looked like they were made of plastic; it wasn't a nice look. They were probably recycled but still not quite sending the right message if you want to be sustainable. Also they are selling plastic water bottles at their restaurant - if I was critical I would say that doesn't work with their sustainability credo either.

On the other hand, the staff was friendly and even though they had a staff shortage that day we got served quickly and and the food was quite nice. You can tell they are really proud of their restaurant.

As a starter we had the carpaccio with seitan, soy parmesan, rocket and lemon. We liked it but it was a bit dry and could've done with a bit of olive oil on top. My main was pasta with aubergine tomato sauce and cashew sauce (it was nice but it needed a bit of salt) and my friend had a Capricciosa pizza with home-made cashew mozzarella style cheese, portobello mushrooms, soy ham, artichokes, scrambled tofu & olives. I really liked the pizza but my favourite was dessert - panna cotta with strawberries. They didn't tell me the recipe unfortunately so I have to do my own research and hopefully make it myself one day.

All in all, it's a nice vegan restaurant, some of the food was really good, some was ok but a bit pricey for what it was. I will come back again for a pizza and panna cotta though!

FED BY WATER™
Unit 1b Dalston Cross Shopping Centre,
64 Kingsland High Street E8 2LX
London, United Kingdom

www.fedbywater.co.uk