Exploring international cuisine can sometimes be more challenging to navigate as a vegan, so I was curious to experience Romulo Café‘s Filipino vegan tasting menu.
As with many establishments in London, recent waves of consciousness in the capital have inspired many places to start understanding the depth of what it means to be vegan and in turn create a more conscious dining experience for those who still want to experience the custom all whilst being able to look at a vegan tasting menu as opposed to navigating a menu of carnage searching for specific vegan dishes.
Romulo Café is set in a former Georgian townhouse on Kensington High Street and founded by Rowena Romulo in 2016 – a former senior banker and now restaurateur who convinced her family that it was the right time to launch Philippine cuisine in a way that London had never seen before.
The striking green interiors with geometric black and white wallpaper panels reflect a spiritual link between London and the Philippines (as this is the signature style of the three Romulo restaurants in Manila) and have been refined by the design team at award-winning agency CADA Design (Fortnum & Mason, The Dorchester, The Shard).
The menu was as five-course tasting menu starting with mixed vegetable sinigang soup which was smooth and tangy with the perfect addition of spinach, mooring, daikon and aubergine.
The second course was a DIY iconic vegetable bao bun with romaine lettuce, palm hearts, bean sprouts, sweet potato, bamboo shoots and carrot topped with roasted peanuts in peanut sauce. Super refined and delicious.
Then came a wok-fried delicate rice noodle dish stir fried with assorted vegetables and moving onto the final main course, I noticed a trend in the foods served being healing vegetables with a more ayurvedic appeal.
The fourth course was taro leaves (a very healing prebiotic food which nourishes the friendly bacteria in the gut) which almost tastes like palo santo served in sweet coconut creamed spices with sautéed jackfruit served in a deep fried spring roll cup.
For dessert, they served a rice pudding with dark chocolate and coconut cream with a star anise accent along with turmeric tea (or a tea of your choice) from Roqberry tea.
Overall the experience with Romulo Café was awesome, such a welcoming and warm energy from the patrons and the attention to detail on the vegan offering is exceptional. Grateful to have connected with the wonderful owners and their cuisine and it’s a brilliant place to go for vegans in London who want to explore authentic Filipino plant-based cuisine with an ayurvedic edge.