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Redemption, Covent Garden

Why should socialising always be at the expense of your health? That’s what two female entrepreneurs behind Redemption asked themselves as they created what they believe to be the world’s healthiest bar restaurant, serving up vegan, sugar-free and wheat free food with an alcohol-free bar. Their motto is ‘spoil yourself without spoiling yourself’.

The setting

Like the sister restaurants in Notting Hill and Shoreditch, Redemption Covent Garden is super cool. It’s decorated with white marble table tops, green plants, golden glowing overhead lights and their signature pink neon Redemption logo. It’s set just back from Seven Dials and backs onto Neal’s Yard. Customers include tourists and Londoners. You can also get take out.

The fresh green juice test

Redemption are known for their exotic and beautiful non-alcoholic cocktails, served in high glasses, with paper straws and garnished with fresh fruit and herbs.

I chose the “green” Apple Mockjito from their “fruities” menu, which was refreshing and sweet. It was made with muddled apple pressé, lots of fresh mint and lime wedges topped with sparkling mineral water. They also offer green avocado smoothies, but we tried the healing and heart-warming Bombay Love- a  blend of turmeric, ginger, lemon, coconut kefir, coconut milk and coconut yoghurt topped with coconut flakes. It  was revitalising and very healthy.

What we ate

You can choose from a comforting bowl of bolognese and brown rice penne pasta, their black bean chimichurri on homemade flaxseed and sunflower seed toast or a sweet stack of coconut oil buckwheat pancakes.

We enjoyed the buddha bowl, which is altered daily. When i visited it was a combo of fresh kale salad, grilled Mediterranean vegetables, mixed beans and  olives, beetroot hummus, turmeric roasted cauliflower and simple quinoa salads.

We also tried the Californication – a combo of roasted sweet potato and red onion hash with Tamari mushrooms, kale and spinach with rosemary and lemon. The sweet potato wedges were tender and the onion was sticky and sweet to contrast the salty umami greens and mixed mushrooms.

 

For dessert, we were tempted by their raw Banoffee and key lime pie cheesecakes, but chose the rich and fudge chocolate hazelnut brownie and the chocolate chip cookie. The brownie was light and spongey and the cookie was crisp on the outside and chewy in the middle. Both were served with creamy coconut yoghurt and edible flowers.

It’s hard to believe both are completely vegan and gluten-free.

What we’d go back for…

The buddha bowl and the chocolate hazelnut brownie!

The bill

Bombay love smoothie  £5.50
Apple Mockjito  £4.75
Buddha Bowl £8.95
Californication £9.25
Chocolate Hazelnut Brownie £3.75
Chocolate Chip Cookie £2.40

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Covent Garden: By CHLOE. iconic vegan NYC sensation hits town

By CHLOE. is an award winning, plant-based, fast-casual, vegan sensation in the US.

It has nine branches and has served over 610,000  ‘Guac burgers’ since July 2015.

In February their first location opened in Covent Garden’s theatreland. “We have wanted to expand internationally.” says Founder and creative director Samantha Wasser.

“We started looking at where the requests were coming from. There were so many requests coming from London. We looked at our Instagram stats and it was NYC, LA, London. The reception has been incredible.”

The Setting

By CHLOE. lures you in with it’s iconic swinging chairs, pink neon signs, mosaic topped tables and signature banquettes.

It’s on Russell Street just opposite the stage door for 42nd Street.  The black and white striped floors and monochrome tiles are covered with a mixture of small and large tables, a selection of potted plants are dotted throughout and the staff are super-friendly.

Even the toilets have super-cool plant power wallpaper.

We could have stayed all afternoon just swinging around admiring the view.

The Green Juice Test

There are six cold pressed juices on offer with a choice of two green ones- The Giving Tree (kale, spinach, wheatgrass, apple and lemon) and the Junkie (kale, spinach, wheatgrass, cucumber, parsley and lemon).

Our tip is to also try the Seasonal Lemonades. We tried Clementine and went back for another.

The Little Things

By CHLOE. is exceptionally dog friendly. Dogs have their own section of the menu Woof By Chloe featuring Pupcakes (organic whole oat K 9 cupcakes) and BagO’ Dog Bones (house-made organic peanut butter dog bones).

There are also plug sockets for working diners.

 

What we ate

There’s a huge choice, including some UK specials like a vegan take on Fish and Chips made from tofu, but we couldn’t resist their best sellers.  We tried and adored The Guac Burger, a fabulous black-bean, quinoa and sweet potato pattie with corn salsa, guac, tortilla strips, chipotle aioli in a wholemeal bun.

The Mac N’ Cheese with sweet potato and cashew cheese sauce was a hit with us on a recent trip to New York and it didn’t disappoint in London.  In fact we can’t wait to go back and have it again with its almond “parm” and a super tasty shitake bacon topping.

The amazing avocado pesto pasta with grape tomatoes and almond parm was so good that we might go for this as a main next time. And finally we tried some more-ish air baked sweet potato fries. Make that a double next time!

The Bill

Green Juice £4.80
Seasonal Lemonade £2.75
The Guac Burger £9.00
Quinoa Taco £9.95
Mac N’ Cheese  side £4.80
Avocado Pesto Pasta side £4.80
Air baked Sweet Potato Fries £4.00

What Else?

By CHLOE. is spacious,  a cool place to chill and it’s good value for well made vegan cuisine using great ingredients. The packaging is pretty and recyclable.

They also have a wide selection of cookies and cakes although it is worth noting these contain vegan sugar.

What Made Us Glow?

The vibe, all the food… and we didn’t even try the range of cakes and cookies! We’ve already put a return date in the diary.