Vegan MoFo: Food For Friends.

So since Thursday I've pretty much just been napping, eating mushy food, watching a lot of iplayer programmes and taking lots of painkillers! I had two teeth removed, right in the middle of Vegan MoFo, how inconvenient! I've eaten soup. Tomato soup. Minestrone soup. Tomato soup some more. Risotto. Do you see a pattern emerging here? When I gave up and ate 'proper' food (chinese takeaway, I love thee!) it hurt like billio afterwards, and was only just worth it.

On Saturday the sedative was out of my system which meant a) I was no longer completely exhausted all of the time, hurrah! But did mean that b) I was in a lot of pain. I wanted to get out of the house and enjoy my time off work though, so we headed down to Brighton, where my flatmate came down as well to join us for some lunchies. I planned on being good. Some nutritious soup from Infinity maybe. Or a nice salad maybe. But then all the goodness of Brighton tempted us, and we settled for Food For Friends. I haven't been here for so long; it was my favourite restaurant in Brighton, before I tried Terre a Terre. I spent many happy birthdays there!

This time I was slightly disappointed though. Maybe it's because I've broadened my restaurant visits, and tried some truly amazing food along the way. But something was just missing with the meal. As a shared starter we had Three Tahini Dips, and Roasted Seeds, Nuts and Olives. The dips looked interesting enough, but there was no substance beneath the vibrant colours and swirl of olive oil. The houmous was good, but a little too runny for my liking. It just lacked the punch that a small dip should- I wanted intense flavours, and interesting ingredients. The olives are sundried tomatoes were good enough, as were the roasted seeds and cashews.

For main I tried to stick to my mouth-induced diet, and ordered sausages and mash. It was warm and comforting, and definitely some goodness for my mouth. The handmade sausages had a lovely flavour, were spiced delicately, and lay in a bed of mash. Tucked in between was a layer of wilted spinach, and the meal was dressed with a beautiful onion and red wine gravy. No root vegetable crisps as the menu advertised, but maybe that was for the best. Nothing overly inspiring with this meal but it was tasty and hearty and good.

Mr T ordered Paprika Mushrooms with Polenta. This looked fabulous; really well presented, the colours were vivid and alive, and each part of the meal had been assembled and inspired. I am NOT a fan of mushrooms, but these were brilliant. The texture and smoky flavour gave them the appearance of some kind of soya meat, but they were light and rubbery (that might not sound positive, but it is!). It came with yellow and green courgettes, beautiful polenta pieces and an interesting carrot and mint mash. The flavours were present and correct, I'm just not sure that it worked, or that I could have eaten quite as much as was dished up.

And for dessert! This really is fantastic: Chocolate Truffle Torte. It has a snappy hazelnut biscuit base, the torte is smooth, creamy and not-too-dark, and the bright summer berries sweeten the dish, bringing it to a light, delicious finish. Brilliant.

With the shared appetizers, a main meal and dessert each (x3), a glass of wine, a non alcoholic cocktail and an orange juice, the meal came to 70 pounds (not including tip).

http://www.foodforfriends.com/