A Vegan Review of Zizzi

Saturday night rolled around, and as my boyfriend and I had spent the day cleaning the flat in our pyjamas, we decided to treat ourselves that night and went out for dinner. Yes, going out for dinner is a treat for us, and of course we went straight home after and fell asleep in front of the TV. We’re usually fun people, we just hibernate in winter.

So many places are becoming more and more vegan friendly, with restaurants like Wagamama, Las Iguanas and Zizzi offering vegetarian and vegan menus.We opted for the latter and it was honestly the best vegan meal I’ve had, outside of a vegan restaurant. I never usually order more than just a main but I had three courses. I fell so madly in love and dug in to each dish immediately and completely forgot to take pictures, so I’m sorry for the lack of visual stimulation in this post!

The starter was mock meatballs made from beetroot and cleverly dubbed ‘beetballs’, covered in a tomato sauce, chilli threads and vegan mozzarella or ‘Mozzarisella’ (my new favourite word). Tasty and juicy, they were a great meat substitute.

I’m not sure if I’ve just been deprived of good vegan pizza, but the Pizza Zucca was the best I’ve had. Covered in Mozzerisella, spinach, butternut squash and caramelised balsamic onions, I couldn’t even get through reading it on the menu without salivating; and boy did the description deliver. I’m usually pretty stuffed halfway through but the serotonin that was being released from my sheer joy, I think, overrode my stomach capacity.

Usually when vegans eat out, it’s hard to get excited about the dessert menu, when often you’re only option is fruit – if you’re lucky. To my absolute delight, Zizzi had excellent options available. I ordered the sticky chocolate and praline torte, which came with vegan chocolate ice cream. The base was a mixture of walnuts, hazelnuts and the secret ingredient – Oreos, topped with deliciously rich chocolate. I think it even made me happier than the pizza.

By now it’s probably quite clear that I have a borderline obsession with food, but I like to keep it balanced. I’m so passionate about the incredible healing properties that certain foods have. I like to eat according to what my body needs, and sometimes it does just need pure indulgence, but often it’s easy to combine the two.  Although this was an indulgent evening, including wine, there are still health benefits in each dish. Beetroot is good for the digestion, brain health and blood pressure. Butternut squash is packed full of vitamins and minerals. And hazelnuts and walnuts are a great source of fibre.

There really aren’t many restaurants that I would bother leaving reviews for, but I had such a positive experience at Zizzi and feel that, with the effort and expertise that the people involved in these dishes have gone through is really inspiring. The more that we support these efforts, the more we will see a rise in mainstream Veganism.