Lunch For Two
Iydea, Brighton
Yesterday, I spend the whole day in Brighton, being the fashion adviser to my housemate Sam. We walked up and down the streets, looking for nice and comfortable summer clothes.They had to fit nicely in his already existing wardrobe but still to look better and new. And, as with everything for anyone in our friends circle - they have to be cycling appropriate. After walking for good 4 hours or so, we got hungry and my friend offered to take me to presumably the best vegan/vegetarian establishment in Brighton. This is Iydea.
The place is situated on the edge of Hove, on the so-called main street. It is bright and nice smelling, lots of tables are there for parties of all sizes. The customers can choose to either eat-in, in a lovely hip setting, or to take-away their food and to eat whenever they fancy -home, the beach, the nearby garden, anywhere.
So here's the deal, how it works. You order a main and you get two sides and a topping at the side for the price of your main. The prices vary from 4.70 GBP to 7.70 GBP for eat-in food, slightly less of take-away. The portions are well sized but if your appetite is rather big then you might consider paying extra 1.50 GBP to "Go Large" and have 4 sides and 2 toppings in addition to you main course. In my case, my normal meal was more than enough for me and I had some troubles finishing it all by myself. But this is me.
So, what we had for lunch then. Let me just start by saying that it was delicious and very unexpected. Not unexpectedly delicious, this is a whole other thing, just the tastes and ingredients they combined worked amazingly together, although they were not some that I would've thought they will. My main was a tomato and onion quiche, the sides I chose were carrot with tamari roasted seeds and quinoa and dried fruit salad, and my topping was tzatziki. My friend had fried hallumi (that comes with tartar sauce at the side), cajun potato wedges and green beans with almond and dill at the side and a spicy tomato salsa topping. We also had home-made ginger lemonades which were top notch, honestly!
Our food was fresh and delicious, albeit mine needed a pinch or two salt. The quiche crust was nice, crispy and tasty. The filling was rich, I really enjoyed the lovely tomatoes. My tzatziki was a bit too watery, but nevertheless tasty, while my friend's salsa was simply amazing. I tried a bit of it and I was fully blown away. I can't describe what I liked that much, but I just truly enjoyed it. Sam's cajun wedges were also nice, although I prefer my carrot salad- fresh and refreshing, perfect for the summer. The quinoa salad was sweet and spicy, very interesting taste. I would have never guessed that dried apricots go so well with quinoa. Well, I learn something new every day, don't I. Sam said that the hallumi and the green beans we also very nice, the hallumies were covered in crispy batter and were generous pieces.
Overall I think this is one of the best vegetarian/vegan restaurants I know. There is room for some improvement, of course, but all in all I think it was rather nice and delicious.
Food: 7/10
Service: 6/10
Interior: 8/10
Location: 9/10
Pricing: 7/10
Overall Grade: 7/10
Will we go back? - Yes, why not. I'm growing rather fond of vegan and vegetarian food, so I would enjoy giving them another try sometime.
You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...
