Restaurant review: The Jack in the Green Inn - a Vegan taste sensation!

one of the stunning desserts to come...

In an increasingly fast paced, hectic, pressured world, it's easy to forget to take time out once in a while, 'reboot' yourself and create a perfect day. You know - the type of day that gets you through for the next month or so. Yesterday was that day for me :) A special one on the calender and, as it turns out, potentially a special one for veganism - allow me to tell you more...

I started out wafting around Totnes - the chilled-out hippy capital of Devon and an oh-so-lovely place to get into the right vibe for a perfect day. We enjoyed a delicious vegan lunch at Willow vegetarian restaurant (look out for a review later) and generally mooched in the crisp autumn air and low slung sunshine. Bliss. Next we went to Bovey Tracey on the edge of Dartmoor, to see an old friend, visit the stunning arts & craft centre and grab an afternoon tea - which turned out to be a soya cappuccino at the Flying Pig - a cafe whose new owner was extremely interested in vegan food and how she could either make, or acquire some, for her customers. 'Spreading the word' has never been so much fun!

Then a quick change and off to our final destination: The Jack in the Green Inn - Rockbeare.

I'd heard of their great reputation, but the plan this day (after much liaising with them by email and phone) was for an entire vegan meal. I don't mind telling you that based on some previous experiences elsewhere, I was both excited and nervous at the same time, because it's imperative that if plant-based foods are going to ever appeal to the masses they have to be contemporary, creative and tasty beyond belief.

the bar

The restaurant itself is quite unassuming from the outside. But once inside it could only really be described as traditional but with a modern twist! It's well presented and immaculate and if, as a vegan, you can get past the stylised pictures of hunting scenes (this is Devon) and the quirky, 'humourous' animal / food drawings, then trust me, you're in for a real treat.

The ambiance is soothed along with soft jazz and the welcome from the proprietor Paul Parnell could not be more warm, personal or professional.

'We said we'd give it a go for you, and here you are...' Paul said as he handed us a menu headed 'Vegan Tasting Menu'. My heart literally skipped a beat.

Here's what I read...

Whilst transfixed to the menu Paul proceeded to also tell us about the vegan wines he could offer and we opted for a light Beaujolais-style Brouille red.

10 minutes later, and full of anticipation, we were escorted to our quiet corner table where 3 types of warm fragrant seeded breads, balsamic and the lightest of olive oils awaited us.

A good start.

And so to the dishes. The only way for me to (calmly) do this is to work through them methodically and mentally recall every delicious stage.

The dishes...

Mixed leaves with hazelnut vinaigrette, roasted celeriac and apple.

Leaves, can, well, leave you pretty unimpressed at the best of times - but these microleaves packed a punch & the toasted hazelnuts and tangy vinaigrette on the sweet roasted celeriac were a perfect combination to start the meal in a light and very appetising way.

Salt and pepper tofu with mixed wild mushrooms and truffle oil.

 

I often make chilli salt tofu at home so, was curious to see how they approached this. Delicate cubes, dusted, seasoned, fried and served with tiny wild mushrooms - the flavour of which was totally enhanced by the strong tofu seasoning. The truffle oil and mushroom puree just made this an incredible tasting dish. I could have very happily eaten a huge bowlful of this as main course.

By this stage I was actually starting to swoon!

 Roasted pumpkin with curly kale, roasted nuts and seeds.

Small balls of sauteed pumpkin on the juiciest, sweetest kale topped with crisp parsnip tuille and fried noodles was yet another triumph and reason #73 why kale really is a vegans friend - when cooked so well!

 Thai vegetable curry. Served with steamed wholegrain rice.

Whilst the Thai curry didn't have the usual aromatics of Thai ingredients (I'm sure it contained an Indian-style curry blend instead) - the description was irrelevant really, because the mix of fresh vegetables was so vibrant, succulent and flavourful. There was a real bang of chilli heat at the end - that might of had some people wincing. Fortunately I love and can handle hot curries - so this dish really did it for me.

Caramelised pear with blackberries, almond and oat crumble.

After the kick of the curry, this delicately presented platter, again, was such a well thought through combination of all of those elegant seasonal dessert flavours - pear, almond, blackberry - the caramelisation was just right, the almond clusters adding nutty sweetness and the blackberries just adding the hint of sharpness to balance it all off - utterly perfect.

Chilled coconut rice pudding with raspberry sorbet.

Now two puddings always have to be better than one - don't they? I thought the pear couldn't be beaten by a cold rice pudding surely? How wrong a girl can be. Sweet coconut rice pudding with perfectly al dente grains, topped with toasted seeds, little balls of silky smooth mango and raspberry sorbet and crystallised rose petals. What a revelation! The portion was large for fine dining - but I have to say I was glad. We didn't actually speak one word whilst eating this (although some cooing noises were possibly coming from my side of the table) which I think speaks volumes.

And so to ... coffee and petit fours - a fabulous decaf and vegan blackberry and apple jelly cubes. A perfect ending.

 THE END ahhhhh........

I simply cannot fault any of the food that was served to us. It was all stunningly presented and delicious - the flavours rich, yet light, complex, yet simple. How is that possible? Well because they were cooked by a chef who clearly knows his food, who still has passion for his food and who still cares about delighting his customers.

Throughout this fabulous vegan experience at the Jack on the Green our server was attentive and genuinely interested in how we found each course. He even shared with us the fact that he loved the look of it and had enjoyed spending time cooking for an ex girlfriend who had been vegan. Paul also frequently checked in on us to seek our opinion. And when Matthew - the head chef came to talk to us at the very end it was with no shame that I gave him a full bear hug and kisses for making my perfect day - well, perfect. He sat with us for a while discussing the merits of vegan food with the type of enthusiasm that I wish I could bottle and send to every catering establishment in the world.

During our evening we also learnt that The Jack in the Green regularly have vegan business diners, can cater for main meals (with advance notice) and indeed are very happy to do so. This tasting menu was a first for them though and I hope that in spreading the word about it people will give it a try.

I've been lucky enough to eat in some world class restaurants - Hestons 'Fat Duck', Iceland's panoramic revolving restaurant at the 'Perlan' and Hong Kong's sky-scraping 'Above and Beyond', to name-drop but a few. But I couldn't be happier and more proud to find this gem of a place in my home county. It can be quite a rare thing to find such places where the desire to create and delight is so strong. These guys have it in shed loads and we'll be back with all of our carnivore friends - to show them, in no uncertain terms, just how exciting modern Vegan cuisine CAN be.

So thank you David for arranging this and to everyone at The Jack in the Green. Perfect.

£££ At £39.95 for 7 courses, this was incredibly good value, especially when compared with many other fine dining tasting menus. I have paid twice, if not three times, this amount for mediocre food in many city-based fine dining restaurants such as the 'acclaimed' Purnells - where the somelier was insistent there was no such thing as vegan wine and lacklustre dishes consisted of a bowl of mixed tomatoes, and carrots on a lettuce puree - I kid you not.

Good to know: To get the best experience from this incredible gastro-pub please phone in advance to discuss your food. They serve over 140 covers on a busy night and run 4 menus, so a little advance notice will help them to get it perfect for you too :)

Call 01404 822240, ask for Paul and please do feel free to mention me by name. I am the elated huggy vegan :)