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Redemption Bar. The popular meat-free, booze-free, gluten-free and refined-sugar free café (try saying that five times fast) has set up a flagship in Seven Dials. While the menu might be free from vices, it’s certainly not lacking in flavour. Seasonal fruit and veg, salads, seeds and superfoods are all superstars, so go ahead and ‘spoil yourself without spoiling yourself’, as its tagline prompts.
The interiors are suitably on trend: plush velvet chairs, marble tabletops and some token neon pink signage to win the youth vote. A zen post-yoga playlist adds to the wholesome, peace-and-love feel. Unsurprisingly, it’s a hit with yummy mummies and pilates bunnies. On to the food. The raw pad thai bowl packed a punch with its spicy dressing and chilli accents, but it was fresh, flavourful and summery – filled to the brim with courgetti and carrot swirls, and topped off with roasted cashews that accentuated the flavour of the lime and spring onions. If you’re after something a bit more hearty, the risotto is exactly that – a bright purple beetroot-infused dish dotted with garden-fresh peas and mint – a light yet wholesome combo. The flourish of crispy pecan nut ‘cheese’ crumble added an interesting texture and nutty flavour to the dish.
If you tend to find dessert menus a calorie-laden minefield, take advantage of Redemption’s healthier spin on the sweet stuff. The thoroughly under-rated ‘bliss balls’ (raw cacao and date truffles covered in shredded coconut) were rich, chocolatey and perfectly moist, a good after-dinner snack to nibble on while clutching a mug of steamy guarana cacao or a turmeric latte. The key lime cheesecake, stuffed with good-for-you ingredients like avocado and cashew cream, was surprisingly indulgent for a dessert that probably does more good than harm. A fitting end to this all-good ‘bar’, where hangovers are a thing of the past.