THERE are a few places that lay claim to be the trailblazers, serving up tasty vegetarian food when London was stuck in a 20th century world of meat and two veg.

From a wholly vegetarian eaterie on the Euston Road that did a roaring trade in the 1920s, to Manna in Primrose Hill (1966) and Cranks in Carnaby Street (1961), these outriders catered to a clique of food-conscious diners.

Vegetarian grub was considered to be, as the UK’s first genuinely famous veggie restaurant name suggested, something for cranks.

We live in a greatly changed food landscape today, where even a steakhouse menu will offer a flame-fried giant mushroom as a sop, and those who opt for a meat-free diet do not have to settle for a begrudgingly cooked omelette or macaroni cheese.

But while Cranks and its contemporaries made food with big hearts and for the right reasons, it was all a bit samey – it wasn’t until the 1980s that the idea that vegetarian dining could explore a huge world of taste, that veggies might quite enjoy dishes of subtlety and interest. And it was this dawning that brought us Mildreds.

In 1988, Jane Muir and Diane Thomas had eaten enough lentil stews and bean casseroles to know that the growing ranks of vegetarians were not anti-food and deserved meals cooked with imagination, verve and great ingredients. Meat-free did not have to mean dreary.

Fast forward 35 years and Mildreds still burns a furious flame in Soho – now in Lexington Street – and has expanded what it does best to branches in Camden Town, King’s Cross and Covent Garden.

Their Jamestown Road branch has recently been given a makeover and its menu whisked, raised, braised, baked, fried and fluffed.

Mildreds’ calling card is meat-free, and the chefs traverse the world for ideas. Taking a seat feels like going on a journey – from east Asian fusion to Italian, there are no shackles forcing a national style. Instead, this is global food.

And because Mildreds is vegan, 100 per cent-plant based, that’s the calling card, the USP, so it means the menu doesn’t have a particular supplementary style. There is no focus on any particular country or cooking philosophy, which means a broad-brush menu without skimping on originality or quality.

A smidgen of Japanese influence can be found, for example, in the tempeh mushroom and noodles main course.

A stir-fried mixture of mushrooms and tofu come in a rich brothy soup with thick and slurp-able noodles.

Curry-wise, Mildreds draws on a Sri Lankan dish – it brings to the table cashew and coconut, pineapple and a pea basmati rice to soak up the juices. It is yet another example of the original approach Mildreds employs. For example, a mango chutney comes with a whiff of mint to it, and is a brilliant supplementary layer of flavour to a dish already laden with interesting tastes.

Our young guest, who has an adventurous palette for an eight-year-old, tore through a plate of spinach gyoza – the ginger not being too pronounced for his young tastebuds, and the dumplings a balanced mix of crunch and goo.

A plate of five tortelloni containing wild mushroom was large – overly so for a starter, and you can order a smaller, three piece version – and came swimming on a plate of caramelised leek cream with green sage oil.

Ringlets of softly steamed leeks are a pointer as to what the sauce is made of – it was rich and prompts a lengthy discussion how such a sauce could be created without a pint of double cream poured in.

The same question was asked when a main course of grilled artichokes on a bed of tenderstem broccoli, crisped kale, bite-size texture adding nibbly bits of crackers, and the odd caper to catch you by surprise came drizzled in a Caesar-style dressing. We were too polite to try and steal the secrets of Mildreds’ kitchens, but a Caesar dressing would traditionally rely on a dash of dairy and a flash of fish.

Not here, and the dressing doesn’t pretend to either – instead it stands on its own.

A passionfruit “cheese” cake finished the evening off with another bout of head-scratching. A cheesecake aficionado – I have eaten a lot over the years – would struggle to note this was a vegan cake. Regardless of what it was made of, light, zesty, palette-cleansing and with a base to offer a ying-yang texture to the topping, it was splendid.

Mildreds’ rise has gone hand in hand with our diet awareness: and what Mildreds does so well is show how fine dining doesn’t have to be stymied by informed, healthy lifestyle choices. With main courses coming in between £12 and £16, this is top-level dining but at an affordable price.

Mildreds
9 Jamestown Road
NW1 7BW
020 7482 4200
https://www.mildreds.co.uk/locations/camden/