Plates

320 Old Street

London, UK

EC1V 9DR

BY NEAL MARTIN | JULY 11, 2025

The Food:

Wild garlic soup, potato dumplings with sour apple and buckwheat truffle

Amela tomato, house ricotta, sour gooseberry and frozen tarragon with barbecued tomato broth

House-laminated sourdough bread, whipped spirulina butter and Maldon salt

Barbecued maitake, black bean mole, kimchi aioli and puffed rice

Alfonso mango with Siberian plum kernels and lime dressing

Jersey Royal potatoes, watercress, pickled onions, loquats, miso and yeast sauce, wakame

Caramelised Lion’s Mane, baby leeks, English asparagus, burnt aubergine, olive and mint

Rice pudding ice cream, chewy beets, Poha rice, olive oil 

Raw cacao gateau, sour cherry, coconut blossom ice cream, African pepper, toasted macadamia nuts and raw caramel sauce

Wine

My dining partner is licking her plate. I admit, yes, I dared her, reassuring that no one would notice. Once the plate has been licked clean, as if on cue, our waitress comes to clear our table and says, “I saw you licking the plate.”

My friend looks aghast.

“Don’t worry. You’re not the first I’ve seen.”

Let me cut to the chase. Plates is one of my finest meals in recent months. But in a way, it goes beyond satiating the senses. It made me reflect on food. Some of the dishes are indelibly printed on my memory. I find myself reliving them, mouthful by mouthful. And you know what? Plates is vegan. In fact, it was the first vegan restaurant in the UK to earn a Michelin star.  

This is an important Vinous Table. Plates symbolises the sea-change in our dining habits, a culinary exodus away from meat as gourmands and chefs become more conscientious about healthy eating. The stigma towards non-meat dishes within the realm of fine dining is, thankfully, dying away. Had you asked me ten years ago if a vegan restaurant would rank amongst the greatest gastronomic experiences of my life, I would have laughed. But after changing my diet and losing the craving for foods I previously could not have lived without, it is no surprise that I would fall head over heels for Plates. It hit the headlines when it was awarded a Michelin star in February, and the telephone has been constantly ringing since as every vegan and/or vegetarian desperately seeks a table. Indeed, this is one of the hardest places to get a reservation. When I logged onto their website the millisecond they opened their books for the next three months, every lunch and dinner was already full. I resorted to connections. Anything they had available, I would take. I managed to get a table three months in advance and asked a close friend who is a lifelong vegan for her expert opinion.

Plates is located near the Old Street tube station in a cool and trendy part of London. The frontage is innocuous, though a rectangular open window looks directly onto the kitchen, causing nostrils to twitch as intoxicating aromas waft out onto the pavement. It is not a large restaurant and is only open on Wednesdays to Saturdays, which lengthens the waitlist. A small open kitchen nestles in one corner, with counter seats overlooking the half-dozen young chefs. It’s cosy and intimate. There are a few tables outside, but they’re on a busy thoroughfare. Even though their design seals them off, I prefer inside. The set menu is £105 per person with wine-pairing menus at £70 and £85pp. There is interestingly also a “50/50” option, a mix of alcoholic and non-alcoholic wines, that is proving popular. Head of Wine Alex Price, formerly of Noble Rot, told me that on one evening the previous week they sold more wine without alcohol than with. Food for thought.

I cannot put into words the brilliance of Plates, but I will try. Every dish demands attention. Aromas and flavours challenge and seduce. Whereas the previous day, another Michelin-starred restaurant had left me doubting its Michelin credentials, Plates is gunning for two. Chef and co-owner Kirk Haworth has an impressive CV: after winning the Northwest Young Chef of the Year at age 17, he had stints at The Square, The French Laundry and Restaurant Sat Bains. I know what you are thinking…those are all far from vegan. Life threw him a curveball, one that mirrors my own, after he contracted Lyme Disease and had to change his diet. With his sister Keeley, who recently opened a farm and retreat around 90 minutes from Bordeaux, he co-founded Plates with a vision of sustainable plant-based cookery. Unlike, say, Eleven Madison Park, this is not a radical redesign of a menu to cater to a different audience—though Daniel Humm deserves credit for that bold move, which, judging by reports, was prescient and is now paying dividends. Haworth’s commitment seeps into every dish. Never for one second do you consider the addition of fish or meat; on the contrary, it would spoil his culinary creations. They exist on their own terms, just delicious from start to finish with an array of texture and umami sensations. Haworth does not want to convert you to veganism. There is no evangelism here. Rather, he celebrates his ingredients with such brilliance that you leave a willing convert.

Wild garlic soup, potato dumplings with sour apple and buckwheat truffle.

We commence with a wild garlic soup that is lucid green in hue, with potato dumplings hiding at the base of a miniature bowl. It is utterly sublime. But the revelation is the sour apple and buckwheat truffle. When you pop it in your mouth and it becomes a culinary sleight of hand—it has the texture of white chocolate. My dining partner and I look at each other and just laugh. How did that happen?

Amela tomato, house ricotta, sour gooseberry and frozen tarragon with barbecued tomato broth.

Next, Amela tomato from the Shizuoka Prefecture in Japan with house ricotta, sour gooseberry and frozen tarragon. This is off the charts. Perfectly balanced and zinging with freshness, these tomatoes are a wonder to behold. They are served just above freezing to provide stark contrast to the warm barbecued tomato broth, so there is a bit of theatre as the two temperatures meet and white “smoke” billows from the bowl. The intensity and depth of flavour is fathomless. Alternating between cold and hot mouthfuls (as is advised) leads to a unique umami sensation that dazzles your senses.

House-laminated sourdough bread, whipped spirulina butter and Maldon salt.

Next, the laminated sourdough bread is light with perfect gooiness. This is served with a knob of green whipped butter made of spirulina (a protein-rich algae) and a sprinkle of Maldon salt. You can slap it on the sourdough without the guilt.

Barbecued maitake, black bean mole, kimchi aioli and puffed rice.

Then, the barbecued maitake mushrooms is served with a black bean mole, kimchi aioli and puffed rice. Not only is this the highlight of the dinner, but it is the best dish I have eaten in a long time. It was this that impelled my diner-in-crime to lick her plate, which is probably better than dancing round like a chicken, which gives maitake is English name, “hen of the woods”. You have not eaten in London if you have not experienced this stroke of genius.

Alfonso mango with Siberian plum kernels and lime dressing.

We are presented with an additional course from the kitchen, a tiny bowl of Alfonso mango with plum kernels from Siberia and lime dressing. It is just revivifying with perfect piquancy.

Jersey Royal potatoes, watercress, pickled onions, loquats, miso and yeast sauce, wakame.

Since it is the season for Jersey Royals, these diddy potatoes are served with watercress, pickled onions, loquats, miso-yeast sauce and wakame. The sauce is sprinkled at the table and you mix it all together yourself. The Royals are small and al dente with acidity from the pickled onions, sweetness from the miso and salinity from the wakame.

Caramelised Lion’s Mane, baby leeks, English asparagus, burnt aubergine, olive and mint.

The caramelised Lion’s Mane mushrooms come with baby leeks, two English asparagus, burnt aubergine, olive and mint. There is a lovely underlying acrid/earthy note to this dish. Everything is cooked to perfection, allowing each ingredient to shine without impeding one another.

Rice pudding ice cream, chewy beets, Poha rice, olive oil.

The pre-dessert of rice pudding ice cream with chewy beets, Poha rice and olive oil is probably the runner-up to the maitake dish. It has a gorgeous texture, and the beets lurk unexpectedly at the bottom to impart a nuanced sweetness. It is ingenious.

Raw cacao gateau, sour cherry, coconut blossom ice cream, African pepper, toasted macadamia nuts and raw caramel sauce.

Finally, we are treated to a raw cacao gateau that comes with sour cherry, coconut blossom ice cream, African pepper, toasted macadamia nuts and raw caramel sauce. There is a wonderful nuttiness to this dessert and the sweet-and-sour cherry marries exquisitely with the gateau.

The wine list comes in a handsome hardbound leather booklet that is beautifully designed with thick pages. Sections are divided by colour and “Territories,” inspired by natural biomes such as “Deciduous Forest,” “Alpine and Grassland Scrub” and “Mediterranean Scrub.” It is not a huge list, and is curated towards esoteric regions and grape varieties from natural/low-intervention growers. Alex Price is armed with backstories for every wine, refreshingly knowledgeable in an era when many aspiring restaurants make do with someone who fancied the job, or occasionally lack any expertise at all. She later tells me that they eschew traditional regions like Bordeaux because the wines’ heaviness and oak would not match the subtle dishes (see my recent opinion piece Bordeaux: The Crisis Laid Bare).

Just as the food at Plates expanded my horizons, in many ways, so did the wines.

There is nothing wrong with that. I enjoy being taken out of my comfort zone. As I have written before, I increasingly find that plant-based dishes match wines better than meat-based ones. It depends on what plant-based dish you are serving, but here, flavours are intricate and nuanced so that heavier reds would be ill matched. I wanted to see which wines Price would partner with each dish and so opted for the pairing menu.

We begin with sparkles, a non-vintage Soufflé d’Étoiles Extra Brut from Champagne Lamiable. This house is located in Tours-sur-Marne and this cuvée based on the 2020 vintage, 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir, blended with wine from their perpetual reserve, disgorged in November 2023 after malo. It offers Mirabelle plum and brioche on the nose, which leans more towards the Pinot than the Chardonnay. The palate is finely weighted with a slightly resinous texture, a little lower in acidity than I might have expected with  cooking apple and hints of kumquat towards the finish. I usually like my champagne a little steelier and more tensile, but I appreciated the balance.

Next up is the 2023 Imago from Domaine Belema, located in Ayze in the Haute-Savoie. This cuvée comes under the IGP of Vin des Allobroges and is pure Gringet—not a variety that often passes my lips! Winemaker Yann Pernuit farms biodynamically and has built a cult following in recent years. This has a light Alpine-tinged bouquet that calls out for more vigour, just a little too neutral for my liking though a hint of lemongrass emerges after ten minutes. The palate is well defined and fresh, gentle in style with a hint of Szechuan peppers on the finish. Fine, but drink now. The 2022 Prospect is an Orion/Bacchus blend from former ecologists turned artisan winemakers Daniel and Nicola Ham. They are based in Wiltshire, but source some fruit from Kent and Essex. (Yes, I did quip about their inappropriate family name.) This is an orange wine, and I forewarned that I might storm out after imbibing “hipster filth.” Annoyingly…I liked it. The nose delivers orange peel and mandarin with an undercurrent of cider, very fresh with no oxidation. The palate is fresh and quite tangy with Satsuma, very light marmalade notes and ample weight on the finish. The acidity keeps it vibrant and, fair enough, I finish my glass. The 2022 Vacqueyras Blanc Les Prémices from Rouca Toumbas is mainly Marsanne with Rosanne, Viognier, Clairette, Bourboulenc and Grenache Blanc, direct pressed and aged on the lees in 500-liter barrels for a year. It offers dried honey and beeswax on the nose, oddly reminiscent of a Swartland Chenin. A keen thread of acidity underpins the palate with a subtle nutty/oxidative note that lends it edge on the finish. Not bad, though perhaps it needs a little more complexity.

The star of the show is unquestionably the 2020 Tsigello Dry Single Vineyard Mavrodaphne from Rouvalis. Tsigelo is actually the Peloponnese name for Mavrodaphne, though rules state that it can only be stated on the label for sweet wines. I absolutely adored this. Kudos for obtaining alcohol degrees of 12.5% in a warm Greek vintage. The resulting wine delivers ebullient red cherry and crushed strawberry scents, beautifully defined with Pinot-like purity. The palate has wonderful balance and fine tannins, approachable in style yet with substance. Silky in texture, this is irresistible and I would love to taste more.

We finish with another surprise package, the 2023 Cerdon du Bugey from Renardat-Fâche. Bugey is another 160-hectare French appellation west of Savoie known primarily for its sparkling reds made from Gamay or Poulsard. Renardat-Fâche farms biodynamically using méthode ancestrale [italicize?]. I was not expecting to like this as much as I did. Bursting at the seams with Morello cherries and wild strawberry on the nose, it is exceedingly pure and joyful. The palate is fleshy and beautifully balanced, with red cherries and cranberry fruit foregrounding a vivacious finish. Delicious! Incidentally, Bowler Wines imports this Stateside and it is perfect for summer.

Leaving Plates’ doors after the obligatory pose with Haworth and Price, I felt sensorially satiated, unencumbered by my stomach toiling away digesting meats or rich sauces…healthy. My taste buds had been stretched, seduced and dazzled, often simultaneously. There is a soulfulness and an honesty to Haworth’s creations that just sets them apart.

Certainly, the bar has been significantly raised with respect to what vegan menus can achieve…

…they can make you lick your plate clean.

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