Falmouth’s vegan restaurant, Wildebeest, offers a cosy atmosphere and beautiful attention to food, with a small and well-thought out menu that wouldn’t be out of place in a fine-dining restaurant.
The service is friendly and welcoming in this tiny Scandinavian-style café, with walls adorned with animal-loving chalk scribbles and floating cacti. Nothing is too much trouble, there’s never a rush, and three courses while away easily amongst a relaxed and warm setting, surrounded by happy eaters.
When the food does arrive, the delicacy, colour and conception of the plates is inspired. Turnip carpaccio, pickled shallots, mustard cream, dill, German rye bread: we spend a few minutes admiring the attention to detail in the plating of the food, and then after tasting, the intensity of flavour that’s condensed into a dish so small and beautiful. The mustard cream cuts through the sweet turnip and tangy shallot, perfect with the crunchy texture of the rye. This dish was the highlight of the evening.
For the main course- a spicy Laksa with butternut squash and flat rice noodles, mange tout, pea tendrils. The soup was a little tame, but packed a warm ginger-y punch and was presented well, considering the difficulty in making a broth look good.
The star of the main dishes was, however, the crispy polenta with a tomato and oregano sauce. Served with kale, oyster mushrooms, almond ricotta, crunchy butterbeans and micro garlic chives, this dish exploded in flavour that was rich and comforting, despite the complex combination of ingredients.
For dessert we shared a warm chocolate and raspberry brownie and some peanut butter and chocolate fudge swirl ice cream. The perfect indulgence after a delicious supper (and you couldn’t tell it was all dairy-free).
Wildebeest accept walk-ins (apart from on Tuesday’s, when they’re closed, in the most Cornish-life way), but booking ahead is advisable- with less than 20 seats available- this restaurant is only getting more and more popular in a county that’s expanding its food expectations and broadening its culinary horizons.
More information and book a table at Wildebeest here.
Written by Jade Phipps.