"kind of average"   My Rating
50 piffelina	Posted on: Sunday, October 25, 2009
	Review: my boyfriend had the sunny burger - it was okay, but that's all. my sallad looked small and wasn't imaginative, but was filling for the moment. however i was hungry again after an hour or two.   Pros: all vegan * liked the concept * rough trade record shop close by Cons: hard to find! * food not that interesting *
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"lied to on phone, lost couldn't find, forced away."   My Rating
304 gr8vegan	Posted on: Saturday, August 15, 2009
	Review: What a horrible experience. We followed the google maps and it puts you about a half a mile away from the place. We kept calling and no one answered. We asked everyone in the area and finally they called us and told us where to go. We were relieved to find it, but when we got their they said we were too late and if we wanted to eat we had to eat fast... no problem we ordered beers and took one look at the menu and said, pizza with out any oil just fresh veggies and asked what ever else they could do. He came back up w/o our beers saying sorry we can't do anything w/o oil. I said, well I called and asked if you could before I treked out here and the guy said yes, he said oh well he doesn't speak English as a first language... I said I've been traveling for 4 months in countries full of people and have never had a problem. He then proceeded to tell me that being vegan was against his religion. At that point we realized this place was horrible and our night was ruined and we sulked away... Don't bother or just make a reservation take pics and then leave w/o giving them $.   Pros: cute * * Cons: premade food * oily * non vegan jerk staff
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"Good concept, bad food"   My Rating
4 chewybaws	Posted on: Thursday, April 23, 2009
	Review: Me and a friend (both vegan) visisted RootMaster just before 12pm (when it opens) on Sunday 19th April. The place was clean, well laid out. We were taken by the concept, and ready for a good meal. Although the staff were polite, you pretty much didn't get a choice where to sit. We heard them say to everyone who came in to move to smaller tables to leave tables for bigger groups for when it gets busy. The menu was quite small. I went for the Rootmaster burger and my friend chose the roasted vegetable wraps. The burger was the worst I've had in a while. It was really cold and utterly tasteless (just potato I could taste). It was accompanied by about 5 potato wedges and 3 leaves of salad. My friend thought his wrap was distinctly average. The burger was £6.50, the wrap £6. Disapointing overall, nice concept though.   Pros: Great concept * Polite staff * Cons: Terrible food * *
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"Not the most impressive experience overall..."   My Rating
25 LoveFood	Posted on: Friday, February 06, 2009
	Review: I visited this restaurant with a friend on December 22 or 23, 2008. I had been wanting to eat at Rootmaster ever since reading a positive review in The New York Times travel section sometime last year. The bus setting for the restaurant was really cool and the restaurant looked quite clean (the interior of the kitchen is visible from outside the bus and from the stairs going to the seating area,) but, overall, I was rather unimpressed by the experience. Some points: -The staff that we dealt with were very polite, but were not very attentive or really too good with the overall level of service. For example, I ordered tempura vegetables as an appetizer and did not get any dipping sauce along with my plate - though there was an empty sauce dish on the plate. The server left immediately after putting the plates on the table and I was not able to get his attention again to ask for sauce. The tempura was extremely dry and had way too much breading: it needed sauce. -The server did not check up on us at any time during the meal - except for when delivering/clearing plates, which he did very quickly before disappearing. -I ordered the "tofu tower," as a main dish. It was fairly mediocre (the Times reviewer had liked this specific dish,) and was served in a small, deep bowl that made it very difficult to actually get at the food to eat it. It was especially difficult to eat with only a knife and fork. I wanted to ask for a spoon, but I could not get the server's attention. There was way too much sauce on this dish and the sauce was rather bland. Overall - for lack of a better term - I would rate eating at Rootmaster as a "meh," experience. The restaurant in a bus concept is really cool and the place looks clean, but the service and food were lacking.   Pros: * * Cons: * *
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"on top of the bus, eating vegan - class"   My Rating
13 niallmc	Posted on: Tuesday, September 16, 2008
	Review: I was completely taken in by this concept. The food cooked downstairs on the bus, yo ueat upstairs. All the food was vegan, all great and such a good atmosphere. Well worth visiting. TRY IT!   Pros: atmosphere * great food * great staff Cons: * *
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"Top Vegan food"   My Rating
35 Sernicki	Posted on: Thursday, July 31, 2008
	Review: As a group of 4 vegans we went there to try out this new vegan venture. The idea of an old routemaster bus as the venue made it more interesting. Upstairs is the dining area while downstairs is the kitchen and its staff. The menu was all vegan and there was a good selection of starters, mains and deserts. We had various starter between us which were all very tasty and good our appetites ready for the mains. After deliberating over the menu again we all opted for the tofu towers which looked the best option on the menu. The towers were good and cooked with a nice balance of flavours and went down very well. We did not have deserts but will be going back again to this vegan experience and would advise both meat eatrs and veggies to try this place as it is well worth a visit.   Pros: All Vegan * On a bus * different Cons: * *
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"Top Deck!"   My Rating
19 Nickysr	Posted on: Monday, April 14, 2008
	Review: Being vegans, my husband and I had wanted to try out this East London eaterie for a while but only managed it last night (Sun 13th April). As soon as we arrived we had a really friendly welcome from the chef and waiter/waitress from the lower deck. On venturing up to the Top Deck we found a really sweet, romantic space with candles flickering and simple but stylish interior design. We had a great table for two at the front of the bus and started with the Bruchetta and Gyoza (after a pre-starter of plump queen olives and sundried tomatoes) The bruchetta were amazingly deep flavoured, with slow cooked cavalo nero (black cabbage) and tomoatoes on really crisp garlicy bread. Gyosa's were full flavoured -very good mushroom flavour and came with a sweet yet spicy dipping sauce The presentation was superb with great attention to detail. Husband had a blonde beer from Sussex (I think) and loved its deep hoppy flavour. I tried an Organic white which was dry and crisp. Mains were very exciting with The Tofu Tower being a work of art on the plate! A tower of many layers of Crisp Wontons and Seared Tofu was served with an artfully spiced coconut curry and served with a further tower of perfectly cooked brown rice. My Teriyaki Stirfry was the right side of spicy with oodles of crunchy cashew nuts and perfectly al dente vegetables. It would have been churlish to come all this way and not have dessert so.... Tempura Bananas with Maple Syrup and Chocolate icecream was near perfect and the Chocolate cake with Chocolate icecream was good but a little on the dry side (but as I make vegan cakes in my spare time I am a little biased!). I loved this amazing bus and with it's really happy staff and fabulous food, hope to make it one of our regular haunts.   Pros: inventive cooking * vegan * super-friendly staff Cons: * *
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"Unique experience"   My Rating
22 marcsteven s	Posted on: Saturday, January 19, 2008
	Review: We took the (anti-vegan) parents to Rootmaster last night and even they were wowed by the food, wine and use of an old red Routemaster bus (good recycling!). Completely vegan (including extensive wine list), great choice of contrasting dishes - one of those times when everyone tries to order something different so that you can taste each others'! Passers-by kept coming in just to look at the double decker bus setting - this gimmick must attract lots of non-veggies (which is a very good thing), and I think the food etc will keep them coming back. We too will be returning, very soon.   Pros: Excellent food & drinks * Entertaining & well-timed service * Unique dbl decker bus setting Cons: Each time someone comes up the stairs * the bus rocks, but you get used to it * pretty quickly.
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"One of a Kind"   My Rating
31 The Veggie Cook	Posted on: Monday, November 26, 2007
	Review: The set up of this restaurant is truly unique and very interesting. It's housed in a red Routemaster bus on the Brewery block in the east end of London. The inside is narrow and long, and it serves up decent vegan food.   Pros: * * Cons: * *
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