• 5
• Probably one of the best restaurants I've ever eat

I've been to Saf twice now and despite having some criticisms I've given it 5 Happy Cows as the food and ambience is so amazing. The food is 100% vegan and around 50% raw - so raw foodies have no problem eating here but if you're determined not to eat raw then you'll have no problem either. I had the pad thai (raw) for the main course last time I was there and I have to disagree with everyone who says the portions are small - this certainly wasn't, and I had trouble finishing it. Very tasty it was too. What really "makes" the place though it in my opinion, two things: the "cheese" plate, and the drinks. In the mixed cheese plate you get three different kinds of vegan, raw cheese, made of things like cashew nuts, and macadamia nuts, plus accompaniments like semi-dried tomatoes, and olives. The flavours are absolutely incredible. The same goes for the cocktails and wine. I've always loved cocktails but used to think cocktails were cocktails...until I tasted the ones at Saf. THese cocktails are not your standard "Sex on the Beach" type ones, but completely original concoctions of liqueurs and flavourings I've never heard of, resulting in the most subtle but exquisite flavours imaginable. Similarly, the wine (we've tried three different reds altogether) were some of the most delicious I've ever tasted. The second time we went, they seemed to have slightly less raw dishes than the first, but maybe this reflected the fact that we first went in June, and then again in January. The desserts are delicious - I tried a superfood slice flavoured with maca and lucuma, with cacao nibs and goji berries the first time, though the second time I was slightly disappointed with my orange cake as it was nothing out of the ordinary, and it was supposed to come with white chocolate sauce but all there was was a drizzle on the plate which was so small I could barely taste it. My only other criticisms are: 1) Having particular sittings, at 6pm and 9pm at weekends is offputting and doesn't suit when many people like to eat 2) It's often not clear what dishes contain: the parsnip rice on the menu didn't contain any rice at all, it was just parsnip diced up really small like rice. I feel it should be made clear by putting items in inverted commas if they are not the real thing. 3) My main criticism is that Saf does not come out and say it is actually a vegan restaurant (in terms of food - one or two wines are not vegan and the odd one is not even veggie).