CLOSED: Saf Restaurant and Bar

Booked for my birthday meal - I'm vegan, my partner is vegetarian & we'd heard good things about the food. But the disadvantages far outweigh the advantages:
- Slow service (two hours to receive our main courses - diners around us all served & had left);
- Confusion, misinformation & delays refusing to offer us web-advertised better-value set menu options;
- Wrong food delivered without us being informed (eg kitchen had altered a regular menu salad & not told waiting staff - the diner didn't actually like the replacement ingredients & could have had allergies to them);
- Varied excuses ranging from missing managers, short-staff & large parties arriving (at 6.30pm on a Mon eve in a near-empty restaurant);
- Manager gave us a £15 discount after hearing our complaints & a further twenty minute delay (ie £3 per head - not even a free drink each) to compensate for ruined evening to "persuade" us to return.

The food was tasty - eg sharing cashew cheese platter; mushroom dumplings in dipping sauce; Buddha Bowl; jalapenos stuffed with cashew cheese - but small portions for the price (eg £7 starter / £13.50 for the sharing starter; £14.50 mains). Limited choice compared with other similar eateries (only about six starters & six mains on the menu). Better London raw-food vegan eateries available.

Updated from previous review on Wednesday October 25, 2010

Some very unique vegan items are available, and the quality is superb.
However as the restaurant sells itself on image and presentation the portions aren't astounding.

Saf in Shoreditch is my favourite place in the world to eat. Can't afford it for pre theatre but special occassion all night gourmet indulgence it rings all my bells. Because it is gourmet raw rather than just salad some dishes take days to prepare and that has to be reflected in the price as does the effort in sourcing the extra special ingredients. I don't feel it's special enough at Wholefoods in Kensington for me to justify the expense (although have had a pudding there) but then I'm not a wealthy man.

I went to their Kensington restaurant with a friend and had dinner. She ordered a salad that she felt was good, and frankly I'm not quite sure what I ordered, which I imagine is a bit of a bad sign. I do recall having some cashew-based cheese, which I found innovative and exciting, and gyoza. We had no desserts, however I bought two of them at a shop a couple of days later and I didn't think they were worth the money.
All in all, a relatively cool place without the pretentiousness of say, Vanilla Black (a fine choice, by the way)

My boyfriend and I visited Saf last Saturday evening (2nd July 2011) and were somewhat pleased with our experience. We sat out in the garden, which was nice on a warm summer's evening. I also liked the fact that you could see where they were growing the herbs to put in your food. To start I had the mushroom gyoza dumplings which were extremely tasty and I was very happy with. My boyfriend had the samosa, which I took a bite out of and found to be somewhat tasteless. For our main courses we had raw Pad Thai and the zucchini pappardelle. My Pad Thai had a nice flavour but as I'm not a huge fan of raw foods all the cold vegetables meant I didn't enjoy the dish much. My boyfriend is not a fan of spicy food and found everything much too spicy, particularly his zucchini pappardelle. He did however think it had a nice flavour. We had the tiramisu and sour cherry trifle to finish which we both enjoyed. I had a banana almond milkshake to drink which was tasty and my boyfriend had some vodka cocktails which were pretty expensive. The staff were very friendly if not a little too attentive. We'd only been sat down for a few minutes and three different members of staff came to take out drinks orders which actually started to get quite annoying. Overall I do not think it was worth the money and I probably won't go here again as I didn't think the food was mind-blowing.

Went here with a date for lunch, execellent cheese starter selection , and the mushroom pankcake was creamy and gluten free so a plus. The raw chocolate pudding was amazing. Good wine selection, yes its pricey so good for a splurge but no more pricey than the other upscale veggie places in London. worth a visit.

Have been here to celebrate some special occasions and really loved the food -BUT it is VERY expensive - so beware! We once tried the set lunch menu, which was cheaper but not that cheap, and OKish

Very few words- one of my favourite top restaurants in the world.
Just go there. Eat just about anything and sit back and enjoy.

We ate some mushroom filled crepes at lunch hours. Surroundings were clean and nice. The place is located bit farther away from the city center so it's not filled with tourists. Food was presented really nicely and service was excellent. Taste wasn't anything extraordinary though it was pretty good. Prices were actually pretty cheap, but ala carte prices are probably more expensive than lunch.

We go here every couple of months, this time they have really improved, the food was great, and the atmosphere was really nice. The vegan cheese starter selection is really special. Great cocktails and deserts.

They have changed the menu recently.

Undoubtably one of the best restaurants I have ever been to; unfortunately the prices are wildly prohibitive and the portions small. A three course meal, just about enough to fill you up with two drinks came to £70 per person! But, the fare was outstanding! The place itself is very charming and cosy. The vegan chocolate desert comes particularly recommended, but then so does the entire menu!

What a gem! This place was wonderful. We were there on Sunday night and things were pleasantly calm. I shared the nut cheese sampler with friends - it was beautiful and delicious. I had the green Thai curry and chocolate cake with a scoop of ice cream for dessert. I don't usually eat or spend so much (approximately 28 GPB for my share alone) but this was well worth it. Highly recommended!

My partner and I (both vegans) have eaten here three times now and each experience has been quite different. The first time was our anniversary and we got a great corner table, champagne on ice (pre-ordered but they chose a nice one for us) and the atmosphere and service were fab. We are not great fans of the raw food thing, so we didn't really love the cold spring roll starter and I was a also bit iffy about cold 'ravioli' made from beetroot. But the 'cheese' taster plate - three flavours with home made crackers - was really innovative and felt very special. The choc ganache tart was also splendid. We paid approx £100 for the meal and felt that although portions were small and some of the dishes sound better on the menu than in reality, the quality of presentation and care taken with the food was worth paying for. And the 'cheese' course alone was worth the visit! The second time we had lunch. It was Saturday and the place was deserted. Service was surprisingly slow. We had hoped for an exciting brunch menu, which I was sure I'd seen on the website, but we ended up with a very limited choice of basically sandwiches, which weren't anything to write home about. Mine was on a boring baguette and was pretty dry. The third time we went for a birthday celebration with two (non-vegan) friends. We had raved about the place but the friends weren't hugely impressed. The hummus starter and risotto were just 'ok', the 'cheese' plate again didn't disappoint and the two puddings (choc ganache tart and a cheesecake) were gorgeous. But at the end we all felt we'd spent quite a lot for a good but not great meal. The fact that it's 100% vegan is brilliant.

I had high expectations for Saf (Shoreditch) and was not in the least disappointed. Delicious food, good service and a very pleasant atmosphere made this a great experience for me and my two non-veg friends. We started with some refreshing fruit juices from the autumn menu, followed by the edamame and mushroom gyoza, both of which were simply delicious. The bowl of edamame disappeared almost immediately! For mains we had the mushroom farinata, raw pad thai and laksa, all of which were surprising and very tasty. We ended with the orange and chocolate cake (what a treat) and mint tea for all, which we were allowed to enjoy well past the closing time. We were also able to benefit from a 20% discount on the final bill (ongoing promotion for October) so the total price for the three of us was actually ok.
Cooked items are indicated in the menu with a star and there is a good selection available for those who are not fans of raw food. They also have several gluten-free items.
I will most definitely return to Saf and highly recommend it to anyone in London.

I had a really nice evening at Saf, but that was more down to my company than the food or service. The service was a little weak and the food really did not impress me. Part of the party (of 7) arrived late, and it took 4 waiting staff to actually seat them with us!

We shared the tasting plate and mezze platter for starters, all of which was pleasant but not noteworthy. It took a long time for our mains to appear, i had the raw lasagne which sounded wonderful on the menu, but the olives in it completely overpowered every other flavour, so I resorted to eating around the olives. I didn't get to try a dessert (peer pressure), and reading the other reviews it sounds like i should, maybe then i wouldn't have still felt hungry! The best thing i about my Saf experience was my drink called 'horses neck'.

Upon last nights experience I fail to understand the hype about this restaurant, maybe it's the hype which has left me disappointed. I have only been to one other vegan fine dining restaurant which was Millennium in San Francisco, where the flavours in everything I ate were incredible, and a hundred times better than what I experienced last night.

If you want good vegan food and good service in London I'd recommend Manna in Primrose Hill.

Went here for Sunday lunch, didn't have to reserve a table and were seated immediately. Food was great but there is a special sunday lunch menu (we'd not eaten here before so would have preferred to order of the full menu). There were only 4 mains for sunday lunch - a Thai curry and a Phad Thai (which we immediately ruled out as we can get these at any Thai restaurant so wanted something more exclusive) and tofu pancakes or the sunday roast. We both chose the sunday roast as it was heavily advertised on their website. Howeverm the sunday roast is a good few pounds more expensive than the other choices!

The service was slow considering the restaurant wasn't full and we had to remind the waitress a couple of times that we were waiting for drinks.

The starters were good - vegetable maki excellent, soup of the day was just so-so.

Main courses were good but we did wait a long time for them. Sunday nut roast with roast potatoes, parsnips, apple sauce in a red wine gravy. There was plenty of it but not enough gravy so it was dry. Would have been happier if waitress had asked if we'd like some extra gravy on the side but couldn't wave one down. Would have also preferred more vegetables on the plate given this is vegan - there were some kale leaves and equivalent of one parsnip. Would have looked good with some bright carrots on there. Had one dessert to share (chocolate ganache) which was well presented but a small portion.

Overall bill was £75 for lunch for two (no wine) so defo the pricier end of the market for vegan dining. We were also charged £1 for tap water! 12.5% optional service charge was included on the bill.

Given it's a bit out of the way and pricey for the portion sizes, and lack of choice on Sunday lunch I am giving it just 3 stars.

i loved this place and can't wait to go back when the next time i visit london. the food was simply amazing.

as a starter we had the cheese plate (was told it was ideal for 2 people, but we were 4 people sharing and i thought it was just fine).

i had the saf bowl myself, which was truly amazing (except for the fact that i'm not too keen on kimchi, but i guess that doens't belong here) and also got to taste the pad thai (great, but beware of the hot chilis on the side!) and the creamy truffel risotto, which i'm definitely having the next time i'll be there. fantastic!

the cocktails were kind of strong, but they also have non-alcoholic drinks, that looks just as amazing.

for dessert (that we could hardly eat) we had banana ice cream (great), cheesecake (small) and toffee pudding (pudding as in cake) with ice cream.

noone were able to finish their mains, and we all left feeling full, so i can't understand how anyone can complain about small portions, but maybe it was because we went here for dinner.

Probably the best veg restaurant in the world. Would eat here every day, if I wasn't living in another country. Everything I had there is just dead tasty (and dead healthy)! The truffle risotto, the mango soup, the parsnip maki, wow! That place must turn flesh-eaters vegetarian. Haute cuisine! Dead tasty vegan wines!