When it comes to new year’s resolutions its often difficult to know where to start. Eat less, drink less, exercise more, read more, generally try and move on from the corpulent pig you became over Christmas. Since 2014, Veganuary has been encouraging people to switch to a plant-based diet for the first month of the year. Unlike its alcoholic cousin dry January, this seeks to benefit the planet rather than just yourself and doesn’t necessarily involve abstinence and self-denial, as Bokan 37’s Vegan Tasting Experience amply demonstrates.
Vegan fine dining shouldn’t be a particularly controversial concept. After all, Daniel Humm removed meat and dairy from his cooking at Eleven Madison Park in 2021 and comfortably retained his three Michelin stars. His attempt to do the same at Davies and Brook, however, caused Claridge’s to have such an attack of the vapours that they were willing for Humm to leave the restaurant rather than subject their regulars to a menu that lacked meat. It’s fair therefore to say the battle has not yet been fully won but Bokan 37’s offering is another step towards the normalisation of plant-based eating at the higher echelons of the restaurant world.
And high this is. Depending on who you listen to, Canary Wharf has either always been dead or was briefly alive but is now dying as bankers and lawyers scurry back to the City. Five minutes in the area reveals this for the nonsense it is. Extensive residential development, multiple shopping centres, waterfront bars and restaurants and transport links to die for mean the area is bustling and vibrant 7 days a week. What it didn’t have, oddly for an area dominated by skyscrapers, was a venue at height. Bokan 37 delivers that in spades, its industrial edged dining room occupying the 37th floor of the recently opened Novotel hotel on Marsh Wall (and with a bar on the floor above and a roof terrace to boot). The views are all the more spectacular for offering a perspective on the London skyline hitherto reserved for office workers. There are not many places where a brief turn of the head from left to right gives you the Eye, the Shard, Tower Bridge and the City.
View thoroughly drunk in, we commenced our experience. First up was an amuse bouche of aubergine caviar, offering contrasting textures between the crunch of the biscuit and the smoothness of the aubergine paste, with a touch of spice to add some bite. The first course proper was a risotto with cauliflower and a saffron mayonnaise. This again provided competing textures with a slight vinegary edge to pep up the cauliflower. Next up was one of the dishes of the night, a pumpkin soup accompanied by pumpkin seed bread and a pumpkin foam. This was extraordinary, appearing so rich and thick that you could almost swear they’d cheated and put cream in it but without the heaviness when eaten that dairy would have brought. A perfect winter dish and one crying out to be consumed in vast quantities round a bonfire.
The vol au vent came in a crisp thin pastry rather than puff containing a variety of tomatoes enhanced with some Tropea onion. The effect was a little bit like a Bolognese without the mince although arguably a little bland, especially if like me you’re not a huge fan of tomatoes. Far more engaging was the sea broth. For those who find comfort in mapping vegan dishes to a carnivorous equivalent this operated almost like a fish dish, with tofu providing the “meat” and the briny broth and seaweed spaghetti imparting the eponymous taste of the sea.
The Beetroot zeppole was less amenable to a meaty comparison, although the stunning presentation did give the slight impression of a blood splattered plate. The dish however offered a contrast of sweet and savoury, with perfectly formed donuts providing a sweet counterpoint to the rich balls of beetroot they encased.
The first dessert course was equally rich, an almost mousse like blackcurrant sorbet with a real depth of flavour, putting my untutored palate in mind of undiluted Ribena (but a lot nicer than that sounds). The finale was a vegan chocolate mousse and tart, again garnished with blackcurrants which provided a tartness that cut through the sweetness of the chocolate.
For those whose sense of betterment doesn’t extend to dry January there is a full wine list – we enjoyed a bottle of Grenache Blanc la Loupe from the Languedoc, which went well with all the courses (and one advantage of a plant-based menu is it removes the compulsion to move from white to red as you proceed).
All in all, a meal that was a far cry from the (already outdated) stereotype of vegan food as bland and colourless and further proof that good chefs can create interesting and flavoursome dishes without needing meat, fish or dairy. Even if you’re not doing the full Veganuary it’s well worth a try, and there is also a non-vegan tasting experience available meaning you can still bring committed carnivores along. If nothing else, go for the view.
Vegan Tasting Experience £99pp, wine paring £79pp, https://bokanlondon.co.uk/restaurant/