108 Brasserie Swaps Fish For Falafel With Its Veggie Month Menu

January saw a wash of restaurants swap steak for salad as hashtag Veganuary made a triumphant return to the London food scene. Roll on March and Veggie Month is in full swing, with food stalls and eateries across the capital stocking up on kale and lentils. Amongst them, 108 Brasserie in Marylebone.

The chic dining room is going beyond Veggie Month's call of duty, by going full hog (excuse us) and committing to veganism instead of just vegetarianism. It's plating up a different daily vegan dish for the month, alongside its à la carte menu. Diners hoping for an array of vegan options might therefore be disappointed. But for those tentative diners experimenting with vegan food for the first time, the limited selection is practical.

We start with the soup of the day, which is tomato. It is a rich, robust soup. Our side of Irish soda bread and Guinness brown bread may not be vegan, but it is earns a beatific smile. It’s so delicious we order a second round.

For our main, we order the vegan dish of the day and of the month. The first is a root vegetable tagine. Served with a fruity tomato sauce and olives, the tagine is simple but tasty. There is nothing deceptive about the cauliflower couscous, with its pronounced flavours. Eaten alone it is overpowering; mixed with the tagine it's more agreeable.

The dish of the month is a sweet potato and quinoa falafel bowl. Served on a bed of black rice with chopped avocado and cashew nuts, it's essentially a posh falafel box. That's not a criticism, falafel boxes are great. And the falafels at 108 Brasserie are certainly worthy of any respectable falafel box: moist and flavoursome. And yet, the dish as a whole is uninspiring. The black rice is dry and seems as misfit with the falafel — the addition of a dipping sauce would elevate it.

We finish off with the vegan dessert: grilled pineapple topped with mango chunks and coconut sorbet. It's a zesty, refreshing pudding. The pineapple is perfectly acidic, the mango adds a subtle sweetness and the homemade coconut sorbet is creamy and fragrant. We also venture slightly off-piste and sample the chocolate fondant and homemade peanut butter ice cream. We’re still salivating over the ice cream. It’s so nice, you forget the fondant.

A note is to be made about the service, which is impeccable. Our waiter is friendly, attentive and informative, without being overbearing.

And while 108 Brasserie may not convert you into a vegan with its new menu, it will certainly open your horizons: you don’t need meat to enjoy a meal.

108 Brasserie, 108 Marylebone Ln, Marylebone, London W1U 2QE.