Vegan MoFo - Review: David Bann

My friend Mary had a birthday today, so a large group of her friends went to David Bann, Edinburgh's schmancy vegetarian restaurant.  I've been to David Bann before and wasn't terribly impressed.  I almost didn't go because of it, but then they suddenly changed their menu.  They now actually have more than two vegan options, so I didn't have to have Asian spaghetti this time!

We went with the three-course menu, since I could actually get something from all three courses.  I started with the Thai fritters - smoked tofu, broccoli, peas, ginger, herbs and spices.  They were served with a banana chutney and plum dressing.  The fritters and plum dressing were pretty good.  I didn't try the banana chutney because I'm not fond of bananas.  I washed it and my main down with Sam Smith's organic cider.

My main was the chilli crepe (vegan option, natch).  I liked it - the chocolate sauce was interesting, but not bad.  It just gave it a little bit of sweetness and depth.  The printed menu had the wrong description, so I was expecting potato in there somewhere, so the lack of it was a little disappointing (since I decided on it because of the potato).  Overall, though, I liked it.

Dessert, however, was another story.  I don't know what it is about vegan desserts that most restaurants seem to not be able to get right.  There was only one vegan dessert option - raspberries in jelly, orange drizzle cake, and coconut rum sorbet.  The jelly was atop the cake, which was about the size of a hockey puck, and they honestly put about 1/2 tablespoon of sorbet on top of the jelly.  I took a bite of the jelly and thought, oh sweet Jesus, what did I do to deserve this?  I don't know what they made it from, but it wasn't the stuff that mimics gelatin.  I can't really describe it, but it was wrong, and this was verified by someone else.  The cake was nice, but insubstantial, as was the sorbet.  I would've preferred twice as much of those and none of the jelly, but what can you do?

Everyone else loved their food, though the person who got the risotto said it wasn't enough.  It's a good place to take people you want to impress, especially if they're vegetarian.  Now that they have the new menu, I would probably go back to David Bann, but I sure as hell won't get dessert again if they only have that option.