Tab Tries: Sunday Roast at the Tipsy Vegan

Head down to the Tipsy Vegan for great vibes and delicious food

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Week four is normally when the reality of being back at University starts to hit. Week five is looming ominously over the horizon and I hadn’t seen a vegetable in days.

So, when the Tipsy Vegan invited us to attend their Halloween party and sample their new vegan roasts, our response was an enthusiastic yes. The Tipsy Vegan is an entirely vegan Speakeasy-style Restaurant at Quayside, that has recently introduced a new Sunday roast menu.

We were lucky enough to be sat right near the band playing, Blue Cinema, who were brilliant and really added a spooky Halloween ambience.

Without further ado, on with the review!

The Drinks

Ginger Sour:

We started off with cocktails, and this one immediately attracted Calum, probably because, as a ginger, he felt a sense of kindred spirit. This was a vegan, gingery take on a whiskey sour. The only feedback on this was “banging”. I thought it was a little too gingery but still delicious.

Ratings: Ella 7/10, Calum 10/10

ginger enjoys ginger sours (image credit: Ella Sheddick)

Strawberry Hibiscus Margarita

As you can probably tell from my delighted facial expression mid-sip, this was amazing. Genuinely one of the sweetest, most interestingly flavoured drinks I have ever had and the salty-sweet rim made me very happy.

Ratings: Ella 10/10, Calum 8/10

joyful margarita energy (Image credit: Calum Stevenson)

The Starters

Spinach and Artichoke baked dip 

Calum really liked this, “super banging” and I agreed that the texture was really interesting. He said he could eat it with a spoon, and in fact, did once we’d run out of pitta chips. I loved the warmth and creaminess of it but I found the flavour of the artichoke a little overpowering.

Ratings: Ella 6/10, Calum 9/10

Arancini

Our favourite by far. If there’s one thing that really impressed us about the food at The Tipsy Vegan, it was how cheesy they managed to make vegan food, these arancini had a really amazing pull-apart cheesiness. It was the perfect texture and the tomato dipping sauce was deliciously sweet and spicy.

I may or may not have said they were better than Aromi arancini, and anyone who knows me knows that is a high compliment.

Ratings: Ella, 9/10, Calum 10/10

sampling the arancini (image credit: Ella Sheddick)

Oyster Mushroom Calamari

We genuinely could not tell that this was not real calamari. The fishy flavour was perfect and the texture was the right level of crunchy without being chewy. Our only feedback was that it maybe needed a dipping sauce, but dipping the calamari in the tomato sauce from the arancini solved this problem.

Ratings: Ella 8/10, Calum 7/10 (“amazing, just not as good as the other two”)

yummy starter spread (image credit: Ella Sheddick)

The Mains

For our mains, we tried two of their new vegan roasts, the sliced beef seitan and the aubergine cutlet.

The beef looked disturbingly realistic, like, as someone who doesn’t eat red meat it took me a couple of minutes to adjust to the idea of eating something that looked that much like steak. I really loved the taste (again, unerringly meaty) but the texture was a little too soft. The aubergine cutlet was delicious and huge and was a really filling substitute for meat.

Fake meat rating: Ella, 6/10, Calum, 6/10

Ok this picture doesn’t do it justice but it was scarily realistic I promise you (Image Credit: Ella Sheddick)

There was a huge variety of sides. My favourite was the garlic sautéed vegetables, while Calum loved the butternut squash. The portion size was huge: for £15 each the roasts were far too big for either of us to finish and were definitely worth the price. We also, of course, had to sample the vegan cauliflower cheese, which was again shockingly cheesy for something vegan, it was my favourite part of the meal.

Sides rating: Ella, 9/10, Calum, 8/10

impressively cheesy cauliflower cheese (image credit: Ella Sheddick)

There’s no better way to head into the horrors of week five than with a delicious and filling Sunday roast: we felt satiated and fully prepared for the intensity of a Cambridge week. Overall, we were hugely impressed by the vegan food (especially the cheesiness!!!) on offer and thoroughly enjoyed our night.

If you’re newly vegan and missing out on a Sunday roast experience, or simply want some good food and good vibes, head down to the Tipsy Vegan on Quayside!!

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Feature image credit: Calum Stevenson

Disclaimer: We received a complimentary meal in exchange for our honest review.