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You are here: Home / Restaurants / London restaurants / Tibits – a vegetarian restaurant with a twist

Tibits – a vegetarian restaurant with a twist

by Jeanne Horak on June 30, 2011 7 Comments in London restaurants

TibitsRestaurant © J Horak-Druiff 2011

 

I’m sad to say, but the phrase “we’re going to a vegetarian restaurant for dinner” does not usually inspire whoops of delight in my house.  Nick, for a start,  believes that any proper meal contains meat (!) and although I am not a huge red meat fan, I do tend to feel a little cheated if there is not even a possibility of fish or shellfish on the menu.  But when I was invited to review Tibits vegetarian restaurant and found out that you pay for your food by weight, my curiosity was piqued.  I had recently seen a TV programme about the poularity of pay-by-weight restaurants in Brazil but had never heard of one in London.  I was intrigued.

Back in 1898, three Swiss brothers (Reto, Christian and Daniel Frei) came up with the idea of starting a high-class fast food vegetarian restaurant – but to put their idea into practice they needed the support of a professional with a background in gastronomy. As luck would have it, Rolf & Marielle Hiltl, owners of the Hiltl Restaurant (Europe’s oldest vegetarian restaurant founded in 1889) heard about Frei brothers’ business idea in the media and contacted them.  Together, they founded a company to develop the idea further and the embryonic Tibits was born.

Tibits is situated just off Regent Street in a rather lovely pedestrianised street filled with plants, directly opposite old Moroccan favourite Momo.  The sleek and spacious interior is filled with natural light from the floor to ceiling windows as well as the huge skylight at the back of the restaurant.  Upstairs there is an elliptical buffet bar (referred to as the food boat) with cold food on the lower level, hot food on the upper level and garnishes, sauces and bread rolls (including gluten-free options) at the ends. Each dish on the buffet (about 30 in total) is clearly labelled, with main ingredients listed below and many dishes are Middle-Eastern, Asian or Thai-inspired.  Once you have piled your plate with the dishes of your choice, your food is weighed by the lovely, smiley staff at the bar and you pay accordingly.  At lunch, 100g costs £1.95 and at dinner, £2.15.

 

TibitsBuffet2

TibitsBuffet1

TibitsCollageBuffet

 

Downstairs there are more tables (including a lovely long table directly underneath the skylight) and a kids’ play area (a bonus for mums who cannot face another meal at Giraffe!). Being food bloggers, Michelle and I bagged the table directly under the skylight for its great natural lighting and contemplated our food choices while sipping on one of the new Tibits bottled fresh fruit juices squeezed on the premises (carrot and orange for me; strawberry for Michelle). Both of us felt that our juices could have done with a little extra oomph, but they were pleasant and free from preservatives and colourings.  A non-bottled Red Fitness (non-alcoholic apple, fennel, lemon and blackcurrant juice blend – £3.40) and Michelle’s strawberry cocktail (alcoholic) were better – packed with flavour and very fresh.

 

TibitsCollage1

TibitsCocktail

My first run to the buffet was to check out the cold foods.  There was a great selection, from the pedestrian to the fairly exotic; for the lovers of green leaves as well as the lovers of pulses; and a great range of salad dressings and sauces.  I came back with vegetable antipasti (tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, basil and balsamic); red rice salad (camargue rice with peppers and courgettes); mushroom antipasti (various types of marinated mushrooms with bell pepper bits); green olives; rocket salad; red pepper hummus; and teriyaki seeds & crispy onion to top the rocket salad (£7.50 in total, plus a free bread roll).  Michelle filled her plate with Lebanese tabouli; black quinoa salad; Indian chickpeas; and aubergine antipasti.  My runaway favourite was the heavenly red pepper hummus which was creamy and slightly sweet from the peppers. I was also impressed by the chewy, nutty rice salad; the mushroom antipasti; and thought I might like to be left alone with an entire bowl of the crispy onion bits and a spoon (yes, it was that good). I was also impressed by Michelle’s quinoa salad and the tabouli, but found the chickpeas to be underspiced and both the vegetable and aubergine antipasti to be fine but uninspiring.

 

TibitsSalads2

TibitsSalads1

There were fewer hot foods than cold and I have to say that there was a definite leaning to the starchy side:  lots of potato, plus pasta, plus dough in the samoosas.  Not a problem for me, but disconcerting if you are avoiding carbs.  On my second run to explore the hot foods, I came back with creamy vegetable curry, spicy potato wedges, bami goreng (Indonesian spicy stir-fried noodles and vegetables), jalapeno chilli poppers (jalapeno chillies filed with cream cheese, crumbed and deep-fried), falafel (fried chickpea patties), vegetable samoosa, and yet more of the red pepper hummus (topped with their home-made harrissa paste) for £5.80.  I found the falafel to be a little dry and disappointing (this could be a function of the fact that they are relatively small patties) but liked the vegetable curry and the samoosa, which was doughy but well-spiced.  The jalepeno poppers were very moreish but the highlight of the hot foods for me was the deliciously spicy bami goreng. I loved the harissa/hummus combination as well as the taste I had of their home-made tomato chutney.

 

TibitsHot

Desserts were the only duff note.  Not only was the dessert section of the buffet the only part that looked like it had been mauled by customers, the desserts just were not very visially appealing.  The apple cake looked as if it had disintegrated; the muesli with fruit yoghurt looked like purple gravel; and the cheesecake squares looked beige and apologetic.  Still, we persevered and tried a few.  The fruit salad looked innocuous enough, but it was the bowl of ripe strawberries that caught my eye.  I also took some of the apologetic-looking cheesecake and some vibrant yellow mango mousse.  The strawberries were good, other than harbouring some mushily squished fruit at the bottom of the bowl; the cheesecake had a peculiar gritty texture; and the mango mousse seemed a little heavy on the cream and not so heavy on the mango.  Not a highlight.  But the coffee that I ordered was very good.

 

TibitsDessert

 

All in all, I liked tibits.  Although not every dish was stellar, I was impressed by the range of food and by the fact that even towards the end of the lunch rush, the dishes did not look messy and decimated as buffets sometimes can – staff regularly replaced dishes and tidied up the serving area. I also liked the decor and the smiley bar staff, and I thought that the prices represented good value for money.  If I worked close by, I’d be in here every day buying lunch as it’s quick, ralatively cheap, and healthy – and the paying by weight idea is very democratic.  As it is, I don’t work nearby, but I do have vegetarian friends, and this is definitely one of the better places in London to take them for a meal.  Click here to read Michelle’s review of our meal and click here for a few extra photos in my Flickr abum of the meal.

Thank you to Tibits and Wavelength PR who arranged and sponsored this meal.

 

Tibits
12-14 Heddon Street
off Regent Street
London
W1B 4DA

Tel.  +44 (0) 20 7758 4110
Fax  +44 (0)20 7734 0428
E-mail: [email protected]

tibits on Urbanspoon

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  1. Johanna says

    July 1, 2011 at 1:35 am

    Being so close to my school, I used to go to tibits regularly if not all that frequently, I never even came across the dessert section… Mind you, I was doing takeaway most of the time! Love that they have a children’s area, so rare in central London!

    Reply
  2. Firefly says

    July 1, 2011 at 8:59 am

    The Damselfly is also one of those who believe that there has to be something meaty (no matter what type) on a plate. I don’t mind the odd vegitarian dish though.

    Reply
  3. Stephanie says

    July 1, 2011 at 9:38 am

    So, when I come to visit…we’ll go here, yes?

    Reply
  4. norma says

    July 1, 2011 at 3:30 pm

    Everything looks so good. We have these all over NYC.

    Reply
  5. Herschelian says

    July 2, 2011 at 4:58 pm

    Tibits sounds excellent, but Jeanne I am surprized that you say Hitl is Europe’s oldest vegetarian restaurant (founded in 1989) – Cranks was established in Carnaby Street in London in 1961 and paved the way for all the other veggie restaurants that followed (I still have their excellent recipe book) It eventually became a small chain – although they closed in London in 2001, they still have a restaurant in Devon; but maybe you meant mainland Europe excluding the UK? http://www.cranks.co.uk/the-restaurant

    Reply
  6. Juliane says

    July 4, 2011 at 4:50 pm

    love vegetarian food and I’m sure I’d love Tibits! Wonderful photos! So glad I discovered you- following you now:-)
    ~Juliane of http://www.StyleNectar.com

    Reply
  7. Kerrin @ MyKugelhopf says

    July 14, 2011 at 12:00 pm

    wow, what a write-up ! and fun to read about tibits, a place i have certainly been to more than once here in zürich (but not to the one in london). and especially since hiltl is my favorite restaurant of all ! and i am no vegetarian either. i think following your review here, a pilgrimage is in order to visit the original. 😉
    and indeed, herschelian, hiltl is europe’s oldest vegetarian restaurant – founded in 1898. (jeanne, you have the dates a bit mixed up above. the frei bros teamed up with hiltl in 1998.)

    Reply
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Jeanne Horak is a freelance food and travel writer; recipe developer and photographer. South African by birth and Londoner by choice, Jeanne has been writing about food and travel on Cooksister since 2004. She is a popular speaker on food photography and writing has also contributed articles, recipes and photos to a number of online and print publications. Jeanne has also worked with a number of destination marketers to promote their city or region. Please get in touch to work with her Read More…

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