Café Maitreya, St Marks Road

Maitreya Social
89 St Mark's Road, Easton, Bristol, BS5 6HY
http://www.cafemaitreya.co.uk


Maitreya Social has been on my "want" list for an age, but being a vegetarian restaurant i'm often put off suggesting it to my very carnivore friends. As it was a friend was having a birthday party at the Plough in Easton so it made perfect sense to eat at Maitreya Social before the party.

The restaurant is on the thriving St Marks Road near the Thali Café and the Sweet Mart. Its a small cosy café with a bright and airy feel and an open kitchen. We were placed on small corner table for two, and smartly placed side-by-side round the back of the table so we could both people watch and take it all in. The kitchen was right next to us which I loved as I could watch the chef's in action.

We perused the menu, salivating over every dish. I tend to choose vegetarian when we're out if its looks like the most exciting option so I was in heaven. The meat loving husband was a little out of his depth, but he valiantly went for it and together we picked 6 dishes off the menu which we were happy to share.

For starters we opted for the grilled somerset goats cheese crotin with sundried tomato palmiers, butternut squash pureé and basil oil and the sautéed butterbean & pistachio cakes with beetroot pureé, pickled carrot and dill & tahini dressing. The service was quick, cheerful and efficient and the starters wonderful. I loved the butterbean cakes and husband loved the crotins and both dishes were expertly polished off.

For our mains we picked roasted butternut squash tarte-tatin with homemade all butter puff pastry and smoked applewood cheddar served with pak-choi and herby lentils and the caramelised leek, peanut & local ewe's cheese filo pie served with braised cannellini beans, savoy cabbage and sour sultanas. I knew immediately that I wanted to order the tarte-tatin and was raving all about it on the way to the restaurant. However, when it arrived I was so disappointed. It just wasn't very flavorsome and the pak-choi was a poor choice of slimy companion. I then tasted the filo pie and refused to give it back, in comparison it was tasty, wonderfully crisp and the sour sultanas really worked against the creamy cheese. It was scrummy! Happily husband didn't mind the tarte-tatin so the swap worked well.

For dessert there was no deliberation on either of our parts; one dark chocolate truffle torte served with pistachio praline and blood orange sorbet for husband and one spiced apple & marzipan cake served with amaretto ice cream for me. There was the polite taster of each others, but no more. We were not sharing our desserts under any circumstances. Both of us declared their dessert better than the other; but seeing as I'm the one writing the blog and not husband, the apple and marzipan cake wins by a mile.

We loved the chilled out vibe of the Maitreya Social, the food was outstanding, the service quick and polite and the bill reasonable. We could not find fault with it. Highly recommended for veggies and carnivores alike!