Bubala – Oyster mushroom skewers, halloumi & rose ice

The weather is giving summer and I am here for it! Every man and his dog is out in these London skreets ha! I do love summer in my city! Today’s food adventure was different to say the least. Bubala’s a la carte menu is served as sharing plates but there is also a ‘Bubala knows best’ sample menu, and dang! They did a ting okay! Like these guys have me thinking about converting to vegan because the food is lip smacking good 👌!  Let’s get into it. The sample menu kicked off with a variety of small plates that included pickle plate, laffa bread, humus burnt butter and labneh. Essentially bread and dips and it was yuuuuummmy! The laffa bread was huge, served fresh and hot / warm and you were warned not to get carried way with it because it was too good ha! And the dips? The humus burnt butter with chickpeas was divine.

You best believe at this point, I was ready to for whatever was coming out the kitchen cos boiiiiii!!! The halloumi gave cinnamon roll vibes – it was warm, sweet and savoury. It really a mix between a fluffy brioche roll and a pancake.. The best halloumi I have ever had! The smacked cucumbers had a kick to it, chilli and savoury.

One time for the oyster mushroom skewers. Not going to like, when I read this on the menu, let’s just say my vision vs the actual dish was waaayyyy off. The dish arrived looking like some char grilled thingy magig.

 See? I mean I was not expecting that and had no inkling on how good it was going to taste but my goodness! Whoever did the marinating needs a raise because whoooaaahhhhh, it was DELICIOUS! It was grilled perfect, the flavour was rich and smoky, plus, who ever thought to pick these mushrooms, again, needs a raise because it was meaty (think chicken bbq) and honestly, would come back here just to order the mushrooms. Yep, it was that good! The  grilled cauliflower also did not disappoint in flavour and taste, because yeah, cauliflower is one of those that can be hit or miss, I think anyway. The confit potato latkes were equally good.

The way the menu was presented, layered, from light to heavy was pretty cool. Very evident that these guys put a lot of effort into the menu and it showed! Gem shisho, hazelnut and apple was sweet and refreshing salad, that was really scrumptious. Pudding was malabi, grape slated pudding and  rose ice and ouuuu.. it was amaze balls.

It reminded me of the rice pudding we had at Darjeeling express – texture, sweetness and so refreshing like a palate cleanser. T’was the perfect way to end this meal.

Bubala, a different but truly a vegan delight ❤️👏🏽

Cheers

Ndidi