Your mother’s mantra of ‘eat your vegetables’ probably never brought to mind dishes quite like this. Vanilla Black restaurant, originally from York but now located in the City of London near Chancery Lane, smashes the stereotype of bland, lentil-laden hippie dishes. Instead, Vanilla Black takes a modern, imaginative and ambitious approach to vegetarian cuisine. Result? It is the only vegetarian restaurant in London that’s recommended in the Michelin Guide. At Vanilla Black, it’s not ‘vegetarian cooking’, it’s ‘vegetable cuisine’. The dining areas are spacious and done with art deco-esque flair, Vanilla Black’s cool and comfortable dining room sets the stage for its innovative cuisine. Dishes such as hickory smoked duck egg and Ducketts Caerphilly pudding and sweet potato vindaloo with saffron risotto are sure to make an impression on even the most diehard carnivore. Vanilla Black’s desserts like carrot cake and orange sorbet with crystallised coriander delight the palate.