New vegan restaurant has a lot to offer

Meat-eater Neil Littman finds something to enjoy at a new vegan venue in Palmers Green

Somebody asked me what the difference was between reviewing restaurants in Enfield and the other London food critics. I said that I pay for my own meals and only write about the borough of Enfield!

Admittedly, in Enfield we don’t have a great deal of fine-dining or ‘tasting’ menus and the range of cuisines is a bit more limited than in town. For example, no Korean restaurants that I know of and, I was going to add, no vegan ones either – but that’s recently changed.

Genesis Vegan Restaurant (I never got to find out if they were named after the first book of the bible or one of my favourite prog-rock bands) claims to be “a 100% plant-based alchemy restaurant concept”.

I will confess that I am a bit conflicted with vegan cuisine. My preference is for vegan food that is authentic to its roots, such as Mexican or South Indian. But a lot of processing goes on in the name of imitating meat or dairy, and I generally steer clear of vegan cheese. This cuisine, however, is part of a healthy lifestyle and Genesis get a lot of it right.

Opening originally in Spitalfields in 2018, Genesis moved to Palmers Green in 2020 but immediately stalled due to the Covid-19 lockdown and their chef leaving. In the meantime, I was kept entertained by their funky website until they reopened at the beginning of this year with a revamped menu.

With my guest James, the editor of this esteemed paper – who mentioned to me previously his preference for vegan food – it was a great opportunity to meet up, have a chat and find out what was on offer. The interior initially appeared to only have a few tables, but the staff said they had another area at the back.

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As it was lunchtime and having a busy schedule, we only ordered burgers and drinks. James ordered ‘ABC Juice’, a blend of apple, beetroot, carrot and lemon, and I went for ‘Forbidden Fruit’ which sounded like an invitation to the Garden of Eden and contained a blend of apple, pear and lemon. They also serve a fine selection of alcohol-based cocktails.

The fries at Genesis are amazing. A meal of fries alone would have been good enough, but it would have made for a very short review!

James said his burger was up there with the best he’d eaten. He ordered ‘Premium Flank Burger’ seasoned with coffee and cocoa and plantain slaw. I had the ‘Jerk Burger with Redefine Meat Patty’ that comes with cheese, caramelised onions, jerk barbecue sauce, plantain sauce, sliced red onions, sliced tomatoes and lettuce. To be honest it could have been served hotter and there wasn’t quite enough jerk flavour or sauce, but I enjoyed more of the amazing fries with ketchup and mayo for dipping.

Other items of the menu include ‘Kimchi Fritters with Korean Gochujang Cheese Sauce’ and various bowls, curries, and stews. The service is very friendly, welcoming, and informative, including insights about the food and those fries!

Our bill came to £42 including drinks, plus service charge. Dine-in and takeaway options, with delivery, are available.

Genesis Vegan Restaurant can be found at 60 Aldermans Hill, Palmers Green N13 APP. It’s open from Wednesday to Thursday, 5pm-9.30pm; Friday to Saturday, 12pm-9.30pm; and Sunday 12pm-3pm. For more information and to book:
Call 020 3952 9188
Visit eatgenesis.com

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