Manna is heaven for vegetarians

We had just missed Belinda Carlisle when we arrived at Manna in Primrose Hill. Gwyneth Paltrow, who lives just across the road, was nowhere to be seen - she dines here occasionally, at London's longest-established vegetarian restaurant. Its following is so loyal it has survived since the late Sixties, when macrobiotics first became fashionable.

Our own pilgrimage here was an attempt to lessen the strain of eating out when one of you is vegetarian. London is shamefully poor at providing for non-meat eaters and all the trends are for masculine, meaty menus. And when the only offering is based on goat's cheese, aubergine or mushrooms, eating out can lose its thrill.

The vegetarian ordered Moroccan briouat - triangles of filo pastry stuffed with kasha, porcini and tempeh - which were deemed to taste like "spiced oatmeal". Our health fanatic friend opted for an asparagus Caesar salad. It arrived topped with two juicy chargrilled spears, but was overpowered by a heavy saffron aioli and too many parmesan shavings. Capers were an unneccessary confusion. My purple bittersweet salad contained roast beetroot, radish sprouts, radicchio and blue cheese, but was spoiled by the addition of aduki beans, which served only to muddy the otherwise sharp flavours.

My main course, the chef 's salad, contained everything in the kitchen. Artichoke hearts and potato salad in basil mayonnaise, roasted peppers and avocado, butter bean salad and sun-dried tomatoes (remember them?) plus seeds, sprouts and leaves aplenty. My taste buds were baffled. The overall effect was heavy when I'd hoped for lighter pickings.

Other mains went down better, especially with the vegetarian - his burritos may have been fashioned like enchiladas - in long tubes rather than parcelled like a burrito ought to be - but contained tasty sweet potatoes and chickpeas, set off by a sweet and smoky chipotle sauce. And a Manna mezze was a collection of interesting nibbles and salads chosen from the starters list.

For pudding we had lemon pavlova - light and tart - and a good fruit crumble with cream. The desserts were indulgent treats. Of course, they're the only thing you don't need to visit a vegetarian restaurant for.

Manna
Erskine Road, London, NW3 3AJ