Friday Evenings at Opus

It's Friday evening, work is done for the week and you want to go somewhere special for dinner, where do you go? Well, Opus might be a good option!

They are now offering a Friday Evenings at Opus menu, which is two courses for £25pp, you can pick which two courses you want and it also includes a bottle of wine and a selection of bread. The whole premise of the menu is to use organic British local produce that reflects the season and is "garden fresh".

That's the salesy bit done.

I was intrigued to see how this changing menu would be adapted to suit a vegan diet. From my experience, establishments such as this are normally not very experienced in adapting to vegan diets, I wondered if Opus would be the exception.

I have never been to Opus before but have gone past there numerous times and heard good things. So being invited to an intimate blogger event was the best chance to try it for the first time. We all arrived and were seated in the bar area, where we were given nibbles, which included pakoras and questions (like the one below).

We were then shown to our table, to pick a seat, and taken for a mini tour in the kitchen and to meet the chef.

 Onto the food! My starter was a Tomato Soup that was slow roasted and was made dairy-free for me. It was creamy, full of flavour that was sweet yet smokey. I would happily have this again and it left me highly anticipating the main course. It was a generous portion for a starter and the bread on the table was a great accompaniment for it.

 My main course was an assortment of garden vegetables, which were beetroot, carrot, asparagus and courgette. They were done to perfection but as this is only vegetables and the portion was on the small side, I was left hungry and disappointed. A fellow blogger commented that this looked like a side dish and that is exactly what it felt like. I looked at everyone else's plates in envy, which were stacked high with either meat and veg, fish and veg or beetroot risotto. I wish the same thought had been put into the vegan choice.

Considering that I could go to The Warehouse Cafe and have a three-course meal for around £20, this was a little disappointing and shows that no research has been undertaken into vegan cooking. However, the menu changes daily, so I hope the vegan option changes. As the culinary prowess is there, but thought is lacking. One day high-end eatery's will be well-versed in all things vegan, I cannot wait for that day!

More information - http://www.opusrestaurant.co.uk/friday-evenings-at-opus/

*I was invited to try the 2 courses from the Friday Evenings at Opus menu and it was complimentary*