Romantic Valentine’s Dinner at Sweet ‘N’ Seasoned

This year I was incredibly lucky to win a Valentine’s dinner at Sweet ‘N’ Seasoned through an Instagram giveaway. We have never been a couple to celebrate Valentine’s Day, but this was too good to pass up!

After enjoying a delicious vegan brunch there with my brunch gals last summer, I was looking forward to sharing the same with my husband. Sweet ‘N’ Seasoned is a waffle diner that specialises in all day breakfast for every diet. They also have a wonderful vegan menu. Little did we know, a full 5 course meal was awaiting us, with nary a brunch item in sight! Though the majority of the menu was vegan, there were fish and steak options for mains as well.

I am not vegan myself, but I am extremely lactose intolerant. For that reason, I follow a dairy free diet. This often means I’ll opt for a vegan item on a menu rather than asking the kitchen to make all sorts of substitutions. Over the last few years of this, I have gotten fairly well-versed in the current state of vegan offerings out there. It’s getting better but still extremely hit and miss! Sweet ‘n’ Seasoned is definitely one of the hits.

To Start

Upon entering the diner, we were greeted with a glass of prosecco and lovely decor. They clearly had a lot of fun decorating with heart balloons and confetti! Our Valentine’s dinner at Sweet ‘N’ Seasoned began with an assorted canape sharing platter. The omni platter included filo prawns, spicy meatballs, spring rolls, and tuna mayo profiteroles. The filo prawns were my favorite!

My husband ordered the mushroom risotto ball and I had the “salmon” sashimi, both vegan, to start. I still cannot believe how like salmon the sashimi tasted! It was truly a revelation. And in my husband’s eyes, the only way to possibly improve on the perfection of a good risotto is to deep fry it. So he was of course incredibly pleased with his arancini.

The Main Event

For mains I had fish with Anna potatoes and my husband had steak and mash. Unfortunately, we waited quite a long time before getting our mains. The fish and steak were both tasty, but after such an impressive selection of canapes and starters, they fell a bit flat. However, the chefs more than redeemed themselves with dessert. We both had the baked vegan cheesecake. It was absolutely divine. Smooth and creamy, not too sweet, with perfectly crumbly base. Decadence on a plate! To finish the meal they presented a few chocolatey bits, but at that point we were so stuffed we hardly touched them.

Everything was delicious, even if our mains weren’t quite as exciting as the rest of the meal. We would’ve happily paid the £45 a head for the quality and inventiveness of the food. And it was so refreshing to have vegan options as the default!

The Takeaway

Before we left, we made a point to speak with the chefs. I thanked them profusely for such a delicious meal, and shared my delighted surprise that we weren’t offered a single brunch item! We discovered this was a way for them to start dipping their toes back into the catering/private chef waters again. They took a few years off to focus on the diner and wanted to stretch their creative muscles! All I can say is I am very much looking forward to seeing them put on more events like this in the future.

Unfortunately, due to rent hikes and the current pandemic, Sweet ‘N’ Seasoned have had to leave their premises. But I doubt they’ll be down for long as they are a resourceful duo! Luckily, we snagged a box of their “Vegan Brunch for 2” takeaway special that ran a few weeks before they shut their doors for good. So we’ve satisfied the waffle craving for now, but can’t wait to see what they get up to next!