Mono, Glasgow - Restaurants in Glasgow | s1play.com

Mono

Review published on 11/03/2003 © Sunday Herald

Vegan eating places are not traditionally at the cutting end of fashion. Not so sunny, upbeat Mono. None of the cramped, hessian right-onness of the soupy vegan cafŽ here, instead, there's indulgently spacious premises, part rotunda, part vaulted halls, painted in breezy seaside colours. The colour theme is echoed in the coiffure of the serving staff. A funky hair-do seems to be obligatory. Our waitress looked particularly pretty, sporting a combination of little girl bunches and monastic tonsure, with violet, tabby cat markings. She looked a bit like an extra from Cats and was sweet, efficient and helpful too. It was hard to concentrate on ordering -- you just wanted to stroke her head and feed her a saucer of cream.

If you ignore the desserts, (of which more later), Mono is surprisingly good. I say surprisingly, because there's none of that wholemealy stodginess, sloppy imprecision or murkiness with flavours that tends to plague this genre. Flavours are clear, bright and fresh-tasting and dishes are much more inviting than they sound. Someone in the kitchen has a good palate for seasoning, prepared to be bold where necessary, more subtle where appropriate.

A nicely textured parsnip and ginger soup was aromatic but not too sweet (as parsnip soups often are) and seemed strengthened by a deep vegetable stock with none of the thirst-inducing aftermath of stock cubes, however organic or vegan their provenance. A rather too worthwhile-sounding cannellini bean dip was engagingly edible, thanks to the generous amounts of peppery green rocket incorporated in it. Neat filo pastry alms purses filled with yielding smoked tofu and apricot went well with a piquant dip, a sort of salsa/chutney hybrid.

On paper, steamed vegetables and brown rice do not thrill. In practice, I savoured them. The rice - silky, polished and nutty -- had been dressed with a mixture of tahini and lemon juice leaving the grains creamy but not wet, then seasoned with a little fresh coriander. Pepper, courgette, Chinese leaves, broccoli and more were full of flavour, with trickles of salty soy providing another counterpoint. This dish was delicate, delicious and healthy too -- but not didactically so. The cashew korma was more robust. It had the earthiness of turmeric, the bonfire-night smokiness of toasted mustard seeds, a slightly fruity background sweetness and chilli heat, all united in a creamy coconut milk gravy anointing cashew halves and still identifiable chunks of tasty vegetables.

Mono is a what you might describe as a semi-micro-brewery. It ages its own ale, but we concentrated on the home-brewed ginger beer and cranberry lemonade, both of which were suffused with flavour and not excessively sweet. Then we come to desserts, where I have to part company with my vegan comrades. We enter the troubled territory of vegan 'analogues', otherwise known as lookalikes or more pejoratively as foul vegan substitutes for dairy foods. So the 'custard' on the trifle had the starchy, sweet hollowness of that vegan staple, Provamel, while the 'cream' had that tinny, liquorice-like taste you get in Elmlea. (Be vigilant when you buy cream in shops lest you mistake this revolting non-dairy substance for it. Once is enough to sear it in your mind for eternity.) 'Cheesecake' too had an eiderdown of white stuff which left that greasy, floury feeling on the roof of the mouth shared by all dairy substitutes I've ever had the misfortune of sampling. Truly, they should be inflicted on the ultra evangelical vegan tendency only.

Why not poach some pears in home-brewed ginger beer? Or a fruit compote with cashew nut cream? (The latter is entirely delicious.) How about coconut milk rice pudding with red fruits baked in cranberry lemonade? I offer my services as pudding consultant.