Review: SOVA FOOD
On Friday my daughter Sarah suggested we go for some lunch after our regular Saturday trip to the Organic farmers markets in Newmarket Square in Dublin. We wanted to try something new and somewhere we had been meaning to visit for a long time was Sova Food: Vegan Butcher. Sarah had come across Sova Food last year on Facebook when it started out as a regular Friday night pop-up in Paris Wine Bar in Dublin but we had never got around to taking the trip into town. Luckily with the success of their Friday night events they set about something more regular by opening in May in the Mart Project on Rathmines Road which is a rented art space with a few other things going on in it. So on Saturday we both headed in to see what all the hype was about having built up a serious appetite from our weekly veg shop. We arrived at around 12pm and the brunch menu was the only menu available , the evening menu kicks in at 5pm. Even though there were only 4 options we both found something that took our fancy straight away, I went for lentil & aubergine meatballs and Sarah ordered the chia burger. [caption id="attachment_200" align="aligncenter" width="600"] FOREGROUND: Chia Burger. BACKGROUND: Vegan Meatballs[/caption] When the food arrived we were really impressed with the presentation and portion size. We shared our meals and both agreed the Chia Burger was the nicest of the two. Though both were tasty the Chia burger's advantage was it had a bit more taste and kick to it due to the caramelised onion and jalepeno mayo, yum. [caption id="attachment_202" align="aligncenter" width="625"] Close up of the delicious Chia Burger, Nom![/caption] We wolfed our food down so fast, due to being over hungry, that we actually got full too quickly but we took what we had left "to go" as it was so nice we didn't want to waste a bite. We also ordered 3 more burgers to take away for the family at home which went down a treat. [caption id="attachment_197" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Barto Sova; The man behind SOVA FOOD. Making me look even smaller than usual lol[/caption] We met the owner, Barto Sova a very friendly Polish vegan giant, while we were there. His friendly nature and attentiveness really made the experience. The restaurant was busy for that time of the day but we felt well looked after. Barto even took time to explain how the plates are edible as they are made from compressed wheat-bran which we thought was such a novel idea. Though having had a taste edible plates are definitely not my delicacy of choice lol! [caption id="attachment_198" align="aligncenter" width="500"] My edible wheat-bran plate[/caption] Barto also explained he hopes to move the restaurant to a more permanent space at the end of the summer which is exciting. I love the Rathmines area but think if they moved into the middle of town they would do really well. The vegan/plantbased movement is really growing in Ireland and there is increasing demand for restaurants like Sova Food. The Mart project is a nice space but I don't feel it is a suitable forever home for Sova Food so I'm really excited to see where Barto and Sova Food end up late August when we will definitely be back to try the evening menu :)
Would I recommend taking a trip to Sova Food? 100%. A little tip, on our way out the door we heard another table order the Chia burger with a portabello mushroom bun instead of bread as a gluten free option and we were raging we didn't think of it so keep that in mind if you go for the burger :)
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