Hot Dinners popped down last night to the Tramshed in Old Street to the launch of London's latest pop-up - the Innocent 5 for 5 Cafe.
With food created by TV chef Gizzi Erskine, the pop up is a full-on healthy affair, with a meal there designed to complete your 5 a day requirements. Gizzi told us; "The whole point of the Five for Five thing is that we're doing 2 courses for £5 and in your two courses you're going to get your 'five a day'. And in order to achieve that, we've done it totally vegetarian. As a non-vegetarian and as a massive meat eater, I wanted to make sure with every dish that no-one was missing the meat. But I am a believer that we are over-eating meat and there's an ethical message in there as well."
We then asked her what punters can expect from the menu - and what would she recommend? "My favourite things are - to start with - the beetroot and horseradish pierogi with pickled red cabbage and sour cream - that rocks. For your main course, I'd either get the root vegetable bhajis with grilled paneer cheese and dal saag or the sweet potato brik, which has got a gooey egg in the middle, with chickpea and roasted pepper salad. It's flipping phenomenal!"
"For puddings you've got things like meringues with autumnal fruit compote and an amazing rice pudding creme brulee with a rich compote in the middle."
The ethical message also carries through to the sourcing of the cafe's food - "It's all seasonal, as much local produce as we could get, nothing's been air freighted - all very ethical."
The Tramshed itself has been decorated to echo the five-a-day message with stylish posters, prints and paintings gently reminding diners of the message. Innocent is aiming to give 5000 Londoners their five-a-day during the eight days that the pop-up is running - and as you leave you'll be encouraged to leave your thumbprint on a huge poster by the day to indicate that you've had your daily five.
We reckon the menu sounds wonderful - and it's pretty amazing value for £5. If you fancy popping along, the cafe's open from 1st - 3rd and 5th - 8th October. Find out more details on the 5 for 5 cafe website.
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