While is may not have a sexy name, this double-decker bus turned vegan restaurant tucked off Dray’s Walk is a real gem. I have walked by it dozens of times, even looking at the menu on occasion, but never actually climbed the narrow steps to try it out. This was clearly a mistake, so I have discovered it not a moment too soon!

Although the promised rain did not arrive today, I awoke (late and sore) to a dreary, gray, cold day. The perfect kind of day to hole up in a café with a consistent supply of tea and make some progress on my Global Trade law final paper (or writing eclectic restaurant reviews, as it were!) I was ridiculously optimistic to think that the Market Café in Spital fields would have a free table on a Sunday at lunch time. Stomach growling, I turned back on my heels towards Dray’s Walk where I had noticed that both the red bus and Story Deli to be relatively free of people.

Upon stepping up to the Rootmaster bus window, I could see that there was plenty of room upstairs and the soup of the day was winter squash. Perfect. I settled in at a table and ordered from the very friendly waitress. As she set my tea down, she informed me the milk was rice milk because ‘it tastes better than soy in tea.’ What kind of place is this?

“You don’t serve regular milk?”
“No, wer’re vegan.”
I tried not to look worried. “No animal products, right?” I enquired, trying to remember just how many culinary pleasures vegan cooking foregoes.
“Yes, I was a bit skeptical myself when I started working here, but the chef does a great job, everything is fantastic!”

No doubt. The squash soup was brilliant – not perfectly pureed, lumps of vegetable and some lentils gave the well-balanced flavoured soup a nice texture. More people had filled the other tables and so I refrained from licking the bowl. I could have eaten a loaf of the ‘bus-made’ bread on the side. Tracy Chapman played over the wall-mounted speakers appropriately adding to the casual, simple, slightly-retro red and black interior. Still hungry, I asked to see a menu again and was informed that the chef was just putting the finishing touches on a tea cake that had just come out of the oven. Yes, please! The cake was visibly moist with a light, sweet glaze on top and combined some chunks of fruit and nuts into a not-at-all-too-rich chocolate cake. A second cup of tea to go with the tea cake was all I needed, but not before taking a peek at the dinner menu with future plans…