Reviews The Gate Hammersmith

Went there with a couple of colleagues for an early dinner. Had booked a table or it would’ve been a struggle to get space in this small establishment in close proximity to theatres. Limited menu but what was served was very good and washed down with some beers. Nice experience and definitely worth a visit.

Don’t be fooled by the many fancy restaurant review blogs you read here. We’re actually on the verge of being good lifers. We recycle, use almost exclusively environmentally friendly cleaning products and we have an allotment. Now when I say ‘we’, I mean that only in the loosest terms. I never go there, I don’t own Wellies or walking boots, so my heels would get stuck in the mud. Besides, worms, snails and other slimy unmentionables send me into paroxysms of hysteria. I can confidently say that I’m not really a natural. But the Lovely Husband enjoys it. So much so, that lately, he’s even taking up beekeeping to add our own honey to his fabulous harvest of aubergines and artichokes, blackberries and blueberries and a great many more juicy, fresh goodies. He’s quite the Richard Briers of Barnes, albeit, in my opinion, a lot better looking, very much more fun and, blessedly, he doesn’t wear baggy cardigans.

Great place to be in..... We were group of 6 and had the best veg food around in London... This place is just 5-7 mins walk from Hammersmith station and it's behind the big theatre.. my personal favorite were beetroot main dish and banofiee pie.... Even the bread which these guys served in the begining with olive oil was awesome

The Gate vegetarian restaurant in Hammersmith has been running since 1989 and I have been meaning to go there since…1989. I used to live less than half a mile away and haven’t eaten meat for over thirty years so you would have thought that as someone who thinks nothing of popping over to France for lunch, that I might have made the effort.

I'm an omnivore. I eat almost anything so am lucky enough to be able to eat wherever I want. Most restaurants have a choice of dishes, so those  who don't or can't eat something can choose a dish that they can eat, but the selection's normally limited, so for vegetarians to have a restaurant serving a full vegetarian menu must be a relief. Especially when it's as good as The Gate. I'd heard about The Gate as it's in my local-ish area but hadn't been until I was invited to try it out recently. The Gate Restaurant is just behind Hammersmith Appollo and is in a beautifully light room with massive windows. Not only do they have a great veggie menu but I really liked the drinks options too. Liv and I started with a really refreshing elderflower and cucumber fizz, made with elderflower syrup, cucumbers and soda water (funnily enough!). I've had versions of this before and this was a brilliant one. Other soft drink options were a palauxma - pink grapefruit, limes, honey, mint and soda; carrot, beetroot, ginger and celery juice; or fresh mint tea. After our elderflower fizzes we shared a carafe of white wine.For starters we shared a courgette flower filled with sweet potato, goats cheese, pine nuts and basil, coated in crisp batter, served with puy lentil salsa and a garlic & lemon aioli...

In September 2013 the Gate re-opened after a refurbishment. Finding the place can be a challenge: you walk from Hammersmith down a side street next to the Apollo theatre, and there is an entrance gate on the left shared with a separate business. Walk along the path, turn right and ahead of you is a building. To the right of this is the entrance to the restaurant, which is up a flight of stairs. The new dining room, set in a former artist’s studio, is bright, with a picture window to one side and a room with wooden floor, black tables and chairs but no tablecloths.

The menu is entirely vegetarian, just as it always has been since it opened in 1989. Brothers Adrian and Michael Daniel are the owners, the head chef at the Gate being Mariusz Wegrodzki. Mariusz started working at The Gate in 2000, and has been head chef since 2006.

Starters ranged in price from £5.50 to £9, main courses £12.25 to £15.50, side dishes £3.50 to £5 and desserts £5.50 to £9. The wine list started at £18.75 and went up to £58, with wines such as Little Yering Pinot Noir 2011 at £26 for a wine that you can find in the high street for £11, Carrick Unravelled Pinot Noir 2011 at £36 for a wine that retails at £13, and Bishop Glaetzer Shiraz 2010 priced at £58 for a wine that you can find in a shop for £24.

Wasabi potato cake was prettily presented, stuffed with ginger, chilli and pan-fried shiitake mushrooms, with pickled ginger, mouli and seaweed salsa on the side. The spiciness was controlled, the mushrooms nicely cooked, the pickled ginger enlivening the potato (easily 13/20).

Saffron ravioli was filled with ricotta, beetroot, walnuts and basil, garnished with dried cherry tomatoes and watercress and with a sage cream sauce. The pasta was a little crispy at the edges but the filling worked well, the sage flavour a little dominant (12/20).

Apple and fig crumble had reasonable figs, apple that was just a touch undercooked, the crumble pleasant and with good custard with plenty of flecks of vanilla visible; however having strawberries and raspberries on the side in, er, January did not add anything useful and shows a worrying lack of seasonality (12/20). Coffee was from Drury and was pleasant. The bill, with just water to drink, came to £34 per person.

Service was reasonable, though I was surprised that the waiter did not even know the name of the head chef (who was not, anyhow, present). This was a pleasant enough meal, the dishes attractively presented and quite well made, showing that you do not need a hunk of protein in order to produce an appealing plate of food. If you drank a modest wine then the bill would be about £50 a head.

One amazing experience! Totally worthy every penny. The food was delicious and I can say is the best vegetarian I have tried in the uk. Every plate is exquisite and enjoyable. The atmosphere is really nice and the people working are really patient and friendly. Highly recommend!!

Absolutely one of the best dining experiences we’ve had; the selection was superb with perfectly complemented flavours and textures through each dish. We loved it so much we went for 3 courses and yea and coffee. Expensive but we’ll worth every penny. It’s hard to prepare vegan and veggie dishes to such a high standard. It takes a real talent to nail it like this.

I originally came to this place knowing that they are autism friendly (through national autistic society autism friendly restaurant) and my experience with them has exceeded my expectations. Not only is the food great quality, but the atmosphere is spot on! On top of these, their service is exceptional and the server with the blonde hair and glasses is the absolute best! 🙂

Really amazing plant-based restaurant in Hammersmith. We had excellent service so not sure why some past reviews had negative experiences. Our waitress was really lovely and engaging! Great find!

One of the first vegetarian/Vegan restaurants I've tried. Really impressed with the food, it didn't feel like we were eating pure veggie based foods. Some of us went for the three course festive menu (£36) which was a fantastic deal! For the starter I had the wild mushroom risotto cake, it was served lukewarm/slight cold, though I'd preferred it served warm. The flavour was good, with mild mushroom and truffle taste. I'd say it's a pretty generous starter portion that we weren't expecting. My favourite main dish was the aubergine schnitzel. I loved the layered veggies, fried perfectly and finished with a creamy horseradish sauce (I'm not a fan of horseradish so I'm glad the sauce didn't taste much of it). Overall, a well balanced flavour. I also tried my friend's beetroot burger and it was surprisingly good! I didn't think I was eating a veggie burger at all. However, the salad served with the burger could do with some improvements. It looked unexciting and basic. Finally, the desserts wrapped up the meal nicely for us. The dark chocolate sphere was delicious - loved the experience of pouring the hot chocolate sauce over the chocolate ball! We all agreed that the chocolate crumble was a great touch. Compared to the chocolate sphere, the cranberry cheesecake tasted mediocre, though not a bad dessert at all. Personally I think the apple coulis was a little too sharp with the cheesecake. All in all, a fantastic meal. We loved the dining atmosphere and the service was pretty good/attentive. Food was very enjoyable but most of all, we had great company :D Will recommend this place to friends who are not vegetarian or vegan for sure!

Had a lovely evening, service and ambience were great. We ordered practically all the starters (except for bread and olives)- the food was lovely. The only reason I have taken one star away on food is because of the wedges which is the only side we ordered, they were a bit overdone and just generally clunky, didn’t feel like as much thought had gone into them.

Really lovely vegan place with very friendly staff,good service and good menu. The best dishes were the courgette flower and tortilla dish. The Boa was tasty as well. The aubergine and Katsu curry need more seasoning and flavour. I think if the chef and a little more intensity in flavours the dishes could be elevated. Overall a good restaurant. Finish of with a pleasant walk by the river. Please be mindful that parking around this area is for 2h only hence try to park in a side road om Fulham Palace Road and then walk to the restaurant.

What an amazing little restaurant! We stumbled on this place almost by accident when looking for somewhere near the Apollo and we are blown away by the food and drink on offer. There's a lovely little outside area and a great high ceiling indoor as well. The service is friendly and attentive and the food was delicious. Completely recommend it