Pastan is a plant based Italian restaurant near the Barbican, run by Jerome and Dean. On our last visit there my husband asked Jerome how he makes the doughnuts and he was so open about the process. After he explained in detail he asked my husband if he is a Chef too, so he assumed he is talking with a fellow Chef, but told us his secrets, how amazingly wonderful is that.
I’m loving everything about this restaurant. The location is perfect, close to transport and, if you are in the city centre, it’s a short stroll. After a lecture we went to dinner at Pastan and it was a bit over 20 minutes walk, it is just wonderful.
On top of serving amazing vegan dishes they do good in other ways too, through their Pastan Sustainability Leadership Access Bursary where they established a bursary to support deserving candidates to undertake postgraduate study in the field of sustainability with The University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.
The decor is so beautiful, I like it a lot, well thought of.
Loaded gnocchi are one of the starters we got. They are deep-fried before the sauce being added to them. These are a delight, a must-try. As you notice, this picture was taken before Christmas. We went there a few times, so the dishes are from different visits.
Rainbow houmous is a sharing platter for 2. There are different types of houmous and not only it looks amazing, it is delicious too.
Caspian Sea is one of the best dishes I had in a restaurant. If you’ve read a few of my reviews you know that I’m not saying this lightly. It truly is spectacular. The charcoal activated Taglioni served with a dill hollandaise sauce and topped with seaweed Caviar pearls. The taste is so intense and so wonderful.
Comfort you. Mac&Cheese that are topped with Pastan parmesan. The dish is really comforting.
Dolce Vita. Pastan Carbonara that my husband tends to order. He had this dish twice.
Sweet Disposition. These are sweet potato and beetroot Tortellini, black sesame seeds butter and Tahini. This is another wonderful dish. It is sweet, but not too sweet. The balance of flavours is spot on.
Green Velvet. Pea and shallot ravioli dressed with lovage pesto, topped with Pastan parmesan. I think it was amazing and I especially liked the grilled cavolo nerro on the side.
Doughnuts! These are delightful, well worth getting if you are visiting them. I mean… just go there for the doughnuts.
This is how the doughnuts look inside, with that delicious Biscoff pouring out of them.
Tiramisu is amazing too. It was not too sweet, just perfect.
Pastan is at 12-14 St. John’s St., EC1M 4AY.
Hi Anca,
All these pictures gave me some new ideas. I’m going to experiment and make some of the dishes, they all look divine. 🙂
(Meli)
Aww, I’m so glad to hear from you. I hope you are doing well. Sending hugs xx
Pastan seems like a great Italian restaurant and it’s lovely that the chef assumed your husband was a chef as well. I think visiting a place again and again is the best recommendation one can give. Choosing to dine at the same time multiple times means it must be the right place for us. I love that you visited this place repeatedly and showed us different dishes you two ordered and had. Caspian sea sounds so wonderful.
My mouth is watering!! I could make a meal out of the gnocchi and the hummus. The ravioli dish looks very tempting, too. And, of course, the desserts. Yum!
Kelly recently posted…The Chrysalids by John Wyndham
You have to come to London for a holiday, you are going to love all these vegan places. 🙂