Giraffe

My visit to Giraffe was on a Friday afternoon, and was quite busy inside the restaurant with mainly young professionals and students. I ended up sitting in the less loud/atmospheric area outside, which suited me fine as I was only there for a quick lunch.

The restaurant aims to offer a welcoming, global experience, both in the food and music. Thus the menu offers a wide variation of cuisines, from Mexican, to Asian to American - and if you fancy a world food tour you could start your meal with ‘Wok Fried Edamame’ and follow them with a ‘Roasted Mushroom, Spinach and Goats Cheese Tostada’ with a side of Fries.

There are a higher than normal number of interesting vegetarian options, such as the, ‘Super Healthy Veggie and Oregano Salad’ and the ‘Sunshine Powerfood Salad’, both packed with nutritious beans and veggies. For those looking for something a bit more substantial they also offer an Asian style noodle stir-fry, winter vegetable burrito and falafel burger. I opted for the lunch special (which changes monthly), ‘Huevos Rancheros’, vegetarian style (with mushrooms instead of chorizo). It was clearly not the traditional huevos rancheros (which consists of fried eggs smothered in enchilada or chilli sauce served with soft tortillas on the side used for dipping and mopping), but was instead one flour tortilla topped with black beans, chilli, avocado, cheese, egg and mushrooms.

As a light lunch the dish was fine. The ingredients were fresh and tasty, but I couldn’t help but feel that I could have easily put this together myself, which is generally not what I expect from a dining out experience (I prefer to spend my money on things that I either cannot make myself or cannot be bothered to make myself.)

Overall, the menu was exceptionally vegetarian friendly and the atmosphere would have been great for a casual meet up with friends, but the food was closer to homemade than restaurant quality (however, this may not apply to the regular dishes as I did have one of the specials). That being said, if I happen to be near a Giraffe in the future I definitely would try it out again.

Food: 7

Service: 7

Atmosphere: 8

Price: ££