The Meet serves the vegan Sunday roast of my dreams

Is there anything more glorious than a free afternoon that promises nothing much more strenuous than a short walk and a long lunch?

After a particularly heavy weekend of exams, finishing a placement, and trying to write an article for a new client who I'm really keen to impress. With all that behind me, I had the prospect of my first proper relaxing weekend in front of me. I decided it was a good time to go for a loooooong Sunday lunch somewhere.

Happily for me, I'd found a discount voucher for bottomless brunch at The Meet, an all-vegan pop-up in Clapham North. For £19, you get one dish from their brunch menu, plus all the bubbles you can drink in an hour and a half. Brunch lasts from 11am to 5pm, and dishes at the weekend include two roast dinner-type dishes.

Me and Mr Flicking the Vs decided we needed to get involved in that deal, and one Sunday we decided to rock up and while away an hour and a half.

The brunch menu includes a fabulous looking vegan full English breakfast and a very appealing mezze plate. If I was visiting any other day, I'd have pushed my hungry snout into the full English. There are few meals I like better than a vegan full English, but a vegan Sunday roast is one of them.

The two options for Sunday lunch at the Meet are The Forager, a a chestnut and root vegetable stuffed woodland mushroom with sage crumb, or Loafing Around, a lentil kale and millet nut roast. I had to have the latter.

The real joy of Sunday roast is the unnecessary amount of sides, and The Meet has them all covered. There's roast potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and cabbage, obviously. But there's more: cauliflower cheese no less! And - even better - vegan Yorkshire puddings! Vegan yorkies!  And, if that wasn't enough, there's the appropriate attitude to gravy: you get it slicked on the plate, and then there's another jug if you want some more (which you do, of course.)

The nut roast may be the butt of many veggie and vegan jokes, but I love a good nut roast. They're filling, hearty comfort food and just what Sunday roasts were made for. The Loafing Around was no slouch: a mix of nuts, squash and puy lentils, it was the right balance between flavour and squidy it's-Sunday-I'm-too-tired-to-chew texture.

If I was being picky, I'd say the gravy was on the salty side. But I'd be being picky: The Meet's Sunday roast is one of the best I've had for a while.

When we used to sit down for Sunday dinner as a kid, there was always some ridiculously stodgy pudding for afters. I wonder if whoever dreamt up The Meet's menu had a similar childhood, because their 'endgame' section has the retro classic pudding pineapple upside down cake (or Topsy Turvy, as the menu has it). We were full from the fabulous roast, but whoever ordered dessert because they were hungry? We decided to split one.

Pineapple upside down cake, gone Topsy Turvy

Just like the roast it followed, the Topsy Turvy was everything I was hoping for: a slice of warm, light sponge that was both nostalgic but at the same time way better than anything I enjoyed as a kid.

And the bottomless bubbles? We managed to get through one bottle between us, and we were roundly rebuked for not getting enough down us. I'm too hungover-prone to drink heavily any more, but I can't help but admire the generous attitude. I'm really looking forward to my next visit to The Meet, but I think I'll leave the bottomless bubbles to people that can do it justice!

The Meet
https://www.the-meet.co.uk/
15-16 Lendal Terrace
London
SW4 7UX
020 3397 7475