Last Updated on July 7, 2024
The Bleeding Edge of Vegan Dining comes to Camden
If like me, you are a dyed-in-the-wool omnivore, vegan dining may not be something you seek out on a regular basis. I hope I am mindful of the environmental arguments behind plant-based eating, but my current lifestyle choice is to limit my consumption of meat to ethically farmed and wild game and to enjoy a flexitarian approach to my diet. I like plant-based food and am generally happy to eat dishes that have no meat, but like many people who eat the ‘real thing’ I’ve always wondered why vegans and vegetarians want to eat dishes that pretend to be the food they are avoiding – burgers, sausages, meatballs and steaks for example. The 3D-printed meat produced by Redefine Meat is an extreme example. Vegan restaurant Powerplant at Selina Camden is an early advocate for what has to be one of the best meat alternatives if you want to follow a plant-based diet but still crave meat. We needed to find out more…
On the corner of Chalk Farm Road opposite Chalk Farm tube station, PowerPlant sits towards the back of Selina Hotel where there’s a buzzing bar at the front and a club in the basement. It’s a lively place, packed with the young and beautiful with music keeping the vibe going.
My companion was delayed so I ordered myself a Tommy’s Margarita while I waited. Good enough to have a second when she arrived, her own choice was the Mezcal Negroni which looked stunning and appeared to slip down easily. From someone who I count as a negroni snob, that’s a win!
We ordered Padron Peppers, beautifully charred with a spicing of za’atar and seasoned with burnt lemon, date syrup and flaky sea salt, to nibble on and three cheeze arancini for some carbs to offset the cocktails. With plant mozzarella, cheddar and parmesan these rice croquettes with miso may and leek oil made a delicious and wholesome mouthful that was indistinguishable from the dairy version.
For our main courses, it had, of course, to be dishes that included Redefine meat. The special was a grilled Redefine meat steak with chimichurri, sweet potato fries and mixed green vegetables 
While you could tell it wasn’t prime sirloin, the texture was convincingly meaty and the flavour really quite delicious. To be honest, it was closer to a braised slice of beef than to a normal grilled steak, but still really tasty.
The powerplant Cheeseburger was if anything more convincing. It’s made with more Redefine meat – a burger patty this time, and served with Powerplant sauce, Applewood cheeze (which is very, very close to its dairy sister), gem lettuce and tomato and served with fries. You really wouldn’t complain about this one – and I suspect plenty of meat eaters wouldn’t even notice that the ‘meat’ wasn’t beef.
I was genuinely impressed with the meatiness of our plant-based meal and even happier when our vegan ice cream turned out to be truly delicious and, at least for me, indistinguishable from the real thing. If I hadn’t been deliberately focussing on the Redefine meat options, I’d have been tempted by the Pad Thai or the Baja Tempura Tacos. And I forgot to order the sweetcorn ribs! All this leads up to a need to go back soon…
The drinks menu was concise and well balanced with draught and ‘packaged’ beer, a few no/lo options and a wine list with three each of red and white, a rose, prosecco and champagne. The cheapest wine was just £19.45 a bottle, the champagne came in at £65. Oh, and there’s a happy hour where you’ll get 2 cocktails for £12 between 4 and 7 pm.
If you’d like to try it for yourself, the restaurant is open all day from midday to 9pm
Powerplant at Selina Camden
89 Chalk Farm Rd,
Chalk Farm,
London NW1 8AR
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