Last Updated on August 4, 2022
A plant-based banquet at Omni
If you’ve ever wanted to go into a restaurant and shout “Cover the table in your finest dishes”, then the Omni Collective in Peckham is the place to go. If you’re vegan or an omnivore who simply loves delicious plant-based food, then even better. Those who opt to go “All In”, will get everything on the menu. There’s no danger here of suffering from FOMO about other people’s superior menu choices as all the dishes are designed to be shared. For those who are daunted by the idea of going All In, the restaurant also offers the Small In option with three fewer plates. There’s nothing worthy of “knit your own lentils” about the Omni Collective – if you want to order a cocktail and an indulgent pudding you can.
The restaurant’s founders Jess McGill and George Matheou had been running pop-ups in the Peckham area for several years before opening their own permanent plant-based kitchen on Rye Lane in 2021. Their aim is to cook interesting food based on seasonal vegetables, using cooking techniques and flavours from all over the world and to build an interesting and imaginative range of dishes. Thankfully you won’t find fake meats and ultra-processed vegan junk food here – a relief as I have no real desire to eat something “meaty” grown in a lab.
The waiting staff are welcoming and extremely knowledgeable about the menu, patiently answering our many questions about the menu.
We started proceedings with drinks, naturally. There is a long and tempting choice of wines, beers and signature cocktails and the bar staff will happily make whatever classic you desire too. My companion tried one of the Omni Collective’s choices of mocktails – the Hibiscus Sour, a dark pink mix of hibiscus and ginger syrup, fresh lemon and aquafaba. Served with a single chunky ice cube, it was lemony, fruity, sweet and sour, and very refreshing.
I went for the alcoholic side of the menu and picked the Cucumber and Mint Fizz, a concoction of gin and cava that was light, summery and surprisingly sour all at the same. I’m a sweet-toothed sort of person so I could have done with a sugary note to balance it.
Foodwise, things kicked off with an off-menu amuse bouche that set the tone for the rest of the meal: a crunchy square of Miso polenta with truffle and truffle aioli. It was crunchy, warm and truffly. We knew we were going to enjoy ourselves.
Next came the pickles, ferments and olives. The Omni Collective make their drinking vinegars and kombuchas in house and pickle or ferment all leftover vegetables. This means the pickles change from day to day. We coincided with a courgette and onion day and particularly liked the former which had a hot, strong flavour – a must of pickle fans.
The huge smoked Cerignola olives were a revelation, giving off a heady smoky aroma and packed with flavour. Our waitress confessed she’d become an olive snob since working at the restaurant and it was easy to see why.
The All In continued with the first round of three sharing plates – Focaccia with confit garlic, Grilled pea achar with labneh and Fennel with saffron and butter beans.
The peas grilled in their pods brought some welcome sweetness to the table. Our waitress helpfully explained that Achar is a southern Indian pickling technique – used to excellent effect here. This was one of my favourite dishes of the evening.
Next up was the butterbean dip topped with crunchy roasted butterbeans – just my sort of thing. The fennel was dyed a rich yellow by the saffron and a little bitter as a result. I liked it but my companion was beginning to feel pickle overload by this point.
Another highlight of “round one” was a baby loaf of focaccia with confit garlic in rich olive oil – perfect for mopping up the butter beans and labneh too in the accompanying dishes.
The next trio of dishes were the Charred broccoli with dukkah and fermented chilli, Braised peach, fermented almond and blue corn tacos and Cucumber and tahini.
The huge wedge of broccoli was cooked to just the right point and encrusted with dukkah boosted with Szechuan pepper and served with a fermented chilli dip. It was quite a feast.
The peaches braised in spiced rum with blue corn tacos brought a whole new range of unexpected flavours to the table. The dish was hot, corny, sweet and hot but we felt the taste of the peaches was a little lost.
We both loved the refreshing contrast brought to the table by thin slivers of cucumber in tahini with paprika. Simple and delicious.
Remarkably we weren’t flagging at all when the third and final wave of All In dishes arrived. It’s difficult to pick a winner from among the Vesuvio tomatoes with horseradish and shiso, Jersey royals with sticky Szechuan sauce and the Oyster mushrooms with black garlic and sumac togarashi.
The ripe Italian tomatoes were served in the water from fermented tomatoes, while the horseradish lent a mustardy flavour.
The potatoes were quite delicious and moreish. We both knew they reminded us of something from the distant past – a savoury version of the toffee apple perhaps or a potato-ey take on the banana fritter. I hope these are on the menu again next time I go to the Omni Collective.
Oyster mushrooms served on skewers with an apple and elderflower paste exploded with deep umami flavours.
There was a single offering on the pudding menu: Roasted strawberry ice cream (vegan, of course), with a fennel and olive biscuit. My companion pronounced it a taste sensation.
Our evening at the Omni Collective was a real treat – a vegan banquet. This restaurant is well worth a trip to Peckham whether you are vegan or omnivorous. Their “micro-seasonal” menu changes every three to four weeks so that’s an excellent reason to return regularly and see what fresh wonders the team here can come up with.
The Omni Collective, 24A Peckham Rye, London SE15 4JR
Looking for something different – we also love the charming pan-asian food at Pedler, Peckham
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