Aster - Vegan Tasting Menu in Broadstairs, Kent

It's Lauren, with Just Veganing, and today I am bringing you back to when we were in Broadstairs, which is like our happy place in Kent, and we went to this vegan restaurant called Aster. Wow. Oh my gosh. It was insane. Fine dining. Wah. Let's hear my thoughts on it. And if you're new to the channel, please make sure you subscribe, because believe me, you do not want to be missing out on these, oh, so deliciously good times. Aster! What? Okay. I am obsessed with this restaurant. Now, this is like such good vegan fine dining. It's so insanely good. I'm like, because how everything is, Chef Luke, first of all, I would love to spend like a day in his mind, you know, when you're just like, how are you coming up with this stuff? What I love about this restaurant, it is so wonderful and sustainable. They use local produce. He'll go out and go foraging sometimes even on the day. So what you are getting, he might just be creating it on the day and not like, I don't think any two meals are ever really going to be the same with what he's coming up with. Now we went for Brie's birthday, we went for their seven course tasting menu, which is for 75 pounds. And that runs from Wednesdays to Saturdays. And there's two seatings. One is at six and one is at eight. This is because this is such a nice little cozy restaurant that there are only eight covers in the restaurant. And then if you would like to do maybe their lunch tasting menu, which is four courses for 45 pounds, that runs from Thursday to Saturday. And the seatings are at 12 and at two. It doesn't matter what you do. I'm just saying you must get yourself here. I'm going to let Chef Luke say what some of his creations are because I think you want to hear it from the chef's mouth. Here we go. These are just a few things that you could potentially get when you go. So this one is kind of like a no wastage kind of beginning, I guess, so I've taken all the vegetables from the dashi, so the mushroom, the kelp seaweed in there, a bit of ginger. Anyway, I've mixed it all up and served it up, changed it up a little bit. So I've infused this with some hogweed, common hogweed seeds. So common hogweed is a plant in the carrot family, one of my personal favorite wild plants as well. And the seeds have got like a cardamom kind of vibe to them, a cardamom spice. So that's the pan of hogweed we've used there. Also we've got some baked carrots, which I've baked with the common hogweed seeds and some poached pears, which I've poached in a little bit of Riesling wine, so that's a bit of fruitiness. Smoked carrot puree around there as well and also got a pear puree, so a bit of smokiness and a little bit of like fruity, fruity pomegranate puree. A bit of pickled carrots, the coffee and everything. Some candied walnuts, which are dotted on the side as well. They're cooked in a kind of sugar syrup, like sugar water, and then reduced down and then into a thick syrup, and then fried off at the end, so super hot. And then there's carrot bone, or a bit more essence of carrot, and a carrot as well. Carrot adds this one, all right? A little bit of... Thank you. Carrot porridge, mate. So this little inspiration is from our frozen marzipan, so I've got a birch sap syrup frozen cream parfait, so I've made a birch sap syrup, so I think maple syrup, but I've got a birch syrup. It's got like a nice dark sugar molasses kind of vibe, also a bit of salted caramel. Ice cream is made with young spruce tips, it's got a nice pine, citrusy pine vibe, so it's quite fresh. The meringue is also made with young spruce tips, but they've been dehydrated to intensify it a bit, and a bit more bitter, so it's like, it's still got the citrusy pine beginning flavour, but a quite bitter aftertaste, so it's a bittersweet ending. All right, all I'm going to say is, you will just hear me say, unique, creative, and how does someone think of all that deliciousness? I was blown away, my taste buds were tantalized. What I love about it, it's like you are never going to get these courses anywhere else. It is so mind-blowingly, I just don't know how one knows how to put all of that stuff together. It was just truly creative, a very unique experience, exceptionally memorable, and what's nice, because it is nice and cozy, we ended up chatting to some of the other tables. It's a truly nice dining experience, and honestly, it's something I will always remember, and I definitely will be coming back to check more and more things out. Every second Sunday of the month, they also do a two-course Mushroom Wellington Roast. Something else I'm definitely going to try, but this is fine dining at its best, and also creating such sustainable meals. They really do shine through sustainability. They embrace organic produce, eliminate single-use plastics, they use cruelty-free products throughout their operations, and of course, everything is vegan. You will be feeling loved from the inside out, you will feel nourished, and honestly, like I said, it's just exceptional, because what you will have, I don't think you will have anywhere else in the world. Please, please, please do support, check them out, of course, book ahead, and if you do book, and you want to bring your dog, like we brought three, just shoot them a little email, because it is a smaller space, so just let them know that you and your little pooch are coming, but believe me, get yourselves here, I will be singing Aster's praises, so check it out, check it out, check it out, and as always, everyone, thank you so much for watching, and please make sure you like, share, and subscribe to JustVeganIn, and follow me on Instagram at JustVeganIn.