I’ve reviewed one of my favourite vegetarian eateries a number of times in a variety of places, but I’ve never mentioned it on my  blog, so I want to put that right today.

I stumbled upon The Goji Café in York, last year, after being in the city to review another restaurant; still feeling incredibly hungry after I’d left, I went in search of a ‘little something’ to sustain me for the journey home and found myself in the deli section of  The Gogi! It was a fortuitous discovery. The Gogi Café is now a favourite with all of my family.

There are some restaurants in York that I am suspicious of. They make loud, statements, hand out leaflets to passers by and the staff stand on the steps to usher you inside. Such places tell me that there’s more going on outside than there is on the inside and, quite frankly, a chef pacing the dusty streets in his whites and then returning to his kitchen doesn’t give me the greatest confidence in hygiene levels. The Goji Café is in a different class altogether.

 The curves of the historically interesting Goodramgate make it a classic example of how the Viking street deviated from the straight line of the Roman design, seen in nearby Stonegate, and it seems somehow appropriate that the stylish, happy presence of The Goji Café should be set on this jaunty ric-rac braid of buildings. But before I take you over the threshold, let me tell you something about the name.

The restaurant is named after the Goji berry (Lycium barbarum),  an amazing berry that originates high up on the Himalayan Mountains and grown on the border between Tibet and China (where they are called Wolfberries). These berries are one of the finest sources of anti-oxidants there is and are reputed to have incredible anti-ageing and restorative properties. The average life expectancy of the people living in the Himalayas  - who eat the berries regularly, is said to be between 120 – 150 years. Goji means, ‘happiness’, and the Himalayan people celebrate an annual two-week long, Goji festival in the berry’s honour. The bright, red berries need to be harvested with particular sensitivity as, once touched by human hands, they begin to oxidise and turn black, so they are gently shaken from the branches into waiting blankets or baskets.

 A slight drawback of The Goji Café is that it appears, on first sight, to be difficult for wheelchair users. There is a  step at the entrance that is not so much big as awkward; because of the street layout it would be difficult to fit even a tiny ramp and the outward movement, in my opinion, would be far too dangerous to do so, but thankfully, York is such a friendly place that there are usually enough people around to lend a hand. Once inside, although the space seems tiny, it is deceptive and there is enough room for manouvering and turning without any problem. I am blessed in that I can  now negotiate the step under my own steam, but I did go there during my fully -reliant, wheelie days, have given the ground floor of the building a thorough investigation and I would encourage anyone not to be deterred. The staff are brilliant and they will pull out the stops to help in whatever way they can.  

 The first part is taken up with the Deli which stocks some really interesting stuff. One of the things that I like about The Goji Café is that it shares my passion for fresh, locally produced food. It is difficult to leave without armfuls of bread, cakes, jams and pasties. If you do nothing else, get yourself a loaf of three-grain bread (hand baked in Haxby), a jar of the delicious sloe chutney made by the wonderful folk at the Yorkshire Sloe Company (note to self: must tell my blog readers about Sloe-Motion sometime) and a slice of Wholearth, but truly heavenly, flapjack (made on the premises) and you have the makings of a delicious picnic.

Through the Deli, we come to the first seating and the door to the courtyard. There is more seating upstairs, but I can’t tell you anything about that part, because I haven’t been there! The décor is bright, cheerful and, in parts, red! Those who have seen my reviews will know that nothing puts me off eating more than feeling that I’m sitting in Beelzebub’s den, but the designers here have had nouse to be selective in the shade of red and to mix it with enough breezier shades to give the place an air of light, confident and relaxed elegance. The walls are host to work by some very talented local artists. Wendy, the head chef, is an artist herself and knows what to look for when selecting work to be featured.

 And so to the menu. If you’re expecting the same food every time you visit, The Goji Café isn’t for you. This is proper food, made from the best fresh, seasonal produce and therefore alters as the year progresses. Just as food should. My family are lacto-vegetarian but the menu caters for vegans as well. I have children who have eaten good food since the day they were born and they all relish the food here. There is a something for everybody.  Such scrumptious delights as Lentil plaits, stuffed pittas with roasted vegetables and vegetable samosas, salads of various types and gourmet sandwiches can either be ordered for sit-in quick lunches or as take away boxes. My children love the Lentil plaits, in particular.  Then there is the more substantial café menu, which includes quiches, casseroles, rice wraps (absolutely delicious – filo pastry, stuffed to the gills with organic brown rice, spinach, feta, sunflower seeds, seaweed and sweetcorn) and Spanakopita. Last summer, they did a fantastic buckwheat bake which we all loved and the Pea and Halloumi fritters are moreish.  In the desserts, the Lemon Tarte and home made yoghurt would be my first choices, whilst my youngest would not recommend the melt in the mouth, elderflower ice-cream in case, in so doing, there was none left for him!  The café has also just recently started doing an evening menu – I’m not often in York during crepuscular hours and haven’t had opportunity to sample this, but times and details are on their website and I’ve no reason to believe you will be disappointed.

 Vegetarian restaurants can either be extremely good or excruciatingly bad. I’ve been in an awful lot of them and the bad far outweighs the good. Too many chefs believe that making something vegetarian is a simple case of substituting one ingredient for another and the results are often dry, bland and lacking in colour or texture. A place has to be really special for me to take my family more than once. The Goji Café is quickly establishing itself as one of the very best I’ve encountered. Wendy and her colleagues know their facts about food, how to utilise first-class ingredients and how to present it well. To be fair, I  have had the odd niggle about individuals on the waiting staff, but mostly a result of youthful inexperience and nothing that popping down to the college at Tadcaster Road for a day’s training in restaurant service couldn’t polish up. No serious issues and as I said before, all the staff are friendly, cheerful, attentive and more than willing to help.

Children are treated as bona fide customers and any preferences such as, “Please, can I not have the tomato sauce but a little heap of hummus instead”, is usually quite acceptable. In treating their younger customers well, The Goji Café is encouraging discerning diners who will stay with them in the future and that’s quite a rarity. We’ve been in far more expensive restaurants that have been rude and patronising to our children and, quite honestly, I refuse to review such places. A taste for good food and good manners doesn’t just arrive in adulthood. It has nothing to do with age, class or price bracket. Everybody who sits around a restarant table should be treated with the same level of respect, as indeed  should happen anywhere else.   I am always attuned to the conversations that take place amongst the staff, the swiftness of response to a request, the cleanliness of the place and whether the staff  look happy and enthusiastic about what they are doing. We have four establishments that are real family favourites. The Goji Café is one of them. The happiness berry  works its magic  for us every time we visit.             

Links:

           The Goji Cafe website: http://www.gojicafe.co.uk/

            Images of the Cafe are used courtesy of   ‘hack-man’ , whose property they remain and full copyright belongs to him: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vegetarian/4001344037/in/photostream/