Aptly-named Common Ground is a relaxed café and restaurant in North London serving seasonal and sustainable vegetarian and vegan fare. With menus that span day to night as well as options for both indoor and outdoor dining, Common Ground provides a versatile and laid-back space to catch up over a coffee with mates, enjoy a lazy brunch at weekends or enjoy a dinner of innovative sharing plates.
Sustainability lies at the core of the eatery’s ethos, using seasonal ingredients as much as possible, working with local suppliers (it sources its coffee from Dark Arts in Homerton) and creating a menu free from meat and fish.
Along with an urban-chic indoor space where you’ll find fresh pastries in the window, exposed brick walls, comfortable armchairs and plenty of pot plants, venture through to the back of the café to discover its gorgeous foliage-filled garden complete with wooden decking, a faux shed and heated domes for dining in the winter.
The menu of plant-based and vegetarian dishes is bold and playful with influences from the Mediterranean, Asia, India and beyond. During the day, the menu revolves around breakfast and lunch options, including Japanese-style eggs royal which sees pan fried sushi rice rolls, vegan sashimi and poached eggs topped with wasabi hollandaise on bed of purple shiso leave, and black dahl with crispy roast chickpeas, whipped coconut, kale crisps and cumin toasted focaccia. It also offers a mean array of cheese toasties and sandwiches – think kimchi with double cheese and gochujang mayo.
In the evening, a menu of trendy small plates is on offer. Hero dishes include king oyster scallops with cauliflower puree, monks beard, hazelnut, caper and lemon dressing and tempeh crumb, confit hispi cabbage with cashew nut ricotta, three cornered leek flower, pumpernickel crumb and dill oil and crunchy fennel, kohlrabi, blood orange salad, citrus dressing.
The drinks at Common Ground include brunch cocktails, house juices and shots, craft beers and artisan coffee. The restaurant’s wine list has been curated with its sustainable values in mind and the result is a collection of organic or low intervention red, white, sparkling and orange varieties that hail from Italy, France and the Levant.