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Buster Mantis (a Jamaican restaurant and entertainment venue in Deptford, London) is trialling a fully vegan menu for three months, working alongside local musician and chef Denai Moore.
Previously, the restaurant ran a series of collaborations with Denai Moore, the founder of Dee’s Table weekly London pop-ups. One of these pop-ups happened on the August Bank Holiday and did incredibly well.
Buster Mantis announced its menu change on Twitter. The post explained that ‘from the amazing response to the pop-ups, we’ve decided to collaborate with Denai Moore for a plant-based take on the Jamaican food that we’ve known and loved our entire lives.’
Moore took to Instagram to confirm the good news. ‘BIG NEWS!’ she wrote. ‘I’m excited to announce that I’ll be taking over the Buster Mantis kitchen for the next three months!’
The new menu will offer diners a selection of small and big plates as well as sides and sweets. Each dish has been created as a reflection of Moore’s Jamaican heritage. Favourites include jerk jackfruit tacos, umami fries, escovitch ‘fish’ burgers, fried plantains and brown stew made with braised aubergine, mushrooms and okra.
For those with a sweeter tooth, Moore’s baked rum and raisin ‘cheezecake’ will also be available, drizzled with indulgent salted coconut milk caramel.
Sadly, this change has not been accepted by all of the restaurant’s regulars. The company posted on Instagram: ‘This is the first time in our nearly 3-year life that we’ve changed our kitchen so drastically, and we’ve already had a few customers walk out when they couldn’t get their beloved Buster Mantis jerk chicken.’
However, the new plant-based menu abounds with vegan jerk entrees that taste just as good as the original options and retain all of the classic textures and flavours. Buster Mantis is convinced that their customers will come to appreciate the change in the menu, and they have three months to prove just how good vegan food can be!
Find out more at www.bustermantis.com.
