Roots & Rolls: ‘sushi’ can also be vegan

What until not long ago was the private preserve of a few convinced militants, is becoming a solid gastronomic trend. We talk about veganism. Its varied gastronomic offer begins to resemble the omnivore (there is even junk food such as Vegan Junk Food Bar), and a good example of this is Roots & Rolls (Consell de Cent, 401), which bets on Asian cuisine with a fun and creative touch, and triumphs with vegan ‘sushi’.

In this spacious venue in the Eixample you have to ask, yes or yes, the cauliflower popcorn, which cause as much vice as the popcorn of a lifetime: they are battered with chickpea flour and seasoned with ‘togarashi’ spices, ‘sriracha’ sauce and ‘allioli’. Due to their spicy point, they are their patatas bravas.

A good ‘snack’ to get your mouth started before attacking dishes such as ‘hiyashi’ (Japanese noodles bathed in a sauce with marinated bamboo, ‘wakame’ seaweed, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, lamb’s lettuce and sesame) and Heura ‘karaage’ ( ‘meat’ marinated with ginger, soy and chili and coated in rice flour and chickpea).

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The star dish of Roots & Rolls is the ‘sushi’ tasting table, with various types of snacks: the spicy avocado ‘makis’ (with ‘sriracha’ and garlic, and white rice with black quinoa); the very fresh ‘hip carrots’ (carrots marinated with gum sauce, peanut sauce, ‘togarashi’ spices, avocado, Chinese cabbage, pickled carrot, ‘daikon’ and purple cabbage, and rice with black quinoa); Jumping Jack (Heura, barbecued ‘jackfruit’ -it’s the largest fruit in the world, also called jackfruit-, lamb’s lettuce, caramelized onion, sesame, ‘allioli’, homemade ‘hoisin’ sauce and black rice); the novel Geisha (avocado ‘maki’ with gluten-free ‘panko’, Heura ‘tartar’, fermented chili sauce, chives and rice with quinoa) and the sensational Say Cheese (cream of ‘cheese’ – it is cashew – with dill , asparagus, pickled carrot, ‘shiitake’, ‘teriyaki’ sauce and black rice coated with chickpea flour).

No lunch menu (open from Monday to Thursday only at night, and from Friday to Sunday, noon and evenings) and the average price is around 30 euros. There’s a tasting menu that costs 39 and includes a bottle of wine.