Down The Hatch

Downstairs on Duke Street, DTH promises some hellishly good scran in its vegan and vegetarian-friendly brick-lined junk food bunker, where dirty burgers, loaded hotdogs, sharers, small plates and other pub grub are overflowing and beers and cocktails are also on the cards.

Be sure to head there hungry – portions are legendary and the loose mission statement is that Seitan’s Basement (Down The Hatch’s other nickname) is “committed to making sure your belly is full and your hangover is cured”.

There’s a “chicken” special of the week – our mouths were watering just feasting our eyes on the pictures posted of the shapely burger bun stuffed with not-chicken, onion bhaji and coconut curry sauce, fresh chilli added for a proper kick, plus a side portion of Bombay potatoes – all homemade.

Hatch Of The Day is a “fish” dish – baby corn marinated in a seafood marinade made up of dill, lemon and garlic then fried in a light tempura batter creates a pretty neat take on whitebait. Meanwhile, there’s poutine with crunchy shallots, there’s chorizo made from smoking DTH’s house non-meat sausage, there’s an authentic fake take of crispy fried chicken made from oyster mushrooms and there’s the likes of the King Wrapsu, consisting of homemade panko-coated seitan, curry mayo, fresh chilli and salad, all sealed on the hot plate and wrapped up with love (and a flatbread).

Everything is made from scratch, the menu changes regularly as creativity flourishes, and remember that: “No matter what you eat, everyone’s welcome at DTH – priding ourselves on just damn good food.”

There are also plenty of plant-based desserts to get stuck into, all homemade, seasonally updated and aimed at anyone with even the slightest sweet tooth. Pina colada-flavoured posset, oh my! Key lime pie sitting on a buttery biscuit base, perfect for chasing away the clouds. And who could resist a banana split with “the works”, including sprinkles? That’s our kind of five-a-day.

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