As I work near Oxford railway station, I’d walked past the empty unit of what is now Glut (previously Thali) many times on my way into the city centre, with curiosity about the name and what kinds of things it was going to offer. Their tagline ‘sinfully good food’ definitely caught my interest, and I was super happy when I walked past once they’d opened to have a quick peek at the menu, to discover they’d given some thought to their vegan options when putting it together.
The whole menu is short and sweet, which I think is a good approach for an independent restaurant like this – with the assumption that the small menu means they can pay attention to producing really good quality food. Three of their eight burgers can be made vegan, so we were more than obliged to visit when the guys behind Glut invited us down to give their food a try.
The burgers came presented on a tray in classic American comfort food diner style, wrapped in paper matching the restaurant’s unique decor. Just looking at these burgers, you can tell they are going to hit the spot when it comes to your junk food craving. I’d ordered the falafel, and it quickly dispelled any pre-conception I might’ve gained from elsewhere about a dry, uninspiring falafel burger. It was moving into the space of a ‘chicken’ burger, without actually using any mock meat – which I know some people don’t like to eat. It was cooked so the outside was satisfyingly crunchy and the seasoning was lifted from your run of the mill chickpea burger to something much more interesting, and tasty. Ample of the housemade vegan burger sauce prevented it from being dry, and there was the right amount of fresh salad inside – no limp iceberg lettuce here. I always naturally gravitate towards a mock-meat burger on the menu because it sounds a bit more interesting, but this one might’ve actually changed my mind.
Jamie, however, did go for the mock meat, opting for the ‘Dirty Plant’. It’s the most expensive burger on the menu, reflecting the fact that the Beyond Meat burgers are not the cheapest to get hold of, but my goodness was it worth it. Stacked up with double vegan cheese, caramelised onions, pickles, and burger sauce, Jamie’s first impression was ‘I’m sorry but how is this vegan’? I really want to encourage as many meat-eaters as possible to try this burger as I feel like it’ll have them converted! It’s ‘meaty’, smoky, a bit of sweetness from the onions then the umami from the gooey melted cheese (yes, it’s actually melted). The soft toasted bun is a joy to eat too.
We ordered a side of fries each, not really knowing how large they’d be, which we realised after making our way through our hugely filling burgers, it’d probably been a mistake. For £2.50, these were huge portions of chips, easily enough to feed two when you’re also eating burgers this decadent. Still, we managed to polish off every one – they were the crispiest, salty fries and again exactly what you want from this kind of food. Glut also offer unlimited refills on certain drinks for £2.50 (again, great value) to wash them down with.
Glut outshines the chain restaurants on George Street by a mile. The service was fab, food came out hot and quick, they were playing David Bowie over the speakers (you’ve got to give them extra kudos for that) and all in all the experience is great value. I noticed they also do 2 for 1 cocktails after 9pm, 7 days a week, and I can’t think of a much better way to spend an evening that a burger rounded off with a few drinks. I know a few of my Instagram friends have been to visit them since I posted some photos and they all agreed how great it is there. Even better, the team have kindly offered us 20% off vegan burgers for May 2019 – just quote ‘Vegan Eats Oxford‘ when you get the bill. I don’t get anything from this, I just wanted to share the love with you guys and support a new independent business.
If you visit them I’d love to hear what you think!
Disclaimer: Our meal was complimentary but this is an honest account of the food and experience.
Vegan Eats Oxford 
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