Maha’s Vegan Soufra Redefines Plant-Based Dining

Step inside and the world shifts. There’s a hum in the air, the lighting’s just right, and the scent of spice clings to the walls like memory. You’re not here for a rushed meal. You’re here to be looked after.

While Maha’s regular menu is known for its lamb shoulders and scallops with swagger, we were here for the Vegan Soufra, a completely plant-based feast that doesn’t lean on meat substitutes or gimmicks. Instead, it champions vegetables, pulses and grains with a kind of reverence usually reserved for Wagyu.

Things start strong: a warm stack of za’atar flatbread paired with whipped hummus and spiced mushrooms, soft, silky and deeply comforting. From there, it’s a whirlwind of mezze-style plates with just the right amount of theatre. Standouts included pumpkin glazed in pekmez with muhammara and pickled grapes (sweet, tangy and a textural dream), roasted eggplant with caramelised tahini and chestnut (silky and smoky), and a charred broccoli dish glazed in pistachio and pomegranate that gave serious main-character energy.

Then came the palate cleanser that made us sit up straight. Presented like olives nestled in real olive leaves, these glossy green orbs were actually cocoa butter shells filled with whipped plant-based feta and olive oil. A single bite exploded with salty creaminess, strange sweetness and a texture you couldn’t quite pin down, but somehow, it worked. Not for everyone, perhaps, but definitely for the curious.

Larger plates landed with the same generosity. Aromatic rice with burnt butter and cashews, charred cone cabbage with burnt orange and juniper, and a sense that each dish had been fussed over in the best possible way.

The final sweet note was the one we’d been quietly eyeing all night. An optional add-on of Turkish delight donuts. Floral, sticky, hot and fluffy, they were everything you want from a Middle Eastern dessert and absolutely worth adding to your order.

As we were rolled gently out the door, Maha sent us on our way with a little take-home spice mix and a lavender hand spritz. Equal parts thoughtful and bougie. Just enough to extend the evening into our own kitchens or at least our olfactory memories.

Maha isn’t trying to convince you to go vegan. It’s simply showing what happens when you let plants do the talking and trust the chefs to make them sing.