Rosa's Thai Veggie revived as virtual brand

Rosa's Thai Veggie, the offshoot vegetarian sister concept to Rosa's Thai Cafe launched as a three-month pop-up in 2018, is being revived as a virtual brand in London Fields.

Opening as a delivery and takeaway-only kitchen initially, Rosa's Thai Veggie has ambitions to expand to further cloud kitchens, and explore bricks and mortar opportunities for the concept down the line.

The vegetarian and vegan menu will combine reworked Rosa’s Thai Cafe classics, including founder Saiphin Moore’s signature stir-fried aubergine dish and tofu pad thai, alongside new dishes exclusive to this concept, from Rosa’s summer rolls with tamarind tempeh to Chu Chi tempeh, Panang curry with kaffir lime leaves and fresh chillies, both developed in collaboration with organic tempeh specialists Club Cultured.

The menu will also include THIS Isn’t Chicken dishes, from pad thai to salt and pepper poppers and green curry fried rice, which were first introduced as limited-edition specials at Rosa’s Thai Cafe.

These will sit alongside an all-new THIS Isn’t Chicken chilli basil stir-fry, served street food-style with a fried egg.

"Growing up meat was a bit of a luxury for us – we ate a lot of vegetables and if we did eat meat it was locally farmed," comments Moore. "I’m pleased to see a trend of more and more people trying to eat a plant based diet and am happy to be able to offer some amazing vegan and vegetarian Thai dishes, still true to my family recipes, but with a couple of small changes so more people can enjoy them!"

“Our Rosa’s Thai Veggie pop up inspired a step change in our vegetarian and vegan dishes across the business several years ago," adds Rosa's Thai Cafe CEO Gavin Adair. "Saiphin continually pushes our food boundaries and it’s great to be able to give some of her most recent recipes a unique ‘home’ alongside existing Rosa’s classics.

"We’re looking forward to showing many new – and some existing - customers just how delicious veggie Thai food can be."