Several years ago, there was one kind of tomato and lettuce was Iceburg or bust. Eating out minus animal products meant the rather depressing choice between a limp salad and a dried-out vegetarian burger. In recent years though, chefs and producers around the country have been working hard to emancipate the humble vegetable, and slowly but surely, the lot of the vegetarian and the vegan is improving. As micro-greens sprout atop meals across the country, and the range of meat-free proteins expands, I headed to the Mount Nelson’s Planet Restaurant to try something new: a vegan tasting menu.

As I walk between the Nellie’s Doric columns towards the five-month old restaurant, I can’t shake the feeling that I’m about to do something daring. I like vegetables on principle, but I’ve never tried living as a vegan – though, as a student, many months ended with a week or so of enforced vegetarianism – and I’m curious to see whether vegan food can be indulgent.

“Initially it had nothing to do with vegans or vegetarians,” head chef Rudi Liebenberg tells me. “We were looking for alternative suppliers for vegetables and we discovered the passion and love these people put into growing beautiful vegetables.”

Rudi, who worked at the Hyatt and the Saxon (where he won Eat Out People’s Choice Top Ten for Hotel Dining in 2008, and was a finalist in the Eat Out Awards 2008), before coming to the Mount Nelson just over two years ago says he is not, however, a vegan himself. “I enjoy eating light; I prefer salads and pulses with lots of spices. Our family diet is made up of a larger amount of vegetables than meat.”

He is also is something of an egalitarian when it comes to ingredients. They must all, he feels, be treated with the same respect: “We decided to take away the meat and dairy and elevate vegetables to the respect they deserve.”

The focus then is on honest flavours, rather than using any scary substitutes. “I’ve never been a fan of substitutes in any form as they often have too many other additives,” Rudi tells me. “A carrot is a carrot so it needs to taste like a carrot. Essentially it is the way you treat all ingredients.

“The one thing that doing this vegan menu has highlighted, is that it is not necessary to use cream or butter, but instead cook an item carefully with respect and it will give back. If we make a risotto do you need all the cream and butter? No, allow the starch to be released and add a little puree and you have a fantastic end result. To keep it exciting is not how complicated one can make it, but rather how simple a person can keep it.”

We start with a brinjal and lentil salad with sunflower seed and coriander vinaigrette. It’s paired with a Boschendal Chardonnay Pinot Noir 2010, which highlights the flavour of the brinjal. It’s subtle, but I’m not sure that any dish has ever singled out the flavour of this vegetable so clearly for me before.

The mushroom risotto which follows is wonderfully rich and certainly isn’t missing the cream. I try to caution my dining companion not to eat it all – as I’m concerned for her eating stamina – but it’s just too tasty, and she won’t be stopped. Thankfully, this is vegan risotto, and free of all the usual cream and butter.

A hearty butternut soup arrives next. For mains, there is a tasty spiced chickpea fritter, with a warm bean salad, followed by a cashew cheese – which resembles goat’s cheese a little, but tastes tangy – with a beetroot conserve. The vegan dessert is an array of delicious chocolate confections. A hazelnut chocolate cake is served with creamy ganache (made using soya milk and coffee), sticky pears, and a dark chocolate sorbet made with soya milk.

Six courses later, not counting the pre-starter and post-dessert (which are great, if like me, you have trouble coming to terms with the fact that the meal is ending) I do feel like I’ve been on a journey. There have been a huge array of flavours, and textures; and I certainly don’t feel as if I’ve been deprived at all.

Looking for a vegan meal near you? Planet’s six-course vegan tasting menu costs R300 a head, with optional wine pairing extra. Signal Restaurant at the Cape Grace also offers a five course vegan tasting menu, for R350, or R550 with an wine pairing. Other restaurants offering vegan fare in the Cape include Addis in Cape for Ethiopian vegan treats, Chandani for vegan Indian and Thai restaurant, Yindees.

In KZN, head to Earthmother Café or Vrushiks (who also make vegan cakes on demand), or in Jozi try Fruits and Roots, Namaskar and Spiceburg.