Village East

Village East is a restaurant and bar on bermondsey street run by the people who own the Garrison. Populated mostly by fashionable looking 30 and 40 somethings it has a lively atmosphere, good (ie flattering) lighting and is deceptively large. The bar is at the front and also has a mezzanine level and the restaurant is at the back, again on two levels.
The waiting staff are efficient if not exactly warm and cuddly, which is probably exactly what you want from people serving you food. The place was busy in a Saturday night and the only minor irritation is the insistence on background music which I never really understand in restaurants.
The food was good, a fairly wide range of vegetarian stuff, including roast vegetable couscous with halloumi, artichoke salad with broad beans and peas, and roasted aubergine soup which we didn't have but which sounded lovely.
The food was well cooked, the veg fresh and not too oily and the green beans served with plenty of butter, which is the best way. In fact we had a vegetarian meal containing a huge variety of vegetables, which is not always the case when eating out.
We shared a starter, a main each, three sides and a beautiful crumble to finish. This, plus two glasses of reisling each came to £77, not cheap but to my mind good value for a decent meal, good wine and well lit, well designed surroundings.