Nine lives

Pogo Cafe is gone but in a city the size of London, vacant cafes don’t sit empty for long. 

It is with great excitement that I welcome Black Cat Vegan Café to the capital food scene. This workers’ co-op has taken over the old Pogo site and looks set to keep the spirit of vegan eating alive and well in Hackney.

I am yet to make it over to the new cafe but that hasn’t stopped me from sharing with you what I know. Here are some bits of information sent through by Carolyn, the chef at Black Cat Vegan Café.

I would love to hear what you all think of the food on offer.

We’re a workers cooperative, committed to providing delicious vegan (and mostly organic) food for everyone.

The food on offer at the Black Cat is a mixture of traditional favourites:

• Bangers and mash with onion gravy and peas
• Shortcrust pies filled with seasonal veg (at the moment, delicious crown-prince squash with kale and walnuts)
• Burgers and chips
• Jacket potatoes topped with beans and vegan cheese
• Hearty soups with homemade soda bread

We also have dishes with international influence such as:

• Peanut-coconut curry with rice
• Korean kim-chee, veg and tofu stew
• Tagines
• Rich Chili with cornbread, guacamole, salsa and sour cream
• Chef’s plate – a selection of salads with homemade bread, cashew cheese, olives, pickles, roasted veg and marinated tofu

Not all of these things will be available all at the same time, but we aim to provide a good balance between familiar favourites (which will appeal to even the veg-sceptic) and more interesting options for the adventurous.

Besides the savoury food, we’ve got a fridge full of amazing drinks. As yet none of them are alcoholic, but we’re hoping to get an alcohol licence so we can bring some of those fab vegan beers to everyone.

We have yet another fridge full of chilled vegan products like all our favourite cheeses and faux meats, some of which are hard to find, and we aim to refine our selection even more in future. We have about eight shelves full of chocolates, sweets and crisps.

We sell home-made vegan cakes a-plenty from brownies, to cheesecake, to lemon drizzle, to banoffee pie. We’re also a pick-up point for Growing Communities – a wonderful local box-scheme. Also important to mention our superb milkshakes, ice creams and Zapatista coffee!

Generally we just hope to be a place where everyone can come, eat good food, and feel comfortable!

Carolyn.

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