I’m in NYC so that means all the vegan food.
The photos below detail my haul of snacks from my first night in Manhattan.
Don’t be jealous!
fatgayvegan
Closing time
Have you noticed the Just Falafel fast food outlets have been shutting down in London.
The picture above shows the locked store front in Fulham and I noticed the outlet near Shaftesbury Avenue closed months back. It seems plans for expansion of the vegan-friendly food providers have hit a serious road block in the UK, even moving backward.
In contrast, the parent company is pushing ahead with rebranding and expansion in Australia. Just Falafel stores are planned for railway stations in capital cities down under, with the first one launched last year in Sydney’s Central Station.
This news article reports plans to open 160 Just Falafel locations across North America within five years. That’s a lot of falafel!
It seems the UK’s loss is the rest of the world’s gain.
Do you have a Just Falafel outlet near you? What do you think of the vegan offerings?
Abuse
What would you do in this circumstance?
The following message was left on my blog.
I know who this person is and where they are based.
Do readers have advice or experience relating to a situation like this? On one hand I think it is unacceptable but then I also wonder if it is best to ignore. Should I report this homophobic abuse to the police or seek legal advice?
What would you do?
Vegan pizza reminder
Are you interested in authentic Italian pizza. Franco Manca serve some of the finest you will taste in the UK and the vegan version comes in at under £5. Actually, £4.50 to be exact.
Delicious, plant-based and under a fiver. Amazing. Check it out.
I asked for extra basil and a sprinkling of capers on mine at extra cost, but if plain pizza made out of chewy crust is your thing you will not be disappointed.
The restaurant is not vegan, but the servers are always happy to drop the cheese from any of their vegetarian pizzas to make it suitable for compassionate eaters.
The pizza chain has locations in Brixton, Chiswick, Balham, Tottenham Court Road, Southfields, Northcote, Broadway Market, Stratford, East Dulwich and South Kensington.
Eat up!
You can visit Franco Manca online.
Extra note: I originally wrote about Franco Manca a few years ago when they didn’t have as many locations. You can see the post here.
Vegan cereal
I spotted these boxes of vegan cereal in my local Sainsbury’s and I wanted to find out what people think of them.
I bought the golden syrup version and I wasn’t super impressed. It was a bit meh. Should I bother investing in any of the other flavours? Would you recommend that I try one in particular?
So jealous
Josh is busy sunning himself in Florida, leaving me to fight for my very existence as snow sweeps across London. I am calling last night’s light dusting Snowmaggedon in an attempt to make him feel guilty for abandoning me for the sunshine.
Of course, Josh cares not. In fact, he is creating further hardship by emailing photos of vegan food he is seeing, buying and eating.
Check out this chiller display in a nearby grocery store. All that Tofurky boggles the mind.
IKEA meatballs
The online vegan community has been buzzing with news of IKEA readying a vegan meatball for roll out (ahem) in their store cafeterias.
News of the furniture and home wares megastore considering a plant-based meatball broke in July 2014, so the following statement released by the company’s PR firm has been a while in the making.
Louise Bangee, IKEA UK Food Manager, said:
Not vegan
Is this a world first?
I picked up a packet of sweets today, flipped it over and saw the words ‘suitable for vegetarians/vegans’. Great!
I could have stopped there and bought the packet of wickedly wild watermelon candy sticks but being the fussy vegan I am, I scanned the ingredients list.
First red flag? Beeswax. Second? Gelatine.
Vegan pub food
London, you have new vegan food options and they look incredible.
On the Holloway Road sits a live music venue called 12 Bar Club. This venue hosts live music and any given day will find punters enjoying indie, alt-country, punk, folk and rock ‘n’ roll bands.
This is all well and good but I promised you talk of vegan food, right?
Phil T’s at the 12 Bar is the new name for the kitchen inside this north London location. The menu reads like a gourmet rundown of British comfort food and every course has a vegan option. No, I don’t mean you have to ask for salad. Phil T and his team will serve you straight up, wholesome vegan comfort food and you can order it from the menu without having to freak out or nervously explain plant-based eating to your server.
Check out the feast Fran of Vx recently enjoyed in the restaurant. (Thanks for the pics, Fran!)