Vegan option in a German beer hall

A friendly Twitter follower named Marie-Anne just gave me a tip that quite a few people will be interested in.

There is a Bavarian-styled pub and restaurant in London with vegan food on the menu. Check out these options:

NÜRNBERGER BRATVÜRST’L £5.90
Starter – Three grilled vegan sausages served with Sauerkraut and a pretzel

CURRYVURST MIT POMMES £7.90
Snack – Grilled sausage served with curry sauce and chips

BAVARIAN BEERHOUSE ‘VURSTPLATTE’ SPEZIAL £13.50
Main – Special Bavarian Beerhouse sausage platter: ‘BratVurst, spicy Merguez and ‘Wiener’ sausages served with Sauerkraut and chips

That grilled sausage dish with curry sauce and chips is the sort of thing I write poems about. It sounds incredible.

The staff at Bavarian Beerhouse certainly look the stereotypical part.

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You can visit Bavarian Beerhouse online and make plans to visit either their Tower Hill or Old Street location.

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Vegan pizza in Exeter!

As much as I would like to eat every single vegan food item in every part of the world, there is only one FGV and I physically can’t be everywhere.

Thankfully, friendly readers like Alex send me awesome guest reviews of food in their neighbourhood and places they have visited.

Check out what Alex has to say about gorgeous vegan pizza being served up in Exeter:

The Old Fire House in Exeter is famous for two reasons. A tenuous possibility it was the inspiration for the “Leaky Cauldron Pub” in Harry Potter is the first and, more importantly, its amazing vegan pizza is the second.

We have always used the Harry Potter link as a brilliant excuse to take visitors to this pub and then stuff our faces with pizza.

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The menu actually has a number of vegan options, all very clearly marked. If you are organised enough on a Sunday, which we have only succeeded in being once, the Vegan Sunday Roast Lunch is stunning. The Chickpea & Spinach cake is not remarkable but the thick gravy and roasted vegetables more than make up for it.

In the evening pizza is their thing and we are talking big square pub style pizza served minutes after you order. It would be a challenge for anyone to finish a whole pizza themselves. The best ratio we have found so far is three people to two pizzas.

You have four vegan options but to be honest, who would bother with a plain or mushroom pizza when you can have something with wacky toppings. Chickpeas on a pizza. I class that as a wacky topping and together with the sweet roasted butternut, it works really well.

A word of warning on the next logical choice, the “Fired Up”. It is, as the menu says, extra hot. Don’t let this put you off though. It is really good with the heat coming from the smaller sliced red chiles rather than the big chunky jalapeños which are just tangy. If you are not into the heat then best to avoid, but if you are sharing pizzas then give it a try. It really compliments the sweetness of the butternut pizza.

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Any vegan pizza review needs to go into detail about the vegan cheese. In the case of these pizzas the cheese is of no real significance, rather the flavours and textures all come from the other toppings. The cheese is a mere decoration to make the pizza conform to what society has convinced us it should look like.

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Being a pub popular with students from the local university, drink prices are reasonable. Along the back walk behind the bar they have boxes of local ciders, many of which are proper cider that are not the carbonated type that feel like they will take the enamel off your teeth they are so dry. As these ciders are from smaller producers and typically made traditionally they are more likely to be vegan, but obviously you still need to check. A good place to start is with any made by Cornish Orchards as all their ciders are vegan.

Thanks for the great review, Alex. Next time I find myself in Exeter, I will definitely stop by The Old Fire House for a pizza and a cider.

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Vegan pizza in a Sheffield pub

Did you know there is a pub and live music venue in Sheffield that is now serving vegan pizza and vegan real ale?

pizza sheffield

I was contacted by Dave from fab vegan food provider Make No Bones as he wanted to let me know that he has taken over The Cremorne, a drinking establishment in Sheffield that also doubles as a live music venue.

Dave was thrilled to tell me he is now serving decadent vegan pizzas in the pub, as well as vegan real ale.

In other good news, Dave has plans to turn the entire pub vegan by the end of the year. Let’s hope he can pull that huge feat off. Make sure you pop in for a pizza and a pint soon and let Dave know what a bang up job he is doing in raising the profile of vegan food in Sheffield.

Follow The Cremorne on Facebook to see photos of tasty pizzas and to keep updated on the pub’s vegan transformation.

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Vegan pub food by the seaside

Fancy a trip to the seaside but worried about finding vegan food to devour?

The answer is The Railway Hotel in Southend-on-Sea.

I have been hearing excited chatter about The Railway Hotel for a couple of years, but it was only today that I visited their website to see what they had on offer for plant-based pub-goers.

Check out this amazing list of vegan dishes lifted from their Spring 2016 menu:

Mains

  • Handmade pizza/calzones
  • Crass Burger (mixed bean/veg) with Chips/Wedges and salad
  • Falafel wrap + Sundried & Peppers + Chips/Wedges & Salad
  • Wild Mushroom Risotto with Truffle Oil
  • Aromatic Thai Tofu Curry with sticky Rice
  • “Ham”, Leak & Cheese Pie with Mash, Root Veg & Gravy
  • “Fish” & Chips with Pea Puree & Tartare Sauce

Sides

  • Olives
  • Coleslaw
  • Bowl of Homemade Chips and dips
  • Garlic Bread
  • Wedges with Chilli Dip
  • Dough Balls with Garlic Mayo

Desserts

  • Pear and Apricot Cheese Cake
  • Apple Tart
  • Chocolate Calzone

railway

The vegan choices make up about 99% of the menu, so it would be fantastic to see the hotel take that last little leap to having a completely plant-based menu.

Everything sounds scrumptious and I think I will have to make this place one of my first stops when I get back to the UK later in the year.

You can get directions to The Railway Hotel on their website and you can follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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Boat race and baked potato

If for some reason you find yourself caught up in the drama of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race this weekend (Sunday 27 March, 2016), you must ensure you take the time to stop in at the Old Ship W6 pub.

I’ve written about how vegan-friendly this pub is previously and the boat race weekend is going to be no exception.

Check out this GORGEOUS baked potato menu that will be available on the day.

potato

Can you see the deliciousness on that menu? Have you been astounded by that unicorn potato riding a rainbow? Did you notice that the menu is 100% vegan? This is all too much!

I would definitely opt for a baked sweet potato with olive oil, smoked tofu, beetroot and spicy sweetcorn salad. How lovely would that be?

How would you combine the ingredients listed above to create your dream potato?

Follow the Old Ship W6 on Twitter.

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UK pub chain has a vegan menu

If you live in the UK or have ever visited, you will surely know about the J.D. Wetherspoon pub chain with locations everywhere.

These pubs are known for being cheap and sometimes cheerful places to meet friends, down a few drinks and not be too far from home at the end of the night.

And now the chain pub is making a different kind of name for itself by offering a vegan menu!

It isn’t going to set the world alight with excitement, but the menu is going to be a welcome change for thousands of vegans who find themselves in a Wetherspoon pub on any given day.

wethersppon vegan menu

Part of the vegan menu at Wetherspoon pubs can be seen above, or click here to download a full PDF version.

You can also click here to locate your nearest Wetherspoon pub.

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UK brewery announces vegan label

One of the fastest-growing beer companies in the UK has recently announced it will start labelling its vegan-suitable brews with The Vegan Society trademark.

To call BrewDog a runaway success would be a severe understatement. Since the business opened its first bar in 2010, it has expanded at breakneck speed and now has thirty retail outlets and bars across the UK.

Add another 14 international outlets to the mix and even more openings in the pipeline, it is clear that BrewDog has firmly established itself as boozy force with which to be reckoned. Heck, even the beer specialist on my street here in Mexico City stocks BrewDog!

It is exciting to see such a successful enterprise take veganism seriously and with BrewDog announcing it will start including The Vegan Society trademark on their bottles and tap handles, the job of compassionate drinkers and shoppers all over the world just got that little bit easier.

vegan brew dog

Click here to see if a BrewDog shop or bar is near you and look out for the newly-labelled bottles in supermarkets and beer retailers everywhere.

Now, if they could just get rid of the three non-vegan beers in their line-up (Jet Black Heart, Dogma and Electric India), I’d invest in their Equity for Punks scheme in a heartbeat.

Read about BrewDog labelling vegan beer here.

Follow BrewDog on Twitter and Instagram. Like BrewDog on Facebook.

Find out about The Vegan Society trademark here.

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Beer and food night

beerboutiqueSouth west London, you don’t get a lot of vegan events but this one will make it feel worth the wait.

Weird Beard Brewing Co has teamed up with The Beer Boutique of Putney to stage a one-off beer and food event called Weird Vegans.

What’s in store for the vegan and vegan-sympathetic who venture down to the beer specialist this Tuesday (February 23, 2016)?

Here is a short description of the event:

Weird Beard hero and affirmed beardless veganist Natasha will be joining us to drink beer and talk veganism for an evening of fine foods and cracking ales. To say this will be a guilt free event would be a lie, as the days of the prototypical emaciated vegan are long gone – and we welcome the rise of the sleazy vegan, the sporty vegan, the greasy vegan, the gluttonous vegan, the sneezy vegan, and the intoxicated vegan.

Tickets are priced at just £15 and can be bought online here.

Have a ridiculously-good time if you decide to go along!


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Feeling thirsty?

The provisional (and I’m fairly certain) date for London Vegan Beer Fest 2016 is Saturday July 16. I keep getting asked so I thought I’d better get it out there.

You can like the Vegan Beer Fest UK Facebook and Twitter pages for updates on not only the London event, but also the Glasgow and Manchester versions taking place later in the year.

Get your favourite drinking outfit ready and tell all your friends.

More details soon.

See you in the Summer!


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