Feeling Hungary

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josh panel

By now you’ve probably all read about how much FGV enjoyed the Napfényes chain of restaurants when we were in Budapest recently. I wholeheartedly agree that it was probably the tastiest food I’ve been served in Europe. However, I wanted to try some of the other vegan food in Budapest so I dragged a reluctant FGV along to Kozmosz one morning to see if Napfényes could be improved upon… 

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¡Taco taco taco!

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josh panel

I was super-excited to read on the LA Times website that Los Angeles is getting a brand-new taquería, opened by none other than actor Danny Trejo and it appears to be very vegan-friendly! The LA Times article quotes Danny saying;

“Here, we wanted to include everybody, so we have a great vegan menu and gluten-free menu.”

Other online articles speculated that Trejo’s Tacos was 100% vegan but it has since been established that it is just vegan-friendly as they posted a picture of a chicken taco on their Instagram feed. Either way, I can’t wait to find out more during my next trip to LA!

As a side-note, FGV and I visited our first vegan taquería here in Mexico City last night… review and pics coming soon!

You can follow Trejo’s Tacos on Twitter and Instagram, or like the Facebook page.

Crafty nutters

josh panel

Earlier this month, FGV and I were up in Glasgow for VegFest Scotland where we got to meet lots of lovely people and cram lots of delicious food into our mouths. One of the products that really stood out was the Nutcrafter Creamery aged nut cheeses. So good in fact that I had to buy some to bring back to London with us.

Not having a fridge for our three-day journey back to London (we stopped in Manchester for a couple of nights on the way back) wasn’t a problem. These cheeses are air-aged which means that they can be kept out of the fridge. This is good new for those of you not in the Glasgow area as it means you can order them online. Check out the delicious flavours we brought back to London:

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Review: Wild Food Cafe in London

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josh panel

For some foolish reason, I agreed to meet a colleague for a coffee in Covent Garden on the last Saturday before Christmas. The streets got busier as time went on and when our meeting came to an end just before lunchtime, I needed to find somewhere for a quick bite to eat away from the crowds. I immediately remembered the Wild Food Cafe in Neal’s Yard. I’d heard so much about it, but never had the chance to visit.

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Hold the Meat!

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josh panel

As I was meeting a friend for dinner at the behemothic Westfield London shopping mall in White City earlier this week, I googled ‘vegan westfield london’ beforehand and a Brazilian restaurant called Cabana Brasilian Barbecue popped up as the third result. Intrigued, I clicked through to their website to discover that despite their name, this national chain clearly mark vegan options on their menus. So with some reservations about going anywhere with the word ‘barbecue’ in the name, I decided to give it a try.

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Not so tasty

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josh panel

On a recent trip to Leeds I saw this Turkey Style, Ham Style & Leek Pie by VBites and curiosity got the better of me.

I have to admit I was quite disappointed.

The filling was an odd-looking mixture of meats and veggies which didn’t taste particularly appetising. Although I like VBites’ turkey-style roast and their ham-style slices, the flavourless sauce and soggy carrots combined with the two meat replacements in this pie didn’t work for me.

The lacklustre pastry only served to speed the pie’s trip to the bin after just a few bites.

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Wot no egg?

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josh panel

I’ve blogged before about the Fleet River Bakery just behind Holborn station, so was delighted when a recent leaving do for a work colleague took the form of an afternoon tea in the space.

Among the omni offerings on the table, the bakery had made vegan mini-sandwiches and wraps but the pride of place went to the delicious looking vegan chocolate cake in the middle of the spread. Omni colleagues were shocked when they saw me tucking into a̶ slice two slices of the cake as they said they would not have guessed that it was vegan. Why do omni people think that all vegan cakes are some sort of sad, wholemeal affair with the consistency of a week-old granary loaf? The cake had the perfect combination of being both rich but not too heavy, and it was so nice to see a vegan cake taking centre-stage at a non-vegan event. Good vegan food changes minds and is a form of activism.

As you might have guessed, I subsequently had several conversations with colleagues about how to make a vegan cake and what was wrong with eggs!

Get to the Fleet River Bakery soon and try and get your laughing gear around that delicious chocolate cake they have there!

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Hippo like you belong in the zoo

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josh panel
For months I’d seen the posts about a ‘top secret’ vegan café opening in London’s Soho district and last week I finally got to check it out. After changing their name from ‘Top Secret Vegan Café’ to simply ‘Vegan Café’, the establishment now seems to have settled for the more memorable (but sappy) ‘Vegan Hippo’.

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Down the wrong alley

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josh panel
Last weekend I found myself in Oxford for a work visit. With an hour and a half for lunch, I thought I’d head up to Jericho and visit the Gardener’s Arms which both FGV and I have blogged about in the past.
However, as I was walking along Magdalen Street, the following sign piqued my interest enough for me to head down a small pedestrian alleyway and find out what ‘Veg options’ meant.

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A visit to The Gate Islington

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The Gate is somewhat of an institution in London, dating back to 1989 when their original location in Hammersmith opened. The Islington branch opened its doors more recently in 2012 and benefits from a prominent corner position on St John Street at the end of Rosebery Avenue.

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