London vegan news, reviews & events
I make no secret for the respect I have for Ms Cupcake and the hard work Mellissa Morgan has put in to make her brand one of the most respected independent businesses in London. Notice I didn’t say ‘vegan’ before businesses? That’s right. Ms Cupcake is in the majors.
One of the secrets to their success has surely got to be the relentless attitude to keep creating new products and new ways to get them to people.
Take for instance their new mail order service.
“Here we go again. FGV is complaining about a vegetarian restaurant. Why can’t vegans just take what they get?”
Indian Melody was the scene of one of the most disappointing dining experiences I have ever had in the UK. I thought I was onto a sure thing when I discovered an almost entirely-vegan Indian restaurant in the city of Southampton, but I was rudely awakened to a different reality.
My partner Josh loves to jump onboard now and then to let you know about the food making him smile.
Please give him a warm welcome as he returns to let you know about an amazing vegan breakfast he consumed in Bristol. Could this be the best vegan fry up in the UK? Answers in the comment section, please!
Take it away, Josh.
FGV’s recent post about the vegan brunch at Down To Earth in London reminded me of a trip earlier this year to Cafe Kino in Bristol. This was my third trip to Bristol yet for some reason I had never made it to the cafe before. Passing through on the way from Cardiff to Bath with my sister-in-law and nephew from Australia, we stopped off at Cafe Kino one morning to fill our bellies before a long day of driving.
For those that don’t know about Cafe Kino, it’s a co-operatively run vegan cafe (except for cow milk in the drinks) situated in a picturesque area of Bristol. They’re open every day of the week, selling mostly home-made vegan food.
On the morning of my visit, I of course gravitated towards the vegan fry-up. It arrived quickly at my table with sausages, baked beans, hash browns, fried mushrooms, fried bread, bacon rashers and grilled tomatoes. It. Was. Perfect.
I can’t remember how much I paid but I remember thinking it was very reasonable for the amount of food I received. I wish there was something like this in London!
You can vote for Cafe Kino (and FGV!) in the VegfestUK awards
Follow Cafe Kino on Twitter
You know when you go to a small town or city and you find nothing to eat? What a sinking feeling, right?
This did not happen to me during my recent trip to Southsea.
Earlier this week I posted about my wondrous experience at Coco Chocolate Boutique (read about it here) and it just so happens you can also get a pretty decent vegan savoury meal on the very same street in Southsea.
Smile Cafe is as amiable an establishment as you can get. Every person working in the place was friendly, down to Earth and helpful. Their menu features vegan options clearly marked, which is highly unusual in this small cafe/diner style set up in the UK. Even though Smile is an omni eatery, I felt completely at home.
Check out what Josh and I enjoyed.
You don’t find yourself in the position of being a fat, gay vegan without knowing your way around a drop of chocolate or two. I love bars, coated sweets and anything containing vegan chocolate. It’s part of the territory when you are a FGV.
Imagine my delight a few weeks ago when I found myself standing in a cute-as-a-chocolate-button store in Southsea, surrounded by vegan chocolates. I was in heaven!
Coco Chocolate Boutique is a gorgeous specialist store crammed full of decadent, handmade delicacies just minutes from the seafront. Even though they aren’t exclusively vegan, the Coco shelves and cases hold an impressive array of animal-free fare.
There are vegan fondants, cherries oozing in brandy, dark chocolate shards in several flavours, chocolate covered Turkish delight and even solid dark chocolate skulls.
I work hard to make London Vegan Potluck a success and stories like the following make it all worthwhile.
A few months ago I was contacted by a friendly person from Reading called Gemma. Gemma was planning a vegan potluck in her city and wanted some advice on how to get it together.
I am only too happy to help where I can when it comes to this sort of question. As I have said previously, vegan potlucks are invaluable when it comes to building social capital, supporting new vegans and strengthening the resolve of long term vegans.
Flash forward to yesterday and I received a lovely message from Gemma sharing the following information:
“So we had our potluck tonight and I thought you would like to see the pics. There were about 18 or so people I think. Thank you again for all your advice before. It really helped. Our next one is 5th August and everyone has said they will come to that one too, yaay.”
How fantastic. I tip my hat to Gemma and the Reading vegans for hosting the first of what I’m sure will be many potlucks. Hopefully I can make it along in the future!
Gemma has kindly agreed to let me use some of her photos from the Reading Potluck. Follow her Facebook page for further dates and details.
After I visit a city, it always takes me a long time to work through all the food I consumed and convert the tasty memories into blog posts. I have that well-known vegan condition that involves eating every single possible vegan dish available to me during a vacation. Almost like I’ve never seen food before. What’s wrong with us?
My recent Edinburgh trip was no different. Working out where vegan breakfast, lunch and dinner were to be enjoyed took precedence over getting to the castle or visiting the museum. The walks along the Royal Mile or down historic closes were planned with precision to ensure vegan food options took centre stage throughout my time in Edinburgh.
In addition to my baked potato experience, one of the most memorable frenzied pit stops for food involved vegan fudge. Thick, creamy and irresistible vegan fudge. The Fudge Kitchen located on the Royal Mile isn’t a vegan food outlet but they certainly know how to make plant-based eaters feel welcome.
The store has at least one vegan fudge option on show each day. My visit coincided with the overwhelmingly-scrumptious toffee variety made with soya cream.
I am trying to be a less food-driven tourist. Not as many of my trips are planned around the food available at the destination but it will be a long while until I am comfortable moving through a town without devouring every vegan dish on offer.
Find all Fudge Kitchen UK locations online
Follow Fudge Kitchen on Twitter
Like Fudge Kitchen on Facebook
I adore potato. It is my favourite food. I love it so deeply, I even have a blog category dedicated to this precious gift from the Earth.
Knowing this about me, you can imagine the utter joy I felt upon discovering a vegetarian baked potato cafe during my recent trip to Edinburgh. This wonderland of carbs is filled with vegetarian and vegan options to pile on top of piping hot potato.
Even though I was only in the Scottish city for one night, I managed to visit The Baked Potato Shop twice and it was just about all the food I could manage during my visit. The servings were mammoth!
We can never have too many vegan food suppliers in the world, right? Well, we certainly can never have too many vegan food suppliers working towards building social capital in their neighbourhood, right? I knew you’d agree with me.
Moose’s Kitchen is a cafe set to open over the coming months and will focus on sustainable, organic, local and vegan food. The idea behind the eatery is to supply ethical and organic food to the community while working to educate people on healthy eating, collective organising and vegan cooking.
This initiative is set to transform the way people in Hastings and the South East approach food. The founder of Moose’s Kitchen sat down with me to explain the concept of the cafe and why she is asking you (yes, YOU!) to make a donation in order to make the idea a reality.
Read the interview below and make a donation to Moose’s Kitchen here.
Here is some exciting news that will brighten your pedestrian start to the week.
US Comedian Jamie Kilstein is gracing the UK with his irreverent presence this month during a live stand up tour that will make stops in London, Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester and Edinburgh.
Jamie is well-known for his political comedy podcast Citizen Radio that he runs out of his Brooklyn apartment with his partner Allison Kilkenny. He has been featured as a comedian on many cable and TV shows including Conan O’Brien and these UK gigs come hot on the heels of two wildly successful shows in Seattle and Portland.
He is a funny person and many people love him for his social justice-charged brand of comedy, but you are probably wondering why a chubby, queer, food-obsessed blogger is hipping you to this news on a vegan blog.
Not only is Jamie Kilstein a progressive comedian resisting oppression of people, he is also a fierce advocate for non-human animals as a longtime vegan. Check out this excerpt about being vegan from one of his shows before checking below for dates and ticket details for the upcoming UK tour.
Be quick. Jamie is truly a sensation and tickets are already moving swiftly.