Vegan in Malmö Sweden

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joe panel

When I was in Copenhagen, I also took a day trip to Malmö, over the sea in Sweden. Some people make out like Malmö and Copenhagen are nuzzled together, but it will take about an hour to get from central Copenhagen to central Malmö, realistically.

However, if you do make the trip (take your passport, Schengen is no longer here) you’ll be rewarded with some excellent vegan food at Kao’s.

The café was a little hard to find – from the street it looked like the place is closed down (I’m not sure if they were refurbishing it). However, signs directed us through the gate at the side and into the rear courtyard where we found a beautiful, peaceful oasis.

In addition to a buffet, there are three daily specials – one soup, one fake meat, and one vegetable dish, plus a range of sweet treats to satisfy any tastebuds.

We had seitan sausage with potato salad (packed with dill, one of my favourites), and a sweet potato gratin with tofu and curry-roasted vegetables, which came with some amazingly creamy garlic mayonnaise. Both dishes were delicious, though they may not look particularly exciting on my photos! Meals include a trip to the salad bar, plus a tea or filter coffee too.

There was also a big selection of sweet stuff. After much deliberation we settled on a cinnamon swirl, plus a slice of chocolate cake with a thick caramel layer in the middle – gooey and delicious.

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We both thought Kao’s was excellent, a perfect spot for some lunch. There’s also a branch of the vegan supermarket Astrid Och Aporna very close by, so you can stock up on goodies for your travels.

Later, after wandering around the city, we went to the clearly-named Vegan Bar. I quite like that it’s so proud of its credentials – and it was packed, too!

They specialise in burgers, and they have a build-your-own system in place. First you choose your burger style – soya mince, chickpea, or portobello – then you choose your type of bread, then finally your toppings.

We chose a mushy-mushy chickpea burger with sourdough bun. The mushy-mushy includes lots of mushrooms and a slice of vegan cheese. It came with chunky fries and was pretty big and very tasty!

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The only odd note came after ordering, when the friendly member of staff told us that we should have been charged extra for sharing (we weren’t hungry enough to each tackle a burger and fries). This is a bit weird for a bar. I can understand why a restaurant might do this, but for a place where you order your food at the bar, and where not everyone is eating anyway, it seems a bit off.

But the food was great, and the atmosphere was pretty cool, too. It’s not in the centre of the city, but off to the south, close to Triangeln station where the Copenhagen train stops, which makes it ideal for starting or ending your day in Malmö.

Which is what we did, and thus ended our day in Malmö…

…well, almost. On the way to the station we passed an ICA supermarket and decided to drop in. To our surprise we discovered a huge corner dedicated to vegan products! They even had flapjacks, which funnily enough aren’t easy to get over here. Good to see such prominent vegan marketing, and useful to know too.

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Copenhagen 2016

Post by:

joe panel

You know, I’ve got no excuse to go on holiday to Copenhagen again. There are so many new vegan places in Berlin that I’ve failed to tell you about (though that will soon be rectified, I promise!), yet here I am trotting off to Denmark again.

Anyway, the good news is that since my last visit a year ago, Copenhagen’s vegan selection has improved considerably. In addition to seeing more vegan options in non-vegan places, there are a few new all-vegan restaurants too (and they’re not of the faddy health food variety that dominated previously). Here’s the low-down on two of them.

I think our favourite new place was Souls. Located on a quiet but pretty square in the residential area of Østerbro, Souls is a real step up for vegan fare in Denmark.

We had two sandwiches, and they were not only huge but incredibly tasty too. Photographed here you can see a “Soulful BBQ” which includes grilled mushrooms and tofu, and the Kidney Bean which includes something like Mexican-style refried beans and guacamole, among other ingredients. One sandwich (or “sanger” in their Australian parlance) is plenty of food for one person, but you can order some sweet potato fries now, if you have room.

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They also have a (US-style) pancake brunch, which we never made it to, much to our regret!

We also visited Café N which has a wide range of food available. They have some tasty croissants (the best vegan croissants I’ve had, maybe) and enjoyable sandwiches and sides, as well as full-plate meals (and the portions are generous here, too). You can see a big sandwich crammed full of mushrooms and tofu, with some chunky fries and home-made mayonnaise dip artfully blurred in the background.

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My only complaint about Café N is that they stop taking orders at 9pm, but their website doesn’t mention this (just says they close at 10pm). Come on guys, it’s easy to put that information on there! The staff were very friendly and directed us to another restaurant that had some so-so vegan options, but it was still disappointing, especially as we could have got there earlier if we’d known.

Anyway, those are my latest recommendations for Copenhagen. I hope the city continues to expand for vegans… maybe one day it will catch up to Berlin!

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Vegan surf camp

What follows on this page is one of my favourite guest posts of all time.

I won’t explain as Elena from The Vegan Society does such an amazing job. My words would only get in the way.

Vegan Surf Camp By Elena Orde from The Vegan Society

Sun, miles and miles of beaches and all the delicious food you can eat… have I got your attention yet? Vegan Surf Camp is a haven for globetrotting vegans, located in the wonderfully green Plage-Moliets in the South of France. The camp runs throughout July and August each year, and I was lucky enough to visit in the second week of their season.

Let’s begin with the important stuff… the incredible food. Each night the staff laid out an array of amazing homemade dishes. A few examples include mushroom and seitan stew, crispy garlic bread, tomato and ‘tofu feta’ salad, vegetable tempura, burgers, fried potatoes, plus the camp’s own vegan mayo, which they literally made by the bucket.

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As a complete surfing newb I didn’t know how I would take to it. But with the guidance of the surf instructor I actually managed to stand up on the board a handful of times over the course of the week (before plunging into the sea and having a little drink of ocean each time). So I think that counts as a win.

If surfing isn’t your bag, the camp has so much else to offer. You can go for walks along the coast or in the surrounding woodland, become embroiled in ping-pong wars, or lounge around the camp’s outdoor bar in their rainbow-striped hammocks or on their rustic decking complete with cat-patterned upcycled cushions. It’s all gloriously Instagrammable.

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The camp also offers daily outdoor yoga sessions in the woods. What with the warm breeze and the chirruping wildlife, the atmosphere was so relaxing that I found myself dozing off during the end-of-session Savasana. I can definitely get behind a yoga pose which basically consists of having a bit of a lie-down with your eyes closed.

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The only downsides to the camp were due to my own lack of preparation. If you’re going, take suncream. Take a lot of it, and use it. Or you will end up like me, with randomly-placed patches of sunburn from where you fell asleep in the sun and your towel slipped off a bit. Also: come prepared with mozzie repellent. I found myself having some very un-vegan thoughts towards these little guys as they nibbled on me in the evenings.

Members of The Vegan Society receive 5% off their Vegan Surf Camp booking fee, plus hundreds of other great discounts. Sign up here.

Vegan Surf Camp runs throughout July and August each year. Get more details and pricing here: https://envegansummercamp.wordpress.com/

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Vegan banana split

I know the majority of readers are based in the socially, politically and financially crumbling UK so I thought I would offer you some pure vegan food escapism to brighten up your bleak week.

During my trip to Los Angeles last week, I had the extreme pleasure of visiting a completely vegan soft serve frozen yoghurt store located in Glendale.

Yoga-Urt is a gorgeous experience from top to bottom. Friendly people, delicious yoghurt (old school, isolationist UK spelling!) and a delightful selection of vegan toppings.

Take a look at the stunning banana split below and tell me if you can even handle it!

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Save your devalued Pounds and get to California for some frozen goodness at Yoga-Urt.

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New vegan donut café

Post by:

joe panel

Just when you thought that Berlin just couldn’t get any better for vegan food, along comes another place to make you drool. And this one is a corker!

Brammibal’s have been selling incredible vegan doughnuts at fairs and through other vegan cafés for about a year now, but finally they’ve achieved their goal of opening a café all of their own. And I’m pleased to say it’s excellent. The café is spacious and relaxing, a great place to spend an hour or so. It feels like it’s a piece of New York City transported across the Atlantic, I’m not quite sure why but that’s the feeling I get (in a good way!).

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The headline product is the doughnuts, of course. A wide range of sticky, sweet confections which are well worth travelling for. But it’s not all about the sugar – even though it’s not promoted much, they also have excellent coffee and sandwiches. We had one with grilled BBQ tempeh and portobello mushroom, and another with cashew cheese and smoked “lox”, made from thinly-sliced carrot. (Lox isn’t a word I’d ever heard in Britain, but I recently learned that it’s used in North America to describe smoked salmon. And it surely comes from the German word “lachs”.) They were both magnificent.

You can find out more about Brammibal’s online.

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Vegan snack extravaganza

I’m currently in Los Angeles which means a lot of snacking.

Check out some of the food and drink stuffs that have been making me smile these past few days.

Two massive take out trays of #vegan Ethiopian food from Rahel in Los Angeles. Look at that injera!

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Nothing going on around here except a bag of garlic dill pickle potato chips by McClure’s!!!!!! #vegan

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Too cool. The sea salt peanut bag on the right is just like how I remember peanut M&Ms. #vegan

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Gorgeous #vegan kale Caesar salad with crispy tempeh from @veggiegrill

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These will ALWAYS be one of my favourites. #vegan

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These gorgeous things made the cut during my #vegan snack frenzy today.

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Absolutely guzzled this! #vegan

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In love with the fried #vegan chicken basket at Doomie’s in Hollywood. Sides include slaw, mac n cheese and fries.

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Fried sprouts with nacho cheese at Vegan Beer and Food Festival in Los Angeles. #vegan

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Devilled #vegan eggs at Los Angeles Vegan Beer and Food Festival

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Tasty #vegan slider with seitan from @snackrilegeveganfoods at Los Angeles Vegan Beer and Food Festival today.

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The double down burger by @theherbivorousb at Los Angeles Vegan Beer and Food Festival today. #vegan

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I could drink this all day long. Gorgeous.

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Not a bad array of snacks, hey? Anything take your fancy?

Extra note: all these photos originally appeared on my Instagram account.

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Vegan snacks at Disneyland

Even though this is intended to be a brief blog post about vegan snacks available in Disneyland, I can’t go past telling you how problematic a trip to the theme park was for me.

Some of the old-fashioned attractions are straight up racist and I can’t believe they still exist in 2016. From animatronic cannibals and head hunters on the Jungle Cruise to the drum rhythms and sexualised dancing of ‘Africans’ on the Small World ride, the park is a colonial throwback like nothing else I’ve seen.

I half expected Michael Caine to shoot someone with a pistol at some point during the day.

The rest of the park features sexist language and imagery, romanticised depictions of frontier times and heteronormative merchandise like ‘his and hers’ matching Mickey Mouse t-shirts.

I felt extremely confronted, as though I had been transported back to a time before people knew better.

Now that is off my chest…

If you find yourself at Disneyland in California for any reason, here are a few vegan snacks you might purchase to help get you through the torrent of essentialism thrown at you.

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Chocolate and peanut butter swirl

Got plans to be in Los Angeles anytime soon?

Well, you had better make plans!

Today I stopped by a frozen yogurt shop on Robertson Boulevard in West Los Angeles as I had heard about dedicated vegan yogurt self service machines and toppings.

Milky’s is not a fully-vegan enterprise but they certainly do not shy away from their plant-based credentials. Check out the photos below and click play on the hypnotic video of me serving up a jumbo tub of chocolate and peanut butter swirl.

Glory!

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Extra note: these photos and the video all originally appeared on my Instagram account.

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Decadence down under

Post by:

dex panel

Raw Trader is a sneaky little café found a block or two back from the bustling La Trobe Street. This welcoming and warm café specialises in organic, raw, vegan, gluten free and sugar free healthy desserts and treats. And as far as I can tell so far, they’re ALL delicious!

Raw Trader has a huge range of cakes and slices prepared daily and on display in their front cabinet, and it’s always terribly hard to choose just one.

From Bliss Balls, to Turkish Delight Slice, Coffee Doughnuts and the ever tasty Raspberry and Chocolate layer cake these talented folk also make their own ice creams and sorbets on those hot Australian Summer days.

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Open 7 days a week, it’s hard to not stop by Raw Trader for a quick bite and a choice of their large selection of teas or a coffee.

Raw Trader is located at 10 Sutherland St, Melbourne VIC 3000. Open 7:30AM to 6:00PM M-F and 10:30AM to 4:30PM weekends.

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Guest post: Vegan food experience in India

Guest post by Ian McDonald:

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I think this is the best vegan pizza I’ve ever had. I loved the cripsness of the base, the home-made cheesiness of the topping. Perhaps it’s the freshness of the ingredients. It’s definitely in the same rank as the vegan pizzas in East London, but it’s hard to do a side-by-side comparison.

Because this one is in Ahmedabad, India.

Ahmdedabad was the first port of call in India for my radio series “Vegetarianism: The Story So Far”. It has Gandhi’s ashram, and an animal hospital based in a traditional Jain cow sanctuary. (You can hear the latter in the latest episode, about Indian’s animal advocate king.)

It’s in Gujarat, the corner of India closest to Pakistan and the Middle East, and the poor beasts of burden include camels as well as horses and bulls. Many Gujaratis follow vegetarian faiths – Jainism and Vaishnavism. (An Italian traveller in sixteenth century Gujarat once said the locals “do not feed upon anything that contains blood, nor do they permit among them that any injury be done to any living creature, like our Leonardo da Vinci.”)

What’s that? Shut up about history and talk about food? Okay, here’s another picture of food.

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This is a raw chocolate cake. I don’t usually go for raw, but this really moist and tasty.

The recipes are by the fantastic chef Gemma Ferre. Gemma moved to Ahmedabad from London, starting the cafe with her friend Nimi Hirani. Nimi was born in Gujarat, raised in Kenya, worked for the NHS in London, and is a vegan campaigner who provides a home to camels, cows, goats, and even two emus on her land in nearby Kutch.

The Philosophy Club takes up a shopfront in the ground floor of an office block. It’s between the main Hare Krishna temple and a large glossy air-conditioned shopping mall. I’m geeky enough to want to tell you that the district is named Satellite for its space research institutes. When you enter the Philosophy Club you discover a welcoming homely cafe with hardwood furniture, improvised light fittings, and eclectic mismatched crockery that could be in Hackney. Except better.

What Gemma cooks up is truly amazing. She brings much of her native Catalonian experience to the menu – from homemade gnocchi with garlic to Mediterranean cream potato soup. And the folk of Ahmedabad agree – the cafe won “Casual Dining – Best European Cuisine” at the Times of India’s Food Awards for Ahmedabad. Word is, Gemma is planning open a bigger branch closer to the centre of town.

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And feast your eyes on the chocolate brownie with walnuts. Delicious.

The Philosophy Club lives up to its name, with a gentle ambience, a bookshelf, and the occasional music or poetry reading. It’s a great little cafe that actively promotes veganism. Part of me wishes it was nearer to home; but I know I shouldn’t be so selfish. For now, I’ll just have to salivate over food pics on the Philosophy Club’s Facebook page.

Ian McDonald produces “The Vegan Option” (tagline: really interesting radio that just happens to be vegan), and is currently working on “Vegetarianism: The Story So Far”, a fascinating exploration of meat-free and compassionate history. Dr Ian McDonald is a BBC-trained digital media producer whose work has been broadcast on national radio in the UK. He lives in East London with Mazzy, a rescued cat.

  • Full disclosure: Nimi was also astoundingly helpful to me in my travels around India, including advice and interpreting Hindi. It became a bit of a base of operations in Ahmedabad. I’ve tried to be objective about the food, but judging by the rave reviews from mainstream Indian media it’s really not just me.

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