Vegan

Vegan café in Amsterdam

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Post by:

joe panel

One place that everyone seems to mention whenever I write about Amsterdam is Koffie ende Koeck and with very good reason!

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It’s a lovely café, with friendly staff serving coffee and tea, some tasty savouries, and excellent cakes, all beautifully presented. We’ve been twice now, but I can’t seem to find any photos of the first time, and this last time I was so busy digging into this delicious orange drizzle cake that I forgot to take more photos!

But that’s all probably a good sign, right? Koffie ende Koeck should definitely be on your list of vegan places to visit while in Amsterdam.

Also, it’s one of the few places that you’ll find Fentimans soft drinks, if that’s important to you (it’s nice have the occasional Dandelion and Burdock, it’s hard to find on the continent!).

Click here to visit the Koffie ende Koeck website.

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Finally! Eat Natural has a vegan bar

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How many times have you picked up an Eat Natural in the supermarket only to put it back on the shelf when you remembered it had honey in it?

The protein bar people have been teasing us vegans for years with their honey-laden range, but now they have thrown us a bone. A bone in the form of a delicious-sounding vegan bar.

This new bar is crafted from maple syrup, pecans and peanuts, and you can get your compassionate fingers on these newbies at Tesco stores around the UK from this month (March 2016).

The press release for the new bars tells me it “contains 40% more protein than a standard Eat Natural Brazil & Sultana bar. It’s made using naturally protein-loaded nuts and contains no soya. Packed with over 70% nuts and seeds: a mix of Peanuts, indulgent Pecan nuts, Golden linseeds and nutty sunflower seeds all gently drenched with Canadian maple syrup and baked lightly for a mellow, rich taste and crunch. (Vegan, Wheat, Dairy and Gluten free.)”

Sounds tasty! Have you tried one yet?

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Vote for a vegan restaurant

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Let’s put our collective vegan power behind this cause.

Lovely vegan restaurant El Piano in York has been nominated for a mainstream food award and you can vote for them by clicking here.

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What are you still doing here? Get voting!

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Do you need a vegan job?

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Do you need a vegan job?

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The legendary vegan restaurant in north London called Manna has some jobs on offer.

  • trainee front of house supervisor
  • part-time waiting staff

If you want to know what these jobs entail, you need to contact manage@mannaV.com for more info and to apply.

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Ice cream! Milk! Chocolate!

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As of the end of April/beginning of May 2016, I no longer work with Besos de Oro

I teased you all a few days ago about the upcoming developments from my client, Besos de Oro.

Well, the time has come to give you a sneak peek behind the curtain. Are you ready?

Besos new vegan products

Yes, you are seeing what you think you are seeing.

Besos de Oro is the creamy drink crafted from brandy and horchata, a milky liquid made of chufa. Chufa is a tuber also known as tiger nut and is the star ingredient of horchata from Spain.

Besos is now changing the way vegans and dairy-free consumers get their milk, ice cream and chocolate. These creamy new products are made from the chufa plant and the entire range is also gluten free.

As if that isn’t enough to impress, Besos is also set to please with a brand new tomato frito. Frito is a decadent sauce made from roasted tomatoes and is the main tomato ingredient in Spanish cuisine. Peter from Besos de Oro assures me that his frito is the best you will ever taste.

This news is intense and is wearing me out, so let me recap.

The new Besos frito and milk will be available in the UK not long after you read this post, followed by the Besos ice cream and chocolate. All vegan!

As of the end of April/beginning of May 2016, I no longer work with Besos de Oro

You should follow Besos de Oro on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to find out where these glorious new vegan products will be sold (and what those mysterious unannounced products are!).

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UK pub chain has a vegan menu

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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.

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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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Vegan chocolate Easter workshop

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Do you want to learn how to handcraft mouthwatering chocolates? Do you want your teacher to be an expert? Do you want to eat delicious sweet treats?

Yes to everything?

Check out this fabulous vegan chocolate Easter workshop where all of the above will happen.

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On March 25, 2016 you can join chocolatier Ela Harpak, a Le Cordon Bleu graduate, for a fun and delicious Easter vegan chocolate workshop. Ela will teach you the basic skills of a chocolatier as well as introduce you to some surprising vegan ingredients and flavours.

You will make and decorate vegan chocolate eggs, as well as craft delicious vegan creamy pralines, truffles and more!

The cost of the workshop is £35 per person and bookings can be placed via ohlala.workshops@gmail.com. You can also RSVP over on the Facebook event.

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They got the message: eggs are not plant based

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A few days ago I wrote about a brand new vegetarian restaurant opening in Notting Hill that was championing the fact that their menu was totally plant-based.

The problem with this statement was that when you got over to their Instagram page, the kitchen staff were busy posting photos of dishes containing chicken eggs.

A bunch of vegans (me included) posted some comments asking what gives with calling eggs a plant-based food.

The Instagram account started deleting its eggy photos and today I noticed they have changed their description to 90% plant-based.

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Now only 90% plant-based

That’s right. ‘Totally plant-based’ belongs to us vegans. Don’t be putting it over the door of a restaurant serving eggs.

Original post about Farmacy here.

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Hottest new vegan burgers in London!

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Post by:

josh panel

A couple of weeks ago I saw something on Twitter about a new veggie burger pop-up at Brick Lane. I reached out to Hot Boyz Veggie Burgers and discovered that they are 100% vegan. Their food looks delicious – check out some pics from their social media channels:

The Hot Boyz are in Town! If your around come down!! Brick Lane Upmarket #vegan #vegetarian #foodies #foods #foodie #foodporn

A photo posted by Hot Boyz Veggie Burger Joint (@hotboyzvburger) on


Hot Boyz Veggie Burgers will be at the Sunday Upmarket in Brick Lane this Sunday from 10am-5pm. Go along, check out their burgers and report back!

Like Hot Boyz on Facebook or follow on Twitter and Instagram.

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Review: Bar Bombón in Philadelphia

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Post by:

josh panel

Last month I was in Philly and was keen to visit a vegan Puerto Rican/Latin-inspired restaurant that opened last year called Bar Bombón. A browse of the menu sounded promising so I headed downtown together with my brother, sister-in-law and two nieces.

We had a hard time picking from the menu so quickly did the most sensible thing and ordered pretty much everything available. There was five of us and we were hungry. Don’t judge! Here’s a breakdown of what we had:

Bar Bombon - dips and chipsSalsa Roja, Salsa Verde y Guacamole with fried corn tortillas.

Bar Bombon - fried yucaYucca Frita with Maduro sauce

Bar Bombon - empanadasEmpanadas de chick’n and beef

Bar Bombon - tequila seitanTequila Seitan Skewers

Bar Bombon - enchiladasEnchiladas de ‘pollo’

Bar Bombon - brussels tacosBrussels Sprout Tacos with fried avocado

Bar Bombon - broccoli tacosBroccoli Tacos

Bar Bombon - cubano clubCubano Club Sandwich

Bar Bombon - galletteAnjou Pear & Squash Gallette

Bar Bombon - tres lechesTres Leches Cake

Bar Bombon - arrozXocolatl rice pudding

I wish I could say that everything was delicious but we all left feeling slightly underwhelmed with the food. There were some standout items (the fried yuca, Cubano club sandwich and the incredible Tres Leches cake) but everything else seemed to be somewhat lacking in flavour and composition. I hate to be too critical because I’m sure that much time and love has gone into creating these dishes but I really didn’t feel like my expectations were met at Bar Bombón.

Add to that the Center City Philly prices, and I don’t think any of us would head back there in a hurry.

Except for that Tres Leches cake which was truly memorable.

Visit Bar Bombón online, like them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter or Instagram.