Club Mexicana on the move

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Superstar vegan street food purveyors Club Mexicana are on the move and FGV (that’s me) has the scoop.

One of the most popular cuisine traders in London is opening a new vegan food stall at food court Dinerama in Shoreditch on Thursday 25th May, 2017.

This is what Club Mexicana had to say when I asked for more details:

We’ve attached the new menu we’re launching – it’s our most innovative and exciting street food menu YET! We’re of course serving a great range of tacos, including our famous Baja To-fish (voted one of London’s top ten tacos by Time Out), Carne Asada (marinated and grilled seitan that squares up to any meaty version head on!) and our new fancy Jackfruit Tinga with pumpkin seed puree. But that’s not all. Due to its massive popularity at Pamela, we’ll be serving our Chick’n Wings, and on the back of huge demand at the FGV market, we’re putting on our Beer Battered Cheeze Fries too. But even that’s not all! Lunchtimes will see us serving up fat, juicy Jackfruit and Fried Chick’n toasted sandwiches.

Club Mexicana told me the London street food has always been a predominantly meaty scene and previously, if you went to Dinerama as a vegan, you went home hungry. But now they’ll be there from Thursday to Sunday each week from midday until late happily feeding vegans and vegan-curious alike!

Shoreditch already had fabulous vegan options and now that it has Club Mexicana in the Dinerama food court, it’s next level. Click here to see the exact location of Dinerama thanks to Google Maps.

Follow Club Mexicana on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

London Vegan Beer Fest is back

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Spread across three amazing spaces, London Vegan Beer Fest 2017 is set to be one of the biggest and best showcases of vegan beer and street food that east London has ever witnessed.

If you already know you wanna buy tickets without reading anything else, click here.

So what is going on in Hackney on Saturday July 15, 2017?

(All of the Vegan Beer Fest UK artwork and design is done exclusively by the incredibly talented Ricardo Sánchez. See his portfolio online here and get in touch if you wanna hit him up for some work)

Space 1: the inside Beer Hall will feature an exclusive beer bar run by superstar brewery Brass Castle (Facebook | Twitter). Travelling all the way from Yorkshire to make our event extra special, this 100% vegan brewery will be showcasing their award winning brews as well as other favourites from around the UK.

Space 2: the outside Beer Market will be an exciting mix of beer and street food stalls, with participating breweries from all over London and further afield. Keep an eye out for exclusive street food trucks and trailers in this section, too.

Space 3: the exclusive Beer & Wine Café is the place to head if you are looking for special sit down meal. The café will also be the spot for our 100% vegan exclusive wine bar, as well as somewhere else to grab a beer or two on site.

This is the biggest London Vegan Beer Fest has ever gone and we are thrilled to be taking over the space best known for being the home of the wildly successful Hackney Downs Vegan Market which regularly draws attendees numbering in the thousands. We’re delighted to partner with Hackney Showroom, Hackney Downs Studios and Autumn Yard for this huge event.

What To Eat?

There will be lots of delicious vegan street food on the day. Full details coming soon but we have some knockout names and you will have a LOT of choice. Burgers, fish & chips, donuts and so much more.

What To Drink?

The beer list is being planned right now and it’s going to be MASSIVE! Details coming soon! There will also be an exclusive wine bar, as well as cider and soft drinks for sale.

What else do you need to know?

Tickets for this event are priced as follows:

Early bird tickets (limited number available): £5 (plus booking fee)
Pre-sale second release tickets: £7 (plus booking fee)
On the day door sales (subject to availability): £9

Food and drink is not included in the ticket price and all tickets are NON-REFUNDABLE. Only ticket holders will be permitted to buy and consume food or drink (including non-alcohol drinks). No outside food or drink permitted.

Your ticket price includes a collectable plastic pint cup that you use all day and then take home with you!

London Vegan Beer Fest is dog-friendly (in outdoor spaces) and family-friendly. Invite friends via the Facebook event page.

London Vegan Beer Fest is not a place to deliberately make people feel bad about stuff. You cannot be at this event if you intend to use sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist and ageist language or behaviour. The organisers reserve the right to deny or revoke entry to the event and will take great delight in doing so if you act like an anti-social person.

Immense gratitude to Follow Your Heart for sponsoring this event.

Vegan fruit at Tesco

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One obstacle for vegans doing their best to steer clear of animal derived ingredients in their food is the practice by supermarkets and fruit wholesalers to coat fresh fruit in wax for preservation. Wax made from insects.

But along comes giant UK supermarket chain Tesco with the surprise of the year. They have started to tell customers that they have commenced a program to coat their fruit with a vegan-suitable wax.

Check out this Twitter exchange.


That is some good news.

We do everything we can to avoid contributing to the demand of animal products but you have sometimes just gotta buy some fruit. This move by Tesco means one less thing we have to worry about. We can focus on their monopolising business practices instead!

Extra note: Josh has asked but we are yet to get an answer if we will be able to tell which fruit is coated in the vegan wax or if it is a guessing game.

Huge vegan street market in Birmingham

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Kings Heath Business Improvement District is teaming up with The Vegan Grindhouse and Kitchen Garden Cafe for the all new Kings Heath Vegan Market in Birmingham.

This thing sounds huge.

This Sunday (May 21, 2017) between midday and 5pm there will be 100% vegan street food from The Vegan Grindhouse by Vegan Vox, Bare Bones Pizza, Mex It Up, Pietanic and Michael’s Caribbean, as well as cold food from Vegetropolis, Rachel’s Cake Delights, Vork Pie and more.

There will also be an outdoor vegan bar from Twisted Barrel Ale.

The Kitchen Garden Art Market will showcase the work of talented local artists, creators and makers, while there will also be live music all afternoon from local musicians to keep you entertained.

Money raised from the market will go to Grace’s Rest, an animal welfare charity for rescued exotic animals.

If you don’t have a lot of spare cash, you’ll be delighted to hear that the market has free entry all day! Click here to see exactly where it will be located.

The vendor line up is so huge you must get over to the Facebook event page to see the entire thing.

Yay for vegan markets!

Almost vegan product now vegan

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Do you remember when I flipped out about the Linda McCartney Pulled Pork Burgers not being vegan?

You can read that original post here.

I was annoyed by the inclusion of honey in this burger to the point where I felt as though the company was trolling us vegans.

Fast forward to now and it appears that Linda McCartney have changed the recipe to make it vegan friendly. Are they reacting to all of our moaning or is there another reason why they are leaving the honey out of the mix?

I don’t think they will tell us any time soon, but it’s another vegan win and I’ll take it. I’ve seen reports of the new vegan variation popping up in supermarkets around the UK.

Be careful to check the packet if you see this product in the store. The old honey-laden versions are still in circulation so you need to check you have found the vegan edition.

This is the old, non-vegan packaging

Do you need to know why honey is not vegan? Click here.

New vegan food stand for London

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New vegan food stand alert, London!

Tell Siri or Alexa to set a reminder for June 10, 2017 because you have a date with Wake ‘N Bake, a brand new vegan street food experience set to trade at The Boiler House on Brick Lane every weekend.

What sets this food stand apart from what we currently have on offer in the UK capital is the fact they are all about fully-loaded baked potatoes and homemade sausages turned into gourmet hot dogs.

Check out the menu that will be served Saturdays between 11am and 6pm, as well as Sundays between 10am and 5pm:

Baked potatoes with homemade vegan fillings

  • The Fully Monty – vegan butter, vegan cheese, baked beans, homemade WNB ‘sausage’, grilled onions, crispy ‘bacon’ bites
  • Taste of Istanbul – vegan butter, vegan cheese, olives, sweetcorn, gherkin, homemade WNB ‘sausage’, ketchup, vegan mayo
  • Grandma’s Meatballs – vegan butter, vegan cheese, olives, homemade WNB ‘meatballs’, marinara sauce, homemade ‘parmesan’
  • Something Phishy – vegan butter, vegan cheese, homemade WNB ‘tuna’ with sweetcorn and vegan mayo

(Customers can choose to make their own combination by choosing one protein and unlimited fillings)

Vegan hot dogs

  • Standard Dog – homemade WNB ‘sausage’, grilled onions, ketchup, mustard
  • Snoop Dog – homemade WNB ‘sausage’, grilled onions, olives, gherkin, pickled cabbage, sriracha hot sauce, vegan mayo

You’ve drooled over the Wake ‘N Bake menu so it’s time to look at some photos.

Snoop Dog
Grandma’s Meatballs
Something Phishy

If you love vegan comfort food, follow Wake ‘N Bake on Instagram and Facebook.

And you need to pay them a visit when they open in a few weeks on Brick Lane.

New vegan chicken twister

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I share this news with a full heart and a smile on my face.

London, you can get your hands on a vegan version of the chicken Twister wrap.

Take a look at this supreme piece of food art.

There is only one place you can get this wrap in London this week and that is the Temple of Seitan stall at Hackney Downs Vegan Market on Saturday May 20, 2017.

The Vegan Twist wrap comes with your choice of chipotle or lemon pepper mayo.

Of course there will be hundreds of people trying to get their hands on one of these savoury delights, so get to the market early. Full vendor line can be seen here and you can RSVP to the Facebook event.

Pudology now easier to find

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You all know and love the gorgeous vegan dessert pots known as Pudology. I wrote about their jumbo sized packs back here.

Well, good news just got better.

You can now find Pudology in 227 Sainsbury’s stores around the UK! The brand announced this huge news via their Instagram last week.


You can find out if a Sainsbury’s near you is stocking Pudology by searching this list on their website. You also find independent stockists of the brand who you should definitely support as well.

Yay for the widespread availability of vegan desserts!

New vegan venue with LOTS of jobs

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If you have ever been to Glasgow, you will have eaten with The 78, Mono, Stereo, The Old Hairdresser’s and/or The Flying Duck.

What you might not know is that all these vegan venues are owned by the same organisation, Thoughtful Enterprises.

In the biggest vegan news out of Scotland for ages, Thoughtful Enterprises has announced plans for a brand new vegan café and bar in Edinburgh!

Details are still rolling in, but in the meantime maybe you or some people you know would like to apply for one of the jobs being advertised in the new Edinburgh venue.

Details below:

The MONO/STEREO/THE 78/FLYING DUCK/OLD HAIRDRESSER’S family is expanding and we are excited to announce the opening of a NEW VEGAN BAR & KITCHEN in Edinburgh.

We are looking to build up our team and looking for like-minded people to fill all positions:

  • BAR MANAGER
  • CHARGEHANDS
  • BAR STAFF
  • CHEFS
  • KP
  • JANITOR

Please state which position you are applying for and send a CV and cover letter with two references to: vsohenderson@gmail.com The deadline for applications is Friday the 19th of May, 2017.

Get on it, Scotland!

Vegan ice cream on the move in London

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You all know about the wonderful vegan ice cream store in central London called Yorica, right?

Their frozen treats and soft serve yoghurts are amazing, so it’s fantastic to bring you news of their expansion.

First up, Yorica has a truck that is currently serving at Greenwich Market every week Monday through Friday from 10am until 5pm. They will also be serving some weekends and will keep popping up during these times throughout the summer.

Look at this truck!


In other news, Yorica will be opening its second store location very soon. The next Yorica will be in Notting Hill, meaning west London is going to get a taste of the good stuff.


Follow Yorica on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Be sure to congratulate them on their news!

Yay for vegan ice cream!

Extra note: I first blogged about Yorica way back here.