Guest post: vegan pizza in Southend

Awesome guest post about vegan pizza in Southend by Jenny Canham of Vegan Boho blog (follow her on Instagram and Twitter).

This weekend marked a very happy occasion for vegans in the Essex area, we have been blessed with vegan pizza thanks to The Railway Hotel!

The Railway Hotel is a vegetarian/vegan pub which was listed in PETA’s list of Top 10 Vegan-Friendly Pubs in the UK. It has been a firm favourite for vegan food amongst people living in Essex and further afield. They sell a wide selection of traditional pub favourites, such as vegan ‘fish’ and chips with tartare sauce, and a range of vegan desserts to finish.

The pizzeria is an exciting addition to this quirky pub. It’s set up separately from the bar, and you can order your pizza by filling out a sheet, on which you can select ‘vegan pizza’ and then choose as many veggie toppings as your heart desires.

The Railway Hotel use Violife Pizza Cheese on their pizzas, which melts beautifully, and each pizza is presented in a traditional box so you can take home what you don’t manage to eat (or if you wanted to save room for one of their awesome desserts!).

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After talking to the owners, I also discovered an extra topping to this exciting pizza news! They are currently looking into offering a pizza delivery service to the area…so people that live nearby may soon be able to order vegan pizza from the comfort of their own home. The pub have also just released their brand new Indian Summer Menu…which is 100% vegan! Hooray!

The Railway Hotel is my favourite local hangout, not only for the delicious vegan food with new dishes added regularly, but also for the general atmosphere and friendliness of everybody there. I hope more people get the chance to check out their amazing new pizzas and hearty vegan pub food!

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Vegan night market!

Are you worried that Australia is not on top of vegan stuff? Well, don’t be. They are all over it.

Check out the Farewell Winter Night Market in Sydney, organised by the wonderfully-named Vegan Collective.

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As you can see on the Facebook event pageFarewell Winter Night Market is packed solid with multiple food stalls as well as various other traders.

If you are familiar with the vegan scene in Sydney, you’ll be happy to see the following line up of traders:

My Little Panda Kitchen
The Vegan Teahouse
Delicious Skin
Treat Dreams
Over The Moo
GoGo Vego
Herbisaurus
Rhubarb Bakes
Wild Kombucha by Ballsy
Peppermint Pantry
Little Vegan Make Up Shop
Temple Foods
Mister Toast
The Chocolate Yogi

That’s a strong collection. Add live music to the mix and this sounds like a winning night out in Redfern (where FGV used to live!).

Extra note: this event is taking place on International Vegan Junk Food Day 2016.

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Update on Sheffield vegan café

I delivered news to you a few days ago about the wonderful Sheffield-based food experts Make No Bones and how they have opened a permanent café.

The blog post didn’t include much info or any photos so I thought it best to get along. I wanted to have something more substantial to show you.

I eat for you, dear readers.

Check out this incredible selection of plant-based dishes I devoured during my visit. Make No Bones is a place where you will find some of the best vegan food on the planet. I almost wept with joy.

Spiced battered avocado wings with dill & chive sour cream at @mnbvegan in Sheffield. #vegan

A photo posted by Fat Gay Vegan (@fatgayvegan) on

Be warned. @mnbvegan in Sheffield means business. Look at this #vegan tiramisu sundae!

A photo posted by Fat Gay Vegan (@fatgayvegan) on


Yes. It tasted as good as it looks. Possibly even better. News of the café starting a Sunday roast service this weekend has me considering relocating to Sheffield.

You must make time to eat with Make No Bones soon. Your life will be improved. If you run a vegan food business, go along and be inspired by this exceptionally high standard of food. It’s a knockout.

Follow Make No Bones on Instagram and Facebook.

VBF-TWCover

Café in Camden closing

Well, that didn’t last long.

A short while back, a café named Buttercream Dreams opened in Camden, London following a popular run in Croydon.

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Sadly, this news was posted on the café’s Facebook page a few days ago:

NEWS!
We are closing our Camden shop as of this Sunday due to health concerns.
Our last day will be this Sunday 💜 thank you for all your support and custom!
We hope you can come see us before we leave at this Saturday’s late night cake club or another day this week xxxx

Short but sweet.

Get along this week before Sunday August 28, 2016 if you are interested in getting some vegan food before they shut down.

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Vegan Sausage Fest

I am jealous.

Jealous that I didn’t think up something as glorious as Vegan Sausage Fest 2016. I’m also jealous that I will be busy running Glasgow Vegan Beer Fest this weekend and will be 300 miles away from this incredible get-together.

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The wonderful people behind Cafe SoVegan are also the wonderful people behind Sausage Fest 2016.

The cafe runs as a permanent pop-up inside the locally-adored Royal Sovereign pub in Hackney. They serve tasty savoury food and, more importantly, cake.

On Sunday August 28 and Monday August 29, 2016 you SHOULD get along to this event that will run between midday and midnight both days.

Here’s a little insight into the event from Cafe SoVegan:

So what is Sausage Fest? I know the standard definition but that’s not what this is!

Unless you’ve been living under a rock you may have noticed that the country has gone a bit to sh*t lately. I think a lot of people are feeling a bit blue, not knowing what to do about it. What we propose is not a solution to all these problems but to bring people together to celebrate the humble sausage (in it’s many vegan forms)!

I’ve grown up in Hackney, it’s my home, my mum’s an immigrant, it’s her home. Lots of my neighbours are immigrants, it’s their home. The Sov is my home away from home and also a microcosm of Hackney, in short my favourite place to be! So to make us feel better (hopefully you too), and to bring people together and have a good time we’ve decided to throw a party. I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t like a good sausage and a two day party, so why not combine the two?!

We don’t want to exclude anyone which is why this is a free event. There will be a collection for the acts who are performing for their dinner. The money made will be put into keeping the cafe going and providing a place and events for people to come together and have a good time.

Hope to see you all there! XX

Amazing!

All manner of vegan sausages to buy and consume fresh from the BBQ, plus an incredible line up of local musicians. What’s not to love?

In addition, there will be a collection of food, clothing and tent donations for refugees in Calais. Do something good for someone else as you devour vegan sausages. You will be a winner.

Click onto the Facebook event page for more info and to let them know you are coming.

Get along to the Royal Sovereign both days if you can but especially on Monday as it is International Vegan Junk Food Day. This is the perfect way to celebrate the annual event and make sure you use #ivjfd16 to share all your sausage photos on the day.

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Vegan fine dining restaurant

I’m normally fast on my feet when it comes to new vegan food, but even I’m struggling to keep up with all the updates coming out of the UK.

Stunning news has just reached me of a brand new vegan fine dining restaurant in Stockport!

The Allotment restaurant is the culmination of many pop up events around Wigan, Huddersfield, Manchester and Liverpool. The owners decided to take the plunge and open a stand alone eatery in the heart of Stockport.

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You can view the exquisite menu online here, which includes an exclusive chef’s tasting option that surely would impress anyone. You can also make table bookings via the website. This food looks fancy and has rave reviews on social media, so I think booking ahead would be smart. I think The Allotment is going to be a firm favourite of local foodies very quickly.

Like the Facebook page for The Allotment to keep up with latest news.

Greater Manchester has the vegan good stuff going on!

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Beer list for Glasgow Vegan Beer Fest

We have talked about the food and the music, but here is the real news surrounding Glasgow Vegan Beer Fest.

The beer list.

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This list will be handed out as a tick sheet to all attendees, with room to make notes on your favourites.

Tickets are just £4 in advance (plus tiny booking fee) or £7 on the door if we have room. Day session or night session, take your pick or come to both!

Now the beer.

Cask

  • Barneys Red Rye 4.5% ABV – Six types of grain and a mix of hops. Copper coloured, with a clean, crisp & fruity taste
  • Cromarty Whiteout 3.8% ABV – A seriously hopped up IPA brewed with modern classic hops such as Citra, Motueka and Mosaic
  • Drygate Dark Skies 4.2% ABV – Good solid stout with chocolate and coffee notes
  • Fallen New World Odyssey 4.1% ABV – Refreshing, easy drinking lager-style beer with a fruity aroma and slightly spicy citrusy flavour
  • Jaw Brew Fathom 4% ABV – Dense dark ale with a rich and satisfying flavour
  • Loch Lomond Southern Summit 4% ABV – Light blonde but highly hopped with summit and citra hops
  • Pilot Orange/Green 5.1% ABV – American hops bring the green, Orange peel brings the orange to this beautiful citrusy pale
  • Stewart Jack Black 3.7% ABV – Light crisp session pale ale with citrus and tropical fruit aromas and a smooth hoppy finish
  • Tempest Cascadian 3.9% ABV – Light and punchy session beer with citrus and pine aromas with balanced bitterness
  • Thistly Cross Traditional Cider 4.4% ABV – A refreshing full body, fruity & aromatic, with a clean apple finish
  • Top Out Altbier 4.5% ABV – A German classic with a Scottish twist. Malty/nutty flavour with bitter-sweet finish
  • Tryst Chocolate Coconut Porter 5% ABV – Velvety chocolate porter enhanced with toasted coconut
  • Windswept Marooned 5.2% ABV – Blackcurrant wheat beer with summer fruit aromas, tart flavours and sweet malt

Keg

  • Williams Joker IPA 5% ABV – Complex layer of malts and blended hops, golden in the glass, fruity on the nose with hints of cedar
  • Williams Caesar Augustus 4.1% ABV – A lager /IPA hybrid with crisp clean lager notes but with an IPA bitter finish
  • Williams Draught 4% ABV – Scottish craft lager with a refreshing citrus twist

Bottles & Cans

  • Beavertown Quelle (can) 4.1% ABV – A clean, crisp farmhouse pale packing a pale ale dry hop punch
  • Beavertown Gamma Ray (can) 5.4% ABV – Huge hop flavour rammed with juicy malts and tropical mango/grapefruit aromas
  • Beavertown Holy Cowbell (can) 5.6% ABV – Dark chocolate-like base beer piled on with the tropics of summit and centennial hops
  • Boundary American Pale Ale (bottle) 3.5% ABV – Fruity floral nose with dry hoppy flavour
  • Boundary IPA (bottle) 7% ABV – Clear, dark golden IPA with crisp hoppy body
  • Brewdog Dead Pony Club (can) 3.8% ABV – Packed with US hops and massive citrus aromas of lemongrass and lime zest
  • Burning Sky Easy Answers (bottle) 6% ABV – Clean drinking IPA with good body, subdued bitterness. and piney aromas
  • Buxton Axe Edge (bottle) 6.8% ABV – Full-flavoured IPA with mandarin orange, schnapps, pineapple, & juicy tropical fruits flavours
  • Cromarty Rogue Wave (bottle) 5.7% ABV – Extra pale ale with a mass of hop flavours to quench your thirst
  • Drygate Crossing the Rubicon (can) 6.9% ABV – Pale golden IPA with tropical fruit & citrus notes and bitter finish
  • Drygate Chimera (can) 5.9% ABV – Light, crisp, deceptively bitter with flowering fruit aromas
  • Drygate Disco Forklift Truck (can) 5% ABV – Juicy pale ale loaded with US hops and mango. Sweet with soft/bitter undertones
  • Fallen Just The Ticket (bottle) 4% ABV – Hoppy and pale, brewed with NZ and US hops to make a refreshing light beer
  • Fallen Grapevine (bottle) 5.4% ABV – Big tropical and citrus fruit flavours and aromas develop into a lasting bitterness
  • Fallen Local Motive (bottle) 3.9% ABV – Turbo charged with Mosaic dry-hops. Easy-drinking but loads of flavour
  • Fourpure Juicebox (can) 5.9% ABV – Fresh orange zest and aromatic hops with intense flavours of mango, papaya and bitter orange
  • Jaw Brew Reef Beer (bottle) 4.2% ABV – Beer with a piquant bite
  • Jaw Brew Wave Beer (bottle) 4.7% ABV – Smooth crisp and creamy wheat beer
  • Jaw Brew Glide Beer (bottle) 4.6% ABV – Biscuity sweetness and gentle hops
  • Jaw Brew Surf Beer (bottle) 4.3% ABV – Delightfully crisp and refreshing summer beer
  • Lagunita IPA (bottle) 6.2% ABV – Well-rounded IPA. Caramel Malt barley provides the richness that mellows out the twang of the hops
  • Mad Hatter A Night Out (bottle) 6.6% ABV – Papaya Peach, Coconut & Chilli IPA. This is an IPA for sunny days
  • Mad Hatter Through A Stout Darkly (bottle) 9.7% ABV – A luxurious well-balanced Imperial Stout
  • Mad Hatter Pitch Funk (bottle) 4.3% ABV – Cloudy, yellow beer with spicy citrus, lemon and fruit flavours with a biscuity finish
  • Marble Damage Plan (bottle) 7.1% ABV – Fresh West Coast IPA with juicy tropical notes of pink grapefruit, papaya & mango
  • Moor Agent of Evil (can) 7% ABV – Big bold dark coffee chocolate malt with a burst of citrus hops to cut through
  • Sam Smith Raspberry beer (bottle) 5.1% ABV – Handcrafted complex ale blended with organic raspberry
  • Sam Smith Apricot Beer (bottle) 5.1% ABV – Handcrafted complex ale blended with organic apricot
  • Sierra Nevada Porter (bottle) 5.6% ABV – American style Porter featuring roasted notes of black coffee and cocoa
  • Speyside Dava Way IPA (bottle) 4% ABV – Fresh and flowery, full-flavoured pale ale from the Moray coast
  • Stewart Hollyrood (bottle) 5% ABV – Pale colour with fresh citrus aroma and tangy grapefruit flavours
  • Tiny Rebel Clwb Tropicana (bottle) 5.5% ABV – American hops, amplified by Peach, Passionfruit, Pineapple and Mango flavours
  • Tiny Rebel In & Around the Mouth (bottle) 6% ABV – IPA with spicy, citrussy, tropical and piney flavours
  • Top Out Schmankerl (bottle) 4.9% ABV – Bavarian style wheat beer with medium sweet flavour with warm spice finish
  • Top Out Altbier (bottle) 4.5% ABV – A German classic with a Scottish twist. Malty/nutty flavour with bitter-sweet finish
  • Up Front Ahab (can) 6% ABV – A complex, deep and rich fusion of dark malts with the fruity hop finish of an American Stout
  • Up Front Ishmael (can) 6% ABV – Subtly sweet malt characteristics, heady hop notes & robust bitterness of an American IPA
  • Windswept APA (bottle) 5% ABV – Award-winning IPA with smooth malts and a tangy grapefruit finish
  • Windswept Weizen (bottle) 5.2% ABV – A cloudy effervescent hefeweizen bursting with bananas and caramel

Wow. That is a list and a half.

Get your tickets now!

VBF-TWCover

New vegan café in Sheffield

Move over London, step aside Manchester and get ready to be challenged for your vegan crown, Glasgow.

Sheffield is quickly becoming a plant based city to be noticed.

I have already written about vegan grocery store The Incredible Nutshell, as well as Steel City Cakes and Burger Lolz, and now the South Yorkshire city is impressing with the grand opening of Make No Bones.

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How rad is that sign?!

Make No Bones has run a vegan food truck for quite a while, but now has taken the leap into bricks and mortar.

The sample menu on their website lists delicacies such as Tempeh Bacon & Avocado Sub, Ultimate Nachos and Jerk Tofu, Rice & Peas.

Sounds like my kinda place.

I have big plans to get there ASAP but in the meantime please do post glowing reviews in the comments below to inspire me to make the trip. If you get there before me, tell them FGV loves them and is on his way!

Follow Make No Bones on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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Vegan hot dogs at Pride

This news makes me smile… and it makes me hungry.

If you go to Southampton Pride this weekend (Sunday August 28, 2016) you can buy and eat vegan hot dogs.

Even better? The vegan hot dog stand is being run by volunteers who are all vegan and all the proceeds from the stall are being donated to Southampton Pride. 

I’m a bit teary knowing that kindhearted people do things like this. I adore that they are supporting the LGBTQ community without contributing to animal harm.

This is resisting oppression without resorting to another form of oppression!

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I asked Hannah of Hannah Banana Bakery (who is one of the volunteers) what is on the menu and she told me:

We have homemade salsa, mayo, mustard, homemade coleslaw, fried onions, and ketchup. 100% of the money goes to the Pride event as we are all unpaid vegan volunteers on our stall. General event info is on the Pride website. We are on the stall outside “The Stage Door” bar on West Marlands Road all day until we sell out!

People, get along to support this wonderful initiative and eat up!

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Vegan relish

Here’s a super quick blog post to let you know about a supermarket find that has me grinning.

All of these are #vegan and all are on offer in Waitrose right now.

A photo posted by Fat Gay Vegan (@fatgayvegan) on


How terrific do these look?!

All three bottles were spotted in my local Waitrose and all were on special offer.

Which one would you start with?

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