London vegan news, reviews & events
I love discovering something unexpected in London and it doesn’t come more left of centre than a vegan pie in a jellied eel shop in the heart of London’s East End.
Lesley Brown recently wrote to me to say she enjoys my blog (aww!) and wanted to know if I had heard of a vegan pie available in the most unlikely of locations. Here is her email reproduced in part. I am sure you will find it as eye-opening and wobbly tummy-inducing as I did.
This is what Lesley had to say:
You gotta give props to The Gallery Cafe in Bethnal Green. They don’t rest on their east London laurels and are constantly looking for inventive and tasty ways to make hungry vegans like me visit them more often.
And here they go again!
What do imitation duck, advent calendars and oversized chocolate bars have in common?
Answer: the FGV monthly news round up.
Josh has kindly stopped by to tell you about a little vegan surprise he found in central London, just a short stroll from Holborn Underground station.
Talk on it, Josh.
A couple of weeks ago my dad told me of a small independent bakery near my work which proudly displayed a sign out the front asking, “Have you tried our vegan options?”. The establishment in question is the Fleet River Bakery on the northwest corner of Lincoln’s Inn Fields just behind Holborn station. Many colleagues had spoken very highly of this bakery/cafe and I was excited to hear of their vegan-friendly bragging.
Maybe I am not the all-knowing vegan guru of London, after all. I seem to be stumbling upon formerly unknown (to me) vegan and vegan friendly locations almost weekly.
I can add G&T Organic Shop and Coffee House to this growing list.
I’m going to tell you about a vegan location in London that you probably have never heard of and if you have, you probably have forgotten. I forgot. I used to visit this location back in 2001, but it had since slipped my mind. This little gem of immense community and plant-eating importance should be a weekly destination for every compassionate shopper in the capital.
Vegans and vegan-curious, I give you FareShares.
Following on from the phenomenal sell-out success of last year, my Mexican supper club to celebrate día de los muertos (day of the dead) is back.
Inspired by my love of Mexico and the wonder of día de los muertos celebrations, I am creating a one-off event that you will have a hard time forgetting.
Five courses of mouth watering vegan food will be served as you revel in the surrounds of a decorated room furnished with party supplies sourced from the streets of Mexico City. Sumptuous visuals will be projected to satisfy your senses as Mexican pop music fills the air.
In addition to Mexican-inspired snacks, you will be served:
Esquites (seasoned hot sweetcorn)
Lentil & ‘bacon’ soup
Taquitos (crispy fried tortillas with savoury filling)
Crusted ‘beef’ with hibiscus mole
Mexican rice pudding
The menu was co-created by a dear friend of mine from Mexico, who will be making an appearance at the event. I am busily putting together some fabulous goodie bags for attendees. More on that later!
Every attendee will receive a special goodie bag bursting with vegan treats including: a bottle of Choc Shot by Sweet Freedom, a packet of MozzaRisella rice cheese, a tub of Chocolate Orange Pudology, a decorative sugar skull courtesy of Mestizo Restaurant & Tequila Bar, a 20% discount voucher for Vegan Faces cosmetics, a bag of sweets from Need Sweets and a 10% discount to shop online with Cool Chile Co. All of the goodies will be yours to take home in a heavy duty jute shopping bag courtesy of Whole Foods Market.
Check out the blog post about the goodie bag contents here!
Ingredients on the night will be supplied by the Cool Chile Co. Check out their website for the best range of Mexican ingredients in the UK, including their self-made tortillas.
If you are keen to feast on Mexican-inspired cuisine, you should waste no time in snapping up a ticket from here.
“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.
The creation of the Internet has led to some strange and wonderful occurrences in life. But I’m not sure I’ve experienced a more unexpected social media surprise than pop star Darren Hayes sending me a recipe for soup, with personalised tips on how to make it vegan.
My history of interaction with the ex-Savage Garden singer goes way back. There was the time I gave Darren a Stars Wars figurine as a gift. I was much, much younger and hanging out to meet my pop star idols was a favourite past time. Pop-loving me was was beyond thrilled when Darren phoned me at home in Sydney, Australia that night to say thanks for the action toy.
Fast forward a year or two later and I was hanging out after seeing Darren’s band Savage Garden in concert in Manchester, UK. I think it was around the time I was about to turn vegan and Darren was about to turn gay (love and jokes, Darren!).
Darren loved the Madonna t-shirt I was sporting and invited me onto the tour coach for a short chat about pop music and other hot topics. It was a fabulous opportunity for fan boy me to spend some time talking with someone I looked up to musically.
Then we need to fast forward about 15 years for my next Darren Hayes encounter.
It feels like a very long time since we delved into one of the most popular features on this blog. I am deeply sorry it has taken me this long to get back around to celebrating vegan ice cream. I’ll never leave it so long again.
Two new frozen dessert brands sprung up unexpectedly, but I wouldn’t say I fell in love with both of them. Let’s crack on with a new instalment of the vegan ice cream wars. Ding ding!