London vegan news, reviews & events
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The latest addition to Barcelona’s growing vegan scene comes in the form of Väcka, a completely vegan and partly raw restaurant with a Swedish name and Argentine owners. Väcka, which means ‘waking up’ in Swedish, centres its philosophy around awakening compassion and awareness of healthy eating.
Compassionate people of the North. You have a vegan outlet in Doncaster.
Get to it!
Just this morning I received a message from Anne via Facebook. Anne is the owner of a brand new vegan cafe in Doncaster called A Bite 2 Eat and she was hoping I could let you all know about it.
So, here we are!
You can like the cafe on Facebook and keep track of the menu as it evolves. It already includes burgers, chips, cake and mouthwatering pancakes like the ones pictured above.
Support A Bite 2 Eat. It is only just over a week old and is the ONLY vegan food outlet in Doncaster.
Extra note: When I asked Anne if A Bite 2 Eat is 100% vegan she replied, “It is 100% vegan no compromise.”
Amazing!
I am slowly working my way through reporting back to you on the vegan wonders of Glasgow. I can see why it has often been named ‘Best vegan UK city’. The place is absolutely heaving with vegan-friendly eateries.
Take The 13th Note as one example.
This vegetarian cafe is primarily a live music venue, but food certainly doesn’t take a back seat. My group ate extremely well as you will notice from the photos below.
Glasgow has got the goods for vegans. You can’t walk a few blocks without stumbling upon a vegan-friendly eatery or bar in the city centre.
Of course the plant-based eating isn’t just confined to the town centre and a short bus ride or taxi fare will deliver you to the most wonderful venue with a 100% vegan food menu.
Check it out!
Some things slip past me. I’m not infallible when it comes to knowing about all the vegan food in London. I try my best to eat everything on offer, but I am just one FGV.
Overlooking a vegan option would be excusable if we are talking about a tiny cafe tucked away in the backstreets of an outer suburb, but not when it comes to a chain of cafes with approximately 200 locations worldwide… with two locations within ten minutes of my front door!
The two Le Pain Quotidien outlets near my house somehow managed to escape my attention for a while, but I will definitely be popping in to try their vegan options often after my experience last week. I was casually strolling past the Notting Hill location of this global chain when a little carrot image at the bottom of their menu caught my eye.
Instead of the expected ‘suitable for vegetarians’, I was faced with ‘100% botanical/vegan’. I quickly hurried inside.
I’m not going to be hysterical and say these people are the saviours of high street vegan dining, but the few offerings were very well thought out. My trio of hummus mezze was fresh, tasty and difficult to finish due to size. The beetroot, green pea and chickpea varieties of hummus were nicely accompanied by fresh vegetables and bread.
The cafe proudly state on their menu they always have a selection of vegan muffins and the rotating monthly specials always seem to include a ‘botanical’ option.
You will need to dig a little deeper into your purse than some eateries require, but healthy and thoughtful eating for vegans has certainly got a good friend in Le Pain Quotidien.
Josh is taking the virtual reins for this post by reflecting on a fabulous prehispanic vegan cafe we visited during our trip to Mexico earlier this year.
Sorry to do this to you, but you will be green with jealousy.
Take it away, Josh.
My travels have taken me far and wide. I have enjoyed poolside cocktails in Western Australia and Winter walks through NYC’s East Village. The nights spent drinking in Mexico City gay bars are balanced by the morning train journeys endured between Leeds and Halifax. I have witnessed sunsets in Paris, Narita and Phoenix. City lights and country stars have hypnotised me on several continents. I never want discovery to end.
This insatiable appetite for moving recently spirited me to an unusual place located only 90 miles from Cuba, yet many more miles removed from my reality. Bound by water, Key West turned out to be a bizarre yet lovable town with one of the best vegan cafes found anywhere and a rather vibrant gay scene.
There are a few more updates still to come from my trip to Barcelona, but before we get to those I would like to inform you of a stunning vegan eatery located roughly an hour north of this city.
In the northeastern Catalan city of Girona is a vegan food destination known as B12. This cafe is a gem of a location for vegans and it is full of burgers, desserts, beers, colas, hot drinks and more. Every single item in the restaurant is 100% vegan and the staff are 100% helpful, welcoming and friendly.
When you visit a small town in the UK, the vegan food can be extremely thin on the ground. I often find myself wandering aimlessly around provincial towns in the hope of discovering something cruelty-free to eat.
A few months ago I experienced this exact predicament in Hastings. Hastings is a picturesque seaside town steeped in history, located on the southeast coast of the mainland United Kingdom. The vegan dining options are not abundant but the people of cafe chain eat@ are somewhat redressing this imbalance.