Police called in to vegan restaurant opening

I absolutely LOVE this guest post from Joe. Nothing says the ‘rise of veganism’ quite like police having to be called in to calm crowds at a vegan restaurant opening!

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PR + FREE FOOD = PANDEMONIUM

After lots of promotion and press, plus an offer of free food on their opening night, the people behind new Berlin vegan burger joint Dandy Diner were always going to have their hands full. Though whether they expected to be so inundated that the police had to attend in order to manage the crowds, I don’t know.

Either way, it’s made the headlines today.

The Berliner Zeitung says: “Too full! Police break up opening party at the ‘Dandy Diner’. Pushing, shoving, and a long queue outside … by 10pm (just two hours after opening) they were already out of sauce. The police had to break up the party, as too many people were outside blocking the street.”

RBB-Berlin says: “Police had to curb the onslaught at Vegan snack bar. Around 300 people were inside, hoping to get hold of some food without meat or other animal ingredients. Shortly after 9pm there were so many people outside, that officers intervened, after consulting with the owners of the snack bar. Those outside were asked to leave.”

N-TV says: “Police disperse vegan opening party. When two fashion bloggers opened their first vegan snack bar, the people of Berlin weren’t slow to arrive. Hundreds of people appeared at the opening party, and when the rush became too large, police had to intervene”

Craziness at @dandydiner #BERLIN

A photo posted by becca (@beccacrawford) on

You can follow Dandy Diner over on Instagram.

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Vegan food in Munich

If you ever visit the German city of Munich, you MUST make time to buy yourself one of these incredible vegan kebabs.

Josh and I found ourselves with a few hours to spare in Munich last month before heading to Passau to board a vegan river cruise on the Danube. A quick scan of the HappyCow app informed us that right next to the Munich hauptbahnhof was a kebab shop offering vegan kebabs called Royal Kebabhaus.

Although the shop served meat, the friendly server was quick to assure us which options were vegan. In fact, they were so proud of their vegan-friendliness it was plastered all over the exterior of the kebab shop.

We both ordered the vegan durum kebab which consisted of thinly-shredded seitan rolled up in flatbread with fresh salad and house-made sauces. I think the seitan was made by Wheaty but even if it wasn’t, it was the perfect combination of crispy and chewy with an incredible taste. Not being one to show restraint, I also ordered a vegan pide topped with seitan, served with a selection of fresh salads and sauces. So, so good!

Check out the photos below.

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Electric bicycles

You all know about the vegan cruise I am a part of over New Year’s Eve. You cannot possibly have escaped my excitement. (If you have, click here for more info)

I just found out some extra information for those of you who have already booked a cabin on the cruise down the Danube.

The ship we are travelling on includes electricity assisted bicycles that can be used during shore stops. You can cycle around some of the gorgeous towns and cities we visit!

Also, there are these super nifty GPS and information devices for passengers that are pre-loaded with guided tours, directions and cruise commentary. Check out the video below.

The video shows both the bikes and the handheld devices.

I thought I couldn’t be more excited for this cruise, but I am now!

Go here to read about the cruise and here to book one of the remaining cabins.


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Amazing Berlin festival wrap up

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This weekend was the Berlin Vegan Summer Festival, and it would have been remiss of me to not visit and take photos of food for this blog. So I did my duty and headed down to Alexanderplatz.

Berlin Vegan Summer Festival

On Friday we had a spicy hot dog with sauerkraut from popular vegan company Wheaty

Hot dog from Wheaty at Berlin Vegan Sommerfest

…and also a not-egg-mayonnaise bagel, from die Leckereienfabrik (roughly translates as the ‘delicious things factory’, a café in Berlin we haven’t got around to visiting yet!).

Berlin Vegan Sommerfest egg-mayonnaise-style bagel

On Sunday we had a wonderful burger and sweet potato fries from the Vincent Vegan food truck. The photo doesn’t do the burger justice, it was full of crispy fresh veg, and guacamole.

Vincent Vegan Burger and fries in Berlin Vincent Vegan food truck at Berlin Vegan Summerfest 2015

We also shared this big choco-waffle with squirty cream, which was nice but not amazing.

Choco-waffle with cream at Berlin Vegan Summerfest 2015

To finish off, here’s something we didn’t eat but will do soon: two doughnuts from Brammibals. The doughnuts are sat in the fridge right now, calling out to me.

Brammibals Donuts in Berlin

There’s one coconut and one toffee. (I think that calling just got louder!) And in case you’re worrying, those aren’t plastic containers, but some sort of biodegradeable material. Which is nice.

That’s only a small selection of everything available at the fest. There’s only so much I can eat!

In addition to all the food, the serious side was also covered, there were lots of animal protection causes, people working against factory farming, good people spreading the word about veganism. There were talks and discussions in the congress tent, and also music entertainment on the main stage.

A very full three-day event, and I doff my cap to the organisers!


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Berlin top three

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My favourite vegan places in Berlin.

This is a difficult post to write, as there are so many great places to choose from in Berlin – and new places keep opening! So I should say now that you’ll almost certainly disagree with me, and this is my personal list of the locations I enjoy visiting the most right now. These three eateries are 100% vegan. They’re not in any particular order, as I can’t really choose between them! But they’re definitely my top three, and I think that they’re almost perfect.

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Veganz news

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I’m sure it’s not news that Berlin has two branches of the Veganz supermarket (by the way, does anyone get the pun in the name?), but for me perhaps an even greater sign of progress are the Veganz sections in one of Germany’s mainstream supermarkets, Kaiser’s (know as Tengelmann in Bavaria for some reason).

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Veganz section in Kaiser’s

Highly visible vegan labelling in prominent locations in a major supermarket is a good sight to see. I feel it helps to normalise the word and concept. This in addition to other products proudly promoted as vegan, for instance in Kaisers’ own chilled sections.

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Not Veganz section – just Kaiser’s own vegan advertisement

It’s not just Kaiser’s either, other supermarkets are pushing vegan products as well. Veganz also has concessions in Metro and Globus supermarkets. It’s good to know if you desperately need to do some midnight vegan shopping from treats to staples, there’s somewhere to go. Seitan powder, dried soya chunks, vegan cream (pouring or whipped), energy bars, sweets and chocolate, kale chips, cooking spices, omelette mix… (p.s. If you’re wondering, the pun in Veganz is that ‘ganz’ is German for ‘everything’).

Reminder: Join Joe for Berlin Vegan Drinks this week and join the Facebook page for future updates.


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New Vegan Drinks

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You know, Berlin really is the city that keeps on giving, if you’re vegan. Hardly a week goes by without some new addition to the city’s vegan menu.

But one thing that Berlin has lacked is an equivalent to the London Vegan Drinks event… until now! (Well, until Friday 17th of July, anyway.) 

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More Berlin madness

Joe and Jess in Berlin just sent me the craziest set of photos featuring all the awesome vegan goodies they stumbled upon this week. I don’t think they are regretting their move from London to Berlin in the slightest.

Before I share the photos, I wanna post the brief message that accompanied the email.

Here are some photos for you:

Cookie dough ice cream
Cookie dough ice cream again

New Alpro dessert, we bought the lemon pie flavour

Oven tray with attachable lid – bet you want one for potluck!
Oh the oven tray and lid possibilities

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Veganz catering
Sandwiches from somewhere at the vegan festival

Vegan lard (yes, that’s right)

Now the photos!

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That’s what I’m talking about

My buddy Joe constantly sends photos of all the fab vegan food he has been spotting since he moved to Berlin. I can hardly take it!

I had only just calmed down from my latest rant about the lack of decadent vegan ice cream in the UK when the following photos crash landed in my inbox.

Thanks, Joe. You really know how to make a fat, gay vegan envious.

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