London

London restaurant closed

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Another day, another London restaurant closure.

Vegetarian’s Paradise has long been a favourite destination of London vegans, mostly thanks to their incredibly good value all-you-can-eat Indian buffet. While not a vegan restaurant, the majority of food on the buffet table was vegan.

I could never understand why they didn’t just make the switch to 100% vegan. They were so close.

Anyway, here is a photo of the windows papered over of the Marchmont Street premises.

Vegetarian Paradise closed

I’m not particularly sad to see this go, but Josh enjoyed it as a handy lunch option as he works nearby.

What do you think? Is this a sad loss or will Londoners not really care?

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Better and better

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Some vegan places are happy to rest on their laurels, serving up the same quality of food and the same menu month after month.

But not Black Cat Café in Hackney.

I have been incredibly impressed by the food served up by Black Cat over the past two years. The menu changes regularly to reflect seasonal availability and old menu items are brought back with slight tweaks and improvements.

Check out these glorious dishes served to me recently.

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Massive vegan menu

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I have never been to a non-vegan restaurant that caters for vegans quite like FED by water in London.

Their separate vegan menu is huge. Check out the video below showing one page of starters, two pages of pizza and calzone, one page of pasta dishes and one page of salads. All vegan!

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Wot no egg?

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Post by:

josh panel

I’ve blogged before about the Fleet River Bakery just behind Holborn station, so was delighted when a recent leaving do for a work colleague took the form of an afternoon tea in the space.

Among the omni offerings on the table, the bakery had made vegan mini-sandwiches and wraps but the pride of place went to the delicious looking vegan chocolate cake in the middle of the spread. Omni colleagues were shocked when they saw me tucking into a̶ slice two slices of the cake as they said they would not have guessed that it was vegan. Why do omni people think that all vegan cakes are some sort of sad, wholemeal affair with the consistency of a week-old granary loaf? The cake had the perfect combination of being both rich but not too heavy, and it was so nice to see a vegan cake taking centre-stage at a non-vegan event. Good vegan food changes minds and is a form of activism.

As you might have guessed, I subsequently had several conversations with colleagues about how to make a vegan cake and what was wrong with eggs!

Get to the Fleet River Bakery soon and try and get your laughing gear around that delicious chocolate cake they have there!

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Popeye pop up

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You need a reason to be excited this week?

Check out this fabulous vegan pop up food event taking place on Thursday.

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Beer shop

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Beer.

One word, so many possibilities.

It would be an understatement to say craft beer has exploded across London and the UK over the past few years. The march of craft beer across the country is unstoppable and if the popularity of London Vegan Beer Fest is any indication, vegans want to be part of the brew revolution just as much as everyone else.

One of the most exciting developments for craft beer enthusiasts is the opening of specialist retailers, such as We Brought Beer.

After a runaway start with their Balham location, WBB have now launched a new store front in Clapham and the venue looks absolutely gorgeous.

Check out the photos below.

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Vegan buffet

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London vegetarian restaurant tibits has made quite a few vegans happy by making their food buffet completely vegan after 11:30am until closing every Tuesday.

The popular restaurant just off Regent Street in Central London must be seeing the benefits of this change as they are repeating the vegan takeover across both days of this weekend (Oct 31/Nov 1, 2015).

Check out this statement from the tibits website:

HALLOWEEN AND WORLD VEGAN DAY (31 OCT AND 1 NOV)

It’s the start of the party season and to celebrate we’re going Vegan for Halloween and World Vegan Day*. We’d love you to join us for a weekend of feasting and celebration!

If you’re gearing up for a night of ghouls, ghosts, and Halloween parties, tibits is the perfect spot – there’s undoubtedly something on the food boat that you’ll enjoy sinking your fangs into.

And the following day is World Vegan Day, and the start to World Vegan Month. It’s a great opportunity for the already vegan and the vegan curious to gather and have some fun.

*from 11.30 am

Anyone heading down to tibits to eat vegan this weekend?

Let’s hope this is a sign that tibits plan to switch to being a full time vegan restaurant in the near future. It is LONG overdue.

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Hippo like you belong in the zoo

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Post by:
josh panel
For months I’d seen the posts about a ‘top secret’ vegan café opening in London’s Soho district and last week I finally got to check it out. After changing their name from ‘Top Secret Vegan Café’ to simply ‘Vegan Café’, the establishment now seems to have settled for the more memorable (but sappy) ‘Vegan Hippo’.

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New vegan cookbook

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You all know tibits, right?

This central London restaurant and bar has for many years been a favourite haunt of compassionate diners, especially since they have made every Tuesday ‘vegan day’ on their self service food boat.

The vegetarian restaurant appears to exploring the vegan angle more and more these days, with the latest big news being the release of a 100% vegan recipe collection called Vegan Love Story.

80 plant-based recipes are housed in a gorgeous hardcover, accompanied by enticing colour photos. It really is a joy to flick through.

You can buy the new vegan cookbook by tibits (in partnership with Zurich restaurant Hiltl – the oldest vegetarian restaurant in the world) by popping into the restaurant on Heddon Street in Mayfair, or online here.

Let’s hope this book is another step in the journey of tibits becoming a fully vegan restaurant.

How would you like to win a copy of the vegan cookbook by tibits?

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Five cheese vegan pizza

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Oh dear!

Don’t get knocked over in the stampede. For this week only, you can devour a freshly prepared five vegan cheese pizza in London.

Wanna know where?

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