London

Autumn vegan pie feast

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As the colder weather approaches, take comfort knowing there is an exclusive vegan supper club full of hearty pies and sweet tarts just around the corner.

Fat Gay Vegan (that’s me!) has teamed up with pie experts The Tickled Tastebud Co. for an evening of delicious, handcrafted vegan pies and tarts.

Hosted in the intimate setting of a Kensington apartment on Saturday October 12th 2013 from 6pm, this exclusive meal is open to only six diners. You will need to be faster than speedy to secure a place.

Once you have read the menu below, I am certain you will be booking instantly.

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East End pie

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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:

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Waffles and pizza

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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!

The Gallery Cafe on Old Ford Road
The Gallery Cafe on Old Ford Road

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2nd annual Day of the Dead party

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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.

TICKETS NOW ON SALE HERE

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.

mexican1-1

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.

News you can eat August 2013

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Welcome to the first ever Fat Gay Vegan monthly news round up!

These posts are designed to give you that little extra dose of vegan gossip from in and around London (and occasionally further abroad). I welcome any tips or leads. The news round up won’t contain reviews as such, instead acting as an information portal.

Of course I would love for you to add your own experiences and views relating to the topics I touch on.

Here’s the news!

Tiramisu in a jar
Tiramisu in a jar

inSpiral have relaunched their vegan and raw cakes in jars! I spotted the tiramisu in Whole Foods Market Kensington but I’m sure it won’t be long until you find them dotted all over the UK.

Only sausages
Only sausages

I got quite a shock during a recent stroll down Old Compton Street in Soho. Gone is the all-you-can-eat vegan buffet, now replaced with a German sausage restaurant. The server told me he has to keep turning people way who ask “is everything vegan?”.

Ms. Cupcake on the shelves
Ms. Cupcake on the shelves

I was shopping in the Camden Urban Outfitters a few weeks back and was pleasantly surprised to stumble upon the Ms. Cupcake book. I caught up with Mellissa Morgan this week and she told me you can actually buy the book in all Urban Outfitters across Europe. Good stuff!

Two for one is better than one for one
Two for one is better than one for one

I know Saf is a bit on the pricey for some of you, but there is one deal they offer that has me going back for more. Every Thursday is 2-for-1 on the entire Saf cocktail menu. The photo above shows my recent mango/jalapeño margaritas. This deal is especially good news when you consider London Vegan Drinks takes place in the same building and on the same floor every third Thursday of the month!

Dough!
Dough!

The final news item for August is probably my favourite. Cookies & Scream situated in Camden Lock Market are not resting on their delicious laurels. These purveyors of tasty treats have upped the game with this incredible cookie dough shake. Not pictured is the equally impressive salted caramel shake. They aren’t messing about!

Any of these stories of interest to you?

Getting hung up all day on smiles

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Notting Hill Carnival is bursting into action this weekend but I’m not sure I can deal with the sheer number of people that will be swarming the area. Instead, let me give you an insight into some of the vegan finds within this world-famous district by traveling back in time ever so slightly.

A few weeks ago, I made my first ever visit to Portobello Road and I discovered more than a few vegan highlights.

My first treat was a super sweet watermelon juice served cold from a nondescript stall. The fruit chunks were pulverised before my very eyes and the temperature outside was sweltering, hence no photo due to guzzling.

The photos that have survived are included below.

The vegan churros were served piping hot. I know it is an issue but I adore food lifted straight from scalding oil. I dined on scrumptious falafel and was delighted to see the stall promoting the food as 100% vegan. Josh picked up more falafel plus a cold lemonade from Falafel King and he wants me to pass on his recommendation.

If groceries are needed, the compact Portobello Wholefoods is brimming with vegan products including tofu, plant-based meats, bulk grains and snacks. There is also a vegetarian cafe/bakery called The Grain Shop. I didn’t purchase anything, but a quick peek inside revealed a large number of vegan options.

Verdict? Portobello Road Market is a vegan-friendly utopia waiting for you to show up and eat!

Vegan churros
Vegan churros

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Brunch in a Royal Borough

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PLEASE NOTE: since this was written, the owner of the cafe has been convicted of animal cruelty. Read the update here: http://tinyurl.com/qy6qatz

If you ever find yourself waking up in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea with a rumbling belly, you won’t have far to travel for a hot vegan breakfast.

Just a quick stroll toward the Holland Park end of the area will reward you with a plant-based meal from Down to Earth on Kensington High Street.

Down to Earth Kensington
Down to Earth Kensington

If you know anything about this part of London, you will be aware of how expensive it is to live, drink and eat in Kensington. Down to Earth is no exception. Our vegan fry up was delicious but carried the hefty price tag of £7.50. That might not seem like a huge figure to some readers, but the food on the plate was not piled high.

There was a lot of what appeared to be Taifun vegan sausages, coupled with a bit of pepper and mushroom. This was topped with two slices of house-made ciabatta. My meal was tasty however I felt there was an over-reliance on the sausage. I would like to see the sausage reduced in favour of cooked greens or even some beans to bulk the meal out.

Vegan breakfast
Vegan breakfast

The restaurant doubles as a deli and there is a decent selection of vegan items available, including Vegusto cheese and inSpiral kale chips. The interior is spacious and light. I highly recommend booking and asking for a window seat as Kensington is a hotspot for people watching in London. On the downside, I discovered the hard way that a Sunday morning hangover doesn’t mix very well with the large number of families frequenting the cafe with small children.

Attractive & spacious interior
Attractive & spacious interior

The Down to Earth menu contains an impressive selection of vegan options and a huge range of fresh juices, so I am definitely up for making a few more trips. I am especially tempted by their raw and gluten free mains.

Visit Down to Earth online

Best value in London?

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Josh has stopped by with some news for budget-conscious vegans regarding what could very well be the cheapest takeaway lunch in central London for plant-eaters.

Read all about it and then make lunch plans for tomorrow!

First day back at work today and as I hadn’t brought anything for lunch, I found myself wandering around Tottenham Court Road at lunchtime deciding how to fill up without spending a fortune. Fortunately I remembered that Sagar have a location just a short walk from my office so I headed down Percy Street and less than five minutes later was walking back to my office with a takeaway vegan thali. How exciting!

The thali came with two different curries/dahls, fried rice, salad, coconut chutney and a paratha bread. Everything was seriously delicious and the best part is that it was £3.50. Yep, you read correctly. £3.50. That’s less than some places charge for a lousy old sandwich.

If you want to eat in the restaurant, the cost goes up ever so slightly to £4.95 but that’s still pretty darn cheap for a delicious vegan thali in central London. Yay for Sagar!

Takeaway vegan thali - is this the cheapest vegan lunch in London?
Takeaway thali – is this the cheapest vegan lunch in London?

Most vegan-friendly location in London

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I get asked a lot of questions as a vegan blogger based in London. People want to know where they can get a fry up, which beers are vegan and who sells the biggest range of plant-based products.

I am usually able to assist but there has always been a question  for which I have struggled to determine an answer. People want to know the most vegan-friendly suburb/location/area in the UK capital.

The problem with London is the vast distances you must travel to find vegan food. Catch the Tube to Edgware for one of the best Loving Huts on the planet to understand what I mean. Vegan business are spread far and wide, making it difficult to name the number one spot for plant eaters.

However, there certainly are hotspots popping up around London where a vegan would have no problem eating their fill. Take Brixton, for example.

Following is a collection of vegan food I stumbled across this weekend as I strolled around the iconic London neighbourhood. From make-shift market stalls to one of the most well-known vegan bakeries in the world, Brixton is certainly not short of cruelty-free food options.

The collection below doesn’t even cover everything on offer in Brixton. There is a raw juice bar, a vegan-friendly pizza restaurant, a falafel stall and much more.

Check out the mouthwatering photos and then let me know in the comments your pick for London’s most vegan-friendly neighbourhood!

cake and shake
Oreo milkshake & cotton candy cupcake from Ms. Cupcake vegan bakery

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Friends reunited

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London can be a beating.

Living in such a huge city of course has its advantages, but you can also get swallowed up in the sheer scale of things. I have friends who live on the other side of the city and I can get through an entire calendar year without seeing them. Everyone is busy and it can take hours to get across town.

One victim of London’s gigantism is Saf. This 100% vegan restaurant is one of the finest places for plant eaters to dine out in the capital, but I rarely make it along. One of the last times I visited was for this blog post from April 2011. That is far too long between visits.

This week I decided to bridge the gap between myself and Saf. I slipped in on my own for a quick lunch and my choice of main was exquisite. I adored my Summer Risotto featuring  organic Arborio rice with a miso cream, fresh broad beans, grilled courgettes, roasted garlic and saffron all topped with a shaved fennel salad.

£11 is a fair chunk to pay for a main meal but the quality and freshness of my meal warranted the price tag. It was delicious and felt as though someone had really considered the combination of ingredients.

Risotto at Saf
Risotto at Saf

I am so glad I have reconnected with Saf. I promise I won’t let London come between us ever again.

Visit Saf online