London vegan news, reviews & events
Roll up, roll up.
Veganism is spreading (pun clearly intended) and Tesco is the latest large supermarket chain to launch its own versions of vegan margarine.
Check out these two varieties:
Both tubs are listed as suitable for vegans on the Tesco website. Click here and here to see the detailed nutrition information.
Have you tried either of these spreads yet? I would love to hear your feedback.
This is some of the most exciting news I’ve heard in a long while.
It looks like Upton’s Naturals are heading to the UK!
If you have tried the seitan made by Upton’s you’ll understand why I am so excited. This stuff would be in my fridge 24/7 if I lived in a city where it was widely available.
Upton’s are going to be attending the Natural and Organic Products Europe trade show in London in April on April 17th and 18th, 2016.
Even better news?
The makers of some of the most delicious vegan food on the planet are looking to hire vegans to work their booth preparing samples! If you adore vegan food and want to be a part of Upton’s march into the UK, please email nicole@uptonsnaturals.com to express your interest.
Get involved with this pioneering vegan brand! Follow Upton’s on Twitter.
Alex is a reader who wants you to know about his experience at Zizzi. In case you haven’t heard, Zizzi is a restaurant chain with 140 locations around the UK and they are now offering vegan cheese as a topping option in every restaurant.
They also now serve vegan pasta, vegan wine and vegan desserts.
This is HUGE news and Alex is going to tell you all about it:
After hearing on Facebook about the new vegan cheese available at Italian restaurant chain Zizzi, we headed to the Exeter branch for date night.
The standard menu had vegan options clearly marked with a Ve symbol and our server brought us the “Allergen” menu which has a “Vegan Menu” page. Not a huge selection of vegan options but the revolution is the vegan cheese. No more dry, half empty pizzas.
As we had not booked and promised to give back the table within an hour, we just ordered olives for starters with some Prosecco. A nice touch is the little “Did you know?” box on the menu that tells you all of their wines are vegan except for a few listed. The Prosseco was lovely.
Of course for the main course we had the pizza. You have to pretty much build your own, starting with a Margarita and adding your selection of toppings. I went for artichokes and caramelised balsamic onions, my partner had mushrooms.
When the pizza arrived they looked exactly like the other pizzas, so we both simultaneously asked the server if they were vegan. Another nice touch here, Zizzi put little green stickers on the plates for vegan orders so you can be reassured you’re getting the correct thing. The pizza was brilliant. This is the Italian style thin crust pizza not overloaded with topping so you could easily have a starter and a full pizza and not be too full to order a dessert.
My caramelised balsamic onion topping was great with lots of sweet flavour. The “Mozzarisella” cheese is very creamy in taste and texture but does not take away much from the flavour of the pizza. In texture it does lack the stringy texture some people might associate with pizza, but for me that is more something for deep pan style pizza, loaded with toppings, which this is not.
No dessert for us this time, but a few vegan options based on sorbet are on the menu. Next time we are in town we will probably stop for an afternoon coffee and try the vegan nectarini which is a nectarine with scoops of coconut & mango swirl gelato.
You can view the full vegan menu from Zizzi online, search for your nearest outlet here and thank the chain for their vegan-friendliness on Twitter.
If you live in the UK or have ever visited, you will surely know about the J.D. Wetherspoon pub chain with locations everywhere.
These pubs are known for being cheap and sometimes cheerful places to meet friends, down a few drinks and not be too far from home at the end of the night.
And now the chain pub is making a different kind of name for itself by offering a vegan menu!
It isn’t going to set the world alight with excitement, but the menu is going to be a welcome change for thousands of vegans who find themselves in a Wetherspoon pub on any given day.
Part of the vegan menu at Wetherspoon pubs can be seen above, or click here to download a full PDF version.
You can also click here to locate your nearest Wetherspoon pub.
By 1847 is a restaurant serving vegetarian food (with a solid showing of vegan offerings) located in the heart of Manchester. You can see my original post about the restaurant from WAY back by clicking here.
I’m not sure if I’ve been completely asleep but somehow I have missed how rapidly this business has expanded and how far flung the new locations are around the country.
By 1847 now have the original Manchester location plus Brighton, Bristol and Birmingham outlets. They are spreading quickly.
Pop along to one of the restaurants to check out their vegan offerings, including a multi-course Sunday lunch option.
It’s a shame that such a gorgeous meat-free restaurant chain with a smart vision on how to expand still includes dairy on the menu. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of my dining experiences with By 1847 but that enjoyment is dampened somewhat by knowing they serve animal derived ingredients.
By 1847 really know what they are doing with food, wine and beer. I sincerely hope they come to see dairy as an unnecessary part of their success.
Follow By 1847 on Instagram and visit their website for location details.
Get your credit card ready. You are about to order the following box of vegan treats for home or office delivery.
The Twice As Nice Bakery in Staffordshire has quite a bit of food on offer for vegans, but I particularly like this variety box that can be ordered via their website.
The ‘vegan bakery selection box’ contains the following:
The cost of the box is £18 and that includes delivery within the UK.
Click here to view and order the vegan box online.
You can follow Twice As Nice Bakery on Twitter and like them on Facebook.
There is this weird phenomenon in the UK called ‘services’.
People are apparently unable to drive more than half an hour without needing to stop for petrol, food, magazines, drinks, sweets and gambling. Yes, gambling.
Services is the name given to the large retail outlets dotted around the country’s motorways. Some of the services contain mini-supermarkets, others have walkways joining the two sections of the services that sit on either side of the motorway. Don’t like the shops you see? Cross the bridge to the other side of the motorway!
Vegans usually don’t find a whole lot to eat in services. My experiences have led me to believe all I could eat was potato crisps, hummus and fruit.
But that has changed!
Remember how I wasn’t so sure about the #TerryTheTurkey video made by Vodafone? Even though the fictional story had a happy ending, I was concerned for the real animals used in the production of the advert (you can read my post here).
I’ve since found another video about rescued turkeys that is much more to my liking.
This sweet video made by Animal Aid details the happy lives lived by three rescued turkeys at Hillside Animal Sanctuary in Norwich. Click play to say hello to Tessa, Laura and Millie.
You can dig deep into your Christmas savings and sponsor one of the turkeys featured in this video. For just £10, you can help care for Tessa for an entire year.
Click here to sponsor Tessa or here to see all the other animals featured on the site for sponsorship.
Help turkeys. Don’t eat them!
I am super happy to have Tofurky roasts in the UK.
Yes, we have had a few stores carrying the Tofurky feast for years but you would have to pay over £30 for the pleasure of that product.
This new version features the roast with herb gravy and retails in the UK for just £9.99 (recommended).
Check out the photos below and click here to view an article about the roast featured on the Metro website. (It would be fantastic if you could also use the sharing tools on that site to spread news of the story. My friend Deni wrote the article and I cooked the roast that is pictured – we would love for it to be seen by lots of people.)
The new Tofurky roast with herb gravy is available in Whole Foods, Planet Organic, As Nature Intended, Holland & Barrett and many independent health food stores. Just ask the person in the shop to get it in for you! I also picked one up in Vx in King’s Cross.
I don’t even drink coffee but find myself presenting you with a second piece of vegan news this week related to one of the biggest coffee chains in the country.
Two days ago I told you about the vegan mince pie being sold at Caffè Nero and today I bring you word of another plant-based offering from the country-wide high street business.