Seaweed burger in Netherlands

Post by:

joe panel

As we’re on our Dutch odyssey, let’s take a quick break from bustling Amsterdam and swing by Dordrecht, a nice little town that we visited partly (ahem, mainly) due to the presence of a new vegan café called Daantje there that we wanted to try.

And we were so glad we did! Dordrecht is a very pretty town, and Daantje was a lovely café, bright and cheerful, on a postcard-perfect old Dutch street.

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So the ambience was spot-on, you’ll be glad to hear the food was excellent too. I had a “Dutch Weed Burger” (which may be named provocatively but is just a play on words, it’s named after the seaweed it contains) which had been recommended to me by almost every Dutch person I spoke to (or so it seemed). It was huge and delicious!

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Jess had a brie, walnut and maple syrup wrap, which was also great. The vegan brie is apparently made on the premises, and was really creamy and full of flavour. Had we been served this in a non-vegan place, I’d have been suspicious of dairy infiltration! But the friendly owner is definitely 100% vegan.

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So should you fancy visiting the Netherlands but having a break from Amsterdam, then I can recommend a day in Dordrecht, including a visit to Daantje.

Review: Wild Food Cafe in London

Post by:

josh panel

For some foolish reason, I agreed to meet a colleague for a coffee in Covent Garden on the last Saturday before Christmas. The streets got busier as time went on and when our meeting came to an end just before lunchtime, I needed to find somewhere for a quick bite to eat away from the crowds. I immediately remembered the Wild Food Cafe in Neal’s Yard. I’d heard so much about it, but never had the chance to visit.

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Vegan lunchbox

This is fabulous.

The wonderful people behind Newcastle’s best (only?) vegan restaurant Painted Elephant are launching a tasty-sounding vegan lunchbox service in January.

Check it out below.

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Hold the Meat!

Post by:

josh panel

As I was meeting a friend for dinner at the behemothic Westfield London shopping mall in White City earlier this week, I googled ‘vegan westfield london’ beforehand and a Brazilian restaurant called Cabana Brasilian Barbecue popped up as the third result. Intrigued, I clicked through to their website to discover that despite their name, this national chain clearly mark vegan options on their menus. So with some reservations about going anywhere with the word ‘barbecue’ in the name, I decided to give it a try.

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Crispy chicken sandwich

How awesome does this sandwich look?!

Yay for #vegan crispy chicken sandwich and fries at @teatimecollective in Manchester!

A photo posted by Fat Gay Vegan (@fatgayvegan) on

I made my first ever trip to the Manchester cafe called Teatime Collective yesterday and this sandwich had me feeling extremely pleased with myself.

Teatime Collective made their name serving tasty vegan food at festivals, but took the plunge to open a bricks and mortar location in the Manchester neighbourhood of Hulme.

The menu is packed with fab comfort food such as burgers, fries and sodas plus you can even treat yourself to an ice cream sundae.

Follow Teatime Collective on Twitter and Instagram.


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Fry’s online

BREAKING NEWS.

I’m just a few weeks out from my move to Mexico, meaning my job with Fry’s Family Foods UK is coming to an end. I will no longer be the first to bring you exciting news such as the following:

Fry’s now have four products available to buy via Morrisons online!

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You can click on the above image to visit the online shop.

The supermarket is selling just 4 of the 20+ product range available in the UK, but it is a great start.

Do you shop with Morrisons online?


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Not so tasty

Post by:

josh panel

On a recent trip to Leeds I saw this Turkey Style, Ham Style & Leek Pie by VBites and curiosity got the better of me.

I have to admit I was quite disappointed.

The filling was an odd-looking mixture of meats and veggies which didn’t taste particularly appetising. Although I like VBites’ turkey-style roast and their ham-style slices, the flavourless sauce and soggy carrots combined with the two meat replacements in this pie didn’t work for me.

The lacklustre pastry only served to speed the pie’s trip to the bin after just a few bites.

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Scotland

This is a big weekend coming up in Glasgow and I’m thrilled to have plans to be there.

If you haven’t heard, the first ever Vegfest Scotland is roaring to life on both Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th December, 2015.

Like all VegfestUK shows, the Glasgow version in the SECC is set to be rammed with tasty food vendors, vegan companies, educational talks, debate panels and more.

I have my own FGV stall across both days of the show where I will be selling t-shirts and postcards. 15% of sales from the t-shirts is being donated to vegan community kitchen Made in Hackney.

If you are visiting the show on Sunday, you can also join me for an informal talk on how to begin a vegan blog. I will be discussing my tips for getting an online platform up and running and I’m looking forward to answering questions.

You can join in this session from 1:30pm Sunday December 6th, 2015.

Click here to buy entry tickets.

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Also…

You can join me at legendary vegan venue The Flying Duck for a one night only Scottish version of my London club night, Queer Vegan Disco.

Kicking off at 11:00pm, we will be pumping a few hours of pop, indie, rock, alternative, 80s, 90s, top 40 and more.

Tickets are £5 on the door or only £3 if you buy in advance online.

RSVP and invite friends on the Facebook event and buy tickets online now.

See you in Scotland!

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Being vegan and medicine

You might remember the sad news I featured on my blog a short while ago about my friend, Indira.

Indira is one of the most compassionate people I have had the pleasure of meeting and I was deeply saddened to learn she had been diagnosed with secondary breast cancer of the liver.

You can read my original post here.

Indira reached out to me this week to ask if I would allow her to post a piece of writing she has compiled on the emotional struggle of being a dedicated vegan faced with medication which has undoubtedly been tested on animals.

Here are Indira’s thoughts:

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