vegan London

Vegan thick shakes in London

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Holy shit.

I was strolling through Spitalfields Market in central London today and I got the thrill of my life when I saw this sign outside Leon.

Yes. Vegan thick shakes at a mainstream chain restaurant.

I rushed inside and quizzed the server (who turned out to be a vegan, too!) to find out the shakes are brand new, they are made with a cashew base, and they are only available in this one location of the chain.

I wanted the salted caramel flavour but it had sold out, so I went in for chocolate and Josh had the strawberry.

Check out this video to see the exciting process of one of our drinks being made.

This is serious, big time game-changing stuff for London. I mean, they have a freaking soft serve machine churning out cashew shakes!

Apparently this machine and the drinks are being trialled in this one location, so let us work hard on buying a whole bunch of them so they roll them out across all stores in the UK.

Vevolution is back in 2017

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The vegan information event that had a lot of people buzzing last year is back for another round in 2017.

Vevolution is taking place in November 2017 at a central London location. I know that seems like a long way in the future but tickets have gone on sale and you you should click here to buy them if you are keen. The event sold out ahead of time last year.

You can find out about the full line up of speakers, presenters and food vendors for the festival over on the official website.

A limited allocation of tickets with a 25% discount is available for recipients of Universal or Pension Credit, full-time students and those aged 16 and under. To claim the discount you need to email judy@vevolution.co

Have fun at Vevolution!

Chinese vegan food pop up in London

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Dear London.

Please be extremely careful not to injure yourself or each other as you all rush to this three-day pop up Chinese vegan food event in Tottenham.

Honestly, I rarely see a vegan menu this special in London.

Angela runs a food business called Vnited (stands for vegans united) and is cooking a stunning mutli-dish pop up meal across September 7, 8 and 9 at Craving Coffee on Markfield Road in Tottenham.

Look at this menu sheet. I’m drooling.

At the event, you use the menu to mark what you want before taking it to the counter to order and pay. Five of everything, right?

You should book your spot at this event because it is going to be rammed solid. When a menu this fine comes along, people are even prepared to miss a few episodes of EastEnders.

You can book via email at tottenhamsocial@gmail.com or they do welcome walk ins… but, seriously. Book! Don’t blame me if you can’t get in.

You ready to see and devour some vegan Chinese food?

Follow Vnited on Instagram.

Vote for FGV (if you want!)

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Hey!

It is always lovely to get a spot of recognition for this blog. Of course I don’t do it for awards but it does feel nice when someone tells me they appreciate what I do.

VegfestUK reached out to inform me that my website has been nominated in the VegfestUK Awards 2017 for the category of Best Vegan Online Resource.

How fab!

You can click here to vote for me or any of the other nominees in the category (I won’t be upset) and make sure you vote for your other favourites across all categories.

Thanks to everyone at VegfestUK for nominating me and for all their tireless work when it comes to spreading the vegan message.

London cafe turns completely vegan

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Amazing news.

Cupcakes and Shhht is a vegetarian cafe in Elephant and Castle. CORRECTION. Cupcakes and Shhht is a vegan cafe in Elephant and Castle!

After five full years trading as a veggie business, Cupcakes and Shhht has decided to become completely plant-based. No cheese. No cow milk. No animal derived ingredients at all.

I popped along for their first full vegan day today and was thrilled to see how busy the café was and how chilled out everyone was when they were asked to pick a plant milk with their coffee!

The café is located in the super cool shipping container complex known as The Artworks. It is steps from the main Elephant and Castle roundabout, meaning it is close to the Underground and rail stations too. Click here to see the exact location thanks to Google Maps.

Follow Cupcakes and Shhht on Instagram and then check out the photos/video from my visit today.

Yay for cafés that become fully vegan!

Vegan options in Crouch End

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Do you ever find yourself in the London neighbourhood of Crouch End without a bite to eat?

Well, say goodbye to being hungry in Crouch End as you say hello to Miranda Café.

This vegetarian eatery is located on the corner of Broadway Parade and Elder Avenue, plus it has a whole LOAD of vegan options.

Of course it would be fabulous if the entire menu was vegan (I’m contractually obliged to say that as FGV) so let’s hope that is the direction in which the business is moving.

Check out some of the tasty vegan dishes being served by Miranda Café below and follow the eatery on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

 

Chain store vegan sandwiches

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My friend Susan visited London a while ago and one thing about the UK really amused her. She couldn’t quite understand the obsession with ready to consume sandwiches.

Susan has a point.

I’ve never seen a country quite like the UK when it comes to pre-made, boxed up sandwiches. You get them at the petrol station, inside pharmacies, as part of meal deals, in high end shops, in budget outlets, in coffee chains, and pretty much any other type of retail space you can imagine.

Some stores selling these sandwiches will have an entire wall of chillers dedicated to dozens and dozens of various flavours.

I’d love to know how this sandwich saturation happened in the UK. If anyone knows the history of why packed sandwiches are an integral part of life here in the UK, I’d love to know.

Sharing Susan’s bewilderment and amusement was really just a cute lead in for sharing these photos.

Check out three vegan ready-to-go vegan sandwiches I’ve spotted around the UK over the past week.

Let me know if you have a favourite ready made sandwich in the comments below.

Vegan chips in London

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It’s the old age dilemma.

People think vegans will eat any old chips because chips are made out of potato. But we vegans know that some mass-produced chips actually contain animal fat as an ingredient.

In addition, some chip shops cook their chips in with fish, sausages and other derived items. A lot of vegans don’t want their potato to be bubbling away next to a dead sea creature and a battered sausage.

Yes, the hunt for vegan chips is a predicament a lot of us experience.

Imagine my joy when I strolled by a fish and chip shop just around the corner from my house and say ‘Our chips are 100% vegan’ printed on the window?

The owners told me they promote the vegan chips at the request of their wives who are both vegan. The shop also does a vegan falafel wrap on request.

Codfather is a 9 minute walk from South Ealing Underground station on the Piccadilly Line. You can see the location and walking directions thanks to Google Maps.

Of course I prefer to support 100% vegan eateries such as Vegan HQ which is located a 10 minute walk in the opposite direction of the station and Falafel Box another 10 minutes walking, but I might stop in for chips at Codfather after a few beers. South Ealing is becoming a vegan-friendly hub!

Vegan market intensity

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Here is a quick blog post to reiterate my feelings about community markets.

Get out of your house and START A VEGAN MARKET.

I hosted my monthly Hackney Downs Vegan Market on Saturday and to say in was swamped by people would be a monumental understatement.

Check out this photo I shared from the day.

Thousands of vegans and vegan-curious people swarmed the market and many of the vendors could not cope with the demand. Cake stands that thought they would be safe by showing up with hundreds of cakes sold out within the first few hours. Temple of Seitan sold out of almost 500 bacon cones with hours still remaining of the event. Battered sold hundreds of portions of vegan fish. Big V had their busiest day at our market ever. Café SoVegan know how to make a lot of food and they sold out completely for the first time ever.

Some people have suggested that we should have more stalls or that the vendors should make more food. Neither of these things can happen. Our space has limitations around the number of stalls permitted and the vendors are making as much food as they possibly can. They are stretched beyond their limits.

The answer to this problem is simple.

More people need to run more vegan markets around London. You can see that the demand clearly exists. When thousands and thousands of people show up to my market on the same day as a sold out 1,000 person vegan food event is also being staged in Kings Cross, you know there is not enough being done to meet the demand.

I am only one person and I do what I can, but we are in desperate need of other community-minded people to step up and start local markets that celebrate and support independent businesses.

Start small. Don’t think that 4,000 people are going to swarm your event. Keep it local. You can do it if you simply start. Get an idea and run with it.

Do it for your neighbourhood. Do it for the business owners. Do it for the animals.

Donuts business changes names

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Hey everyone.

If you have been to any of my events over the past year or so, you will be familiar with the glorious fried, glazed and filled donuts made by Peanut Butter Bakery.

The food these magicians produce is otherworldly and definitely the finest vegan donuts I’ve tasted in the UK.

If you are coming along to Hackney Downs Vegan Market this weekend, you should prepare yourself for a little change. Peanut Butter Bakery has a new name and now goes by Dough Society.

They have a new menu that includes iced coffees to match the new name.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BX3NQP8j4Ww/

You can follow Dough Society on Instagram.