Buy one get one free

Super quick piece of valuable information for you.

Spice Box is a fab vegan street food trader that has just announced a permanent residence at the KERB run Camden Market re-launch on October 6, 2017.

To celebrate their new home, Spice Box have announced a very special deal. Between October 7 and 13, 2017 they are offering ‘buy one get one free’ on their combo boxes.

Savings!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZavRF1Dyb-/

You can follow Spice Box on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to stay updated with all of their Camden adventures.

Don’t forget to grab those savings!

Fabulous vegan Chinese pop up

Listen to me. You need to book a ticket for this event as soon as you finish reading.

The tickets are going to fly out.

Mao Chow is a vegan pop specialising in vegan food that they bill as inauthentic American Chinese.

Their next event is taking place in Dalston on October 15, 2017 and the menu looks like the stuff of dreams.

Check it out below.

Every single item on that amazing menu is vegan and it sounds delightful.

Tickets are £30 plus booking fee and you need to buy them online here.

If this sells out before you get a chance to book, you can follow Mao Chow on Instagram for news of future events.

Get booking!

Vegan pub in Liverpool

I’m not sure I know a more magical combination of two words than ‘vegan pub’.

A few readers have been getting in touch lately to let me know about a vegan pub in Liverpool, so I reached out to the owner of The Caledonia to get a bit of background information to share with you.

Here is what pub owner Laura King had to say:

I’m the licensee/owner of the pub and kitchen manager. I’m also on team vegan! I’ve had the pub seven and a half years and last summer I decided to close the kitchen for a year off. I decided that when we relaunched the menu would be vegan comfort/junk foods and that is how CVK was born.
I decided to make the whole pub vegan too, because, why not?! It seemed silly not to. Over this last summer our team has been busy working through everything we sell to ensure that our entire offer was vegan. We use a lot of local businesses, particularly for real ale and craft beers so we contacted all of them to see if they could accommodate us and most could! The response has been amazing and support from the community (vegan peeps & the pub’s regulars) has been overwhelming. I’m so pleased to be able to do something like this in Liverpool. We’re also incredibly dog friendly and currently we’re in the running for Dog Buddy’s “Dog Friendly Pub Awards”. We also have GF & Kids menus.

I adore this pub already and can’t wait to visit in the future.

You can see the full vegan food menu for The Caledonia on their website. See the exact location of the pub online thanks to Google Maps.

Now, let’s look at some food.

Vegan things in Tesco

I’m all about supporting local and independent vegan stores but I understand the reality for a lot of people means they rely on major chain supermarkets for their vegan products.

Places like Tesco have become especially helpful for picking up staples such as vegan cheese.

No shame in getting what you need as long as you do your best to be ethical when you can. We all try to do our best.

This is why I keep the info about the majors flowing on my blog and Instagram. Check out some of the items I saw in Tesco yesterday.

Have you tried any of the above? What do you think?

Forest Gate vegan

Mr Singh’s is a London-based family business most famous for a range of chile sauces but is now launching its first vegan food space in Forest Gate, London.

Yes. Forest Gate!

The brunch club is officially launching on October 15, 2017 and is set to trade on Sundays only at the moment with expanded hours coming in the future.

The entirely vegan menu includes:

  • Parantha (​Punjabi breakfast flatbread​​)​ ​- plain or stuffed served with pickle and Mum’s mixed vegetables with optional yoghurt
  • Stacked fluffy pancakes – sweet or savoury
  • Big breakfast – scramble, sausages, beans, toast, and mushrooms (option to make it Singh Style)
  • Amaranth Breakfast Bowl – topped with seeds, sliced fruit, berries, nuts, desiccated coconut and optional peanut butter
  • Vegan Nutella on toast with bananas
  • Drinks – teas, coffees and Punjabi Spiced Tea

Check out some of these photos the business sent over.

You can find the brunch spot inside Johnny Rocco’s Bar of Awesome on Cranmer Road. Click here to see the exact location via Google Maps.

Follow Mr Singh’s on Instagram to keep updated on the brunch club. It’s about time Forest Gate got on the vegan map!

Vegan eatery in Whitstable

I got a nice message from Becky a little while back in which she was telling me about her new vegan restaurant in Kent.

I asked for a little more info in order to let you all know about it and this is what she told me.

It’s called ‘Potato Tomato – The Eatery’ and it’s in Whitstable, Kent. My sister Niki and I opened it on 4th August and we’ve been overwhelmed so far by how popular we’ve been with vegans, veggies and omnis alike. This May we celebrated our 30 year ‘veganniversary’ so it was great to be able to celebrate that by opening a restaurant, which is something we’ve talked about for years.

The food we serve aims to show people that vegan food isn’t bland or boring. We enjoy creating dishes that will appeal to everyone and that are bursting with flavour. We have a children’s menu and serve brunch, lunch and desserts. We are currently open Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays 10:30am – 4:00pm, and Saturdays and Sundays 10:00am – 4:00pm. In October we will be opening on Saturday evenings to serve three-course meals.

This is fabulous news for the people of Whitstable and surrounding towns in Kent.

You can visit Potato Tomato online and follow them on Facebook.

Now, let’s check out some photos!

New vegan product by Baileys

It has been a very long time coming, but the new Almande vegan drink by Baileys has arrived in the UK and is well worth the wait.

I was invited along to a product tasting session a few nights ago and was blown away by this drink. I think it is going to make a lot of vegans very happy in the UK.

I got chatting with the Baileys team at the event and threw down a challenge.

I said that I was so confident of my photo of their drink getting 1,000 likes on Instagram that I would bet on it.

If the post did get 1,000 likes, Baileys would have to send their team to Hackney Downs Vegan Market this Saturday (September 30, 2017) with bottles of Almande for free taste sampling.

Well, guess what.

The post got more than 1,000 likes in just under an hour!

You can get a free tasting of the new vegan Baileys Almande this Saturday at Hackney Downs Vegan Market. Get full market details here and RSVP to the Facebook event here.

A bet is a bet.

Almande is currently available to buy in Whole Foods Market stores around the UK. New retailers to be added soon.

Extra note: The tasting is for those 18+ and you might be asked for ID. Always drink responsibly.

BREAKING: Tofurky sandwiches launch in UK

We have waited and waited for this day.

Finally, it is here.

Superstar vegan brand Tofurky is launching its ready-to-consume sandwiches in the UK next week!

You have probably noticed I’ve recently been bemoaning the state of grab-and-go sandwiches in this country but the tide is now turning.

Yes, sandwiches are everywhere you look but the options for vegans or those wanting to choose vegan now and again have been abysmal. One particular Instagram post of mine caused a LOT of discussion on the topic.

Thankfully, Tofurky has come to our rescue with four superior sandwiches being launched in the UK from October 2, 2017.

The four flavours set to launch are TLT (Tempeh, Lettuce and Tomato), Chipotle Chick’n, Ham-style Salad and Chick’n and Sweetcorn.

Tofurky founder Seth Tibbott told me via email this morning that everyone at the company is thrilled with not only the exceptional taste of the protein-loaded sandwiches, but also the look of the packaging.

To be fair, it is gorgeous.

Here are the four flavours lined up at a recent trade event.

I can’t decide which flavour is tempting me the most. I suppose you can’t say no to a classic like ham and salad. But the chicken and sweet corn!

Seriously, I would need one of each. The FOMO is too real.

All four sandwiches will be on the shelves of Whole Foods Market stores across London from October 2, 2017. A few weeks later this will expand to include all As Nature Intended stores plus other health retailers.

After this initial London launch is a success (I mean, as if they won’t fly out!), look for the sandwiches to start rolling out further afield and especially into large, mainstream food retailers.

Are you excited? Could you pick a favourite? Where would you like to see these Tofurky sandwiches sold?

Follow Tofurky on Instagram to keep track of more exciting developments. Thanks for saving us from sandwich mediocrity, Tofurky!

Sandwiches in London

I’ve written about Queen Picnic in the past but thought it was time to share an update about this fabulous London-based sandwich producer.

Take a look at the current line up of packaged sandwiches Queen Picnic has now made available through West London vegan grocery store GreenBay.

The range includes chicken-style seitan with vegan mayo, spring onion and parsley, beef-style seitan with tomato, rocket and dijon mustard, vegan cheese with pickle, lettuce and tomato, deli-style turkey seitan with smoked ‘cheese’ and cranberry sauce, as well as smokey salmon-style carrot with vegan cream cheese, dill and red onion.

Queen Picnic want hungry vegans to know that their sandwich line will be popping up in more locations soon, but in the meantime you can all get along to GreenBay Supermarket.

Follow Queen Picnic on Instagram.

Fat Gay Vegan at VegfestUK London

I’m happy to announce that I will be taking part in the annual VegfestUK London event happening on October 21 and 22, 2017.

I will be talking during two events:

Main talk in auditorium on Saturday – Fat Gay Vegan: Eat, Drink and Live Like You Give a Shit

Sean O’Callaghan (Fat Gay Vegan) previews his book ‘Fat Gay Vegan: Eat, Drink and Live Like You Give a Sh!t’, set to be published via Nourish in January 2017. Sean will discuss themes from the book including expanding compassion beyond the plate to include other social justice issues.

Activist Corner talk on Sunday – So you wanna start a local vegan market?

Join blogger, journalist and event planner Fat Gay Vegan as he hosts a Q&A session on the importance of setting up local, independent vegan markets. His popular Hackney Downs Vegan Market has just become a weekly happening and FGV wants you to start one in your area, too!

In addition to my talks, there will be a table selling exclusive advance copies of my new book Fat Gay Vegan: Eat, Drink and Live Like You Give a Shit. This early release is only for VegfestUK London. If you are unable to make it to the show but are still interested in grabbing a copy of my book, you can pre-order via Amazon ahead of the January release by Nourish Books.

Click here to find out more info about VegfestUK London and to buy advance tickets.