Vegan Options – PB Eats, PB Travels

PB Eats… Flavour Bastard

Now this has to be one of the most interesting meals I’ve had this year, mainly due to the fireworks of flavours! Flavour Bastard is in the middle of restaurant land – Firth Street, just off Soho Square. So usually, my rule of thumb is always to have a sneaky peak at the menu online just to make sure I will have something to eat when I get to a restaurant. In this case? I didn’t even bother checking the menu before hand as I was so confident that I would be catered for.

And catered for I was! There was a short but sweet vegan menu, most of the dishes were duplicates of those on the main menu (save paper and stick a VE next to them!). The menus were divided into ‘tiny plates’ and ‘small plates’, and they lived up to their name as we had to order multiple plates in order to feel like we’ve had a decent meal. All the key words were in there – starting off with the first menu item, house vegan butter? Whoa! At this point, Pratap Chahal, the chef whose baby this place was came over and told us how much a labour of love it was creating it and how long it took to test and perfect before sticking it on the menu.

Obviously I ordered it! What arrived was a tiny plate (I’ll get this out of the way now, all the portions were tiny) with three slices of crusty, chewy – in a good way – bread and this little pot of pale yellow goodness. It looked like butter, it spread like butter, it tasted like butter, I couldn’t believe it’s not butter! (sorry, not sorry). It was a masterpiece – I was truly impressed and may or may not have ordered 2 more portions.

Next up – the tiny plate of steamed rice cakes with kimchi and sesame. I was expected a Korean-esque dish based around dokbukki but the rice cakes were actually squares of idli pan fried until they got this charred crust. They were served with this cabbage, spring onion and sesame salad. This was one of my favourite mouth sensations of the night – so moreish and delicious with the right amount of chilli. If the rest of the food was going to be like this, I was going to be very happy.

The miso and mango aubergine with buckwheat crumble was also another tasty dish. It tasted exactly as it read. This man is a genius to put combinations of flavour and texture like this. What wasn’t so good was that there was no consistency – we ordered about 4-5 of these dishes, and in some the aubergine was meltingly creamy and yielding, while in others it was undercooked. And nothing is as horrible as hard, fibrous raw aubergine.

I LOVED this next dish of wild mushrooms with gnocchi and white onion puree, sprinkled with crispy shallots and parsley. I had to double check if it was dairy free – how could anything be this creamy! Gnocchi was pillow soft, and that puree was a revelation – perfumed and smooth without any harsh onioniness (is that even a word). To be honest I would have liked a ‘large plate’ of this dish – maybe that is something to think about Mr. Chahal?

There was only one duff dish of the night – coconut and mustard peas with an almond garlic sauce – like an ajo blanco – with fennel, almonds and crispy popadoms. There was nothing right about this dish other than the sauce – but that didn’t pair or compliment anything else on the plate. It was actually a really unpleasant dish to eat. I did have a look at at the current menu and I’ve seen this dish doesn’t feature any more – thankfully!

And finally – dessert. There was only one option on the vegan menu and it had white chocolate (apparently another labour of love). White chocolate and magnolia tart with watermelon sorbet, apricot and midori. Now, I normally steer away from perfumed food, and this had more oodles – magnolia and midori. But order it I must (mainly because of the white chocolate)! It was one of the prettiest desserts I’ve had for a while. The tart crust was buttery (how!) and crumbly. The filling was nothing like the real thing but was tasty enough, and actually enhanced with all the fruity, flowery elements. I eat my words. I loved the watermelon sorbet and the apricot sauce. It was a clever, mind boggling dessert and one I really enjoyed eating.

What did I like about this place? Flavour Bastard’s dishes are very clever and thankfully most of them work. The cocktail and drinks menu is also good. I tried a craft beer called ‘The Bastard’s Brew’ made in Liverpool Street – very very drinkable.

What didn’t I like? The service at the restaurant started off really well, but towards the end it was 100% terrible. I think they were understaffed and the ones who were there (including the head chef) were running around like blue bottom flies clearing tables and dealing with customers. Also, as much as I like eating out and have no issues spending a lot on a good meal, I don’t think there is much value for money here. As tasty as the food is, the price to pay for the amount of food we got is ridiculous.. I’d like to go back but not until they start offering large plates that have more food at a more reasonable price!

PB Travels… Conil De La Frontera

One of the breaks I took earlier this year was to a lovely part of Spain, Conil. The trip started off on a manic note – a 7am flight from Gatwick to Gibraltar with Sleasyjet. We had a couple of hen parties on board with one group sitting right in front of us. I must say, boarding a flight at that time in the morning with full make up, heels and party clothes? Really?! And they started drinking too (a wonderful concoction of white wine, gin and every other alcoholic beverage they could get their hands on?) Sheesh. To top it all, Gibraltar was having a wind storm so after two failed attempts (and the drunk hens becoming hysterical), we were rerouted to Malaga, put back on a coach to Gibs (as it is affectionately known) and after yet another 1.5 hours we finally got to our accomodation. Double Sheesh. The one redeeming grace – stunning views!

So I am not going to say anything about where we stayed as I don’t want to advertise the place, but I’ll show you what I ate and what we did… the latter being not much to be honest – exactly how I wanted it to be!

What did I eat?

Conil is like any other seaside town, a lot of hit and miss places. I was worried whether I was going to find anything plant based to eat, but to my surprise, it wasn’t bad at all. Breakfasts included the normal stuff, excellent bread, avocado, fruit salad, yummy marinated tomatoes, enough to keep me going until lunch.

Bar Ligero

We came across this little place in Conil when we went there for dinner. The main reason why we chose it? There was a blackboard with the heading ‘Vegetables’ :). I ordered a glass of wine (only about EUR3 and really nice!). We also got some bread (ok) and a little shot of gazpacho (yum). I only ordered a main – quinoa with vegetables and tortilla crisps. Interestingly enough, I had almost the same dish when I was in Spain last time, and this also hit the spot. Really tasty, and that reduced balsamic glaze added another dimension to the dish. The whole meal cost less than EUR20 – not bad!

El Jardin Del Califa

A few people were raving on about this place, so when we were in Vejer, this is where we ate. The decor was very pretty, all exposed stone and middle eastern lampshades. Even the water bottles were eye catching! The menu was very extensive and lots of options to choose from.

In a place like this, I wanted to go as authentic as possible, so for starters, I wanted the falafel (how could I choose anything else!) and beetroot hummus. I chose a vegetable tagine for my mains. The hummus was creamy enough, but I would have liked a stronger beetroot kick. As for the falafel – m m m m m. Crispy on the outside, enhanced by the sesame seeds, smooth, zingy, soft insides. They were perfect! The tagine looked simple – an assortment of veggies with some almonds scattered on top. These looks were oh so deceiving. I was surprised at how tasty this was (once I had impatiently waited for it to cool down). Veggies cooked perfectly, there was a bit of tartness from the preserved lemons, a hit of chilli, the crunch of the almonds – simplicity at it’s best. Delicious! This place was on the pricier side, but I think it was worth it.

Las Delicias Costa

One of our beach walks was from Conil all the way to El Palmar, another seaside town a couple of miles down the…beach. The initial plan was to grab a cool drink in La Torre, a restaurant that was recommended. My recommendation? Don’t go there. Shocking service, we were literally passed around from pillar to post and when we got a table, the service or lack of it was pathetic. We left and found this pretty restaurant literally a minute’s walk away. Gin and tonic, check. Cool and refereshing, exactly what I wanted, needed and had to have. The tonic water was particularly nice! We also ordered a snack – fried aubergines which were quite nice and crispy, just a touch oily for my liking. Overall though, a much nicer restaurant and level of service, and I got my G&T, so no complaints!

What did I do?

We had already lost a full day with all the travel shenanigans, so with only 2 and a bit days and not a lot on the agenda, we walked barefoot for hours on the seashore. Cool water, warm sand and a beautiful breeze – lovely. Thankfully, Conil isn’t a touristy place – well, it is, but more of a local getaway destination, as opposed to ‘I want to lie on the beach, get sunburnt and drink myself silly’ getaway.

We also visited Vejer one night for a (quick) walk around town and dinner. I absolutely LOVED the vibe of this place. It was laid back and chilled, cobbled hilly streets, a beautiful square, whitewashed buildings and independent jewellery and clothes shops. All the trees in the area were loaded with oranges (that nobody was picked because apparently they are so bitter). If I had more time (or if I came back to this part of the world), I would definitely spend it here…

We also wandered to Conil town centre one evening and it was just as quaint, but a much smaller version of Vejer. The loveliest part was that there were only a handful of tourists like us. Niice!

The highlight of the holiday? A trip to Bodega Sancha Perez, a fantastic farm and vineyard about 15 minutes out of Conil. A stunning little farm/vineyard/olive garden – it was a beautiful space, owned and run by this larger than life personality, Ramon. He built it up from scratch and you could see how much he loved it and treated it like his baby. He was so passionate, entertaining and oh so funny. You can book tours that last about an hour and a bit. It was mainly in Spanish, dotted with English words here and there. Even if you don’t understand Spanish, it is so worth it for his sheer showmanship and the stuff you see and drink and eat!

There was a small organic orchard with figs, plums, nectarines, peaches – sadly still not ready for picking. But we did manage to find random ripe ones, I was was handed a peach. OH MY WORD. Luscious and juicy! And when I say organic, I mean organic – bugs galore, snail central… and they all had a place to stay – a bug hotel!

After a walk around the olive garden and vineyard, Ramon led us through the production process through – all small scale, all with love and without any crap or chemicals – excellent! He then led us to this little shop where we could buy both the oil and the wine. We didn’t buy any stuff for ourselves as we only had hand baggage, but we did buy a bottle of wine, a Merlot, to have there and then. Ramon also supplied us with some stunning olives to go with the wine. Hands down the best wine I have had.

I would never have gone to this part of Spain, but I’m so glad I did. There are a whole load of smaller towns all around that I would love to come back and explore… will add them to the list!

PB Eats… Strut and Cluck

Living in London is a blessing – with so many cuisines and restaurants around, I am spoilt for choice. I am also a creature of habit eating at the same restaurants and fast food places. But then I come across a place I’ve never been to before and it’s added on to the favourites list. Enter Strut and Cluck – a cute restaurant near Spitalfields Market.

Initially, my first question was erm, ok, what options do I have in a place like this, with a name like that? A few tasty options, that’s what! The food menu reads beautifully, and lots of options in the ‘Earth’ section can be made vegan. The cocktails menu was just as uplifting to read, with combinations of drinks and mixers that I’ve never come across before. My tipple of choice to kick off the evening was the aptly named “Jaffa I’ve Mist You” with rum, elderflower and orange in a variety of guises – bitter, candied syrup and even some orange mist. No pic but take it from me – lush!

My omni friend both chose a couple of dishes to have. She had been here before and wanted to reorder the turkey lettuce cups she tried the previous time, along with some roasted mushrooms topped with harissa, cashews and breadcrumbs, both which she thoroughly enjoyed – the lettuce cups in particular.

I chose a couple of salads – roasted butternut squash with beans, radicchio, pumpkin seeds with a citrusy dressing. First time round – came with the goats cheese instead of without (pic has the cheese, forgot to take one without it, but you get the idea). They were very obliging and replaced it without any drama or hoo haa. Second salad was a mountain of veggies – avocado, broccoli, gem lettuce, chickpeas and quinoa. Now this is a salad. The charred lettuce was wonderful – and in my opinion so underrated! The roasted chickpeas were little crunchy flavour bombs that complemented the soft quinoa and peppers. I polished it off!

We also got some pitta and dips to share – soft, hot pillowy pitta halves with 2 dips. One was like a baba ghanoush – smokey and moreish. The other a tahini dip with a dash of zhoug (could have had a stronger chilli hit) – velvety and smooth. A must order!

Other than sorbet, there weren’t any other vegan or desserts that could be veganised, so my meal ended on a savoury note – no complaints. There are some excellent Turkish, Greek, Cypriot – Eastern Mediterranean – restaurants in London, but I just feel that this place does things slightly differently that make it stand out in a good way. I will be back.

PB Eats… Vegan In London 3

I’ve been vegan for a couple of years now, and 2016 was challenging in terms of finding readily available vegan food or options in vegan restaurants. But oh my word. After I came back from travelling in July 2017, having been away for about 6 months, I saw such a difference – London had fully embraced veganism! Obviously it made it easier for me to go out – some places have got it right, some are still trying, but at least everything is moving in the right direction! Here are a few of the highlights so far 🙂

Aubaine

Aubaine had a menu on specifically to ‘celebrate’ Veganuary – starter and main for £12.50 and a couple of desserts too. The options for starters were beetroot with apple or roasted cauliflower. I went for the former and it was a good choice. Zingy and fresh, crunchy apple, well-seasoned beetroot and citrus to cut through everything.

Mains? I went for mushroom bourguignon and M for the bean burger with fries. She didn’t really enjoy her main – too salty for starters. As for mine – my main is in the top right corner, the pic of the Aubaine marketing shot – sot the difference! The stew itself was really flavourful, but it was a bit watery. The mashed potato could have been less lumpy and the carrot bacon more crispy and maybe then it would have totally hit the spot. But as they stand – miss the mains and go straight for starters and dessert.

Dessert on the other hand – oh my. Polenta and plum cake with a super mandarin sorbet on the side – every dessert box ticked. I could have had another portion.

Maybe it was the branch of Aubaine I went to was having an off day with the service and mains – I would go again – just for the polenta cake.

Ba Shan

I went to Ba Shan with Mr O who is obsessed with chillies – and this was definitely the place to go. Specialising in quite authentic and spicy Hunanese food, they were very open and accommodating to veganising their menu options. I went for the Ma Po tofu with greens and plain rice. YUM. Sadly the Ba Shan website says they are closing down for a Baozi Inn (which isn’t bad either). You will be missed 😦

Dishoom

Oh Dishoom. How I love thee. I used to be obsessed with their chilli cheese toast and their pau bhaji, but the obsession has now shifted to their okra fries – they are SUPER DELICIOUS – and off their vegan menu :). Seriously guys, Dishoom have a vegan menu and it is full of yummy options – but you must try these fries. Spicy, crunchy, moreish. YUM. My other go to favourites are the gunpowder potatoes – but you.. well I, need to eat these while they’re hot, I don’t like them cold. The chana chaat is a dish I order to feel righteous – chickpeas, cous cous, baby sprouts, pomegranate and pumpkin seeds. I’ve never had a dodgy dish at Dishoom, may this continue. And on the last visit, I indulged in a couple of Gimlets, laced with cardamom. Wow.

City Social

City Social also have a vegetarian/vegan menu, however they could put in a bit more effort – and at least come up with a couple more options for mains and a vegan dessert! Put that Michelin start to good use! A cheeky cocktail with a view to start off..

Followed by a stonkingly good mushroom risotto for starters – packed full of mushroom goodness. How they got this to be so creamy and so vegan is beyond me.

Mains was essentially a cauliflower steak marinated in cumin and turmeric with leeks and purees of aubergine and garlic – what a clever combination of flavours! I would have preferred a slightly thinner piece – after this meal I can tell you I didn’t have cauliflower for a while!

The only dessert option was sorbet (boring) but my friend had a stunningly beautiful tart tartin – check it out!

Ham Yard

Ham Yard has been a favourite as they are one of the first restaurants I reviewed that had a vegan menu. The latest menu read well, with lots of yummy and interesting bits to eat.

I wasn’t in the mood for soup or kale, and I did choose well with the artichoke and avocado salad, 2 of my favourite things to eat. Creamy, fresh and those dots of red pepper sauce brought the dish together. I stupidly went for the pasta, expecting it to be all mushroomy and truffley. What came was a massive portion of pasta, a few mushrooms and no truffle. It was a perfectly harmless plate of pasta, not what I would have expected from Ham Yard. It was so dull that I even forgot to take a pic of it. The dessert on the other hand was EXCELLENT. I asked for the clementine sorbet instead of raspberry – chocolate and orange, super combination – wise wise choice. So creamy and rich, I was almost convinced it wasn’t vegan. Yummy. Ham Yard stays on the ‘I will go back’ list.

Waffle House

I like this place not because of the food, but because of the location. It is up in St Albans, and we usually wander through a beautiful park to get here. I only ever have one option here, and sadly, it doesn’t involve waffles, as they don’t have a vegan option. I have a salad, which is basically all the toppings of one of their savoury vegetarian options – hummus, rocket, sun dried tomatoes, olives, avocado and a sweet chilli and balsamic dressing. Lush lush lush. Now if only they could create a vegan waffle and this will be a regular place for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

Coppa Club

Now the Coppa Club is fabulous for drinks – I really like this place, the decor and the ambiance. In the summer, they have these beautiful cabanas outside, and in the winter, they have igloos. As for the menu, it isn’t very vegan (maybe this is why I go there for the drinks more than the food :). But saying that, the service has always been good and in this instance, super helpful in customising something for me. I had the roasted cauliflower and kale salad with spinach, farro and almonds. And extra avocado. I love kale but this was raw, not massaged or soft in any way. Definitely worked my jaw and my gut that day. Since then, I stick to the drinks and fries. Can’t go wrong there 🙂

Purezza

I was in Brighton late last year for my birthday, and I got taken to Purezza by S for my birthday lunch. WHOA. So impressed.

The menu is perfect, a massive variety of pizzas. We both went for the Pesto Manifesto – pesto, red onions, fried courgettes, pine nuts, marinated spinach leaves & cherry tomatoes. Stunningly good and so filling. they even have a dessert pizza on the menu but we were too stuffed to eat it. And the best part? Purezza is opening another branch in Camden in London. Whoop Whoop!

Haz

Haz is another firm favourite. There are so many mezze options and so much variety, but my go to option is the quick mezze plate, which they have no issues in veganising it. A giant plate with crispy falafel, creamy hummus, tabular, kisir and imam bayildi. Add some of that light bread and a cup of fresh mint tea and it is the perfect lunch or dinner. They did have this amazing main dish called Turlu which was like a veggie stew. So sad that it has disappeared, but the mezze will always be there.

So that is a snapshot of what I’ve been eating so far.. what I will end with is the BEST EVER VEGAN DOUGHNUT I have ever tried in my life. Crosstown doughnuts do non-vegan desserts, with vegan options every weekend. I tried the yuzu (MY FAVOURITE flavour) and matcha doughnut. OMG. Lush. Fluffy, not too sweet, chewy and perfectly balanced flavour. Super excellent. I’m glad they’re out of the way for me, or I kid you not, I would be eating them as often as possible. So enjoy this beautiful cross section of a crosstown doughnut – until the next post :):)

PB Eats… Gauthier Soho

Sorry I have been AWOL for sorry long. Work then Christmas and life in general has kept me occupied, and I have completely ignored the blog. I did go on holiday in October to Goa – I didn’t blog about that as it was a lovely family holiday (the first one in years!). What I will say is that the resort was fabulous – Taj Exotica in South Goa. Amazing rooms, sprawling grounds, excellent food and the service was second to none. Loved loved loved it. So recommend this place – perfect for R&R.

Since then – no holidays (to be honest I didn’t have any holiday left to take at work after Mallorca and Goa 😂). But this post is about food – vegan food is on the rise and in 2017 it just went crazy! So many options! So how better to celebrate my milestone birthday than trying a vegan tasting menu at Gauthier Soho? I had been there before but never to try this menu.

I started off with my current favourite tipple of choice – a Negroni, which arrived with a couple of interesting amuse bouches, carrot mousse in a pastry case, beetroot hummus on a cracker and these light, super airy turmeric crackers. Different, pleasant and a good start to the meal.

We decided not to go for the wine tasting, but instead ordered a mighty fine bottle of Prosecco that keep us going throughout the meal. Onward to the actual menu – 8 courses of vegan goodness – which we read while having the very tasty bread, served with a seriously good grassy olive oil.

1st course, a plate with a little garnish and smaller ones with tomato, sesame, avocado and shallot. We had some table side prep (no pic, I was too distracted) where the waiter basically minced a cooked carrot, which was then placed in the plate. I quite enjoyed this – it was the little touches that added zings and burst of flavour.

2nd Course – essentially an apple and celeriac ‘soup’ with chestnuts. It didn’t look like much and it wasn’t a substantial service, but I loved the classic combination, warm, crunchy, creamy.

Now the 3rd course sounded lovely – truffle, technicolour, rainbow… I didn’t know what to expect, and I was very happy with what I got – beetroot purees, slivers of truffle, semolina balls. This was one of my favourite dishes – a proper taste explosion and a wonderful combination of flavours.

Things then started to get a bit wobbly. 4th Course. Mushrooms, garlic, spelt, maize and a green chlorophyll sauce. On paper? Everything I like. What arrived was a little cake of polenta with some spelt grains on top – lush. The green sauce – packing a punch and also very good. The raw mushrooms were also good, complemented the dish. But that brown ‘thing’ on the plate – vile. We’re not sure what it is, maybe a dehydrated shroom – but it tasted like old boots. Eugh.

And then it went temporarily downhill with the 5th course. So bear in mind, an aperitif and a couple of glasses of prosecco down, bread, nibbles and 4 courses – so we were getting a bit full – but not full enough, come on, we had dessert to look forward to! But this course – kohlrabi, autumn roots, pickled turnip and marmite broth. I am firmly rooted on the hate marmite side of the fence, but shock horror, that wasn’t what I didn’t like – the broth was actually the best part of the dish, full of umami. The roasted veggies were OK, nothing fancy, but that puck of kohlrabi – inedible. it was thick and chunky and dense. The black hole of this dish – nothing redeeming about it, it actually could have been left off the plate!

With desserts on the horizon, things were on the up again. 6th course and first of the three desserts. This one was excellent. Passion fruit and mango and pretty as a picture. It had all the textures and elements of a good dessert and it was an absolutely delight to eat.

I really appreciated the effort with the 7th course – vegan meringue! Made with chickpea water or aquafaba. It was filled with lemongrass ice cream, surrounded with pear, herbs and pine nuts. Although this was my least favourite out of the desserts, I was pretty impressed with the combination of ingredients.

I was expecting the last course to be all fireworks and sparkles – and oooh, I definitely got that and more. I don’t usually like bananas in a dessert as it usually tastes more artificial than natural, but on this plate, everything was balanced perfectly. The chocolate was chocolately and rich, the banana flavour subtle – and it doubled up as my birthday cake. Good on all fronts. Absolutely perfect!

By this point I was truly stuffed, I think I might have had a mint tea that came with the petit fours, but my memory fails me now. All I remember was that the chocolate truffles were quite nice.

Although there were a few blips here and there, I thoroughly enjoyed this tasting menu. I would so recommend it, and what I quite like is that it is a seasonal menu, so depending on when you go, you’ll get to try different dishes. And as it was my birthday, as a parting gift, they gave me a little hand written card wishing me a happy birthday and offering 2 glasses of champagne on the house the next time I visit. I will definitely revisit – and the free glass of bubbly will go down very nicely 🙂

PB Eats… Vegan Toronto

So apparently the week I was in Toronto was a great week – weather wise. I agree, all I could see were blue, cloudless skies from the meeting room where I spent 11 hours a day for the week. Yep, Toronto for work, but I did have about 12 hours free before flying back where I did take full advantage of the sunshine, and to check out the plentiful vegan scene. Lunches were all at work, and I had told my colleagues about my food needs – and I was pleasantly surprised. Roasted veggie wraps, cous cous with curry, pasta, salads – all good. As for my other meals, during the week they had to be near the hotel and quick. A combination of a cold and jet lag meant that once we finished, all I wanted to do was eat and sleep.

There was a mall about 5 minutes from the office, and amongst all the places, I found 2 – Urban Herbivore and Thai Express. Having had cold sandwiches for lunch, I didn’t want the same for dinner – and that is exactly what Urban Herbivore did, however good they looked, I didn’t try them out. Thai Express had an option for a vegan pad thai – which I had a couple of times in the week. Spicy, delicious and comforting – exactly what I needed. Where else did I eat?

Planta Burger

I found out (thank you Happy Cow) about a vegan burger joint that had opened up a few months ago, literally across from the hotel. I was so excited! So Day 1, I went to Planta Burger to order my takeaway. They had 4 options, and if I see buffalo cauliflower on any menu, I’m ordering it. I will not lie, I had visions of the burger I had in New York at Blossom Du Jour. At Planta Burger, I ordered the spicy buffalo cauliflower burger with ranch, pickles, red onion, iceberg and tomato. I also got a side of the caesar salad. YES. vegan caesar salad. Whoo! I was very excited and so looking forward to eating this. The salad – very excellent. Creamy and crunchy with meaty mushrooms and killer pickled onions, this was good. As for the burger – a sheer disappointment. The bread was hard, the patty almost burnt and too small for the bun, with NO flavour. It was just very dull.

I’m all for second chances, so the next night I went back to try another burger. I picked the crab cake, with heart of palm and tartar sauce, and a side of the BBQ fries. The fries = tick. Very nice, very moreish and crunchy. But the burger? Yes. Again. Horrible. It looked like the burger from the night before. Tiny almost burnt patty, tasteless and grim. The only redeeming factor, the tartar sauce which tasted like the real thing.

2/2 terrible burgers is not good in my book, I wouldn’t go back for the burgers – maybe if you forced me, I’d get the casear salad, but that is it. Nothing else. There is a Planta restaurant too, but I didn’t want to risk trying it if it turned out to be just as grim as the burger joint.

Mill Street Brewery

For our team dinner, we went to the Distillery District, to the Mill Street Brewery. I really like this area, the last time I was here it was in the middle of winter, and it was just as magical in the summer. There were a few veganisable options on the menu – and they were very accommodating too. This being a brewery and my interest in beer increasing over the years, P and I decided to split a beer flight – 4 tiny beers, 2 for him, 2 for me. I went for the organic original lager and an organic amber lager. Very impressed and very smooth. The also went down a bit too quickly 🙂 For my main, I went for a falafel salad – without the falafel as it was made with eggs. But the creamy dressing was vegan, and when in doubt, always ask for avocado, which is what I did. I got a giant portion full of beans, chickpeas, rocket, sunflower seeds, clementine segments, avocado. So tasty and filling, I could only get through half of it. I did finish all the avocado though!

Fresh on Bloor

I’m a firm believer in balance – every grim meal means that there is a superb meal waiting for me to enjoy. And enjoy I did at Fresh. This is a chain of restaurants scattered around downtown. It was heaving when I got there around 7pm, and I only had to wait for 10 minutes for a table. Everyone there was SO friendly and chilled, I really liked the atmosphere. You get a big bottle of water when you sit down, and a MASSIVE vegan menu. I’m not used to this much choice!! I wanted a burger mainly because of the crap ones I’d had earlier in the week. I went for the chipotle bacon burger – chipotle, tempeh, jicama – yum yum. And then I saw ‘dragon fries’ on the menu as a ‘side’ option. It read “french fries, miso gravy, hot banana chilies, green onions, sesame seeds and chili oil” How could I say no!

The burger was great – a giant of a burger, with generous fixings and a nice chunky patty. Most enjoyable. BUT THOSE DRAGON FRIES. If you live in Toronto, go here NOW. I will say it – hands down the best vegan thing i have tried. Hot, crispy fries, umami popping miso gravy, a punch from the spring onions, a super punch from the chillies – OMG. Stunningly, amazingly, perfectly delicious, perfectly LUSCIOUS. I went here on my last night. It will be my death row meal – I loved them that much!! But for now, if I do go back to Toronto, this is the first place I will go to. Straight off the plane. YUM!!!

King’s Cafe

I had the morning off to wander around the streets of Toronto, and what a time to be there. The Invictus Games were starting that evening, so the place was buzzing. I walked around Kensington Market, or what I call the Camden Market of Toronto. I loved this place, full of quirky shops, delis, restaurants and cafes.

I came across Bunner’s – an all vegan bakery full of yummy looking stuff. Since I was flying later I didn’t have the liberty of buying the selection I wanted to (one of each), so I settled for the apple butterscotch crumble tart and I bought a brownie for later. The tart was sweet, apple-y, full of texture and super good. I loved it. I didn’t take a pic of the brownie which I had on the place with a cup of tea on the plane – JUST AS GOOD.

Washed down with an almost perfect iced coffee with almond milk (whooo!) from Jimmy’s, it was the perfect mid morning treat.

So onto Kings Cafe – which made me very happy. Another all vegetarian/vegan place, I just wanted a few dim sums to keep me going. Once again, this was a Happy Cow find. What did I order? Curry puffs, veggie dumplings and my favourite – sticky rice.

I am pleased to say this meal hit the spot. The curry puffs were crispy and stuffed with this fragrant potato mixture – yum. The dumplings were stuffed with veggies and herbs – excellent. And that rice. With that chilli sauce – oh man. Super good. I would definitely come back here to try more dishes. Suitably stuffed, I headed to the airport. The plan was to have dinner in the lounge and knock out on the plane. There were very few vegan options – everything had cheese or a yoghurt dressing. I helped myself to a cucumber salad and got them to pimp a fajita for me – roasted veggies and salsa. It was enough to fill my belly.

All in all, I would have loved to spend more time in Toronto, so hopefully I’ll get to go out there soon – lots of things to do and lots and lots of vegan food to eat!

PB Eats… Vegan In London 2

No travel blues, no jet leg, I’m enjoying the weather and free time and not really thinking about going back to work in July. What have I been up to? Spending time with my lovely niece, pottering about, chilling in london and exploring new restaurants. This week I have mainly been eating a lot of hummus and falafel. But first, a wonderful discovery – a vegan cafe in Pinner, north west London. Everything is vegan, fresh and simple. I loved the concept – a number of hot dishes – tofu, beans, potatoes, quorn that can be put in a wrap or in bowl – with loads of salads on the side.

We went for an ABC – apple, beetroot and carrot – juice, freshly pressed and tasty. I went for a chilli tofu salad bowl with quinoa, salsa, avocado, cucumber. The other bowl? Bombay potatoes with hummus, avocado, olives, cucumber and watercress. These were big bowls for about £6 – such good value for money. We really enjoyed our food – simple, tasty and flavourful. They also had a counter of VEGAN cakes and muffins. We bought a slice orange and polenta cake (really really tasty and orangey) and an apple and cinnamon muffin (ok, a bit to sandy in texture for me), but forgot to take photos.

This is a place I will definitely be going back to – a no brainer really. Next stop? Turkish restaurant Yaprak in Eastcote. They have an excellent lunch time menu, 2 courses for £6.95. My sister had been here before and was impressed with the food. The restaurant was a bit quiet – we were ladies who lunch on a weekday – but I’ve been told it gets really busy on weekends. I ordered a fresh mint tea and chose a starter and main from the lunch menu. Hummus and falafel. My sister went for just a main (a la carte) of vegetable kebab, that came with a big salad.

Complimentary flatbread brushed with this lovely mix, and dips – yoghurt (I think), olives (marinated with coriander seeds – whoa! Excellent) and chilli sauce (sensational!!!!!). The portions were massive and super tasty. Everything was made in house – and you could tell. Hummus was very earthy and full of flavour. The falafel was airy, nutty and very moreish. I didn’t know what to expect with the vegetable kebab – but we got a mound of vegetables in this delicately spiced sauce. Absolutely lovely. Only thing I didn’t want to have or try was the psychedelic Turkish delight. Another place I’d visit again.

A place that I won’t be going back to is Ya Hala, a Lebanese place in Paddington. We went for a an apple juice with mint and ginger – nice, but mainly because I needed hydration as opposed to it being good. It definitely wasn’t fresh. I went for the falafel and hummus again, and M went for a mixed mezze plate.

Big portions – and the mezze platter looked good but M did not even have 3 bites. Verdict? The meat tasted like it was a few days old and everything was tepid and horrible. So epic fail then. The falafel on the other hand weren’t bad flavourwise, just very dense and stodgy – nothing like the light and airy ones at Yaprak. Salad was dull. The hummus was ok though.

So more hit than miss on the restaurant front, but it is always good to explore new places. And talking about new places, there is an ice cream shop in Ruislip that does proper gelato and dairy free sorbets – La Dolce Vita.

I chose raspberry and it was super delicious! No added colouring, nice bit of raspberry flavour, no artificial taste – bellisimo. The pistachio and hazelnut gelatos are apparently very very good! Will definitely go back to try the other sorbets – mango, passion fruit, lemon… whooo!

PB Eats… Mildreds

I’m back in London, will be back at work in July, so am enjoying the last few days of ‘freedom’. I have to say the glorious weather has definitely helped – they’ve chased my holiday blues and jet leg away for sure. First meet up was at Mildreds, a place I’ve been meaning to try for a while. Vegan heaven, super popular and amazing food. Aaah. So the food was not as good as hoped, and I’m not sure if it was down to them being so busy or whether it was poor choices on our part. But poor choices aside, the food should taste good, right? We kicked off with a cocktail, I went for an Aperol Spritz – perfect drink for a sunny day.

Instead of going for a main course, we decided to share some small plates/starters, and go with the flow. I thought we chose a good selection of dishes. Gyoza with a soy/sweet chilli dipping sauce. The filling was soy mince I think, not my favourite, but the outside – hard and chewy dumpling wrapper, and not in a good way. Next? Smashed avocado with lime and chilli and organic corn chips. Beautiful avocado, but lacking in terms of seasoning and lime – which let everything down. The purple corn chips were quite yummy though.

Now I love miso aubergine, or nasu dengaku, and when done right, this dish is luscious. Meltingly soft aubergine, hot, almost fluffy miso dressing, sweet, sour, salty, umami overload. Sadly this dish was an epic fail. Barely lukewarm aubergine, I couln’t taste any miso. Bland bland bland. The best small plate was tenderstem broccoli with confit garlic and chilli. Perfectly cooked, the dressing was so delicious, and the garlic was divine. Loved this dish. One decent dish out of four, I wasn’t happy and didn’t want to spend any more time or money on the savoury stuff.

So bring on desserts. Vegan desserts. Now We Are Talking. The BEST vegan dessert I have had. Chocolate hazelnut brownie, salted caramel sauce and ice cream. Served warm, it turned out to be one of the best vegan desserts I have had. Seriously chocolate my, seriously caramel, seriously creamy, seriously good. That with a cup of green tea – lovely.

In hindsight, I think I should have just gone straight in for a main course – but it was such a hot day, the idea of having a pie or a burger or a stir fry/curry or a dish with rice (yep, still not feeling it fully) was not welcoming. I will give this place another try and check out the main courses – just to make sure the problem might have been with me and not Mildred.

PB Eats… Copita

I’m back in London! I wasn’t supposed to be back so soon, but a combination of unhelpful travel agents, expensive tickets and fate meant that my plans to go back to Mexico didn’t work out. Saying all that, it is good to be back, seeing family, catching up with friends and most importantly, enjoying my Indian food. I didn’t miss it while travelling, but boy I was glad to overdose on it when I got back. Thanks mum! Home made indian dishes, rotis, gol gappas, puris, yum yum.

And I’ve been catching up at the regular restaurants, Zizzi – I’ve missed that wonderful pizza base, Chawallas, Wagamama, Shoryu – mmm, soy milk ramen, delicious. Incidentally, they have a deal on at the moment, £22 for a bun, ramen and delicious cocktail. Definitely worth it. I’m not going to blog about any of those – but I will say that it is good having all this variety and choice of vegan food sans issues or drama.

The meal of the week though was at Copita, to catch up with my partner in crime (and evil thoughts – forgive me!! haha), M. A nice, trendy space with that irritating rule of no reservations in the evening. Being a lady of leisure, I got there nice and early in the evening and had my choice of tables – or bar stools. Result!

I was very pleasantly surprised to discover not only do they have a lovely food menu, but a very very lovely gin and tonic menu!!! Tanqueray! Bloom! Whoo!! And they have Fever Tree tonic water – the only tonic water worth drinking.

The service was helpful and friendly, but as the evening went on it did get harder to grab their attention. They rattled off the dishes I could eat (leaving out a few ingredients), so I obediently ordered them ALL. M ordered the chorizo, croquetas de champiñones (no pics), and the giant gambas (check them out!!), which I didn’t hear any negatives about.

We also got the sweet potato bravas (alioli on the side). These were moist, juicy but not very spicy. Not at all to be honest. The broccoli with a pepper sauce – delish. Still crunchy broccoli, yummy sauce, I enjoyed this dish.

The highlight of the meal was the ajo blanco, dressed with grapes, beetroot, parsley and almonds. It was so tasty – not too garlicy, really creamy and the bits on top added little bursts of texture and flavour. Every mouthful tasted different – yum yum yum. Please order this! The lowlight of the meal, for reasons to explicit and nasty to mention here, was the roasted aubergine. It didn’t really look appealing, it had no seasoning and the texture was not nice, and the top half was undercooked, and I couldn’t taste anything in the sauce. The hazelnuts though, were excellent.

I had no room for dessert after all this food and the very tasty G&Ts (my dessert), but M ordered the coffee and burnt milk ice cream. Judging from the speed at which it disappeared and her expression, it was a tasty dessert.

Overall – it was a good meal, I would go back again and again just for that ajo blanco!

PB Travels… Quepos

So last few days in Costa Rica, and the next stop is Quepos, home of Manuel Antonio National Park, the main reason for being here. Getting there was another short journey, 3 hours or so, and on the way, we stopped at a bridge to look at… crocs. Yep, crocs which are up to 20 feet in length. Beautiful…from a distance 🙂

Where am I staying?

Hotel Sirena is in the town centre, a five minute walk to the seashore, but a 7km bus ride to the public beach. It is a proper seaside hotel, all blue and white, nice rooms and a little swimming pool that was so so needed. What was also very needed and appreciated was the cool cool A/C in the rooms. My room was light, bright and cool.

Ratings?

Grubbiness factor = low. Everything was squeaky clean, but a bit tired
Bed = 8/10. Comfy double bed, cool a/c, good night’s sleep. All good
Shower = 7/10. Hot water and ok pressure. Not too bad.

What did I eat?

Breakfasts included in the hotel. No guesses what was on the menu – fruit, juice, tea, coffee, gallo pinto, eggs, toast – standard fare. My go to breakfast was also standard -gallo pinto and toast with my nut butter, which is almost finished, as is my chilli sauce. Boohoo.

Lunches? Meh. I went to Dos Locos for lunch one day – a veggie wrap with sweet potato fries. Now a wrap filled with raw cabbage is not something that fills me with joy. And look at the miserly serving of guac! I was not a happy bunny after this meal, or during it to be honest.

The next day we were in the park, and by the time we got out we were starving! There are no restaurants in the park, take food in at your own risk – the racoons will get it, I saw it happen a few times, leaving with goodies and very traumatised people behind! We walked into a proper tourist restaurant – Hawg and Bill for lunch – I ordered a garden salad, which actually turned out to be quite nice. The vinaigrette did most of the work I think, it was quite yummy.

Dinners? We went to a local restaurant one night, Restaurant Tiquicia and I had the usual, Casado. It was was ok, I liked the mountains of veggies. They also had that cool mixture of carrot, onion, cauliflower, but unfortunately it wasn’t hot at all.

Next night – we went to El Avion, a gimmicky restaurant that has a bar in a plane. It was really cool in the plane and the Margarita I ordered was really good. Even in a restaurant like this, the only two options I could go for were either veggie rice (meh) or roasted veggie sandwich. I went for the latter and got a giant sandwich with too much bread. The veggies were really yum (after I added salt and pimped it with chilli sauce) – courgette, mushroom (which interestingly looks like meat..hehe), red pepper, tomato. I had those with the chips, left the bread. If you want to go here, go for the drinks, not the food.

I also had my usual share of fresh juices – pineapple, and a frozen green/pineapple juice. Yum in this unbearable heat.

What did I do?

That pool might look small, but it was the right size, and I spent one afternoon just lounging around, reading, chatting, snoozing in the sun. However, the main reason for being here was the Manuel Antonio National Park. 5 minute walk to the main bus station, and 315 colones for a bus ride to the park. As expected, it was very very busy – the busiest I’ve been to so far, but, it was excellent as we got to see so much wildlife! Sloths, toucans, howler monkeys, birds, spiders, wow. What a fitting end to Costa Rica.

There is a wonderful beach in the park – so once we had got hot, bothered and sweaty running after all the animals, we ran straight into the sea. Oh mama. Perfect sea, perfect temperature, perfect weather – I spent a lot of time in the sea until hunger pangs dragged me away..

Sunsets in Quepos were also stunning. We decided to walk to the marina to have a drink – as some of the girls had been there the day before for a brilliant sunset. This marina is so Americanised – and it was full of Americans! It did not feel like we were in Quepos, or even Costa Rica. Thankfully the sunset made up for it – check it out!

So this is it in terms for travel for now – the plan was to go back to Mexico and explore ruins, but due to crappy travel agents and slow turnaround times, I couldn’t get my ticket changed and buying new ones was waay to expensive. Never mind – that money will be saved for the next travel adventure – even I don’t know where I’m going.. South America? Asia? Europe? Watch this space….