A festive weekend in Edinburgh, Scotland

It’s finally December! The month of the year where I book every weekend solid to make the most of the festive season- and this year was no exception! We went to Edinburgh this past weekend for a full 36 hours- there is so much to do in the city and it was our first time. I am now a full-on zombie, but it was so worth it!

The first thing we did was take a trip to Edinburgh’s Christmas on Princes Street Gardens. We checked out the huge array of stalls here and tried as many free samples as we could. I also bought the most amazing smelling Christmas candle with a little Christmas ornament to commemorate our trip.

I feel like all Christmas markets have the same merchandise but there were a few hidden gems here in Edinburgh, it was nice to check out something different. My favourite stall was for the Cheshire Cheese Company- this was seriously the best cheese I ever tasted! I really want to buy some but wasn’t sure on the customs rules (we had no hold luggage) so I’ve settled for ordering some ready for Christmas Day!

Following this, we headed to Bread Meets Bread a burger restaurant that had so many vegan burgers on the menu. Sadly, once we got there, they announced they had no vegan burgers at all- on a Saturday lunchtime! Simon really enjoyed his BBQ beef brisket sandwich; the meat was tender & juicy. The fries were amazing, crunchy yet fluffy. However, I was less than impressed with my veggie burger. Roasted veg & some halloumi just isn’t that exciting to me, I was so gutted.

After this we checked into our cosy Airbnb (thanks to our host who forgot to close any of the windows, so the apartment was near freezing temperatures!). We hung out for a while to get some feeling back into our faces and watch the RuPaul’s Drag Race Holi-Slay Spectacular. A big waste of time for a 40-minute advertisement, but don’t get me started sis!

Then we headed over to St Andrews Square for Ice skating! I love the rink here, it’s circular around the bar so you don’t just end up skating in small circles to avoid those clinging onto the safety barriers. We had some mulled wine here, but it tasted very sweet, almost like most of it was Ribena.

We took a walk to check out all the Christmas lights before realising we had booked the Christmas Tree maze.

We made our way back to Edinburgh’s Christmas excited to take part in the maze but were left a little disappointed. Yes, the maze is probably mostly aimed at children but it’s harmless fun. You are given a card with 5 spaces on it, you need to find the letter stamps in the maze and work out the Christmassy word it spells. Take this to Santa’s house & receive a bag of chocolate coins, easy. Unfortunately, the maze wasn’t well maintained- only 1 stamp worked in the whole maze and 2 of them were completely missing. Such a shame as everyone in there had paid £4 each! I felt this took away from the experience and I really hope the management quality check this next time.

With our gold coins in hand, we wandered the markets. I really wanted some Raclette, but I was still full from our earlier feast. We ended up at one of the Gluhwein stands, me with a mulled wine and Simon with a cherry wine. These were delicious.

This was a pretty full day as we had to get up for the airport at 4am, we decided to call it a night there and head back for a decent night’s sleep.

Sunday, we started with a free walking tour from Sandeman’s in the old town. I have been on these tours throughout Europe and am never disappointed. The staff are always passionate and engaging. I highly recommend them to get a real idea of the history behind the city.

We wandered around Victoria Street (the inspiration for Diagon Alley) dipping in and out of shops including many Harry Potter themed ones. We went to visit Greyfriars Bobby & Tom Riddle’s grave (though no photo of this as there were SO MANY PEOPLE).

Lunch was at Civerino’s; a pizza place I had seen on Instagram and just had to try. The pizzas were enormous! I had the 4 cheese and Simon had a Calzone with prosciutto, mozzarella, mushrooms and broccoli. We also got the fries which come with Parmesan on (we forgot to ask for these without) and a garlic aioli. The seasoning is amazing, and the fries are perfectly cooked. We originally came to Civerino’s for a dessert calzone so should have shared a main, but the staff were happy to wrap up our leftovers for later.

Defeated!

We had to get a dessert calzone (they have several!) so chose the chocolate orange & cinnamon version. Again, this is enormous, but you have a second stomach for dessert, right? I do anyway, I managed to finish this whole thing with minimal supervision from Simon. I was incredible. The melted chocolate orange was oozy and gooey and perfectly complemented by the vanilla cream.

We spent the afternoon wandering around the museums, checking out the panoramic view on the rooftops and visiting the castle. Our feet were tired but we were having so much fun. We still had a few hours till we left for the airport, so we found a bar with a fire and got some Edinburgh drinks. I had an Edinburgh Gin & Simon had an Edinburgh ale. A lovely, cosy way to finish the trip.

At 6pm, we hopped on a tram for an easy ride to the airport. NB: if you want to get a seat on the tram to the airport, get on at St Andrew’s Square- it’s so much quieter than the next few stops!

I think we would have really benefitted from a couple of extra days in Edinburgh, there is so much to do, and we only scraped the surface. However, it is amazing. The festive feel alone is worth it near Christmas. Be prepared to walk a lot (55,000 steps in our case) and wrap up warm, you’ll have the best time.

Happy travels!

Vegan market comes south of the Thames!

Today I headed to Venn Street market which now hosts a selection of vegan delights!

Travelling to the regular Hackney Downs vegan market takes around 2 hours for me, so I was beyond excited to see that vegan stalls are making an appearance on Saturdays at Venn Street Market in Clapham Common.

The market opens at 10am but we had a little lie in and didn’t head over until 10.30 ish. I’m glad we were a little late as there were still stalls who still weren’t set up and ready to sell. We browsed the amazing smelling candles from Self Care Company and the almond based Parmesan alternative from Nutkin before deciding to try a delicious burger from Temple of Seitan. They had a small selection available but I still found it hard to choose:

We tried the Temple Classic (without ranch mayo- much to my disappointment) as Simon isn’t a mayo fan… can’t relate.

The seitan was straight out of the flyer and beautifully seasoned. It was juicy and had a great crunchy coating. I wish we lived nearer to their shop so I could have this all the time!

We paired this with the Dennis Hopp’r beer from Mondo Brewing, even though it was barely 11am! This was a fruity ale with notes of grapefruit, it was delicious.

I let Simon have most of the burger as I had my eye on something else… PHILLY CHEEZESTEAKS. Jakes Vegan Steaks were the last stall to start serving food which was disappointing, it was around 11.15 before we could place our order. The staff were friendly but a little slow paced (it may have picked up later) so it took around 15 minutes for the food to be ready. But boy was it worth it!

The cheeze sauce was so creamy and tasted just like American cheese. The seitan was tender and juicy with lots of great spices. The fries were beautifully seasoned with rosemary- I do usually avoid these as it can be very overpowering but this was just the right amount of herbs. They also provided a homemade mayo, it was creamy but didn’t have the strongest flavour. I still enjoyed it though.

Finally for dessert we went to Ms Cupcake. We live near their Brixton store but don’t manage to get there as much as we would like. I chose the cookie dough brownie as I’ve been drooling over it on Instagram for months. Simon had a red velvet cupcake.

The cupcake was moist (I hate that word) and the frosting was lovely and sweet, it tasted exactly like regular buttercream.

The brownie was enormous! The cookie dough was great but the sugar was still a little granulated and grainy. The brownie itself wasn’t as gooey as I hoped, I assume it needed to be strong to support the cookie dough but it reminded me more of cake.

I think it’s great that a vegan market has come to South London and I hope it will receive enough support to expand. At the moment it takes up a third of the regular market but there’s definitely room for a lot more. The surroundings are beautiful and it’s a wonderful way to spend a Saturday morning.

Happy eating!

Vivera vegan steak- is it worth the hype?

My boyfriend is a huge fan of steak, he has steak dinner A LOT and I always have to have a completely different meal to cater to my needs. That has now changed, thanks to Vivera releasing a vegan steak!

I follow a huge amount of vegan instagrammers and that’s how I find out about the great new vegan food popping up in stores. The hype for the Vivera steak was real, everyone who tried it loved it and I didn’t want to miss out on this.

I visited my local Tesco store three times before I was able to get my hands on this. They were sold out constantly, so I made sure to pick up two packets when I finally saw it sitting there on the shelf, just waiting for me!

They come in packs of two and are vacuum packed, this makes it look like normal steak, but it looks medium rare rather than raw. The instructions are really easy to follow, you purely pan fry these in a little oil for 5 minutes and they are done! The ‘raw’ steak has a red colour (which I imagine comes from the beetroot and saffron) and goes a nice deep brown once cooked.

I paired mine with some potatoes and veg in an attempt to resemble Simon’s usual steak dinner. I think it looked pretty convincing, not that I need my food to look like meat (I’ve never eaten meat in my life) but it just helps to make you feel like your meal is cohesive with those around you- and it spares you from those conversations that centre around your ‘strange’ food.

The soya has a stringy effect which looks like genuine steak, and I found it has a few different textures just as a real cut of meat would have. It has quite a dense structure, almost resembling a burger. It also wasn’t the juiciest, so I think it would go perfect paired with a sauce (I substituted with ketchup!).

The flavour is great, it’s kind of smoky and you can definitely taste all the herbs and spices- it isn’t bland at all.

I think this is a definite win, especially with two portions for £2.99! Whether you’re vegan, veggie or a meat eater I think you should try this and see what you think- especially as it’s a great source of protein.

What do you think? Would you try the Vivera vegan steak?

Happy eating! xx

Vegan Love Shack, baby!

After a long walk along the canal I was starving, I had no idea where we were- but I stumbled upon an absolute gem; Love Shack.

This little paradise is located right next to Cambridge Heath station, in East London, on a main road- which I only mention because you completely forget about once you’re inside.

You are welcomed by a green oasis filled with hammocks, comfy cushions and shabby chic décor. The staff are wonderfully helpful and friendly. From the moment you walk in you are transported to a whole different world.

Love Shack stock all different kinds of soft drinks (and they’re plastic free!) and can make delicious smoothies too. We went for the Karma Cola range which are so delicious and refreshing. The (fully vegan) menu is small but has enough choice to satisfy any craving.

Photo taken from the website

Simon and I both went for ‘The Love Stack’ pancakes. These are gluten free banana and buckwheat pancakes covered in lots of delicious toppings. When we placed the order the member of staff told us how good they were, so we were excited!

The pancakes did take a little while to arrive (around 20-30 minutes) which wasn’t ideal, but there is so much to check out that we didn’t mind! You can choose between sitting outside in the sun or inside with atmospheric background music and quirky décor (spot the hand in my below shot!)

Our pancakes arrived and they looked beautiful, I never managed to work out what was in the blue sauce, but it was so tasty! It was sweet and really added to the overall flavour. The nut butters were layered between the stack as well as on top and complemented the chocolatey flavour of the pancakes.

The pancakes themselves were very dense and rich, it was like eating cake- glorious! I can eat a lot of food, but I could not finish these, the portion sizes are really generous for the small price.

To let our food go down we moved outside and led on the grass with some cushions behind us. It was such a lovely place to relax and feel like you have escaped the city. You can even bring your four-legged friends!

I immediately started following Love Shack on social media as I wanted to check them out further. They have so many amazing events held here such as; yoga at breakfast on a Sunday, vegan BBQs and movie nights. I wish I lived closer so I could attend them all but I’m certainly going to return to Love Shack in the near future. If you are looking for a little paradise in the city, then I really suggest you check it out- the atmosphere is wonderful and everyone there has a smile on their face.

Check their website out here for all the info: http://www.loveshackldn.com

Happy eating!

Christmas feels in Summer

So, I know that the UK is in the middle of a heatwave and it’s been 30 degrees for a long old while now but… I have the Christmas feels!

It’s usually this time of the year when I start getting excited about Christmas and sometimes even watching a Christmas movie or two! Don’t get me wrong, I love summer, but Christmas is my absolute favourite time of the year. I have been trying to hold it in and I’ve lasted longer than last year (where I watched Elf on the 2nd July) so here is a big old list of things I am excited for.

I hope this gives you some of the Christmas feels too- come join me!

• Cosy nights under a blanket

• Massive jumpers

• Tights with chunky boots

• Getting into brushed cotton sheets with a hot water bottle

• The smell of cinnamon

• Mulled wine

• Christmas markets

• Fairy lights

• Christmas music in every shop and on the radio

• Driving around to look at the local Christmas lights

• Decorating the tree (minus putting it up, that stresses me out)

• Making the entire house festive (in my case anyway)

• Christmas movies

• Advent calendars

• Christmas jumpers

• Making wreaths

• Hot chocolate

• Christmas carols

• Mince pies

• Buying presents and having to hide them in obscure places

• Wrapping presents in front of a Christmas movie

• Cold, crisp mornings

• Being able to cuddle with your partner in bed (this hot weather has us on opposite sides!)

• Mittens

• Chunky scarves

• Comfort food like mashed potato or stew

• Eggnog

• Giving & receiving cards

• Cinnamon buns on Christmas morning (in my house anyway)

• Going to a garden centre just to look at decorations

• Excitement and hope for the new year

• Ice skating

• Autumnal walks

• Stockings (the kind with presents in)

• That feeling of calm when you finish work for the Christmas break, looking forward to spending time with your loved ones

Only 4 months left to go until the big day, but definitely less until we can tick some of these off!

The Sunshine Blogger Award

Thank you to Finding French Charming for nominating me for this award. Seriously, go check her out if you haven’t already. Her blog posts have had me laughing out loud and I love to read them with a cup of tea in the morning (how very British of me), they really brighten up my day.

The Rules:

Thank the blogger who nominated you.

Use the “Sunshine Blogger Award” logo on your post.

Answer the 11 questions the selector asks of you.

Nominate 5-11 bloggers you want to give the award to.

Ask the following bloggers that you selected 11 questions of your own.

I now have 11 questions to answer and they are great questions, really made me think:

1. What has been your funniest/worst travel experience?

I had many any awkward “laugh or you’ll cry” moment whilst interrailing through Europe back in 2013 with my (now-ex) boyfriend. We had both reached the end of our tether with our jobs and decided to just quit and go travelling. Nice luxury to have when you’re young- these days I’d have to wait for a lottery win! We experienced an awful hostel in Hamburg where there were no sheets on the bedclothes, we had to ask for some and were provided with a duvet cover and 1 pillow case (there were several other pillows and no sheet for the mattress- yuck.) Unfortunately, we didn’t notice the lack of bedsheets until it was way past midnight and no staff were around, great. We had booked a private double room yet were taken to a room with 2 single beds and a set of bunk beds. This was confusing, so we asked the staff if anyone else would be in the room and were told no, we had booked private, so it was all ours. The room wasn’t great, but hey, it was cheap, and we only needed it for one night. We explored the city by day and got into bed around 10pm as we were getting towards the end of our travels and were both exhausted. We heard several loud voices in the lobby area (if you can call it that, it was basically just a flat with many rooms) around 1am, we sat awake listening out as these voices became shouts between guests and a member of staff. After these died down we started to drift off, only to hear a set of keys being put in the door and the new guests being shown in to our room by the hotel staff!! The lights were off so it took a minute for them to realise we were there, I was absolutely livid (and only in my underwear)! Thankfully the staff removed the new guests, but still didn’t say a word of apology (or anything else) to us. We got up at 6am, jumped in the shower (after an enormous queue- 7 dorm rooms, 1 bathroom- yay!) and got the hell out of there as quick as we could.

I also have a story about a sleeper train to Vienna which includes some stinky blue cheese, but maybe I’ll save that for another time!

2. What trait would you like to add to/eliminate from your current personality? Why?

I wish I had the ability to be content. I am currently striving for something new, I can never just accept my life as it is and enjoy the moment. It feels like there is a triangle in my life and I can only pick two to go right:

I envy people who can sit back and think ‘I’m really happy in my life right now’ and am striving to get there, I’ve finally made myself happy with my work life so let’s just hope that my relationship or home life doesn’t go sour!

3. You’ve secretly been given a million pounds tax free. No one knows you have it. What do you do with it?

The first thing I would do is call my boyfriend, Simon and tell him to stop job hunting (he’s recently quit his teaching job due to a bullying boss) and pack a suitcase. Then we’d head to Gatwick airport and just pick a flight to hop onto, booking a hotel on the way. I’d also buy a big plot of land in Greece for my mum, she has always wanted to run a Donkey sanctuary over there and I would make that come true. Can I tell her about the win? If not, I’d just say I got a bonus from work or some other rubbish.

4. What was the defining moment that made you decide on your current profession?

Well, I trained all my life to be a dancer and it never fully happened to me professionally. I didn’t have a family who could support me between contracts, so I just couldn’t afford it, I took jobs to ensure I could pay rent and now I’m 29 and way too old to be a professional. I went into administration as I wanted a job where I didn’t have to deal with the general public (too many bad retail/customer service experiences!). Slowly I merged both my worlds and went into administration for a higher education dance school. But I felt that my job didn’t have enough to do with dance to satisfy me, so I may as well work somewhere with a better wage. I moved onto a university…and hated it. This was mainly due to a department that worked me into the ground and had zero respect for administrative staff- despite them being the backbone of the place. My mum is a veterinary nurse and I have always been an “animal person”, when deciding on A levels I was torn between animal care and the arts, so when I saw an opportunity come up for an administrator within a dog welfare charity, I thought I’d try it. The wage was less, and the commute was more so I wasn’t sure it was something I would even accept given the chance, but why not just go for the interview, right? Well of course I was then offered it and debated over it for several days. In the end, I took the position and started about a month ago, this was after a conversation with my old manager about career progression where she basically stated there was none. I would never move beyond ‘administrator’ in that job, even though I took on many of the deputy directors’ duties and single handedly managed all the programmes offered. That was my defining moment, I had too much respect for myself to let these people destroy my confidence and never give me the recognition I deserved for my hard work and sleepless nights (I did a small blog post about it too HERE).

Now I have changed jobs I feel so much better, the team are so friendly, and I have already been told I can train as an animal behaviourist in the future. A brand-new career is on the horizon, thanks to that defining moment.

5. You have a favourite movie, the one you could watch a million times. How do you convince someone you care deeply for to watch AND like the movie? Would your feelings change for that person if they didn’t share your appreciation?

Now, my favourite film is a cheesy one- Pretty Woman. It just gives me happy feels, I know it’s ridiculously cheesy! I don’t think my feelings would ever change towards a person if they didn’t like it. I’m happy to accept that not everyone likes everything I like! I would convince them to watch it by singing ‘Pretty Woman’ and dancing around like a loon, but hey you don’t like it? More for me!

6. Have you ever committed a crime in the name of love or to help someone? What as it and did you get caught?

Quick answer: no. Longer answer: maybe speeding to get to someone quicker? Nothing except that I’m afraid!

7. What is the most embarrassing misunderstanding you have had? (Was it a language issue or lack of hearing properly?)

Nothing springs to mind for this. I have had this happen many times in normal social interactions. I get embarrassed very easily and often feel too awkward to ask a person to repeat themselves. If I do resort to asking, I definitely couldn’t ask them to do it a second time, so usually if I didn’t hear what was said I nod and smile, sometimes throwing in a ‘yeah!’. As you can imagine, that usually isn’t the required response and I get a puzzled look in return. I sometimes try to dig myself out by explaining why this relates to what they said (even though I don’t know what it was!), this can go along the lines of “well, yeah, like you were saying really. It doesn’t make sense? Don’t know how to express what I mean…” etc. etc. until the other person just thinks I’m a moron!

8. Did you hate your name when you were growing up? Did you try to get people to call you something else? Did it stick?

I didn’t hate my name when I was much younger, ‘Nicola’ was all I had known. However, when I started Year 4 (at about 8 years old) my teacher asked if I liked being called Nicky. My mum called me this in an affectionate way occasionally, so I nodded not knowing it would mean I would only be called Nicky forever more. Now if someone calls me Nicola it feels like they are speaking to someone else. I find it hard with jobs apps and other formal forms as I legally must write ‘Nicola’ but that has resulted in colleagues only calling me Nicola forever, and I am too awkward to correct them. I tried once in my first week, but it was at a social event, and everyone who I told must have been more drunk than I realised as nobody ever remembered. I always feel like those colleagues never really knew the real me because they used my full name. In my new job I am slowly getting them used to calling me Nicky, but my email is still Nicola so it’s undoing all of my good work!

9. When you doodle (for ex. when you talk on the phone) do you doodle geometric designs (squares, diamonds, rectangles etc.) or objects (people, flowers, etc.)?

My notepad at work is covered in doodles, the majority of these look like the doodles of a 12-year-old girl. There are hearts and stars drawn repetitively all over the margins, several copies of my signature (not a clue why!) and a few squares with crosses in… again not sure why. I do also draw the occasional flower, but they always look awful and of course, little black cats in honour of my little Basil.

10. Growing up, what kind of games did you prefer? Do you think it had any influence on your career choice?

The most memories I have are of board games with my mum, I enjoyed monopoly (and still partial to a good g

ame, especially on Christmas day!) and games with strategy. I could be very competitive and a sore loser. However, I think my fondest games were by myself with barbies and toys. I loved to use my imagination, as an only child I was alone a lot and I can still remember the imaginary places I would go to distract from the boring reality. I liked games that allowed me (or my toys) to be whatever I wanted and had no limits. I don’t think this influenced my career, unless you think my stuffed animals helped foster my love of real ones, but as mentioned before I trained as a dancer for my entire life, so I think this creativity definitely came through in other ways as an adult.

11. What is your go-to signature dish when you want to impress whomever you are cooking for?

My go-to is definitely a good, creamy risotto. I like that this dish can be changed to suit the persons tastes, so I can include mushrooms or maybe butternut squash etc. Before going vegan, I used to love to pile in the cheese too! Pop a little garlic bread in the oven, pour some nice wine and it’s perfect! I have also really started enjoying cooking roast dinners, my boyfriend thinks I cook the best roast potatoes in the world (though I’ve forbidden him for telling his mum that, she would be heartbroken) so I think that’s quickly becoming a new signature!

My nominees:

Anna the Fangirl

Bitchin’ in the Kitchen

Words with Kris

Sunshiny SA Site

Bakey Doesn’t Bake

Please don’t feel like you have to participate, I just wanted to show my appreciation for your awesome blogs!

My questions:

1. How do you hope you’ll change as a person in the future?

2. What keeps you up at night?

3. What bridges do you not regret burning?

4. What are you afraid people see when they look at you?

5. What is the favourite moment of your life so far?

6. What incredibly strong opinion or belief do you have that is completely unimportant in the grand scheme of things?

7. If your life was a book, what would its title be?

8. If you could have a never-ending candle that smelled like anything you wanted, what fragrance would you want it to be?

9. What do you want to be remembered for?

10. What stat for your life would you most like to see?

11. If you had a clock that would countdown to any one event of your choosing, what event would you want it to countdown to?

Wagamama’s and finally trying vegan katsu curry!!

Yes, it’s true I’ve never been to Wagamama’s before- I know that’s criminal!

Since Wagamama’s first launched their vegan menu I was excited, social media was full of excitement about the vegan katsu curry and I had FOMO. I have been nagging friends and family to come with me for a while, but for whatever reason it never came through. All of that changed a few weeks ago when I decided to take my mum and Simon for lunch.

We visited the Angel branch and were seated quickly. I browsed the menu, very excited by the vegan choices but I knew what I was here for- that katsu curry.

To drink I chose a ‘Jinzu Fever’ which is a Japanese inspired gin infused with cherry blossom, served with Fever tree tonic and pink peppercorns. It was light and refreshing, the gin didn’t have that drying quality in your mouth and I really enjoyed it. I’m not sure how much the pink peppercorns influenced the taste, but they looked pretty!

Simon went for a Natsu, which is a passionfruit pale ale. It was absolutely delicious! I’m not usually a huge craft beer fan but it honestly just tasted like a fruity soft drink. It was served with an ice-cold glass which was perfect on a hot summers day!

We treated ourselves to starters, Simon went for fried gyoza with duck (which he ate so fast I didn’t even get a chance to take a photo!) he loved these and wanted more. Mum and I shared the vegetable steamed gyoza. This arrived really quickly (literally a few minutes) and were still very hot. I didn’t dislike these, but I felt they were average. I have definitely had better gyoza elsewhere, so I felt £5.75 for a little disappointment was steep. The filling had a strong taste, but I couldn’t figure out what it was- it was very mushy and just didn’t excite me, unfortunately.

For the main course, my mum chose the tofu Pad Thai and a generous portion arrived. The tofu was crispy on the outside yet soft on the inside and there were enough peanuts to give a good crunch. I did feel the flavour was slightly lacking but at least a good squeeze of lime juice helped this a little.

As a side, we snacked on the Bang Bang cauliflower, which is crispy cauliflower with firecracker sauce surrounded by red and spring onions, ginger and coriander. I am not the best person for spicy food, I just can’t handle it. I managed to eat a couple of pieces of the cauliflower (which had an amazing flavour and was nice and crisp) before my lips were starting to tingle and I knew I had better stop. I also find that coriander tastes like soap and don’t enjoy it, but I couldn’t taste it much in this dish. Mum loved this dish, even if her mouth was on fire by the end, so if you’re into spice then definitely check it out.

Simon and I both got katsu curries, however mine was vegan and his was the OG chicken version. Here they are side by side:

Which one is the chicken, and which is the vegan? I don’t know, I honestly couldn’t tell you either. This is a great menu option for vegans who are dining with people who just love to make comments about your food choice. This katsu curry will blend right in and your party won’t be able to start the ‘what if you were on a desert island?’ questions. The vegan ‘chicken’ is made from seitan and has a lovely crispy breadcrumb coating. The seitan itself is chewy, but in a really good way. The flavours aren’t strong but make you crave more. The curry sauce is incredible, it’s almost like chip shop curry sauce (for those of you in the UK) but much thicker, the taste isn’t spicy but rich and velvety on your palate. The rice is a sticky white rice without being mushy or congealed (as I’ve had at other restaurants), one dig of the fork and the grains easily fall apart. I was expecting good things, but this completely outlived my expectations. To be honest, just writing this is making me salivate and consider a visit for lunch today!

If you’ve been putting off a Wagamama’s visit, like me, then you definitely need to get your butt down there! It’s great vegan food without dragging your reluctant omnivore friends to yet another all vegan restaurant. Great to see veganism making an impact on the high street.

Happy eating!

Another yummy veggie brunch!

Back in June my mum was visiting and I decided to take her to one of my favourite places, The Gate. I have been a few times before for both brunch and dinner, the food is always incredible. As we wanted brunch we headed to the Marylebone branch which is just around the corner from Marble Arch station.

We were seated really quickly, and I took forever making a decision, I always struggle when I have my pick of the whole menu- us veggies & vegans aren’t used to it! I decided to go for the veggie breakfast with scrambled tofu.

My one complaint about The Gate is the service, it is so slow. The 12.5% discretionary tip is automatically added to the bill and I feel some of the servers now feel they do not have to work as hard to earn this. It was a fair 15 minutes before we managed to place our orders, which was disappointing. Our server was a young man who was clearly already done with today. He didn’t say anything that was longer than a syllable, if he could help it. I think he preferred to communicate in grunts. When my mum ordered the breakfast he just said, ‘with what?’ my mum wasn’t sure what he meant so asked him, and his response was ‘with what?’. After several repetitions of this we learned he was asking if this was with scrambled tofu or eggs (bearing in mind the menu states it comes with tofu and eggs are an optional change). I felt this could have been communicated much better and had already left a sour taste in our mouths. Drinks were then brought and slammed down on the table as if we had personally offended the server and made us feel very uncomfortable. We tried to shake it off, but I already regretted booking The Gate- the prices are fairly high and I already felt it wasn’t worth it, and I hadn’t even eaten yet!

We were excited when our food arrived, it had taken a little while but I’m happy to wait for fresh food. The presentation was beautiful, and the portions were a fair size.

Our breakfasts included homemade baked beans, hash browns and aubergine bacon. These were served in mini frying pans and were still really hot (in a good way).

Mum and I ordered some polenta fries between us and these are the best I have ever had! They are crispy on the outside but so light and fluffy on the inside. The flavour is delicious too- if you’ve ever had Pizza Express ones, these are nothing like them they’re 100% better! The vegan aioli that accompany it is very garlicky but so creamy.

Simon (an omnivore) chose the veggie burger which comes with polenta fries and he enjoyed it. He did find that it had a very strong chickpea flavour so I recommend you use the accompanying sauce.

We waited about 20 minutes for our plates to be cleared and maybe another 15-20 minutes to place our dessert order. This was frustrating, and I think had it been another minute or two we would have given up. Fortunately, a server arrived – a new one who seemed much more friendly- and took our order. I went for the dark chocolate bombe and the others chose Sticky Toffee Pudding. We were served our desserts with forks, despite them both being very sauce-based. We tried to flag servers constantly, but their heads turned away each time they passed our table & we were left trying to eat with forks. The bombe was incredible, very very rich but the chocolate sauce was hot and melted away the dark chocolate shell to reveal a mousse inside. There was also a creamy swirl of mascarpone ice cream which complimented the rich chocolate. I wish I had a spoon to drink every last drop of the goodness.

The sticky toffee puddings had a little jug of warm sauce too and the sponge was very light. My mum said she could have eaten another two or three of these in one sitting!

Our bill was pretty high at almost £90, but we had to ask for the tip to be removed. I know a lot of people would be embarrassed at this, but we felt the service had been diabolical. Our second server was polite, so I gave her a small tip, but I felt 12.5% was not justified. To be honest, this experience has taken the shine off The Gate for me. I don’t feel like it is worth returning when I have had several experiences of less than desirable service. It’s a shame as I have nothing but good things to say about the food itself. I have only been to the Marylebone branch, so it may be worth trying another branch to see how things go.

If you are happy to spend 3-4 hours in the restaurant then I would encourage you to try The Gate. The food is delicious and presented beautifully, the surroundings are beautiful and if you have nowhere to be you can spend a long time here socialising. The menus are constantly changing, and I haven’t ever eaten anything I didn’t like here! Simon loves it here and he is an avid meat eater, so don’t let the vegetarian food discourage you- it’s still one of the best meals you will have.

Happy eating!

Streatham Food Festival- an amazing way to try some local eateries!

I have lived in Streatham for over 3 years and have always wanted to try out the festival, but it hasn’t happened until now. Here is my run down of the delicious dishes we tried.

The tour runs throughout Streatham High Road and there are handy maps detailing the treats available. Each participating eatery has special bunting outside so you shouldn’t be able to miss them! We are both a little shy so worried about walking in and asking about the festival but we shouldn’t have- everyone was really friendly and happy to help us out! Here’s a snapshot of the map taken directly from their website:So where did we try?

Bravi Ragazzi

I have had Bravi Ragazzi a few times before and they honestly have the most incredible pizzas- and I’ve been to Italy many times. Usually pizzas are a reasonable price anyway but during the food festival you can pick up a Margarita pizza for only £5! This was takeaway only so we had to go and find somewhere to sit, but as the restaurant is so small this was understandable. The pizza was heavenly. The dough is light and airy, the sauce tastes incredible and is generous (hate a dry pizza!) and the cheese is deliciously creamy. I thoroughly enjoyed it and can’t wait to eat the second half that’s waiting in my fridge!

Talay Thai

Next stop was Talay Thai. I was so excited to come here and try the Mini Mixed Veg Platter as it contained everything I love; spring rolls, corn cakes and veg tempura. Simon decided to try his first Red Thai Curry and I was a little nervous as spicy isn’t his thing. As we waited I had to admire the decor of the restaurant, there is beautiful music playing in the background and the ambience is lovely. It’s a great little spot for an intimate dinner.

Our plates arrived and they were beautifully presented, including little carrot butterflies.

The batter on the veg platter was amazing, so crispy and light. I would like all of my food covered in it in the future please! The corn cakes are my absolute favourite- they are crispy on the outside but soft and tasty on the inside. The sweet chilli sauce wasn’t too hot and had a lovely tang to it that didn’t overwhelm the food.

Simon chose to have beef in his curry but there was a choice of chicken or tofu too. This was a very decent size meal for £5! And a great way to try new things, as Simon was doing here. The beef was cooked really well and was tender and the accompanying rice was perfect. The curry sauce was creamy, not overly spicy with a great mix of vegetables. Simon said that he could feel the spice and it gave great flavour but was not overwhelming- and this is from someone who has to drink milk with a tikka masala!! I really recommend utilising the food festival to try out some new foods as you may surprise yourself! Simon and I are already planning our next trip to Talay Thai now that’s he’s a Thai food convert!

Bunk Burgers

Bunk burgers is a family run burger and wing joint that is fairly new to Streatham. The decor is lovely, lots of old photos of Streatham adorn the walls and there are plenty of wood benches to sit at. I was excited to see that there was a vegan burger on the normal menu, so I have earmarked this for a future trip! Simon chose to have mini bunk burger, which consists of two beef patties with cheese, burger sauce, lettuce and tomato. As Simon isn’t a big fan of cheese or sauce we asked for this to be removed and I just went for an Oreo Shake. This thing was huge and had a generous helping of whipped cream on top. As you can see it’s a thing of beauty: When the burger arrived we quickly realised our requested amendments had been forgotten, which is a shame. Simon decided to just crack on anyway. Due to this confusion I completely forgot to take a photo! However, Simon was pleased with his food. The beef patties were really good, succulent meat and well seasoned. It did fall apart a bit and he end up eating it with a knife & fork but he enjoyed it nonetheless!

Batch & Co

Our final stop was Batch & Co, and we definitely saved the best for last. I used to live just round the corner from here & I’m so sad I didn’t visit when it was only a stones throw away. The decor is beautiful, I loved the little corner with shelves full of books- all colour coded, of course! There is a great range of cold and hot drinks, as well as the most delicious looking cakes. There is a very rustic chic feel about the place and after seeing a dog bowl in the corner, I realised it was dog friendly. It seems to be a fantastic place where you can sit for hours with a newspaper & a coffee (and a pooch, if you’re lucky enough to have one!). We had come to Batch & Co for the salted caramel brownies and Simon also picked up a can of Dalstons Cherry Cola. The staff were amazing, one staff member (possibly the owner) came to our table to help us with the Food Tourist Challenge (more about this later) as none of the other eateries had mentioned it. She was so bubbly and made us feel really comfortable. Now, those brownies…Oh my god these were the best brownies I have ever tasted. They were so gooey and rich, the chocolate was quite dark and danced on your tongue,the salted caramel really added to the entire flavour- I’m drooling just thinking about them. Now we’ve discovered Batch & Co we’ll definitely be returning for a little brunch or even some of the delicious toasties we saw being served.

The Food Tourist Challenge

We were completely unaware of the challenge until the lovely lady at Batch & Co explained it to us. You are given a card with a list of all participating eateries on it and you can get a stamp for each one you have been too. You then need to score them each out of 10 and, if you have visited more than 3 on the list you can submit your card into a prize draw to win a meal for two at a restaurant of your choice. The wonderful lady stamped our card for all the places we had visited, as no one else had mentioned it. So we have completed it and submitted, I’ve got my fingers crossed for a win! This is a great incentive for visitors and a lovely touch. Overall, I really enjoyed my afternoon walking along Streatham High Road sampling all the goodies. I was so surprised at the lack of participants, I was expecting long queues, as it was lunch time on a Saturday, but we didn’t wait once. I hope the festival grows in popularity and it promotes a lot of independent businesses in our area. I am already excited for next year and to try out the new places we have discovered this year. If you’re interested, the food festival doesn’t end until tomorrow! Full details can be found on the website.I may see you there as there are still some places I need to sample! Happy eating! xx

Trying out Daiya dairy free cheese! Is it worth the hype?

I am a huge cheese lover. I have tried veganism countless times and I usually end up breaking in order to have a day of cheese, it’s the only thing I miss. So I am determined to find a really good cheese alternative that will mean my veganism sticks forever.

It was recently my birthday and that meant a birthday trip to a nearby ‘As nature intended’ store for a little spending spree (’cause what else are birthdays for, right?) You might think this is sad but I could spend an entire pay cheque in places such as Whole Foods so I try to stay away.

I have been dying to try Daiya products after so many of my American friends have raved about them, and now they have come to the UK! I picked up this pack of Mozzarella Shreds for a pricey £4.95, so I prayed I would like them. I often find that vegan cheese has a very strange taste that overpowers everything you pair it with. To be honest, the smell alone can make me gag.

Spot the Basil in the background!

Anyways, a couple of days later I was looking for some lunch and decided this was the best time to try out my new cheese. I had some bagels and thought that a little pizza bagel would be exactly what I needed right now.

I am not a patient person and my bagels were frozen, so rather than wait for my bagels to defrost I threw them in the microwave. And now they are deformed. I apologise for the ugly ass bagels you are about to see. Once they were suitably frost free, I popped them in the toaster for a few seconds. During this time, I did what I would normally do with cheese- ate it straight from the bag. I really didn’t enjoy this experience, the shreds were a bit slimy and just kind of crumbled in your mouth. I understand that these taste best when cooked but I was disappointed and starting to worry about how this meal would work out.

I powered through and spread some tomato puree on and sprinkled with the Daiya mozzarella shreds before heating under the grill. I was excited to see that the mozzarella shreds were melting and bubbling, just like the real thing. It even started to brown which looked way more appetising than the usual white stiff pieces you usually get from vegan cheese.

After a couple of minutes they were done, and here is the result (after I’d already taken a bit because I’m a rubbish blogger):

Despite looking ugly af, they actually tasted liked pizza! The cheese was stretchy and if I didn’t know it was vegan cheese I would have believed it was regular mozzarella.

So is it worth £4.95? Yeah I would say so, it’s a decent size bag and it’s still going strong despite using it for almost every meal since. It’s great to have a vegan alternative that looks like the real thing, especially in a group where you don’t want to have yet another conversation about being stranded on desert islands. I recommend you try it for a pizza night with your friends, see if they notice the difference!