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!

xx

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

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!

xx

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

Vegan delights at The Diner

Currently only available at the Dalston, Spitalfields & Strand Diners, I tried out a few items from the vegan menu and want to share my experience with you!

My boyfriend and I had one of our first dates at The Diner and since I went vegan it’s not been high on our visit list. However, I have been dying to go since they announced their new vegan menu. Since it was Simon’s birthday we decided to head to The Strand diner and feast.

The Strand is pretty busy on a Saturday so we are glad we booked in advance. Unfortunately, a Saturday night seems to be when the music is cranked up and you have to spend the evening yelling at each other. It wasn’t ideal for Simon’s mum who has hearing aids and really struggled to follow our conversations with the bass shaking the table. I can’t speak for the other branches but if this isn’t your ideal atmosphere (like me) then maybe visit at a quieter time or ask to be seated in a quieter section, if possible.

However, this is about the food so I’ll get right to it! I was given a copy of the Vegetarian & Vegan menu and it is HUGE. For those of us who are used to one or maybe even two options, you will struggle to make a choice here! I was super tempted by the Southern Fried Seitan with waffles but, in the end, I decided to go for the Southern Fried Seitan burger. I couldn’t not try the vegan cheese fries so those were added to my order and Simon & I decided to share the Freakshow Seitan on the side.

We didn’t have to wait too long for our food and it was definitely freshly cooked when it arrived so I was happy.

The burger was really tall, I had no idea how I was going to eat this gracefully (disclaimer: I didn’t) but it looked delicious. The seitan had a good crispy batter and was cooked well, I find seitan can go quite chewy if overdone. There was a good amount of vegan mayo and the jackfruit was juicy, it meant the burger wasn’t dry. If you haven’t had seitan before it is a substitute to fried chicken with a slightly different texture (though I can’t validate that it tastes exactly like it as I’ve never eaten meat). Simon thinks it tastes a little bit like sage & onion stuffing, but I’m not sure how much I agree with that! Jackfruit is a fruit that you can pull apart and its texture is just like pulled pork. The two together in a burger went really well, the seitan had crunch whereas the jackfruit was soft and saucy.

Simon’s mum joined me in having this burger and she has never tried any vegan/vegetarian burgers so I was a little nervous. She was pleasantly surprised and has since asked me for tips on cooking jackfruit at home (I think she’s trying to pass it off as pulled pork for the meat eating men).

The Freakshow seitan was a very generous portion, they served it with a wedge of lime which I wasn’t sure about- but I tell you squeeze that lime all over the seitan. It was delicious! It really brought out the flavour of the seitan and made your taste buds go a bit crazy. The seitan was much more chewy than the burger but I think it worked well. Simon and his brother are both meat eaters and I couldn’t fight them off these, so I recommend them whether you’re vegan or not!

The vegan cheese fries were yummy, there were a lot of fries- I didn’t finish them all. The cheese was deliciously creamy but there wasn’t enough of it for me. I like my cheese fries coated. To be honest, if no one had told me the cheese was vegan I’m not sure I would have known the difference. I wish I had asked the server which cheese they used because I need that in my kitchen!

There are some really amazing options on the vegan menu here, there are so many items I want to go back and try. I really recommend taking a visit to The Diner branches that serve this and hopefully the demand will mean it gets introduced everywhere!

If you’re curious about the menu, here is the link to the website (warning: this will make you want to eat everything on it immediately).

I love that chain restaurants are adding more vegan options, it’s a great chance for us to go out with friends and not worry that we’re stuck with a salad or plain fries!

Happy eating!

xx

Hackney Downs Vegan Market- a dream come true?

I have been visiting Hackney Downs Vegan Market as much as possible for just under a year now & thought I’d share my experiences for those of you who are curious or even a little nervous to visit a vegan food market.

Before visiting the market, I was SO excited. The prospect of an entire market dedicated to vegan junk food was almost too much for me to bear. But having attended, it’s even better than I could have anticipated!

The location is a short walk from the nearest station and pretty easy to find. It is all outdoor so be prepared for all weather, we know what the UK is like for random downpours. I brought my mum (a life long veggie) and my boyfriend (a fussy omnivore) hoping to open their eyes to the wonderful world of vegan food. We arrived just after 12pm opening time and it was already fairly busy, if you plan on visiting then make sure you are there for opening. This gives you the greatest chance of sampling all the delights as they can sell out pretty quickly.

We started with Temple of Seitan, a vegan fried chicken restaurant. I had read lots of glowing reviews of the food here so was almost expecting to be disappointed (cynical I know). How wrong I was. The seitan had a lovely texture, a delicious taste and a great crunchy fried outside. It’s rare to get vegetarian or vegan food that is deep fried with a lovely crispy batter so I was really happy to discover this “chicken”. I was so excited to stuff my face with the food that I sadly didn’t get a photo. But this did prompt me to visit their store the following weekend and purchase a feast!

My favourite was the chicken pieces, closely followed by the popcorn chicken. The Mac and Cheese was great but by this point I was so full I couldn’t manage it all. I hope to visit again soon for the Mac and Cheese alone. My boyfriend LOVES this place, for someone who thought meat had to be included in every meal this is big! He seems to find that the seitan tastes like stuffing, which I can’t see myself, but if you want to convince a fussy eater to come with you for some fried “chicken” then maybe this will work on them!

I needed some cheeze in my life as the real thing is my biggest weakness. I stopped by the Club Mexicana stall and bought some beer battered cheeze fries. OH MY GOD. You have to try them RIGHT NOW. So creamy, so morish and just so damn good. Words cannot express how in love with these I am. They also do jackfruit burritos which look a.maz.ing. I’ve not had one yet but it’s on my ‘must eat’ bucket list.

After all that savoury food I needed something sweet. Luckily, Dough Society London (formerly Peanut Butter Bakery) were on hand to help us out. I split these doughnuts with my mum & Simon as they are HUGE. We tried the chocolate and an Oreo doughnut- these were so good that I immediately went back and bought an Oreo one all to myself. The inside of the doughnut is fluffy and light whilst the outside is crisp and delicious. These guys always sell out quickly so purchase some early on in the day, even if you wait until later to devour them. They have just opened up a new store in London & I cannot wait to visit & clear them out of doughnuts.

Baking Bad were also present with a massive range of cake options. Again, these were light and creamy. You would never guess that these are vegan. Life changing.

There are so many other stalls with delicious food including Battered  who make delicious vegan fish n chips, Young Vegans who make delicious pies (we had the breakfast pie with scrambled tofu, vegan bacon and beans-yum), Cafe SoVegan (check out their Mac no cheese below) and Big V London, whose burgers looked like the real thing. I wish I had been able to sample them all but I always fill up much quicker than I like!

The atmosphere at the markets is always amazing. People are friendly and chatty, it’s so great to feel like you belong. I think people always have a stereotypical view of what a vegan looks like, but this place proves you wrong. Everyone is so different, so many types of people are present yet they all have one thing in common- a love of animals & the planet. Every single person had a big smile on their face, food definitely brings people together at Hackney Downs Vegan Market.

I wish I lived closer to Hackney just so I could visit the market every single Saturday. But if you do, or just fancy making the trip, then you HAVE to visit Hackney Downs Vegan Market. It has changed my attitude to vegan food as well as convincing my hardcore meat eating boyfriend that food doesn’t have to include meat to taste good. The prices are reasonable but I recommend taking a friend or two and splitting dishes, that way you can try a bit of everything!

Here’s a link to the website which includes the line up for the upcoming market if you want to check it out: http://fatgayvegan.com/hackney-downs-vegan-market/ 

Here’s to some good food next weekend!

xx