The Vegan Thread

Have fun!

Stupidly, I didn't make it to London Vegan Drinks, either. Next time!

In other news, I just saw this on quarrygirl:

http://www.thebelgianmonk.com/pdf/vegan.pdf

Is anyone here in Norwich who's eaten there? It looks like a great menu.

I'm not usually that much into vegan imitations of cruelty food, but I've always thought that this one ...

... that a vegan place in LA called Doomie's does, is really clever. I obviously haven't tasted it.

(From the quarrygirl blog.)

If anyone's Bristol-based and/or wants to help a small vegan business out:

http://fatgayvegan.com/2015/02/25/vegan-truck/

Can anyone recommend places to eat in Paris, Utrecht, Duisberg, Antwerp or Amsterdam? Restaurants and supermarket things! Ideally not mega expensive.

Amsterdam (in no particular order):
Dop Hert
Koffie ende Koeck
TerraZen
Vegabond Cafe (also a vegan supermarket)
Bolhoed
De Vegetarische Slager (market "the vegetarian butcher")
Golden Temple
Maoz Falafel (veg but im pretty sure also vegan options)
De Vliegende Schotel (just moved to bos en lommer)
Back to black cafe (everything vegetarian, sometimes vegan stuff)

Albert Heijn is starting to get mock meats and soy products more and more, as is Jumbo but the selection is still limited, for that sort of thing go to the vegatarische slager. Nothing is super expensive on that list and its all reasonable to good quality. Theres a few more but I haven't eaten at them.

Thanks a lot! I'll only be there for a day, is there anything on that list that you'd reccomend most?

Help wanted for non-vegan (sorry) please...

Mrs c00ps is in town today and has surprised me with a lunch-date. Please has anyone a recommendation for a nice vegan-friendly eatery in the High St Ken (or maybe wider) area? Not mega expensive and no booking required would be a definite plus!

Thanks all.

Any recommendations for vegan places in Barcelona or Tarragona? Happy Cow turned up a couple of places and there's one mention in the thread of some tasty looking cakes

Barcelona:

L'Hortet - Pintor Fortuny, 32
Sesamo - Carrer de Sant Antoni Abat, 52
Juicy Jones - Carrer de l'Hospital, 74
Veganoteca - Calle Valldonzella, 60

Thanks, will check them out!

Have eaten there a few years ago, although not the vegan menu and it was quite good. @thross might have more recent knowledge though.

Vegabond or dop hert, Dop hert is kind of out of the way though, so probably vegabond(which is only a short walk from RLD and most of the touristy stuff. If its a nice day they have a terrace that looks over canal as well which is really nice. I moved away from AMS about 4 months ago so there may be more things that have opened since then that are worth a look.

Where are you staying?

If you're a coffee fan I can hook you up with all the good places to visit as well...

@Oliver Schick @jdp

Yeah I've been, although also a few years ago. It's a fantastic menu considering it's totally separate from their regular a la carte, but it wasn't immediately obvious (I had to ask for it iirc.) The portions aren't huge for the money, but I ate a lot more when I went last time so maybe I should try it again. It's still one of the best selections in Norwich though.

No idea where I'll be staying, just passing through with a band I'm driving! I'll definitely check out vegabond. I'm more of a beer guy so reccomendations for good bars would probably be more useful ha ha.

Probably worth riding to Norwich for. :)

Sorry, this is too late for you--wasn't on-line earlier. There is perhaps still a vegan menu at the (basement) restaurant in Egerton Gardens Mews. This used to a completely vegan Chinese restaurant until it became an omnivorous Thai restaurant about ten years ago, but they kept the vegan menu (you had to ask for it, though, and it was a well-kept secret).

Arendsnest
Beer temple
de prael brewery
Browerij 't ij
Cafe Soundgarden for a decent dive bar
Cafe Gollem
In De Wildeman
Cafe De Tuin

etc etc etc theres plenty of good brown bars dotted around, plenty of shit ones too though.

de Ton Ton club is worth checking out, just so you can drink a beer, play daytona and check out the red light windows all the same time, although i think theyve rearranged since i left so the arcade games are in the back.

Thanks Oliver. It turns out both of us only had time for a quick coffee due to work commitments (best laid plans...). But she's down again next week. So I will check it out for then. Thanks again!

There are a few Maroush type places round there with good falafel, hummus type options.

It's called Yao Thai:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/yao-thai-london

Best to give them a call if the vegan menu still exists. It's years since I've been.

Help wanted for non-vegan (sorry) please...

Mrs c00ps is in town today and has surprised me with a lunch-date. Please has anyone a recommendation for a nice vegan-friendly eatery in the High St Ken (or maybe wider) area? Not mega expensive and no booking required would be a definite plus!

Thanks all.

Hi c00ps - sorry, this is no good to you now but for future reference, imho it's hard to go wrong with Kensington Wholefoods, in terms of pleasing different diets, being fast, open throughout the day, no booking and relatively inexpensive.*

*Compared with a sit-down restaurant or unless you get carried away in the self-service food bars (I always forget how weighty adding loads of sauces is).

I've only just clocked London Vegans' Accommodation page.

Has anyone here used the service or put people up through it?

Is it bad that I really dislike articles like this?

'Green is the new black: how veganism became sexy in London' - http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/foodanddrink/green-is-the-new-black-how-veganism-became-sexy-in-london-10083206.html

I know I should be pleased more people are apparently going vegan (or at least eating vegan) and that the market for cruelty free food has really taken off now, but I don't want it to be a sexy thing, thanks all the same.

Perhaps it doesn't matter why people choose to go vegan, and I'm sure we all do it (and are entitled to) for various personal reasons, but when I see articles like this, flippantly suggesting that it's all about being 'fit and fashionable', I wonder if the cruelty-free message is being lost a bit.

Maybe I'm just peeved that I've spent nearly all my teens and adult life not following trends (starting with cycling), and actually having to justify or defend my food choices (particularly to those who see it as an act of vanity/fussiness/an eating disorder/part of my eating disorder), and now it's the 'in thing' I fear that judgement is going to be even worse.

Also, finally - I hate the condescending stereotyping comments this writer makes: "The mung bean munchers have finally found their mojo" - ffs!

At least she does address the trend/health reasons vs animal welfare/sustainability issues towards the end of her piece, so perhaps I'm being a bit sensitive. ;-)

Well, I could only bear to scan the article, but could see it was full of painful puns and alliterations. The "sexy" etc thing is just lazy use of language in my opinion. When I was a student there was a fashion for critics/tutors to describe things (eg. buildings) as "sexy" which I found hugely irritating and meaningless.

So no, I don't think it is bad to dislike the article. On the other hand, I think there are things we are all a bit defensive of or overly sensitive about. I think there is a growing mainstream acceptance of the animal industry (meat/dairy culture) as being a huge contributor to climate change, which I think is turning a lot more people onto veganism who were not otherwise swayed by the ethical argument. I think as a society we are much less tied to the idea of meat+2veg being a proper meal if affordable, than say 20 years ago. The faddy fashion diet thing is helping making it an easier option (supermarkets, cafes). Many factors are contributing.

In some ways it doesn't matter why people become vegan, but of course the danger is that if it is a fashion for them, then when Atkins comes back (or whatever) it will be dropped just as quickly. But I do think a lot of the meat/dairy-centric consumption we do as a population is just to do with convenience, and if it becomes just as convenient and easy not to eat it, then vegan food as a proportion of intake will remain high.

I am speaking as an outsider, so apologies for the intrusion...