The Vegan Thread

Well done to your family for baking a vegan cake. Cakes baked with dairy and eggs are, of course, not 'normal', they're just cakes baked with dairy and eggs. Vegan cake recipes abound today and are so much better than what you used to get 20 years ago. That you're going to get someone who doesn't want to be open to all that is quite normal; it's almost a rule that in any group someone is going to have a different opinion. At the end of the day, if the cake is tasty, people will eat it; cake isn't the sort of food where you get those nutrition questions, e.g. 'will I get enough protein from this?'.

The key is to always be positive, with positive points, even about vegan junk food, for instance--'here, look at all these vegan burger places'--, and with cake it's even easier. Similarly, going back 20 years or more now, I've often heard non-vegan people say after trying vegan ice cream that they actively prefer it to dairy ice cream. I haven't heard that about cake yet, but I generally find vegan cakes indistinguishable from the dairy/egg variants now.

Good that it all ended in a bit of humour.

the cake was great didn't look the prettiest but tasted good, coconut with raspberry non dairy frosting. I was a bit taken back as normally the husband is easy going i think he wanted a custard trifel instead of the cake and had a min toddler tantrum :)
yeah with on the being positive it meant more cake for me

. I haven't heard that about cake yet, but I generally find vegan cakes indistinguishable from the dairy/egg variants now.

A cake shop opened up locally and my wife asked if they had any Vegan options as both our kids are allergic to dairy and my wife is off milk for feeding the youngest. They said they didn’t so she messaged them later on Facebook and mentioned this. By the next day they had messages back and added a vegan option so we bought some. It was delicious, but being outside of London and a bit parochial the cake was just called “Vegan” rather than “Caramel cherry slice” which was the best description I could match to it. My wife mentioned that they should just call it what it was rather than “VEGAN” as really no one would know any different. Went back the other day and they had two vegan options. Bought some more, and again, equally delicious and you could never tell the difference.

Excellent! Well done.

Anyways I think whinging and refusing to eat a vegan cake is a bit embarrassing.

Props to whoever did this. I might start carrying a couple stickers in my wallet to do the same.

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Cheap(ish) vegan protein bars if anyone's into that sort of thing: https://www.scienceinsport.com/shop-sis/all-products/clearance/plant20-bar-12-pack

Can confirm the White Rabbit mozzarella pizzas are the best ready made pizzas I've had. Nine year old neice who is always brutally honest said it just the same as a very good "normal" one.
Their one with kale on, not so much.
They on special at Sainsburys for £4.

How gross are these? SIS is usually fairly gross so I'm guessing very

I’ve never actually tried them, I just get the “Uber discount time” emails.

Ah. I think I may have unsubscribed. Already thinking of getting them though and now my bloody basket is full of crap to get the free shipping. Fell right into that.

I used to love the SIS Go bars when they were still good--large, tasty, and £1 apiece. Then they messed them up completely for some reason. They went small, tasted much worse, and were much more expensive.

This ones a winner also

I'm struggling with these. I really want to like them (and I've eaten several), but I find the base bland and 'bready' – maybe because they're gluten-free? I found the Rainbow one with chard in my local shop this week, but I couldn't eat it – though to be fair, that was because I accidentally cooked it on its cardboard base...

Anyone know of any good places to eat in Dusseldorf? I'll be there for a few nights soon.

Hello all,

I’ll be visiting London for a few nights the weekend after next and was wondering what the must-eat-at vegan places are. Cafes, restaurants, shops, everything! I’ve set aside a whole day for galleries and food so don’t be shy.

Also, best places to buy high quality Indian spices? It’s been almost 8 years since I left London so feel a bit out the loop.

Thanks!

Of the ones I know, and my knowledge is very incomplete:

Temple of Seitan and/or Temple of Camden / Camden and Hackney generally
Purezza Pizza (in Parkway like Temple of Camden)
Black Cat
Green Bay in North End Road (shop)
Broadway Market on Saturdays for I Am Nut! OK? cheese
Cookies and Scream (Holloway Road)

I'm afraid I'm not really aware of what the best vegan restaurants are, because of all the distraction from junk food. :) Places I've wanted to go to for years include Manna in Primrose Hill and Mao Chow (vegan Chinese) in Mare Street. Itadaki Zen (Japanese) I went to once but was disappointed, perhaps I didn't order well or it was an off-day.

There are always some street traders that it's worth going to markets for. I like Bar dei Baci, who do a sort of fried calzone they call 'frizza'. They do various markets, but I don't know where they're going to be when you're here. You could always give them a call, they have their number up. I suspect that many street traders are not as active as outside of pandemics at the moment.

Also, quite a few places seem to be shut. Yesterday, I went past where this ...

https://vegandreams.co.uk/

... is supposed to be (very close to Mao Chow), but there didn't seem to be any activity--strange, because the web-site is still up and doesn't say anything about a hiatus. Does anyone know more?

Unsurprisingly, the pace of vegan openings has slowed, if not stopped completely, but I'm not really up-to-date with everything.

Thanks for the detailed reply - much appreciated!

I'll be sure to look into all of those. A (very good) chef friend also mentioned Mao Chow so I think I'll add that to the definite list.

It's been a long long time since I spent a day pedalling around London checking out food spots so I'm quite excited (wonder if I'll beat my 8 restaurants in a day record!?). Edinburgh is fairly "meh" for vegan restaurants. One of its long standing ones has recently closed permanently. Glasgow is a lot better for food to be honest.

Have fun! Hope you catch them all when they're open.

Others may have more recommendations, of course.

Been back to Mildred's recently - new menu and everything was really good.

Can someone explain to me where the entrance to Mao Chow is? I haven't been able to find it, and I'm not sure if it's because shutters were closed/lack of signage when I've looked or I'm just an idiot.

I've been wondering about that, too. It's supposedly 159A Mare Street but I've never been past during opening hours, and there's no sign. There's no phone number to ring ahead, but I imagine you already know that. I've always thought it must be the narrow (half-width) shop unit next to where Vegan Dreams (currently probably closed?) is?

Yeah hit the one in kings X on Sunday and menu is excellent. Though nearly always opt for the chick’n burger as is favourite

That burger's a regular go-to for me, but I went for the chick'n Lebanese kebabs as a (slight) change. The mushroom and ale pie is off the menu, but imagine it'll be back for winter.

Cook Daily is also reliably good. Box Park Shoreditch or the 'Market Halls' food markets near Victoria Station and by Oxford Circus

Edit: apparently the market halls are closed still, so only shoreditch open for the moment