hey readers, this is a very special guest post from none other than vegankitten who spent the last couple days in las vegas! she was kind enough to email me some great blog posts, so here’s the first one! take it away…

If you’re ever stuck at the Mandalay Bay for a convention, I suggest checking out the Burger Bar. The Vegas Vegan Burger came highly recommended, so I didn’t spend much time looking at the other options, although I should have for the sake of this review. There appeared to be another veggie burger on the menu, but I doubt it was vegan. However, there is a “build your own burger” menu that looks pretty do-able. (List of potentially vegan options at the bottom)

When we arrived, there was a 45 minute wait. The good news is Lush was directly across the walkway from Burger Bar and they were having a big sale. I did some shopping while we waited for our pager to buzz.

I went with an omnivore who has eaten her first two faux meat meals in the past two days and claimed to be “craving real meat” on our walk to the Burger Bar. Once were were seated and she browsed the menu, she ordered the Vegas Vegan, too. I would say that speaks volumes! Here’s the description per the menu:

Slow roasted eggplant, marinated and grilled roma tomato, grilled zucchinis, sauteed peppers. All sandwiched between two portobello mushroom caps.

The burger is served with skinny fries, but I requested mine with sweet potato fries. My eating companion kept the skinny fries and added a side salad. The burger arrived sliced in half, each half held together with a toothpick. This was necessity, as the veggies were slippery and smothered in juices. The second you removed the toothpicks, the whole thing fell apart. This was fine, because it was a delicious mess! The portobello mushroom caps were massive, fresh, firm and full of flavor. The veggies inside were cooked to perfection. The side of sweet potato fries was very generous and they were a perfect compliment to the burger. One of the most exciting parts was that I was not charged for substituting the sweet potato fries. It was $12.00 for this delicious lunch and, in Las Vegas, that’s a smokin’ deal!

The only thing which I found kind of odd was the garnish – but I often find garnish strange. Included on the plate was all the “fixin’s” for a burger – onion, lettuce, tomato and pickles. Not exactly appropriate for the type of burger we ordered.

Last but CERTAINLY not least, they have a pretty massive beer selection that takes up two pages of the menu. They have over 100 bottles of beers and about 25 on tap. I had a Pipeline Porter draft from Kona Brewing Company. Thank you Barnivore for letting me know if is vegan, too!

So the bottom line is this: Burger Bar is a fun place with good food and lots of tasty beer. I will definitely go here again!

Burger Bar
Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino
3950 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Las Vegas, NV 89119-1005
(702) 632-9364
Open Mon-Thu 10:30am-11pm; Fri 10:30am-2am; Sat 10am-2am; Sun 10am-11pm

Build your own Burger menu after the jump…

Read the rest of this entry »

as you know, this blog is mainly based in LA, except for when we travel…or when we get field reports from agents in other cities. lucky for y’all, tonight’s field report comes from our pacific northwest operative, who gives us a very brief yet drool-worthy review of seattle’s newish vegan and organic restaurant plum bistro.

plum apparently offers an AMAZING menu and is located conveniently on capitol hill, so you really have no excuse not to visit. let’s take a look at the food and read the one line reports of each item.

spicy mac n yease

“hands down ive had prob 10 diff vegan kinds and this was a bachelorette party in my mouth. ”

chili crusted seitan

“all as i can say as it was so good i finished this plate, even though it wasn’t mine because i couldn’t let the food go to waste.”

squash soup, the perfect starter

“perfect for the weather, perfect for the starter.”

[/caption

“it was perfect but i liked the chili seitan more because of the spice.”

tacos

traditional puerto rican mofongo

“fresh, delightful, flavor galore.”

from what i hear, everything was PERFECT…even better than it looks. so be sure to hit up plum vegan bistro in seattle when you have a chance.

from the report:

“all in all this was the best experience of seattle vegan food i have had on any of my visits…this was something different and so mind blowing to me, i was floored.

great service.
great atmosphere.
great food.”

there is a lot to be said for food tourism. sometimes, you just haven’t been somewhere unless you’ve eaten certain things. as far as i’m concerned you’ve never been to paris if you haven’t eaten a warm baguette while walking the streets, nor london if you’ve not enjoyed a crispy basket of chips alongside mushy peas, nor new york city without a fresh bagel and a hot cup of black coffee. i have been lucky enough to check all these things off my list, the last being breakfast at H&H midtown bagels in manhattan.

H and H bagels are famous for being new york’s best, and it’s a good job too…because they are very vegan-friendly. not just are they water-brushed (where as most bagels are coated in egg), but H and H offers THREE TYPES of vegan cream cheese. yep, they’ve got tofutti regular, scallion, and vegetable….all available for your smearing.

i went with an onion bagel slathered in scallion tofu cream, and it was absolutely amazing. seriously, the freshness and thickness of the bread along with the delicate flavors was enough to make LA vegans bow down forever. NOT TO MENTION the fact that it was water-rinsed and filled with vegan cream cheese! amazing.

even at 9:30am on a weekday H and H was super busy, and i can totally see why. if i were vegan and living in NYC, i would get this for breakfast several times per week.

for an authentic AND vegan experience, be sure to hit up H and H midtown bagels.

also authentic and vegan: riding in a taxi! so cool, i don’t think we have these in LA…!

From the moment I got a voicemail from Pure Food and Wine calling to confirm my reservation I thought I might be in trouble. The person on the other end of the line said “… as you’re not picking up we’ll have to assume this is the right number…”. The reason I didn’t pick up is that I was on an airplane headed to JFK, so fuck you on the attitude.

We booked an early table as we’d been told that the place can sometimes get rather busy and doesn’t always honor its confirmed reservations with decent punctuality. Upon arriving at the the restaurant after a short walk from our hotel at nearby Union Square in sub-zero temperatures, with empty stomachs and a full wallet (more on that later) we were greeted and asked to wait by the door. And wait we did for about 5 minutes while the greeter walked to the back of the restaurant and appeared to be texting somebody from her ‘phone. Oh dear, I sensed trouble ahead.

I tried to crack a trite and harmless joke with the dead-eyed greeter “can we dine on the patio?” which I thought was rather funny considering the blizzard conditions outside and the fact it was covered in snow. Without any eye contact she said “sorry, that’s closed tonight”. Fuck you number two.

After being seated at a rather small two-top against a wall (remember: the restaurant was EMPTY), the greeter resumed her texting, and we waited another 5 minutes before somebody showed up with the wine and food menus. They also offered some kind of fancy filtered tap water which we gleefully accepted before ordering our food and wine. We also asked the server (whom we never saw again after that interaction) if the menu was entirely vegan, to which he replied “of couuuuuurse it is!” in such a patronizing way that I was stunned. Fuck you number three. I pressed further, seeking clarity on the “honey” that was included on several items to be equally patronized: “Well, most vegans eat honey.” Well I don’t, so fuck you number four.

I ended up ordering a horrendously expensive bottle of wine from the list (as none of them were reasonably priced), and we began to settle in and review the food menu, deciding on a HONEY FREE appetizer of “Sushi Rolls with Dr. Cow’s Cheese”, which we ordered when a rather bubbly lady server finally showed up at our table to give us some attention. We also went for the incredible sounding “Thai Coconut Noodles in Galangal Red Coconut Curry: mung bean shoots, heirloom carrot, saffron oil, thai basil.” and “Port Soaked Portabella Mushroom Layered with Spinach and Fennel Caponata. Lemon garlic kohlrabi with smoked paprika aioli, aged balsamic.” for our two entrees, which we decided to share.

Thai Coconut Noodles in Galangal Red Coconut Curry: mung bean shoots, heirloom carrot, saffron oil, thai basil. $24

Upon arrival (remarkably quickly, indicating that these dishes might have been pre-made), the noodle thing was a smallish pile of bland, cold, slimy noodles topped with bean shoots and grated carrots atop some sticky dressing. Upon looking at the menu description, it was just a fancy way of describing exactly what the meal was. To call it disgusting would be an understatement. It was not only cold (as in refrigerator cold) but composed mostly of air and leaves. Still, at only $24 I suppose it was a deal (joke). Fuck you number five.

Port Soaked Portabella Mushroom Layered with Spinach and Fennel Caponata. Lemon garlic kohlrabi with smoked paprika aioli, aged balsamic. $26

Next up was the mushroom thing. If you think that it looks like a couple of portobello mushrooms with some spinach in between them, you wouldn’t be far wrong. The thing was tiny, freezing cold and tasted like the bile one pukes up the morning after food poisoning. Two cold, limp and wet mushrooms still containing the grit from the ground with bell peppers (missing from the long list of ingredients listed in the menu). I can’t imagine how any sane person would want to eat this. The fancy menu description, again, set a stratospherically high expectation for what was a deeply disappointing dish. Sorry, but that thing for $26 deserves a Fuck you number six.

Sushi rolls with Dr. Cow's cheese. $16

The highlight of the meal was clearly the appetizer. We were served very small sushi rolls (both in circumference and length. ahem.) with basic ingredients (mainly daikon sprouts and cucumber) and an almost undetectable amount of Dr. Cow’s cheese deep inside (not that those small roll slices could go deep at all). At $2 per slice, $16 total this was a complete rip-off and wasn’t even that good. Yeah fuck you number seven, Pure Food And Wine.

Oh, and after we placed the order, the only attention we received until check time was from a very polite person (within limited English language skills) delivering food from the kitchen who topped up our glasses on occasion and was otherwise busy bussing tables and sweeping the floors. The server didn’t show up except to try and sell us dessert after everything had been cleared away. There was no enquiry into the food, no “was everything OK?”, NOTHING. She just thrust the desert menu at us and walked away. Fuck you number eight.

The entire time we were there (40 minutes) only a couple of parties showed up, and the waitstaff spent most of their time at the bar area laughing loudly while discussing how cool it would be to live in LA as weed is “legal out there”. I shit you not. At the same time they were enjoying themselves, the bus boy/server/bathroom cleaner/water filler and probably chef was running his ass all over the restaurant keeping everything together.

We paid, and promptly left, $114 poorer (we just couldn’t bring ourselves to leave a tip) and headed to Maoz for some real food – even though we’d choked down every morsel of our meager portions.

We discussed our experience with some fellow vegans via twitter and email that evening, and here are some select responses that we got:

Yeah, the place can be very “hit or miss”
Why would you go there on a cold day?
You really have to know what to order. Your menu choices really sucked
Yes, I’m completely done with that place. So expensive and some of the menu items are a rip-off
The menu descriptions seem like you’re getting “fine dining” food, but you really don’t.
You guys just don’t get raw food! (ON THE CONTRARY!)

Basically, nobody jumped to defend that awful place unreservedly. Many did say, though, that they had eaten some really good food there, but it was offset with indifferent service and a huge risk of ordering something that wasn’t the best item of the day.

How about this, Pure Food and Wine: Don’t put items on your menu that SUCK. Create a consistent dining experience, call out honey on the menu as not vegan and tell your waitstaff to give a shit about your customers.

Until then: you’re getting one Fuck Off after eight Fuck You’s.

since we wrote our open letter to chipotle, it appears as if they heard our plea and begun cooking the vegan gardein meat (aka garden blend) separately from all the real meat!

i was first tipped off by a commenter, and then called the west chelsea location myself…and it appears that it’s true!!!!

on the phone, chipotle said the garden blend is vegan. when i asked if the gardein is cooked separately than the meat, they replied, “of course it is! otherwise it wouldn’t be vegan!” they also said they made the decision to cook the gardein in a separate pan LAST WEEK after several people complained. ahem.

so if you are lucky enough to live in NYC (i’m jealous), head on over to the west chelsea chipotle on 8th avenue between 17th and 18th street for a VEGAN GARDEIN BURRITO.

oh and since we got chipotle’s attention with the last letter, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to ask for one more thing….

dear chipotle,
PLEASE bring vegan garden burrito to ALL YOUR LOCATIONS!!!! and if that’s not possible, and you can only bring it to one more storefront, please bring it to los angeles.
i love you!
quarrygirl

there are a few chipotles in chelsea, and i have read some inaccurate info online about which location has the garden blend. so here is a map just to make sure you go to the right one:

[googleMap name=”chipotle west chelsea” description=”where you lucky bastards can find vegan burritos” width=”570″]149 8th Ave New York, NY 10011[/googleMap]

one thing i really hate about traveling to nyc, is that i always find a wonderful restaurant with food so delicious and lovely, it makes me sad that i can’t pack a lifetime supply and smuggle it back home in my suitcase. sure enough last week when i visited the big apple it happened again, and the one restaurant that screamed “holy shit why don’t we have this in LA?!?!?!” the loudest, was curly’s vegetarian lunch.

curly’s vegetarian lunch is a meatless hole in the wall located in the east village, with a larger than life menu full of greasy diner food that more than makes up for their lack of square footage. to call this place vegan-friendly would be an understatement, considering ANY item curly’s offers can be made vegan (and the most appetizing of the selections are already).

we arrived around noonish on a weekday and were welcomed in from the blustering cold by a friendly gentleman who looked like curly himself, judging by the newspaper clippings hung allover the walls. the service was impeccable; a friendly waitress immediately took our order and was always ready with a refill of hot coffee. we settled on two of the menu items that were vegan by default, the open-faced turkey sandwich and the tofu scramble.

open-faced turkey sandwich: sage and garlic rubbed soy fillet over corn bread stuffing and toasted rye, napped with gravy and served with cranberry dressing, garlicky kale and butternut squash. $12.95

while both dishes were great, and the experience overall i cannot fault….the one thing that keeps haunting my dreams is the FUCKING TASTY TURKEY SANDWICH. i know, i know i rave about food a lot on this blog, but please believe me…this deserves extra attention. first off, it was massive. the plate was so full of food, i only ate about half of it and i went from starving to bloated. secondly, it comes with ample servings of all the food groups we vegans crave: tons of greens, check. seitan, check. ridic amount of gravy, check. not to mention the squash, oily yet fluffy stuffing, and sweet chunky cranberry sauce. wowowow. lastly, this plate (enough to feed 3 people) was under $13….in manhattan. that is less than real food daily, and even m cafe holiday plate prices. oh, and this is offered all year round.

seriously, so many nyc restaurants get talked up, but this REALLY WAS amazing. please put this on your ultimate, must, no matter what, to do list.

on to the next dish! although it was a little late, it was our first meal of the day….so my husband went with the vegan tofu scramble plus added spinach. (curly’s serves breakfast all day!) this thing came fried up with mounds of yellow tofu, sauteed greens, wedges of toast and deliciously crispy curly fries. not quite as good as my sandwich, but definitely a wonderful indulgence.

scrambled tofu: with toast and curly fries. plus spinach. $8.70

look at all that food! eh?!?! i have been brought up to believe that you are supposed to pay more in manhattan for everything…but this was a shit ton of breakfast for under $9, and i challenge you to find a deal that good in LA!

i cannot even stress how superb our experience at curly’s was, and i urge you to visit them whenever you are in nyc. the place is SUPER SMALL (for the LA crowd, it’s about the size of the meet market/flore cafe/the vegan spot) but they do wonders to actually transform it into a comfortable dining experience.

i will be back for sure, because curly’s has earned a place in my heart as one of my favorite restaurants ever.

curly’s vegetarian lunch
328 East 14th Street
New York, NY‎
(212) 598-9998‎
Mon-Fri: 11am-11pm
Sat–Sun 10am-11pm

You can tell a classy lady just by looking at her, and the same is true of Manhattan’s Candle 79. Ensconced on a wide, tree-lined street in the affluent Upper East Side and surrounded by some of the world’s finest restaurants (and most expensive real estate), Candle 79 has incredibly sexy curb appeal and, like that classy lady, proves that beauty is not only skin deep but the real treasure is what lies within.

On our recent visit, we were treated to some of the finest cuisine we’d ever experienced, in an atmosphere that rivals only Sublime in Fort Lauderdale (the East Coast’s only other vegan fine dining establishment). Probably because we reserved for 6pm and arrived a little early, we lucked out with a great table (actually, a large booth beside the cocktail bar).

Our very attentive server ran over over the menu with us, explaining that the restaurant is entirely vegan, and if the menu said “cheese” or “ice cream” the ingredients were, in fact, vegan. Clearly, this explanation was somewhat reassuring! He then took our drink order, which was a reasonably priced bottle of organic Côtes du Rhône that arrived with a couple of small and complimentary appetizers of sliced zucchini, with a spicy vegetable-infused cream cheese combination atop. They were each gone in one scrumptious bite, and set a realistic expectation for the meal that was to come.

It took us forever to decide what to order as everything on the menu looked astounding. In the end, we mixed up the flavors by going for a Mexican-style appetizer followed by American and Italian-style entrees.

The appetizer was “Angel’s Nachos”, an incredible creation that tasted better than I remember vegetarian nachos being. Here in LA, we have a similar dish from Real Food Daily, which not only costs a few bucks more, but uses chips FROM A BAG (yes, the kind you’d get in a grocery store). Not at Candle 79, as these were freshly fried (one could taste the warm oil), and crunchy. Combined with the the vegetables and seitan created an amazing mouth texture, especially when mixed up with the layers of Daiya cheese, fresh guacamole, salsa and tofu sour cream. These are far and away the best vegan nachos we’d ever eaten, and are worth a trip to Candle 79 alone. Even if you have to walk all the way there from Downtown.

Angel's Nachos: corn chips, cheddar and mozzarella, tomatoes, refried pinto beans, chili-grilled seitan, guacamole, salsa, tofu sour cream, romaine lettuce. $16

Next up were the two entrees. We opted for the black-pepper grilled seitan, in honor of New York’s legendary prowess as the steak capital of the world. Oh, and this was amazing. I’d never had anything grilled with a balsamic base before, and this turned me on to a whole new avenue of taste. The texture of the seitan was very “grill-like”, with burned edges and a soft, succulent interior – rather like the descriptions I found online of high-end fillet steak.

Black Pepper & Balsamic Grilled Seitan: sautéed haricots verts, leeks, almonds, cornmeal crusted onion rings, celeriac purée. $23

This, combined with green beans, and a celery mashed potato-style base, all drizzled with a tasty and tangy sauce was an incredible mash-up (no pun intended!) of taste. I would be remiss not to mention the onion rings, which were perfectly crunchy and had a cornmeal batter, making them rather interesting, and a perfect compliment to the tasty seitan.

So, after paying vegan homage to NYC’s steak-house history we decided to move things up a notch and go for something Italian-style, as Italian food is usually better here than in Italy itself (go ahead, argue in the comments). Our Italian-style entree was a mixture of succulent vegetables (mainly wild mushrooms) and porcini crusted tofu sauteed up a treat in a smooth and slightly sweet red wine sauce with a layered cheese and root vegetable gratin, all on a bed of spinach, soaked in the red wine sauce.

Porcini Crusted Tofu: sauteed spinach, root vegetable gratin, wild mushrooms, red wine sauce. $22

Again, an amazing intersection of taste and textures with perfectly cooked ingredients coming together in just the right way. The layered cheese thing was out of this world – I wish I knew exactly what it is as I’d be most interested in trying to create it myself. Not that I could, but it’s nice to pretend.

Finally, for desert, we continued the Italian theme with a warm cannoli, filled with vanilla cream and topped with chocolate chip ice cream. The server also bought us some complimentary home-made ice cream (see later for why we got it for free), which went down extremely well with the cannoli. I think one of the successes of a vegan desert is that it should not taste “vegan”, and none of this stuff did. The vanilla filling was like a heavy-cream and powdered sugar filling in a non-vegan cannoli, and the ice cream tasted just like, well, very nice ice cream you’d buy in an up-market ice cream parlor. The desert was amazing, and we were very full upon leaving the restaurant.

Cannoli: vanilla cream filling, vanilla chocolate chip ice cream, chocolate drizzle. $12

On this visit, the service was excellent, but being early the place was only starting to fill up as we left. We tried to visit Candle 79 a year or so before, waited 30 minutes for our table (even after our allotted reservation time was up), got the shittiest table in the place and finally walked out after another 20 minutes as nobody came to serve us. Also, even on this trip, we did find the staff a little snooty – I don’t think they appreciated my bright yellow bobble-hat I wore upon arriving out of the 20 degree cold. When we ordered dessert, the server asked if it was our first trip to Candle 79, and we recounted (politely) our experience the first time around. He apologized, and kindly gave us some free ice cream “for your inconvenience last time”. See told you they were a little snooty, but this gesture was much appreciated.

Homemade Ice Cream & Sorbet Sampler: chef's daily selection. $9

Also, our server neglected to tell us they had any specials, and I listened to several other customers getting a run-down of some amazing-sounding specials. Not that I’m really upset as I liked what we ordered, but it would have been nice to have the same choices as the other guests. Maybe he was just too much in shock about my bobble hat…?

So, to sum up, if you’re lucky and you get a nice table and a good server you will have one of the finest vegan dining experiences possible. Yeah it’s was pricey (our bill came to just shy of $150 with tip), but, like a classy lady, Candle 79 really is worth every penny.

Candle 79
154 East 79th Street
New York, NY 10021
(212) 537-7179

When I dined at Saf a few weeks ago it was all I could do not to move back home to London on the spot.

You see, Saf has not only some of the finest vegan cuisine available in Europe, but also one of the continent’s first organic cocktail bars, designed and occasionally hosted by internationally renowned mixologist, Pursip. We took advantage of a lazy, sunny Sunday morning in late-Autumn to hit up Saf and enjoy their popular “Pure Sundays” vegan roast, and one or two innovative organic cocktails.

From the moment we walked in the door, we knew we were somewhere special. The expansive space, large tables and looooong cocktail bar were teetering on the outer edges of understated grandeur, while at the same time being intimate and homely. A cheerful server welcomed us, offering “any seat in the house” (one of the privileges of being a jet-lagged early-arriver) and recommended we start off with a special cocktail. We ordered the “VIOLET and TONIC – an ultimate refreshing take on the G&T”, which turned out to be organic gin, french tarragon, pear juice, violet liqueur, lime, fever tree tonic water, with an edible pansy flower plopped on top.

I think this is one of the best cocktail photos I’ve ever taken, yet it really doesn’t do justice to this subtly stunning blend of spirits and mixers. Organic mixologists like Pursip will be the chefs and DJs of the next decade – with mysterious creative powers that make you feel awesome.

Anyway, to the FOOD. As it was around noon (a little too late for breakfast, marginally too early for lunch), we opted to go straight down the middle with our dining options, lending a breakfast-stye vibe intersected with a Sunday roast to our table. Go figger.

I opted for the “Country Breakfast”, a scintillating pile of tofu scramble all mixed up with sun dried tomato, basil and caramelized onion,with three hunks of fresh baguette drizzled with olive oil. The baby greens and potatoes (not shown in the picture) added some volume and delicate textures to the robustness of the scramble, leading to a most satisfying meal.

The other meal at the table was the absolutely stunning “Sunday nut roast”, with roast potatoes, parsnips, kale and apple sauce and red wine gravy doing their best to cover a huge chunk of tasty nut roast – just oily enough, but firmly healthy-tasting.

Both meals were gone in seconds – food this good doesn’t hang around on a plate for too long, and goes down so well that one can easily fill up rather quickly. As did we!

If you’re ever in the Shoreditch area of London, or have a couple of hours to spend, take the tube to Old Street and walk to nearby Saf where you’re pretty much guaranteed a warm reception, cold cocktail and hot meal in a totally vegan restaurant you’ll never forget. Saf will be on my itinerary every time I visit London from here on out.

If, like many readers of this blog, you live in Los Angles, I wanted to take moment to say that Saf is really what Real Food Daily should be – after all, there are many similarities: A three letter name, being out of the way but in a cool part of town, modern decor with nice ambience, seriously organic, entirely vegan etc.

The crushing difference, though, is that Saf manages to pull off the most difficult of feats: to be a trendy, happenin’ and hip restaurant while at the same time giving truly personal service and astounding food in an un-rushed environment with KILLER cocktails.

Ann should go and pay Chad a visit: she has much to learn.

Saf Restaurant
152-154 Curtain Road
Shoreditch London EC2A 3AT
+44.20.76130007

I cannot lie. I’ve found myself wandering, hungry, around the West End after a night on the town more than once over the years. On the most recent occasion, as I was walking back to Camden Town from Leicester Square, I happened upon Joi Buffet on Percy St., right off Tottenham Court Road. There was a large board outside with the word “Vegan Food” written on it in chalk, and somehow I found myself inside and seated semi-automatically (vegan restaurants have a habit of sucking me in) on the verge of a very interesting dining experience.

Joi has, by far, the largest vegan self-serve buffet I’ve ever seen. I stopped counting the number of dishes when I got to 70, and there were many more to go – probably in the order of 90-100 or so food items from every kind of fake meat and Asian-influenced cuisine you can imagine (Chinese, Thai, Indian, Indonesian and Japanese) to vegan staples like meat loaf, roast potatoes and gravy as well as salads and 8 different kinds of hot sauce! About the only food item missing was pizza, but that was more than made up for with several kinds of pasta and sauces. Also, new dishes kept coming out from the kitchen every few minutes. It seemed like when one dish was empty it wasn’t always replaced with the same thing, so the food item turnover during a typical dining interval added to the sheer amount of stuff you could feast on.

And feast we did. Buffets are always difficult for me — I act like a starving man in some post-apololyptical food oasis, filling my plate to the brim on each of way too many visits. And dining at Joi wasn’t an exception. I ate food from all eight continents (the 8th, by the way, was the buffet table itself – somewhere between the size of Antarctica and Australasia).

There were way too many food items to take pictures of them all, or even remember which ones we ate, but we were delighted with our nice table, friendly waitstaff (who were not in the slightest bit bothered that we kept asking if everything was 100% vegan) and huge selection.

Now, many people think that a vegan diet is healthy – and indeed it can be – but eating this kind of food every day will be anything but healthy. Everything tastes great, because it’s cooked in plenty of oil with little to no regard for calorific content. I can vouch for that as I’ve rarely been so stuffed after leaving a restaurant (only myself to blame, of course), and I probably didn’t eat a thing for 18 hours afterwards.

Bottom line: Joi Buffet is conveniently located, has great opening hours and an unparalleled choice of vegan food, of which you can eat as much as you like. Just don’t eat there three times a day, and be prepared for some decompression time and extreme exercise to work off the thousands of calories you’ll undoubtedly consume unless you’re very diligent with what you eat.

Oh, and the whole place is excellent value – the “all you can eat” option which includes every food item in the place is only £6.50 (around $10), and you can also fill up a to go box for just £3.50.

this post was supposed to be a rave review about la victoire suprême du cœur, the oldest of very few vegan restaurants in paris, where i ate lunch recently on my 25th birthday.

La Victoire Suprême du Cœur

unfortunately, i found out that not long after my meal there, la victoire closed down and a new omnivorous restaurant called le pas-sage obligé opened up in its place. the good news is, although the new restaurant serves meat (ugh!), they do still have some of the old vegan options on the menu (woo!), including the veggie burger we ordered.

just for the sake of it, here’s what our meal looked like:

we started with a few baskets of fresh bread and a half carafe of red wine, because you just gotta in paris. all that romantic BS about bread tasting better in france is absolutely true, this was the best bread i’d ever eaten…which was only topped by a baguette i ate later that day.

Degustation platter: Tapenades, mushroom terrine, pakora, seitan, vegetarian chicken, sautéed potatoes, salad. €15,5

as a main course, i ordered the degustation platter, which was way too much food to eat, but i somehow managed. it came with several different tapenades including olive and sundried tomato, as well as crispy fried onion pakora, seitan, cubed vegan chicken, roasted potatoes and green salad. the pakora was some of the best stuff i’ve ever eaten in my life, and the seitan was also exceptional. i mean, just look at that beautiful plate.

Veggiburger of house seitan, sautéed potatoes, salad. €13,5

my husband ordered the house veggiburger, and of course i had to give it a try. the patty was perfect and juicy, and seemed to be made of the same excellent seitan that was on my plate. the potatoes and fresh salad were just great as well, and i am so glad that this dish is still on the menu at the new restaurant. if you ever find yourself in paris, this is a dish i would recommend.

while we were there, la victoire was also having a lunch buffet for €12,8 which looked absolutely amazing. there was a table filled with colorful salads, fresh breads, and various hot dishes. as i was leaving, i made a mental note to definitely try the vegan buffet next time. sadly, it looks like that won’t be happening.

since la victoire suprême du cœur has been around for over 14 years, and has been known as the best vegan restaurant in a city with so few meatless options, this news is extra depressing. i’m just super glad i got to spend my birthday at la victoire suprême du cœu before it closed its doors—it was one of the most lovely and memorable lunches of my life!

new restuarant info:
Le Pas-Sage Obligé
29, rue du Bourg-Tibourg, Paris 4th
Traditional Restaurant
with a large choice of vegetarian and vegan dishes

one great thing about london is that there’s no shortage of all you can eat vegan buffets. on our recent trip, we hit up 3 of them, my favorite being at 222 veggie vegan. 222 has an entirely animal-free food menu, and the only non-vegan item in the restaurant is the choice of skimmed milk for coffee. by day, 222 operates as a lunchtime buffet, and by evening they are an a la carte eatery.

the buffet menu when we went was on the simple and on the healthy side, with a large focus on vegetable-based dishes. it was a great deal for all-you-can-eat at just ₤7.50 per person, and we did eat absolutely all that we possibly could. take a look at our spread:

starting in the upper left and going clockwise, we had a small lentil veggie patty, a slice of quiche, some stir-fried vegetables, roasted potatoes, rice and channa dal. all of it delicious. here is the same plate again from the other side:

while i loved every single thing pictured, my two favorites were the quiche and the channa dal. i went back for multiple servings of each.

slightly burned with a soft fluffy texture, this was definitely the best vegan quiche i’ve had anywhere.

along with hot foods, 222 also offered a huge cold salad bar. here’s what i took away from there:

a mix of cold soba noodles, marinated vegetables, a bean salad, and several types of leaves. this really hit the spot.

if you are looking for a tasty, nutritious, affordable lunch in london, 222 veggie vegan is your place. this is the kind of vegan food we SHOULD be eating—vegetables, grains and noodles rather than loads of fake meat. i can’t wait to return.

check out this dude, he liked his lunch! and lemme just say that it’s a crime this restaurant wasn’t PACKED.

222 Veggie Vegan Restaurant
222 North End Road
West Kensington
London W14 9NU
Hours: lunchtime 12:00 – 15:30 evening 17:30 – 22:30

PS: on a previous london trip, we had a bad dinner experience at 222. after this amazing lunch though, i can’t wait to give their dinner another try!

Tel: 020 738 12322

Camden Town is London’s (arguably Europe’s, and maybe the world’s) epicenter of counterculture influences. If you take six of Haight Ashbury, half a dozen of Carnaby street then cook at 500 degrees for 30 years, Camden is pretty much the result you would expect.

I’ve lived and worked in Camden on and off since the 80s, and my memories stretch as far back as seeing an early Smiths show at the now-defunct Camden Palais music venue (London’s very own version of CBGB back then), and flash as far forward as a few weeks ago when I was treated to one of the best vegan meals I’d ever eaten, in an environment that kicks big vegan ass.

The Inspiral Lounge occupies a superb location in Camden Town, a few steps away from the tube station, with a commanding view of the canal and on the southern edge of Camden Market. Inspiral is, er, inspired by the founders’ experience as architects of IDSpiral’s “chill out zones” at UK music festivals. If you’ve ever been to a music festival, you’ll know all about those places and what goes down there. If not, check out IDSpiral’s “IDDome”.

Anyway, let’s talk about about the FOOD. Inspiral has a deli-style counter where you choose from either a main course and any three sides or as many sides as you like, a la carte-style. The counter is cleverly positioned on the left immediately as you enter the restaurant, so if more than a few people are waiting, the line will stretch out into the street (and often does).

The entire menu is vegan, with the odd exception of something called a “Pizza Bagel” which I think was a special offering when we went there, as it’s not on the current menu, and they have cow’s milk for adding to your coffee or tea.

One thing that’s immediately striking is what good value everything is, especially when you consider the quality and quantity of what you get. We plumped for two dishes and six different sides between us for only ₤15.

tofu tarragon parcel: organic tofu and tarragon puff pastry parcel with a light truffle sauce. comes with 3 sides. ₤6.95

First, the Organic Tofu and Tarragon Puff Pastry Parcel was absolutely divine, with a crispy, rich pastry shell containing a tofu and herb medley that was pungently spicy while battling for richness with the pastry.

Next up was the Mediterranean Vegetable Lasagna, a cornucopia of crispy, cheesy topping with a creamy vegetable base, topped with layers of spelt pasta and béchamel sauce.

vegan lasagne: an ingenious lasagne with succulently roasted vegetables, saturated with a vegan bechamel sauce and delicious layers of spelt pasta. with 3 sides. ₤7.95

Usually, side dishes are an afterthought, but not at Inspiral. We gorged on steamed mixed greens with coconut and flax seed, roasted sweet potatoes with garlic, basmati rice, lentil dal, purple cabbage and roasted potatoes and they were all amazing. Perhaps the highlights of the sides were the lentil dal (every bit as spicy as a real Indian dish) and the roasted potatoes which were perfectly crispy on the outside and soft n creamy on the inside.

The vibe at Inspiral is pretty down to earth. Hard working staff rush around to get your food for you, never skimping on the amount they serve (the nice man that served me even asked if I’d like any more of anything as he was spooning stuff onto my plate).

We nabbed a seat right by the window and had one of the best views of Regent’s Canal looking east towards King’s Cross and chowed down on our tasty food. With two large main dishes and six hearty sides, we opted out of the Vegan Ice Cream dessert, but as we left there was a line of people getting a scoop or two, and I bet few of them knew or cared that what they were eating was vegan.

On the subject of vegan desserts, we’d had a few hints about the vegan Tiramisu, but alas they were out of them when we were there, which of course provides the perfect excuse to go back again on our next visit.

If you’re ever in my home town, take a trip up the Northern Line to Camden Town, walk up Camden High Street and pop into Inspiral Lounge for some awesome vegan food, great service and a great view.

Oh, and after about 8pm Inspiral Lounge turns into one of Camden Town’s hottest clubs, hosting acclaimed DJs and heavy nu-jazz and trip hop sets with (as you’d expect!) organic vegan cocktails and munchies late into the night.

inspiral lounge
250 Camden High Street
London
NW1 8QS

sadly, one of my favorite vegetarian restaurants in the world has closed its doors. the time has come to say goodbye to eat and two veg in london.

i have written about eat and two veg before, when i posted on their vegan english breakfast. it’s still the best vegan english breakfast i’ve ever eaten, and it will be sorely missed. this all vegetarian restaurant had tons of vegan options, and it is the only eatery i made it a point to visit on every single trip to london. here is the last meal i ever ate there. oh so sad:

crispy aromatic luck: crispy vegetable protein served with pancakes, hoi sin & plum sauce, spring onion, cucumber & coriander. ₤6.50

we started out with an appetizer and a bottle of red organic wine to share. eat and two veg was a kind of swanky joint with a relaxing vibe and good drinks. i think the last time we were there, we stretched out and settled in for upwards of two hours. our starter was a vegan version of crispy duck, complete with hoi sin plum sauce and thin tortillas to wrap it in. simply delicious.

eatv burger: blend of vegetable protein, herbs and spices on a sesame bun with lettuce, caramelised onions, tomatoes & mayo. served with a mixed leaf salad, coleslaw & fries. ₤9.75

as a main course, we had a couple of eatv burgers and fries. these vegan burgers were thick and hearty, packed with flavor and nicely seasoned. the fries were thin and crispy, american-style, which is super hard to find in london. oh man, this food was so lovely and the wine was so good. i am getting sad just typing this.

anyways, despite a fully functioning website, eat and two veg is now closed. a commenter left the bad news on my old blog post, and sure enough it’s true. according to propertyweek.com, “The two floor unit totaling 3,800 sq ft will be refurbished to re-open as a modern European brasserie in May 2010.” what a fucking shame.

go out and support your local vegetarian/vegan restaurant. they may not be around someday. let’s hope eat and two veg, and doomies, and the vegan spot, and a taste of life all re-open soon….and for now i hope they are at least all playing together up in restaurant heaven.

ahhhhh…chips and mushy peas. they can be found on practically every street corner in england for just a couple pounds, and are almost always vegan. just stop by one of the many ubiquitous “chip shops” or “kebab houses”, and along with fish & chips, meat pies, and spotted dick, most of them offer some of the greasiest and most delicious vegan food known to man. take this hole-in-the-wall location in waterloo, for instance. chips (or fries, for your septics) were cooked in separate vegetable oil. wrapped up in paper to soak up all the grease, these potato wedges are served with a tiny portion of thick mashed peas. dip the chips in the peas, and you have perfection. this street food should be enjoyed while standing outside in the cold and biting weather….for the optimum experience. x

hummus bros in soho is one of my favorite restaurants to hit up when in london. we’ve written about them before, and on a recent visit they were just as delicious.

the way it works is: you get a hummus base with some pita, and then choose between their numerous vegan-friendly toppings. they’ve got vegetable salad, guacamole, and cumin chickpeas…just to name a few. last time we were there, we went with mushrooms and fava beans, both of which were awesome.

hummus topped with fava beans

the fava bean topped hummus was my favorite. the fava beans were prepared in a re-fried bean style (which i love), and were super creamy all mixed up with the hummus and oil. we got it with a side of vegan garlic dipping sauce, that was alright but a little too lemony for my taste.

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