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Harmonium, Leith, Edinburgh

February 1, 2018 by Tofu Temptress Leave a Comment

philly cheese steak pizza
Harmonium in Leith
Harmonium in Leith

It’s so lovely to have another successful, fully vegan restaurant in Edinburgh. Harmonium is not best placed for footfall, but when people find out about it, they make sure to take their friends there! That’s what we did.

Mac'n'cheese I had on my first visit
Mac’n’cheese I had on my first visit

Harmonium is located in the Leith area of Edinburgh, near the Ocean Terminal shopping centre and the Royal Yacht Britannia. It occupies the building that used to house the Indian restaurant VDeep, which I reviewed some years ago. Since changing hands it seems to have gone from strength to strength. When I visited in September of last year, the food was gorgeous and the menus hand-written. Since then, it’s become busier with more professional looking menus, but I’m happy to report that the food is still top notch.

All vegan friendly drinks
All vegan friendly drinks

We visited on a Thursday night and when we arrived I was very glad we’d booked as the place was almost full up. There were two of us vegans and a couple of omni friends, and we were seated near the back of the restaurant next to the open kitchen. I love seeing the food being prepared and there was certainly lots of hustle and bustle as burger after mac ‘n’ cheese after ice cream sundae was passed to servers by the chefs.

Green olives - simple, perfect
Green olives – simple, perfect

A little bowl of Olives made for a lovely starter, but I had the Soup of the Day, which was Cream of Leek. It was yummy, not too large and was served with crusty Sourdough Bread.

Soup of the day
Soup of the day

There was also Panzanella at the table; a healthy looking mix of baby plum tomatoes, capers, focaccia, French basil, red onion and olive oil. All were enjoyed at our leisure. The service was really friendly and the place has a great atmosphere.

Panzanella
Panzanella

For our main courses, two of the party ordered burgers, which is probably one of the most popular menu items. It’s a Seitan Quarter Pounder Burger served with the usual toppings, but the thing that really caught everyone’s attention was the Special Sauce. The burger eaters were so enthusiastic about it that the non burger eaters had to have a try! It was utterly delicious.

Burger with special sauce
Burger with special sauce

One of my omni companions opted for the Sausage Pizza, which is probably the sort of thing he’d order in a mainstream restaurant. He declared it to be lovely and his plate was certainly clean at the end of the meal. I went for the Wild Mushroom, Kale and Truffle Oil Rigatoni which came with a topping of super salty Aubergine Bacon. I was not disappointed. I used to adore creamy pasta in my pre-vegan days, so whenever I see it on a vegan menu I pounce on it!

Sausage pizza
Sausage pizza

It’s so lovely to know that you can have whatever tastes you want without hurting anyone. Our omni friends are not the obvious candidates for vegan restaurant patronage, but they seemed impressed and best of all they really enjoyed their meal. Of course then, we had to have dessert…

Rigatoni
Rigatoni

Everyone bar me opted for the Vanilla and Chocolate Ice Cream Sundae. I must admit it looked spectacular. They were not stingy with the bananas either, so one of our friends commented that it was definitely one of her ten a day! If there’s something chocolate-related on a dessert menu, that’s where you’ll find me, so I chose the Sea Buckthorn and Chocolate Cheesecake. It was layered and came with vanilla ice cream and was a delicious way to finish off the meal.

Choc cheesecake
Choc cheesecake

If you’re looking for a place to take those omni friends who may think that vegans eat grass, this is the place. So much classic bistro/pub style food is served here that nobody will feel short changed, as it tastes much the same as the animal-based equivalent.

Ice cream sundae
Ice cream sundae

 

It goes without saying that all the beer and wine is vegan friendly here too, which makes things so easy. Edinburgh is, albeit slowly, catching up with Glasgow in terms of vegan choice restaurants. Because Harmonium’s in Leith, it may not catch too many passers-by but it will count as a ‘find’ and you’ll be a hero among your friends once you introduce them to this sumptuous food.

 

Filed Under: Vegan Meals Out Tagged With: Edinburgh, Leith, restaurant, vegan, vegan beer

V Deep, Leith, Edinburgh (Now closed.)

June 10, 2015 by Tofu Temptress 3 Comments

Yum!
Understated entranceway
Understated entranceway
V Deep
V Deep

I only discovered V Deep a few months back as we were meeting up with a couple of mates who were living in Leith. Just around the corner from the institution that is The Plumed Horse, VDeep is an Indian restaurant with a tapas-style menu.

The décor is great
The décor is great

On our first visit, there were three of us ordering vegan dishes and so the owner, (comedian, TV presenter and panellist Hardeep Singh Kohli) wandered over to our table to make a few inquiries. Moments later, as we were tucking into our yummy lunch, he came back to announce that he’d decided to host a vegan evening. We were thrilled to hear that, as he’d just put it up on twitter, he was receiving bookings already as we sat munching.

Spray pain art adorns the walls
Spray pain art adorns the walls

And so it was, that on 1st June we attended V Deep’s inaugural vegan night. The restaurant has an understated entrance, so when you swing open the door the colourful interior and buzz hits you rather unexpectedly. The walls are adorned with spray painted art and the bar, which is filled with beers from many independent breweries, is central to proceedings. This is generally a good thing for vegans as small concerns tend not to filter beer with isinglass and other nasties as much as the big boys.

The man himself
The man himself

V Deep prides itself on providing beer for connoisseurs, so there’s always plenty of choice and probably a few you haven’t tried before. Above the bar there is a depiction of Mr. Singh Kohli himself, complete with trademark beard and brightly coloured turban.

Drinks menu
Drinks menu

The drinks menu on this particular evening was all vegan friendly, so as always on this type of occasion, the stress was taken out of ordering. I was driving but my other half went for Williams’ alcoholic ginger beer with was very pleasant.

A great choice of food
A great choice of food

The food had been so great last time off the main menu my hopes were high this time. I wasn’t disappointed.

Our selection of dishes
Our selection of dishes

We had the Chilli Tofu Fry (which was probably my favourite) the Chickpea Masala (which my companion favoured over the rest) Bharli Wangi (stuffed aubergine, lovely, as recommended by the waitress) Haggis Samosa, Coconut rice and the biggest Naan I’ve ever seen (specially veganised for the evening.)

Yum!
Yum!

Both being vegan we dipped and shared and piled the food high on our plates, a vegan luxury.

Jalebi
Jalebi

Spicy and satisfying, we were both stuffed by the end of the meal, but somehow, after a pause in proceedings, managed to make room for dessert. There was only one offering, Jalebi, a wheat based dessert which was sugar coated, deep fried and served on top of a little pot of rhubarb. The rhubarb was a little tart for me, but then I have a legendary sweet tooth. It looked attractive and was a nice finish to a meal as I always like to try something new.

The loo signs could get confusing when you've had to many craft beers...
The loo signs could get confusing when you’ve had to many craft beers…
Lovely ginger beer
Lovely ginger beer

I’ll definitely be going back as the food is fantastic, the atmosphere light and welcoming and like us, you might get to chat to Hardeep himself (he was busy in the kitchen on the vegan night) or some of his lovely staff.

A lovely variety of food
A lovely variety of food

Being a relatively new restaurant, VDeep is always looking for new ideas for its vegan menu, so tweet them here if you have any sudden inspiration. They are to be found in Henderson Street in the Leith area of Edinburgh and there’s on street parking around and about.

Chickpea masala and naan
Chickpea masala and naan
Haggis samosa
Haggis samosa
V Deep in Leith
V Deep in Leith
Chilli tofu fry and coconut rice
Chilli tofu fry and coconut rice
I did
I did

Filed Under: Vegan Meals Out Tagged With: curry, Edinburgh, Indian food, Leith, tapas

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