Tofu Temptress

No 1. Harbourside, Bristol

June 1, 2015 by Tofu Temptress Leave a Comment

I was steadily losing hope. The Harbourside area of Bristol has plenty of places to eat, but it seems that most of them are of no use to you unless you like pork and you like it pulled. (As an aside, there is a vegan pulled pork alternative made from Jackfruit. Doesn’t sound promising I know, but it tastes like the real thing, honest.)

So, stomach rumbling, I was passing the chain pubs and restaurants where the best I could hope for was a disappointing salad, when I happened across No 1 Harbourside, which not only had vegan options as part of its main menu, but vegan beer too! I’d hit the jackpot.

The picnic-style benches outside had all different decorations, one with chess boards and snakes and ladders, another with some kind of emperor in glorious robes. The huge indoor space was welcoming, despite its size and had plenty of interesting decor to gaze at while waiting on your food to arrive. A sizeable collection of books was in one corner, striped pillars and fun blackboards elsewhere.

One of the blackboards outlined the restaurant’s commitment to sourcing produce locally and even had a map drawn out. The bar area itself seemed packed with liquid options and inviting bar stools were there for anyone just popping in for a quick drink.

Particularly luxurious for me were the beers and ales on tap that specified quite clearly that they were vegan, and they were all from different breweries too. No more guesswork as you hesitate to give a local brewery beer a try. The ‘Spun Gold’ and ‘Funky Monkey’ caught my eye, but I could not go past trying the ‘Why Kick a Moo Cow’ pale ale, as I have family connections to New Zealand. It was a cloudy, pleasant ale that I happily sat on for an hour or so.

Why Kick a Moo Cow. Why indeed... — Why Kick a Moo Cow. Why indeed…

In each category of food there seemed to be at least one gluten free choice as well, so I was impressed that they seemed to be catering to a wide range of culinary requirements. Vegan options when I was there included: Lentil and quinoa BB ‘meatballs’ on toasted ciabatta, sweet miso slaw, Severn project salad; Farinata, carrots with cashew dip, pickled vegetables, hummus and fava tagine; Spiced potato fruit and nut brik pastry, dukkah salad, rhubarb and beetroot chutney and (what I ordered) Orzo pasta salad, summer radish, red onion and chilli, pesto and nut crumble.

I also ordered a side of Jersey royal potatoes which, although they came with butter on the menu, were very easily veganised, with no fuss.

I absolutely adored the food. Every mouthful was bursting with flavour. With vegans having to compromise so much when eating out sometimes, this was a blissful experience. I devoured the lot, which is not to say I didn’t savour it. With no room left for a dessert, I didn’t enquire after one, so can’t tell you if there were vegan options there too.

The staff were very friendly but left me alone to read and eat and just generally take the place in.

They have lots more information on their website and up to date menus can be found on their facebook page.
Follow No 1 Harbourside on twitter here.

The Brigstow, Bristol

May 30, 2015 by Tofu Temptress Leave a Comment

I stumbled across The Brigstow on Clare Street in central Bristol while I was out looking for a vegan feed the day before VegFest. I’d arrived from London at 2pm and was in the mood for a late lunch. It looks like an ordinary pub from the outside, but once you cross the threshold it is an altogether more bohemian and therefore interesting establishment.

A glance around the place with its table numbers felt-tipped onto wooden spoons and it’s spray painted, artistically pleasing walls (perhaps inspired by, but certainly more colourful than, one of Bristol’s favourite sons, Banksy) made me feel far more at home than I would be in any gaping, soulless gastro pub. And let me tell you, Bristol has its fair share of those…

I was greeted by an incredibly chipper bloke behind the bar who was very helpful. Despite its mostly meaty menu of burgers and sliders (am I the only one who finds the word ‘slider’ less than appetising? Just me then…) there were a couple of vegan options. Once I’d placed my order and was cosy at my rickety table, the staff were attentive but not overly so. The chef even poked his head out of the kitchen and asked if I’d prefer hummus to their normal mayonnaise, to which I enthusiastically nodded my ascent.

I chose the falafel burger and fries, which, in a manner I fear would disgust the plate society, or whatever they call themselves, was served on a plank of wood. The chips were in a poke, as Scots of the past would say, and the whole thing was totally yummy. Instead of coleslaw they’d made up some onion salsa kind of stuff (I’m afraid I’ve forgotten exactly what it was called) but it was a triumph.

All in all a very pleasant experience and a positive note on which to start my culinary experience of Bristol.

Bread Street Brasserie, Edinburgh

May 2, 2015 by Tofu Temptress Leave a Comment

I’d dined at the Bread Street Brasserie before on a weeknight, as they always have vegan options on their regular menu, but tonight was busier as it was their monthly vegan evening. The high ceilings and beautiful light fittings made for a lovely ambiance.

The restaurant is attached to the Hilton hotel and very centrally located. We met friends there who are new to Edinburgh and, although not vegan themselves, were keen to try out the special menu. Between us we sampled almost everything on offer.

The waitress kindly pointed out the vegan wines available, all from Fair Horizon vineyard in the Western Cape. Although there was a Sauvignon Blanc, a Pinot Rose and a Cab- Petit Verdot to choose from, I went with a soft drink as I was driving and the blokes sampled a very pleasant bottle of vegan lager called Edinburgh Gold. (It’s worth noting that all their bottled products are vegan friendly, but their cask ones are not, using as they do the dreaded isinglass.)

We were served bread with vegan butter and as soon as one of our friends asserted that she was gluten free, some gf bread was produced with a flourish. The entire menu on this particular evening was gluten free, so there was a brilliant range of options not only for vegans and the lactose intolerant, but for celiacs too.

Lightly charred asparagus spears with maple tahini dressing

To start I had the lightly charred asparagus spears and, although somewhat minimalist, it was a tasty appetiser with a lovely sesame dressing. My fellow diners were equally impressed with both the nettle and spinach soup (which we nicknamed ‘spiky soup’) and the watercress, orange and avocado salad.

The soup was a brave choice for one who had only been stung by nettles while out running and never eaten the things. It was a pleasant surprise to find out they were not just for assaulting one’s knees when out wearing shorts, but could be harvested to be made into something pretty yummy.

Our friends both opted for the red lentil and spring vegetable-stuffed roast peppers for their main, while my other half chose the leek and chestnut mushroom pie. I picked the steamed cauliflower with cashew ‘cheese’ sauce as, not only do I think the cauliflower is a much maligned vegetable and demand needs to be encouraged, but I’m a sucker for cheese fakery. I wasn’t disappointed.

Cries of ‘yum’ emanated from our table, not least from me. The portions were delicate, but the taste was fantastic. Each plate of food was beautifully presented and at £17.50 for three courses, I’d say it was a bargain.

The dreadful news came as we were about to order our desserts. They had run out of chocolate nut lava cake. What to do? It had been so popular that we were just too late to sample any. Still, with two other options, all seemed well. My hubby went for the tangy rhubarb sorbet.

I don’t know about you, but when I imagine sorbet, I think of a somewhat icy, bitter experience unless you’re somewhere that specialises in desserts, and even then it often has to be loaded with fruit to save it from being really boring. Well, the Bread Street Brasserie just tore up the rule book. It was the creamy, sweet, flavourful dessert that vegans so often have to miss out on, and the portion was generous.

Myself and the others decided to be even more adventurous and try the quinoa and banana pudding. I’ll be honest, I’d never have though to put quinoa in a pudding and I was somewhat apprehensive. But do you know what? It worked. It really worked and all three of us tucked in with gusto. In the end we were all almost glad the chocolate cake was missing, as it would have stopped our voyage of very pleasant discovery.

If you’d like to attend the Bread Street Brasserie’s next vegan evening, check them out on social media, or visit their website.

The Big Vegan Fete

April 15, 2015 by Tofu Temptress Leave a Comment

The Flying Duck is easy to miss. Coming from Edinburgh on Saturday 4th April, I knew that it was close to Buchanan Street Bus Station, but hadn’t appreciated quite how close. It was a sunny day in Glasgow, which made it slightly incongruous to be descending the steps into a nightclub located up an alley off Renfield Street. But descend them I did and was welcomed into the friendly, chaotic world of the Vegan Fete. The darkness, crowds and pulsing music soon made me forget it was daylight outside and I took to perusing the stalls of, let’s face it, mainly cake. Not that I’m complaining! Quite the opposite.

The Hunt Sabs and The Vegan Kind were there amongst other familiar faces (if I haven’t mentioned you it’s because I didn’t see you – it was quite dark and my eyesight isn’t what it was!) but the cakes were the items that seemed to produce the biggest queues.

Smashing Tarts, for it was they, had the biggest one when I was there, and no wonder with that fabulous array of super-indulgent wares. As well as Daiya cheese twists they had Bourbon cake and tiffin, ganache cake and coconut cake and countless other delights. I made a few purchases… I’d been invited on twitter to try out Dairy Free Tablet’s Mint choc offerings and oh goodness, it was good. I may have eaten almost a whole bar on the bus home, but don’t tell anyone.

Considerit chocolate were also exhibiting, they of vegan cream egg fame, and I sampled some of their Amaretto truffle bar, leading me to buy not only that but also the orange flavour and the coffee and muscovado flavour.

I needed a distraction from all this sugar and so wandered over to Kirsten Scott’s table of delightful jewellery and clay crafts. Many of the earrings were animal themed and I fell for a gorgeous fox design. There were food themes too, with bracelets made from tiny slices of Battenberg cake and Swiss rolls amongst others.

All in all it was a lovely fete, and although a bit warm and crowded, I was glad to see such an event have an obviously big following.
This is the first big vegan fair in Scotland this year, with Vegan Festival in Edinburgh in August and then the big one, a two day Vegfest in Glasgow in December. Vegan festival is in Newcastle as well, in July, and having attended last year I can say it was a great place to be.

These events are growing more and more popular and taking place in more places throughout the country, so whether you’re in Liverpool, London, Brighton, Bristol or Birmingham, or indeed anywhere else in the UK, there should hopefully be a vegan festival near you soon. Have fun!

Vegan Easter Eggs

April 2, 2015 by Tofu Temptress 3 Comments

If you go to the supermarket today you’ll see aisles full of Easter eggs and those Easter eggs will be choc (ha!) full of milk. Even many of the lesser-spotted dark chocolate mainstream eggs contain milk. Some don’t (for example the delectable Green and Black’s Organic Dark Chocolate Egg) but mostly you’ll be looking in the ‘free from’ section for cruelty free Easter treats.

So, I thought I’d make a huge sacrifice and test some of them for you. I know, selfless. I didn’t test a lot as: a) My jeans are tight enough already and, b) Happily, there are now a huge variety, with practically every major retailer in the UK catering to the lactose intolerant and of course vegans, so really, too many to sample.

The first lot I tried were from the superb online retailer Vegan Town. The mini eggs came in three truffle filled varieties: strawberry flavour (gold wrapper) coffee flavour (brown wrapper) or nougat flavour (pink wrapper) and I must say all were yummy. They were the perfect size for an Easter egg hunt and you can buy them in a bundle as I did or in separate bags of one flavour.

Next, the company Choices has a variety of dairy free treats that are available all year round at plenty of supermarkets. I tried their white chocolate bunny, which is just as I remember white chocolate to be (although I must admit it’s been a while) – very sweet with a close texture that crumbles nicely as you eat it.

The second of their products I tried was their caramel flavoured Easter Egg, which came with three chocolate discs. It was nice, but some of the chocolate in the main egg was a bit thin and the flavour was perhaps an acquired taste. It did a good job of imitating milk chocolate though and those shortcomings didn’t stop me munching my way through it, and it was great for something different.

My favourite was probably Moo Free’s Orange Easter egg. The chocolate was nice and thick and the orange crystal bits through it (a bit like Matchmakers) were absolutely scrummy. It is a darker chocolate, but not so dark it’s bitter, so I think would appeal to milk chocolate fans too. It definitely disappeared the quickest and I was sorely tempted to go out and buy another one. Definitely a great egg to convert non-vegans!

The holy grail of Easter treats is of course the Cream Egg. There’s been a bit of controversy recently about the quality of the mainstream egg, not that you’d want to eat dairy stuff anyway. So, hurray for Considerit Chocolate who have produced a vegan cream egg. Yes, you read that correctly, a Vegan Cream Egg. It goes without saying that when my local vegetarian deli got them in stock yesterday, I hot-footed it down there and bagged one. Screw the expense, I had to try it. The chocolate was darker than you’d have with the conventional one, but the filling was perfect and all in all I was not disappointed. They are so popular though, I’d get in there if I were you, before they all disappear.

If you do miss out on those, remember, a dairy free Easter egg is only as far as your local supermarket because everyone from Sainsbury’s, to Holland and Barrett seem to have their own brands and the free from section will have everything from dark, ‘milk’, or white chocolate vegan eggs for you to choose from. So have a happy Easter and treat yourself!

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