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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

Tofurky Sandwiches

October 13, 2017 by Tofu Temptress Leave a Comment

chick'n & Sweetcorn
Fun packaging
Fun packaging

One of the top reasons people give for not going vegan is convenience. Being able to pick up a sandwich on the go can be challenging. Although some high street retailers have slowly started to feature perhaps one or two vegan options in their sea of meal deals, there’s still not the choice that vegans crave.

I was contacted by someone who is trialling four different varieties of Tofurky sandwiches in Whole Foods, London. She told me these sandwiches were different. Vegan takeaway sandwiches pretty much all contain falafel, which is fine – if you’re in the mood for falafel. But what if you’re not? Well, these sandwiches are vegan versions of some of the classic sandwich choices our omni friends can enjoy every day. I thought it sounded intriguing, so was delighted when she offered to send me some samples.

Chick'n & Sweet Corn - just like the 'real thing'
Chick’n & Sweet Corn – just like the ‘real thing’

When they arrived I was determined to try them with some omnis, which I did – two of them. It’s been thirty years since I last ate animal flesh, so I needed the opinions of those who could at least remember how it tasted. These sandwiches are designed to appeal not only to vegans, but to those looking to reduce meat in their diet.

The first sandwich we tried was the Chick’n and Sweet Corn. I must say that although the other sandwiches were nice (in my opinion) this was felt to be the best by all of us. Apparently it did indeed ‘taste like chicken’ and I found it to be a really tasty bite. One of the tasters felt there should even be more ‘chicken’ in it in relation to the mayo, which was yummy and creamy and um, tasted like mayo.

Grab 'n' go sandwiches
Grab ‘n’ go sandwiches

The next one we tried was the Chipotle Chick’n. One of the tasters felt this was even more authentically chicken tasting than the last one. I enjoyed it, but found it a bit spicy for my personal taste. The clue is in the title however and it was certainly very tasty too with great flavours.

Chipotle chick'n was spicy, as you'd expect
Chipotle chick’n was spicy, as you’d expect

 

Third on the list was the Ham Style salad. We had a difference of opinion on this one when it came to ‘hamminess’ (is that a word..?) One omni felt it tasted just like ham whereas the other did not and felt it had a few too many mustard seeds. I enjoyed it. It was a nice sandwich that I would’ve been happy to buy in any shop.

I liked the ham style salad
I liked the ham style salad

 

Last of all was the TLT (Tempeh, lettuce & tomato.) This was probably my second favourite as the smoky flavoured, chewy tempeh was a satisfying filling. Everyone felt it had great textures and it was another popular choice.

The TLT had great smoky flavours
The TLT had great smoky flavours

To sum up, I can’t wait till these sandwiches are available up and down the country. Although I enjoy falafel and avocado, sometimes you feel like something different. I think that’ll be when veganism will truly be in the mainstream – when you can swing by any supermarket or shop to pick up a sandwich and be greeted with a choice. A real choice doesn’t mean scouring the shelves to find the one vegan option that has sold out because it’s so popular. It means having tasty vegan sandwiches on the shelves for everyone, not just the falafel lovers.

Filed Under: Product Reviews Tagged With: bread, convenience, lunch, Sandwiches, vegan

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