{"@context":{"rdf":"http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#","rdfs":"http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#","owl":"http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#","foaf":"http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/","dc":"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/","dct":"http://purl.org/dc/terms/","sioc":"http://rdfs.org/sioc/types#","blog":"http://vocab.amy.so/blog#","as":"https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams#","mf2":"http://microformats.org/profile/","ldp":"http://www.w3.org/ns/ldp#","solid":"http://www.w3.org/ns/solid#","view":"https://terms.rhiaro.co.uk/view#","asext":"https://terms.rhiaro.co.uk/as#","dbp":"http://dbpedia.org/property/","geo":"http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#","doap":"http://usefulinc.com/ns/doap#","time":"http://www.w3.org/2006/time#"},"@graph":[{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/2017/07/vego","@type":"as:Note","as:content":"
Important announcement: Vego is the best non-dark chocolate ever, and if you get the opportunity just buy it for me okay?
I particularly love the chunkiness of the bars which are perfect for just filling your whole face with chocolate. It's also made with pureed hazelnut or something so the chocolate is kind of fluffy and not as hard as normal block chocolate.
Mostly available in Germany or places that import health foods stuff from Germany. Keep an eye out.
","as:published":{"@type":"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime","@value":"2017-07-30T20:56:00+02:00"},"as:tag":[{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/chocolate"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/food"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/vegan"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/vego"}]},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/2017/09/59c777e1a9e99","@type":"as:Add","as:object":{"@id":"https://www.slavorum.org/survival-guide-how-to-be-a-vegetarian-or-vegan-in-bosnia-and-herzegovina/"},"as:published":{"@type":"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime","@value":"2017-09-24T14:49:00+02:00"},"as:tag":[{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/sarajevo"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/vegan"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/travel"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/food"}],"as:target":{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/bookmarks/"}},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/2017/09/week-in-review-2","@type":"as:Article","as:content":"Usually my problem is that i can't get vegan cheese or chocolate but right now i only have vegan cheese and chocolate which is overall an improvement i guess but i dunno what i'm having for dinner??
\r\n","as:published":{"@type":"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime","@value":"2017-12-10T20:36:00+01:00"},"as:tag":[{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/vegan"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/food"}]},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/2017/12/ghent","@type":"as:Article","as:content":"This month's convluted travel routing took me through Ghent, Belgium. The bus timetables didn't quite line up to let me go straight through from Boston (the original) to Sarajevo, so I figured if I have to spend a day in a city I should pick a nice one, and one that I haven't been to before.
\r\n\r\nI arrived, early, at 0530. It was very cold. Thankfully one of the earliest opening coffeeshops happens to be an all-vegan one - Full Circle Coffee. Unfortunately I still had two hours to kill before 0730, which I spent shivering in a corner in the train station. It wasn't the best.
\r\n\r\nWhen I made my way to Full Circle, it was still dark. The place is super welcoming, with sofas, comfy chairs, as well as tables, and a wall-facing bench lined with power sockets, so it's clear laptopping is welcome. I started my day earlier than usual, with an oat milk flat white, and chocolate pie (8EUR total). Their other offerings included carrot cake and chai carrot cake.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe wifi was fine, and there was a power socket by a sofa. I curled up there and watched the sun rise out of the glass door which leads to their back terrace. The sun didn't so much as rise, but the sky turned a lighter shade of grey. I thought about leaving for a walking tour at 10, but just as I was making my mind up to close my laptop it started to sleet. I stayed.
\r\n\r\nJust after 11 the weather had improved, and I headed to Mie Vie, a vegan cafe in the town center. I had a somehow spectacular cheese salad sandwich on crusty bread, and a danish pastry. This place was also welcoming, and also had good wifi and power options, and a decent amount of space. It didn't get busy over lunch time.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nI joined this walking tour at 1300. It lasted two hours, and was fun and informative. I learnt that French Fries are Belgian, there are three peeing children statues (compared to Brussels' one), and there's art in one of the cathedral's that is the most-stolen ever. It rained, hailed, and the sun came out a little, but mostly it was just overcast. Our Mexican tour guide is in the final year of his PhD in international politics. It was a pretty large group; I tipped 5EUR.
\r\n\r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n
\r\n\r\nI almost caved and got chips because I was cold, but resisted, holding out for a vegan all-you-can-eat buffet later. I went to the library (De Krook) to be productive for a while. It's a pretty cool new building with interesting architecture. There were lots of people studying on the top floor, but still space.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nNext I headed to Komkommertijd for dinner. An all-you-can-eat vegan buffet for a lofty 17EUR. The place was packed and I was permitted a table on the condition I left by 20.00. This wasn't ideal as I had been hoping to use this as my warm place until my 22.00 bus. In any case, I ate all I could. The food was good; a selection of hot stew-y type dishes, all rich and cheesey, as well as spring rolls and pakora-type things, soup, bread and various salads. There was a blueberry cake for dessert. They don't serve tap water unless a drink is ordered which I thought was a little unreasonble given the cost of the buffet. I watched a tiny old lady next to me polish off plate after plate. There was no wifi.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nI decided to head back full circle to Full Circle Coffee for a hot chocolate, if it was still open. It wasn't. But around the corner I stumbled across Lokaal, which I'd heard about but forgot to look for on the map. From there I did get a hot chocolate, served in a giant vase. \"Sometimes we like to play practical jokes on people and today it's you.\" Out of the corner of my eye I also saw two women struggling to eat dessert from a comically oversized bowl. I stayed well past closing time (21.00) since the place was still half full. The staff were friendly and funny and it had a generally silly vibe. Just as I was leaving, someone broke out Twister but with vegetables and George Michael instead of the usual coloured circles.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThen back to Dampoort, for bus number 3 to Cologne Airport.
\r\n\r\nThe rest of the photos are here.
","as:name":"A day in Ghent","as:published":{"@type":"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime","@value":"2017-12-08T23:30:00+01:00"},"as:tag":[{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/libraries"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/vegan"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/food"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/travel"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/tourism"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/ghent"}]},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/2017/12/vegan-edinburgh","@type":"as:Article","as:content":"I lived in Edinburgh for 4 years, but the vegan offerings have ramped up in the 2 years I've been away since. On my last two visits, in September for my viva and December for my graduation, I visited old favourites, as well as crammed in as many new places as I could.
\r\n\r\nI went to the Hoose almost every Monday evening for 4 years. They have a 20% discount on food on Mondays. They also have a ton of vegan options in a laid-back grungy pub atmosphere. They had vegan cheese on their GIANT nachos before it was cool.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe menu changed while I was away, and these days along with their vegan chilli, vegan burrito and vegan burger they also have a fried tofu sandwich and raspberry sorbet sundae. I miss the veggie haggis and mushroom pie of ye olde days though, gotta say.
\r\n\r\nBut you really come for the nachos.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nI practically lived in Anteaques when I ran SocieTea. They were our best sponsor, and I am as unfailingly loyal as you can be to a tea shop. They also have at least one homemade vegan tart at weekends, usually chocolate and raspberry. Rhubarb apparently briefly put in a seasonal appearance last month, but I missed it. Anyway I'm happy to eat the chocolate and raspberry tart with a pot of tea every single time I go, it's fantastic.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe tea is also good.
\r\n\r\nI used to eat at Rigatoni's a lot. It's a lovely family-run pizza and pasta joint. It's not the cheapest, but the quality is outstanding. Over the years I developed my perfect topping combo: spicy kidney beans, artichoke, and mushrooms or olives (depending on what I was in the mood for). I went so regularly they'd remind me to remove cheese from my order if I forgot to mention it. They don't have vegan cheese, but the pizza sauce is so good it holds up a pizza all on its own. The XL is best value for money, and would usually last me one and a half to two meals. It's great cold the next day, smothered in hot sauce.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nAn Edinburgh veggie institution, there are now about three or four branches of Henderson's in different forms. Felicity and I went to the vegan deli version, and tried a whole bunch of stuff. It was all great. It is not particularly cheap.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nI've been to the main restaurant (vegetarian not vegan) for full meals a couple of times too on special occasions, and it was always really good.
\r\n\r\nThis is an upscale vegetarian restaurant, also generally reserved for special occasions. I've tried every vegan option on their menu at this point, and they're all good.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nLast time I had a late bus out of Edinburgh, Jane and I were killing time beforehand. Despite having just demolished Hoose nachos (see above), we hauled ourselves to David Bann for fancy pants dessert and coffee. We really had no space for it, but enjoyed it nonetheless. If you wanna go for a full meal you probably need a reservation, but they were good enough squeeze us in unannounced at 2130.
\r\n\r\nThis is somewhere between a classic and a new for me. Forrest has been around in various forms for a loooong time. The cafe is all vegetarian, with lots of vegan options or amendments. I think it's run by volunteers, and/or extremely low-paid do-gooders. I only visited a couple of times when I lived in Edinburgh, and only for coffee and cake. Recently I stopped for a meal and a few hours of laptopping. The burrito was incredible, huge, cheap, delicious, and they now have vegan cheese. There's not loads of space, but there is power and wifi if you go at none busy times. There's usually also a box of free bread by the door.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIn the newly refurbished Appleton Tower, a cafe has sprung. They have a bunch of vegan options on their small menu, including a pizza flatbread with vegan cheese. Suddenly hungry in the 15 minutes before my graduation ceremony started, I stuffed this into my face. It was about £3 and quite delicious.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThis place is great on a number of levels. Clerk St is a very handy location. It is all vegetarian and mostly vegan, and everything is well labelled. They have a good selection of cakes and drinks, and both large and small mains. They have loads of seating downstairs, so I would feel no guilt whatsoever taking my laptop there for several hours (there's wifi and power).
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIt opened in late 2017, and I went several times over my last two visits to Edinburgh, feeling a need to try as much of the menu as possible. It has all been really good, although a turmeric latte was a bit bland. The milkshakes are elaborate and luxurious though, and the flavours have been different each time I went.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe pancake stacks are pretty epic. I wanted to try the kuku but they hadn't had a delivery yet when I was there.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nMy biggest life regret may be not staying in Edinburgh long enough to try their christmas menu.
\r\n\r\nAn all-vegetarian pizza place in New Town. The vegan menu is so extensive it could stand alone and you wouldn't know anything was missing, over starters mains and desserts. Jane and I shared two pizzas, as well as a 4-'cheese' bruscetta to start. We were too stuffed for dessert, but a hazelnut latte went down very well. This was £40 between us.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThis place is all vegan, and hidden away behind the bus station. It's small, but the cake selection is huge. They have a bunch of different kinds of burgers. I didn't even look at the juice and smoothie menu. The chips were fantastic. It was all good. I wanted to eat everything.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nI took photos of all of the cakes so I could think about them more whilst eating my burger.
\r\n\r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n
\r\n\r\nThese folks used to sell handmade vegan chocolates at markets, and now opened a shop across the road from Summerhall. The Summerhall guest wifi reaches, and there's power, and a reasonable amount of space, though it's not super comfy (yet - I think it's being developed).
\r\n\r\nAnyway it's a VEGAN DONUT SHOP so who cares about the seating.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nFelicity and I tried four between us, along with oat milk mochas. We took chocolates to go as gifts.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nYeah this was good.
\r\n\r\nA new (to me) sushi place on Nicholson St seemed worth checking out, and they have a lot of vegan options. The veggie 'garden platter' can be veganised upon request. When I went in to pick up our order, the guy behind the counter told me they're working on introducing a lot more vegan options, including fixing their breading so it doesn't use egg. Keep an eye on this one!
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nUuuugh it's a burger bar, but the vegan menu is extensive, so I guess it's good to show demand. They have branches in Glasgow, but the one on Lothian Road is the first in Edinburgh.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nI had an Angry Vegan, which was seitan based, with not-cheese and good salad. The spicy buffalo sauce was good too, and Felicity and I shared chips with blue not-cheese dip.
\r\n\r\nExactly what the name says, this place is mostly but not all vegetarian. When we were there ordering all of the vegan things, we were told they're introducing more veggie and vegan options in the near future too. They have a haggis pakora, which you can't really say no to. We shared a variety of pakoras, and also the red bean soup which was really good. What looks like a small amount of food is surprisingly filling, and the prices are good too. It's in New Town.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThis doesn't cover all of the places to eat vegan in Edinburgh, and there are many that I frequented when I lived there which aren't listed. This is just a roundup of my two trips this year. Here's the HappyCow link for your convenience, and the Edinburgh University Vegetarian Society.
","as:name":"Vegan in Edinburgh","as:published":{"@type":"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime","@value":"2017-12-10T14:24:00+01:00"},"as:tag":[{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/travel"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/food"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/vegan"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/edinburgh"}]},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/2017/12/week-in-review","@type":"as:Article","as:content":"This weekend I went to Mostar with Elizabeth and MB. We took the 0707 train from Sarajevo on Saturday morning. The pinky sunrise was softened by the already accumulated smog, which obscured our view from the train for at least thirty minutes before we finally crawled out of it in the mountains. The smog was still waiting on Sunday evening to greet us on our return. So.. it was a good idea to go away this weekend. Mostar was bright, clear, and less cold throughout. And the colour of that water!
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nOfficially the train arrives into Mostar at 9am, but it was after 0930 when we got there. Between three of us we paid 46km (23EUR) for an apartment a hop and a skip away from the old town. Our hosts picked us up from the train station.
\r\n\r\nMostar is small, and at least as battered by the war as Sarajevo if not more so. Abandoned buildings are striking.
\r\n\r\nWe went to see the famous bridge of course, and had coffee looking over the river. We went to the Hammam museum (15 mins, 4km) and inside a mosque beside the river and up the minaret (12km), which was super cool. The Bridge Museum was closed. Old town is nice to wander around, but packed up pretty early. It's not tourist season I guess.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nAfter a nap, we hiked up to the controversial cross on Hum Hill. Instead of taking a path or road around the back of the hill, we charged straight up the Mostar-side, which was rocky and steep and probably there weren't landmines but also it was a sniper stronghold so you know. Good views of town. We returned via the road, which took longer but was less perilous.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nVeggie food was not easy to find. Nowhere even had krompirusa. It was on the menus (but spelled krompirača??), but nobody had it. One place managed to dredge up some vegetable mush and rice for me. I ate the apple part of a tufahija (baked apple) and the others ate the cream. Turkish delight and halva were abundant. This was a high sugar weekend. We also drank a lot of Bosnian coffee.
\r\n\r\nExcept the next day! We headed to Teco, since it's listed on HappyCow (two other places are listed on HappyCow for Mostar; one we couldn't find and the other was clearly under new management and only had pizza). Teco is further out and by the university campus, so it was a bit of a walk. They had a vegan burger (ask for yoghurt to be excluded), three vegan cakes and a wide selection of smoothies, plus soya milk for coffee drinks. The have a glass-surround front which heated up like a greenhouse. We stayed for five hours soaking up the sun and reading. The music was also good.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThen we caught the train back to Sarajevo.
\r\n\r\n","as:name":"A weekend in Mostar","as:published":{"@type":"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime","@value":"2018-01-28T23:00:00+01:00"},"as:tag":[{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/mostar"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/travel"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/bosnia"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/vegan"}]},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/2018/01/vegan-in-malta","@type":"as:Article","as:content":"My airbnb host in Malta expressed alarm and concern when she found out I am vegan. I hadn't gone there with particularly high hopes, but there were a few places on Happycow. So without further ado...
\r\n\r\nOur first night in Malta was NYE and we wandered into Valetta to find it packed and bustling. We stumbled upon Soul Foods, who were able to squeeze us in at 1900 but were otherwise full. Soul Foods is really wholesome homemade food for omnivores. The vegan main was an ayurvedic dish of lentils and grains. It was really delicious and flavoursome. Liz and I split two raw desserts; chocolate 'salami' and carrot cake. I loved them both, but they were 'too healthy' / not sweet enough for Liz. More for me. Not cheap, but justifiably so.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nEvery time I tried to stop at Grassy Hopper, a veggie place, it was closed.
\r\n\r\nWe found Theobroma, a rawvegan dessert stand. I had a spectacular chilli hot chocolate with homemade almond milk (cashew is also an option; and hot chocolates come in plain, orange or white too). We picked up a peanut butter cup and a hemp seed chocolate bar ('too healthy') to enjoy later. Everything is also gluten free.
\r\n\r\nNext to Theobroma is Pastahaus. We went in on Liz's instinct, and this was probably both of our favourite meals. They have a huge array of homemade pasta, and at least four without eggs. They understand and are happy to explain what's vegan, and persistently offered a vegan wine. I chose a pasta made from semolina and hemp, accompanied by an avocado and almond sauce. They have a vegetable curry sauce too, as well as basic chilli oil and tomato and basil ones which I suspect are amazing. We shared bruschetta to start.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nOn the way to the ferry on my final evening, I stopped by Gurag. This place was somehow just what I needed; it seemed attuned to my mood. It's an all-veggie 'hangout and bar'. The space is small and was busy and loud, but they have seats downstairs. Nobody else was down there, so I had sofas and a generally peaceful laid back space all to myself. The wifi doesn't reach there, so I read for a couple of hours. They have a lot of vegan options, but upcharge (50c) for almond or soya milk in the smoothies. I chose a traditional Maltese sandwich, which at a mere 3.50EUR was a whole and hearty meal, along with a peanut butter chocolate milkshake. I took two energy balls and an orange fig brownie to go.
\r\n\r\nThere are quite a few Indian and Asian restaurants along the Sliema waterfront. We didn't try any, but it's good to know they're always an option.
\r\n\r\nOn a wander around the coast at Sliema, we stopped at a random waterfront place called Il Gabana, which had a falafel burger. The location was good but the burger was pretty bad.
\r\n\r\nWe ate twice in San Giljan. I found Naar and Two Buoys Bistro on Happycow. The first time we went, Naar was closed, and the options in Gululu (a traditional Maltese one) were more appealing than Two Buoys, so we ate there. We shared an antipasti plate of white beans, sundried tomatoes and olives. Liz followed up with risotto, and I had another anitpasti option of a small aubergine and artichoke salad thing. And lots of Maltese bread. The restaurant is nice, and everything is very clearly labelled with allergens on the menu, but the food I ate in the end wasn't super inspiring.
\r\n\r\nWe made it to Naar for brunch eventually, and I had an all vegan breakfast. Nothing I can't make at home, except past months in Bosnia make most of the ingredients unavailable to me so I actually haven't indulged in this for a while. Apart from everything tasting slightly sweet for some reason, it was great. Naar also have a vegan burger, salads, and various sides, all labelled. Good smoothie options. The location on the water is pretty fantastic too.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThis is a fishing village, so obviously most places specialise in fish. A few have veggie pastas, risottos, and most places have pizzas that can be de-cheesed. All of the restaurants are on the shore, and it's small enough that we could take 10 minutes to walk up and back checking all the menus before picking one. We ate at Matthew's; Liz had fish which came with an overabundence of sides (chips, salad, cooked vegetables, bread) which all appeared to be vegan and I helped with. They were pretty good. I also ate vegetable soup, which was really good. We sat outside, and it was windy, and eventually everything was covered in sand and grit.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIt took two buses and a ferry to get to the only fully vegan restaurant in Malta, and it was totally worth it. Green Mood in Ir-Rabat aka Victoria on Gozo (the north island) is a lovely space, serving customisable grain bowls, soup, juices and smoothies. It's comfy and there's wifi. Liz and I spent a little too long there when we arrived to Gozo. We also left with energy balls. Prices are really good; bowls between 5 and 7 EUR.
\r\n\r\nWe ate dinner near the Citadel at It-Tokk; I had penne arrabiata with sundried tomatoes; simple but delicious. On the way back to the bus, I grabbed a dark chocolate ice cream from Vanilla because.. how could I not. They also have a range of vegan sorbets.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe post about the rest of the trip is here.
","as:name":"Vegan in Malta","as:published":{"@type":"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime","@value":"2018-01-04T22:30:00+01:00"},"as:tag":[{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/travel"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/vegan"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/food"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/malta"}]},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/2018/02/vegan-discovery","@type":"as:Note","as:content":"Vegan discovery of the week: I wanted scrambled tofu but all I could find was silken, so I sliced gently and fried it (gently) and it spat loads but came out exactly like fried egg white \\o/
\r\n\r\nNo photo, I ate it.
","as:published":{"@type":"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime","@value":"2018-02-14T10:55:00+00:00"},"as:tag":[{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/tofu"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/food"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/vegan"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/cooking"}]},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/2018/02/vegan-in-prague","@type":"as:Article","as:content":"If you want to know what I was doing between meals, I also have a post about Prague in general.
\r\n\r\nThat was easier than expected. Though also more expensive than expected. I thought I could do two meals on 10-15EUR per day but had to quickly laugh that idea out of the window.
\r\n\r\nBut there are enough vegan restaurants that I could eat solely at vegan-only establishments and still didn't try them all. There are about 6 Loving Huts. There's lots of Vietnamese food. Here goes:
\r\n\r\nA stark, canteen-like ambience, but very friendly staff. There are a couple of Veganlands; I went to one in small mall, which didn't help with the atomsphere. It's a buffet (25czk/100g) as well as a fixed menu. The buffet food is mostly Asian style, vegetables, mock meats and noodles. Some good stuff, mostly kind of greasy and junky, but satisfying. It reminded me of the terrible-but-awesome Chinese food I ate in Penang, the likes of which I haven't had in a really long time. On one occasion I had the buffet for lunch, and took away summer rolls and sushi (from the menu) to eat later. I ended up eating them for lunch the next day, and they were all good.
\r\n\r\nThe next time I went (it was the closest vegan place to my hostel) I had the mozzerella pizza and it was fab. All the HappyCow reviews said so, and they are right. It was the right size, and super cheesey. I also had 'homemade lemonade' which was just a syrup and they mixed it with sparkling water and this was a terrible idea.
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\r\n\r\nThey have some raw cakes, but they didn't look particularly appetising and I didn't try them.
\r\n\r\nLoving Huts in Prague are buffet style, 24czk/100g, and similarly Asian fare. Actually very similar to Veganland. The fixed menu is different though. I tried pho and wonton dumplings and they were both great. I didn't try the buffet. The pho was way more filling than I expected.
\r\n\r\nThe atmosphere, in the x location at least, was nicer than Veganland. Still pretty stark, but less canteen-y. It opened last month though, and there's no wifi currently.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThis is a good place to go for a fancy meal if you're feeling fancy. But they also have little one-person shelf bench things against one wall, with power sockets, so I took my laptop out and didn't feel bad about taking up space. I went around 9pm, as they're open til 11pm and I was killing time before a midnight bus.
\r\n\r\nAll of the food looks great. I had gnocchi with 'salmon'. I'm not sure where the 'salmon' came into it, it seemed to be a sauce made from mostly carrot and onion, but it was really nice nonetheless.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nPeople were raving about the tiramisu, but I didn't feel like it. They had some crumbly fruit cakes too. I went with a hot chocolate, which was great. Super dark and bitter, yet smooth, with cacao nibs on the top.
\r\n\r\nThis is a good-food and fast-food place in the old town. They have bowls of healthy Asian mixes, as well as burgers, kebabs and hotdogs. Good for a mixed crowd, or if you don't want to decide what kind of lunch you're having until you get there. I had a hotdog, which came loaded with healthy toppings including kale! And good sauce. The fries were mediocre. I took a brownie for later.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe space is nice, with a vast downstairs area, lots of nooks, power and wifi. Would be a good place to work. Staff were super friendly.
\r\n\r\nI planned to have a lengthy three course meal before heading to the cinema across the street, but the portions were so huge I had to skip dessert and content myself with a chai latte. I was sitting next to the cake cabinet though, and they looked fantastic. Not trying cake here may be my biggest regret.
\r\n\r\nI had a starter of pea guacamole with roasted portabello mushrooms, and a main of spaghetti with tempeh and tomato. They were so good. This is also a good place for a fancy meal.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nI managed to spend 7 hours here on the last day after my hostel checkout. The menu is extensive and great, including breakfast options, and it was tough to choose, but the HappyCow reviews hyped up the seitan and cheese bagel, so that's what I started with. The HappyCow reivews were right. A huge chunk of burger-y seitan, and a huge chunk of melty not-cheese, plus a heap of salad and pickles. They were out of bagels, but the seedy bun served its purpose. I bet their other burgers and quesedillas are amazing too. The espresso was great.
\r\n\r\nI got 'homemade lemonade' here too which was also syrup with sparkling water argh, but better than at Vegan land cos they also packed it full of lemon chunks and fresh mint. But yeah, must stop getting lemonade in Prague, it's not Sarajevo.
\r\n\r\nI progressed to waffles, which were accompanied by a dollop of interesting cream, and shredded apple and pear, and sliced banana, drizzled with chocolate sauce. Pretty good. They have pancakes too. The yerba mate came in a proper mate cup with a metal straw.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nI took a tofu 'egg' wrap and a peanut butter brownie to go, for next day's bus. They got a bit squashed but survived the backpack well, and the wrap was excellent. The brownie was good, but could have been peanuttier.
\r\n\r\nCompared to everywhere else, this was the cheapest.
\r\n\r\nIt was an excellent space to work. They have loads of seats, power and wifi. Staff were nice, and it was definitely attracting an alternative sort of crowd. Also dog-friendly, and I was much entertained by various canine vistors over the afternoon.
\r\n\r\nI spent a few hours over lunchtime here. There's not much seating, but another person sitting alone let me share their table. There's wifi and power, and also a few shelves of groceries.
\r\n\r\nThe food is good, wholesome; soups, burritos, wraps, quiches, and a good selection of cakes. I had an excellent spinach and tempeh quiche, plus almond latte and lime cheesecake.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nCakes! Not strictly vegan cos they sweeten some things with honey. But all raw, all pretty expensive, and all amazing. I asked the waiter for her favourite and she directed me towards something smooth and creamy with two layers of different chocolate base, and a vanilla-bean pod filled cream layer. It was gooood. I also had a chai latte, which she cautioned me was 'spicy not sweet'. It was.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nComfy seats, but not loads. Wifi and power!
\r\n\r\nA very small place, with vegan cakes and serious coffee. Only a couple of seats which were occupied when I got there, so I took coffee and cake to go. A chocolate fruit cake, and a big slice at that.
\r\n\r\nIn a convenient tourist location, close to the Castle. Has a lot of veganised traditional Czech food, so I was determined to max out on that. I ate a three course meal which was far too much food (half size of each course would have been perfect) and I didn't eat dinner that day. Three courses plus tea was 24EUR :o But it was great.
\r\n\r\nThe starter stood out from HappyCow reviews, and sounded light, and involved tempeh: bruschetta. It was a plateful though, much bigger than expected, and really delicious.
\r\n\r\nI had stuffed cabbage for the main. It was rich and filling and delicious. And so was dessert - traditional dumplings. They were filled with prunes and covered in a sticky jam sauce. So heavy. I could hardly move.
\r\n\r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\nAlso a nice space with upstairs and downstairs seating.
","as:name":"Vegan in Prague","as:published":"2018-02-28T23:59:59+01:00","as:tag":[{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/prague"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/vegan"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/food"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/travel"}]},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/2018/02/week-in-review-4","@type":"as:Article","as:content":"aka Hungry in Hungary.
\r\n\r\nSo many good options, for eating in, takeaway, and vegan groceries, I almost regretted getting a flat with a kitchen. In no particular order...
\r\n\r\nJunk food and proud, a variety of burgers, not-dogs, salads, macaroni cheese and donuts. Delicious and fast, and pretty cheap, but cramped and busy.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nA food truck pretty close to where I was staying. They had a ton of different burgers and I wanted to try most of them. They also have smoothies and mango lassi. It's in a little street of foodtrucks which are open late, so it's a good place to go in nice weather with omnivores; something for everyone.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nSandwiches, soups, salads and burgers. The 'chips' are thin-sliced potato, more like crisps. Nice soft burger buns, easy to eat. Soup was good too, and I had a 'cream cheese' sandwich which was kind of boring. Only two seats, so one time I went we had to stand and juggle the food because it was pouring with rain outside. Good quality food, and close to attractions.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIf I ran a vegan restaurant, the kind of food I'd serve can be found at Vegacity. A vast array of pre-made stews, soups, delicious mush, fried things, salads, sushi, vegetables, brightly coloured burgers, rainbow of smoothies and an excellent cake selection. I tried to read the signs, but then just pointed at what looks good. There are two floors of seats, and wifi; I hung out here quite a lot. I should have more food photos, I don't know what happened to them.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nRaw cake, breakfasts and snacks. Stopped for good coffee and a few hours working. Not a lot of space, but it wasn't busy. Would return for interesting granola.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nA pizza foodtruck in the courtyard of a bar. All very hip and lively at night. And omg the pizza. Amongst the best pizza I've ever had, with an interesting selection of toppings. Sweet potato and chestnut, with vegan mozzerella added, a little combo of sweet and salty, was perfection. The mushroom one also rocked hard. I tried everything on the menu over two visits with other people. All pizzas very structurally unsound. No boxes to takeaway; eat it on the spot or risk it disintegrating in the street.
\r\n\r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n
\r\n\r\nBoth times a pizza was delayed because of an 'accident' (I think they ate it, who could blame them) or severely misshappen and came with an offer of a replacement? I said it was beautiful and ate it as it was. There are seats outside, but the bar (which also serves food) allows the pizza inside as well.
\r\n\r\nWas... not so great. The first time I went what I thought was well before closing time, but the kitchen was finished. When I did make it to eat I found the menu limited and the prices extortionate. The food was presented to make it seem fancy, and it tasted fine.. I had a dish with porcini mushrooms which really just hold their own and are always amazing. The desserts were miniscule. I wouldn't go again.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nA good sized basement restaurant with a lot of Hungarian dishes translated to vegan. Everything I ate here was delicious, with standout goulash (not pictured) and a poppyseed pancake layer cake with a divine chocolate sauce.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nBurgers and fries which really fill the junkfood hole. Single-size burgers are small portions, but the prices match, so it's a great place for a substantial snack. There are also double versions, and all come with a variety of fillings. The fries are good, and they have fresh juice instead of soda. There's plenty of space and wifi, though the interior is stark and wasn't cleaned very well when I was there.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nFor some reason this is the burger of the the month that lingers in my mind and I really want to eat again.
\r\n\r\nAll raw cafe with pre-made dishes in the counter, and many good looking cakes. We took a mix plate between two (some of everything, and crachers) plus smoothies and cake. Definitely healthy and delicate. Some of the little scoops of stuff were so-so, some were super delicious.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nPretty pricey and I wasn't convinced they were justified. I really wanted almond cream pancakes and gnocchi, but both times I went only limited menu items were available. The chickpea omelette was passable, and they have a nice selection of raw cakes. Need to figure out what times the main menu is available though.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nI walked past this place after eating at VegaCity, which looks like it just opened. Didn't get chance to go back. There's a bakery next to Tokmag called Fill Good which I wish I'd found sooner. It's only takeaway, but they have a huge range of sweet and savoury vegan baked goods. I took a bunch for my road trip, but didn't get a good photo. It was all delicious.
\r\n\r\n","as:name":"Vegan in Budapest","as:published":{"@type":"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime","@value":"2018-03-21T09:01:00+01:00"},"as:tag":[{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/hungary"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/budapest"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/travel"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/food"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/vegan"}]},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/2018/04/vegan-in-bratislava","@type":"as:Article","as:content":"Compared to the size of the city, there are a lot of veg*n places to eat. Most regular coffeeshops have plant milks, and a surprising number have raw vegan cakes too. It's overall cheap.
\r\n\r\nAlso quite a few places have vegan ice cream options. I got chestnut from Luculus 5 minutes after hopping off the bus.
\r\n\r\nBusy both times I went, this all vegan place has a pretty extensive menu. I tried the quesadilla which was more beans than cheese, but still good. A plate of some of the best chips I've had outside of the UK (high praise, y'know). Another time I was really not hungry enough for a full meal and I was definitely going to get soup or/and a cake, but the day's special was a pulled jackfruit burger.. It was great. I got fluffy creamy chestnut cake to go. My sister had the soup which was spicy and had avocado floating in it, which worked surprisingly well.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nA foodtruck outside Tesco. Various burgers, drinks, bananabread. Interesting burger buns. Approved.
\r\n\r\nAll vegan bakery; I wish I had been able to try everything here. They also had a few groceries like nut butters. I ate a poppyseed pastry. No wifi, but a few seats and coffee as well.
\r\n\r\nAll veggie, mostly vegan. One of the only places I could find open on Easter Sunday, they have gyoza, ramen and falafel and hummus. Food quality is good. I ate miso soup and gyoza, which were covered in edamame and mushrooms. A small portion, but very delicious. They also have bottomless green tea.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nA French crepe place, with coffees and fresh juices. They can make vegan and gluten-free crepes from almond milk and buckwheat flour, and have vegan chocolate options. I tried one with banana and blueberries, and one with 'nougat' chocolate sauce. There's wifi and lots of seating; I worked here for a whole morning. The espresso is good too.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nNeed vegan junk food at 2am? No problem. I didn't go at 2am, but it was nice to know it was an option. Mid-afternoon, it wasn't busy and was a fantastic place to work, with wifi and power. I ate an absolutely fantastic quesadilla, which was just packed with not-cheese. They also have some great cakes; on another occasion I had a burger. It's good solid (omnivore) pub food, with extensive vegan options, big portions.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nAn omni place off the main street. I just stopped in for a coffee but ended up staying for a hot chocolate and waffles as well. Small portions, on the pricey side, but the hot chocolate was really fantastic. Good for vegan breakfast or snack, not so much for lunch.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThere were a bunch of places I tried to go to but didn't because they were closed when I was in the area, or were way too busy. Next time. Things I did in Bratislava that weren't eating.
","as:name":"Vegan in Bratislava","as:published":{"@type":"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime","@value":"2018-04-08T18:00:00+02:00"},"as:tag":[{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/bratislava"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/vegan"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/food"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/travel"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/slovakia"}]},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/2018/04/vegan-in-vienna","@type":"as:Article","as:content":"There are quite a lot of options in Vienna, but everything is expensive, so I mostly bought groceries and cooked. But not always..
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nAnker is a bakery chain that's everywhere in the city. Regular branches have a few vegan things, but there's an entirely vegan Anker right in Stefansplatz Metro station. There are a couple of tables, and it's around a corner away from the bustle of the main station, so a nice place to hide away and pass the time. It's also really cheap by Vienna standards. They have a huge array of cakes and pastries of course, as well as sandwiches and other savouries. My sister (who's not vegan) got a sandwich from there for her conference lunch one day and raved about it for the whole evening afterwards. I only tried a great sticky pastry, plus an espresso, and read my kindle for a couple of hours.
\r\n\r\nI went to this place cos it was relatively close to where I was staying. It's a small biomarket with a vegan cafe added on, only a couple of tables. The food is super fresh and homemade; they have a couple of salad options and a hot main dish each day, on a changing menu. I tried goulash, and a big fluffy latte. It was all good. She tried to upsell me a salad, but I wasn't hungry enough.
\r\n\r\nIt was hard to find somehow.. but I can't recall exactly why now. The street of the address is not actually where the entrance is, or something.
\r\n\r\nAn ice cream chain, these are everywhere. Great flavours, generous scoops, good prices. I tried black forest and poppyseed.
\r\n\r\nThey have a big kebab-shaped lump of seitan rotating in the same way normal kebab places have meat! Wild. An extensive mostly-vegan menu, including different kebab combos and falafel. I had seitan in a pita and was able to load it with toppings from the counter myself. They have a bunch of interesting hummus flavours, including peanut (which obviously is what I had). The guy told me which things in the counter weren't vegan, which I think was just the tzatziki.
\r\n\r\nHappyCow lists this as non-veg, but I'm 99% sure everything was vegetarian.
\r\n\r\nA junkfood stop near Karlsplatz with a wide range of burgers and toppings. I had a Mexican hotdog, fries and homemade lemonade. Cheap and tasty.
\r\n\r\n\r\nA wide and varied menu, mostly consisting of meat-substitute oriented dishes, the form of bowls, plates and burgers. I went with a couple of omnivores and they were both happy. It was super busy and there seemed to be only two staff, so it was a while before we got served. There are seats downstairs, too. I ate pepper steak. Most dishes are very customisable in terms of sides, sauces and add-ons. Pricey, and not huge portions, but average by Vienna standards I think. There are a few branches around the city.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nA super nice cosy place, my sister and I collapsed here after a long day of walking to recouperate so we wouldn't start fighting as soon as we got home. She had a hot chocolate and I had a veganised Viennese coffee, and we shared apple strudel. We were spoilt for choice on the cake front, they all looked great, but we weren't hungry enough for two.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIt's all vegetarian, and vegan stuff is labelled.
\r\n\r\nIf all else fails, there are Denn's everywhere. They usually have a cafe counter with sandwiches, pastries and cakes, as well as good coffee and smoothie options.
\r\n\r\nThings I did in Vienna that weren't eating.
\r\n\r\nUpdate: Return in June.
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