Eating vegan in England (London, Bath and Liverpool).

Hey all! Just got back from a mad 1 week trip to England. I was super busy running around seeing the sights that food was really the last thing on my mind! Weird! I'm usually eating all the time. Didn't have any issues finding vegan grub. Here's a quick run down of what I ate.

Pizza Express on Charlotte St. in Fitzrovia, London. They have a great pizza called Pianta pizza that has: Spinach, chestnut mushroom, pine kernels and artichoke on a spicy Arrabbiata base finished with rocket and extra virgin olive oil. No cheese. I asked them to make it "Romana" style which is a thinner crust. It was perfect.

The Coach and Horses on Greek Street in Soho, London. A vegetarian/vegan pub!

Tofu fish n chips!

This was my mom's burger. It's normally vegan but she got it with cheese.


A REALLY GOOD falafel wrap from Falafel Time at Camden Lock Market.


Crazy delicious passion fruit cheeze cake at Inspiral Cafe on Camden High St.


Melissa's patisserie had wonderful vegan pretzels. I tried the cinnamon pretzel and it was heaven in my mouth!

A couple of grocery runs when we didn't have time or energy to eat out. Some vegan items from Planet Organic on Torrington in Bloomsbury and the Sainsbury's Local at Euston. (The non-vegan items were for mom.)

Delicious thai food at Salathai in Bath. I asked them to make the red curry vegan by omitting fish sauce.



Delicious vegan carrot cake from Guildhall Markets in Bath.


Yummy samosa and potato dosa at the food stalls at Borough Market in Southwark.

What a treat! Kanom krok (thai coconut pancakes) at the "Kanom Krok" stall at Borough Market.

Went up north to Liverpool and had breakfast at Brasco Lounge at Pier Head. Vegan breakfast was just right.


Nando's at Queen's Square is known for chicken but they have several vegan options. I love the people in Liverpool. The owner/manager was super nice and chatted with us several times when we dined there. The guy at the register who was helping me out went out of his way to make sure what I ordered would be vegan. So nice!

This is their soya tomato burger. Ask for it with HOT sauce and no mayo. It's really good!
Here's an article about vegan options at Nando's: http://metro.co.uk/2016/03/24/yep-vegans-can-eat-at-nandos-heres-what-to-order-5773006/


Got a ready made hummus and roasted veg sandwich from a little bakery/cafe on Thurloe St. in South Kensington.

This was yummy!

Last night in London we ate at Chinatown at Canton Restaurant. Fried aubergine in garlic sauce and fried chinese broccoli. Asked for them without oyster sauce. My mom had chicken. I was glad that they could make my dishes vegan. They were very tasty.

Szechuan Cabbage, Spinach and Mushrooms

Delicious szechuan cabbage recipe from The Complete Vegan Kitchen cookbook. Served over brown rice with Sriracha hot sauce drizzled on top.

Good stuff to eat.

Sorry, been so lazy with the blogging lately! I've had several meals that I forgot to blog about and here's one of them. It's fried tofu with a tamarind/hoisin glaze. That's coleslaw on top.


Kidney bean curry when I was craving indian food.


Deeelicious flaky and tender biscuits! They are great on their own and perfect with margarine and jam. Me+tea+biscuits=happiness.

I got this recipe from bazu over at the ppk forums. Here it is veganized:

Recipe James McNair's Buttermilk biscuits:


1/2 c. solid vegetable shortening (I used Earth Balance stick)

2 c. all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. soymilk whisked together with 1 tsp. vinegar

Position rack in middle, preheat oven to 400
spray baking sheet with oil or line with parchment, set aside
in a bowl or food processor, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt. cut in the shortening with your fingertips or a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. (I used a fork) Add soymilk/vinegar and stir just until the mixture sticks together.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly and quickly, about 30 seconds. using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out about 1/2 inch thick. using a floured 2 1/2 inch round biscuit cutter, cut out circles. Place onto the prepped baking sheet.

Bake until lightly browned, 10-12 minutes. Serve piping hot.

I got about 10 biscuits out of this, plus a bunch of loose ends that I'm saving in the freezer to use as dumplings.

Gardein Mandarin Orange Chick'n

I've had gardein meatless products before so I was sure this was going to be good. I found it in my grocer's freezer and all you have to do is saute it frozen straight out of the bag until it gets browned and there's a sauce pouch that you defrost in hot water and goes into the pan at the end. Took about 8 minutes to do, just like it says on the bag!


Here we are on top of steamed rice with a side of broccoli and a healthy squirt of Sriracha. It was very tasty. The sauce was pleasant and not too sweet and the texture of the fake meat was nice and chewy, not quite like real chicken but close enough for me. Yum. I don't eat fake meats often so this was a treat.

Szechuan Noodles with Tempeh

This comes together quickly if you have instant ramen noodles. Just cook them up, drain them and set aside. Meanwhile, steam broccoli and carrots and stir fry onions, cubed tempeh and spinach. Heat up sauce until bubbly, turn off heat and toss noodles and all veggies and tempeh together. Very yummy with extra sriracha chili sauce on top!
Recipe here.

Chinese-ish.

Was in the mood for salty and sweet Chinese food today and came home to make the following:


Vegan Dad's recipe for Pan Fried Tofu in Plum Sauce. Absolutely delicious.


Veggie chow mein based of this recipe from the MediterrAsian website. I substituted vegetarian mushroom "oyster" sauce for oyster sauce and added Thai dark sweet soy sauce.

Spicy Szechuan Style Noodles

I've made this recipe lots of times. It's quick and easy and gets dinner on the table in less than an hour. My friend gave me a packet of indonesian ramen that I used for this. Came out delicious! Recipe is here.

Orange-Ginger Hoisin Tofu

This is a take on Vegan Dad's Pan Fried Tofu with Plum Glaze. I didn't have any plum sauce and I was trying to figure out what to use instead when I remembered a neglected jar of orange-ginger jam that I had in the fridge. The jam's awful on toast but perfect for a sauce like this. It came out really great: crisp pieces of tofu covered in a sweet gingery sauce served with rice and steamed broccoli.

Lip Smacking Sweet and Savory Tofu.

All I can say is this: anyone out there who is not a big fan of tofu because you never know how to prepare it, try this recipe. It's quick, simple and so tasty. It's a little sweet though, let me warn you. I always eat it with plain rice and plain steamed cabbage to offset the sweet. Go make it now! Recipe is here. If you're not into plum sauce and hoisin, you can always substitute your favorite bbq sauce.

Edited to add: I've also substituted mango chutney for the plum sauce with delicious results.

Pan Fried Tofu with Plum Glaze

Got this recipe a while ago from Vegan Dad's blog and I hadn't made it because I didn't have hoisin sauce. Got some today while "recreational food shopping" with a dear friend and immediately thought of making this. It was quick, easy and goes very well with steamed cabbage and jasmine rice.

Breakfast and Lunch.

I woke up this morning with a craving for a tastier breakfast than oatmeal and toast. I made another Monte Cristo but this time with Tofurkey deli slices and Tofutti vegan cheese. Good flavors but weird looks. I wouldn't serve this to an omni.



For lunch and dinner, I made a couple of old favorites of mine vegan style. The first was a sweet and sour tofu and vegetable stirfry which came out rather nice though not the bright red color you see at chinese restaurants. I wonder how they do that. Food coloring? I also tried my hardest to make a Thai style vegan omelette by pureeing tofu in a blender and cooking it pancake style and flipping it over. It was very difficult and I think I would have been better off making a scramble instead. It's tasty though and seasoned with Thai mushroom soy sauce, scallions and tomatoes.