Day Seven:   Make / eat some thing inspired by a book or film

I’m easily distracted by food when I’m watching TV or films. A prime example is the breakup scene in 500 Days of Summer. Who can concentrate on the drama of the break up when there are pancakes to be had? And who could be such a monster as to break up with their partner over this delicious dish, thus tainting it forever? Fortunately, there was no such drama when I had this stack of vegan pancakes at Wai Kika Moo Kau in Brighton.

This is a little further from my usual stomping ground, and a pleasant change from the standard cooked breakfast.  Back in March I spent a weekend in Brighton for Vegfest, and revisited the charmingly titled Wai Kika Moo Kau for breakfast.  It’s quite a small cafe, and it was packed on this particular morning, due to the increased number of vegans in town.  It’s deservedly popular – we only had breakfast, but the cakes looked phenomenal, and the lunch menu was very tempting too.  Last year we breakfasted there twice, having both the pancakes and the cooked breakfast.  On our return visit we knew we wanted the pancakes.

I make my own pancakes when we want a real treat breakfast, but it’s nice having them without slaving over the oven first (alright, it’s not a huge effort, but making six pancakes one-by-one takes a long time!).  These pancakes are actually very similar to the ones I make:  lovely and thick!  There’s a stack of four, dotted with spread and served with a dish of maple syrup.  The rim of the plate is dusted in cocoa powder and icing sugar, which are lovely for coating the pancakes.  The pancakes are soft, tasty, and plentiful – cutting a wedge from the whole stack is no mean feat, and they certainly leave you feeling full!

A satisfying breakfast like this doesn’t really require a heavy drink, but I saw a chai shake on the menu and I couldn’t resist.  It was delicious, full of cinnamon and other spices, and really cool and creamy.

The pancakes were only £5.50, which seemed like a real bargain, and it’s such a novelty being able to get vegan pancakes – I can’t think of anywhere in Manchester that serves them, and am constantly on the look out for more.  If you know anywhere to get a good vegan breakfast pancake in Europe, let me know!