I have already raved about how vegan-friendly Warsaw is (here and here), and I have one last example of that to share.  Vege Bistro was a fantastic little restaurant that we visited.  It was a small, cosy place with a really ambitious and impressive menu.  If ever I stumble upon those people who learn that I’m vegan and ask in horror, “But what do you eat?”, I want to show them these photos and say:  “Everything.”

The food has a definite local flavour.  My mum had never tried pierogi before, and we suspected this would be her only opportunity in Warsaw, so we urged her to try.  There were a few different fillings available, and we asked for the waitress’ advice.  She recommended these red lentil and tomato ones, and they were delicious!  The Mediterranean flavour was really nice, and they were generously filled.  The salad in the middle featured cranberries and pumpkin seeds, and was also a winner.

Dr HH tried these millet-leek chops, which were like little burgers with a nice crispy coating.  They had a good chunky texture from the millet, and lovely bits of leek.  Unfortunately, he found the sides a bit meh – the saffron cream was a touch bland, and the pesto dressing on the carrot tagliatelle didn’t really come through.

I love a bit of potato, so I ordered the hashbrowns with sunflower seed cream and seaweed caviar.  Oh, it was good!  The hashbrowns were more like potato pancakes, good and crispy on the outside.  The cream was smooth like a cashew cream.  And the caviar was unusual, colourful and delicious!  We were all really satisfied with our dishes.

There was a cake case, and we knew from the start that we would indulge.  Dr HH had the tofurnik cake on the left – tofurnik is quite a big deal in Poland, and I think it just means a tofu cheesecake.  This had quite a soft base, a creamy coconutty tofu layer and a sticky date topping with peanuts.  He raved about it!  My mum tried the lemon tart at the top of the picture.  She loved the lemon layer and fruity topping, but found the millet base a bit too dry.  And I had the only sponge cake on offer, a carrot cake with coconut cream.  It was a good sponge and had nice orange and spice flavours.  It was lovely!

Dr HH and I don’t usually go to many museums when we travel, because we prefer spending our money on food.  We didn’t mind coughing up for the Neon Museum, though.  (And in fairness, it only cost about £1 to enter.)

It’s in the Praga district, on the ‘wrong side’ of the river.  It’s really not in a dangerous place though, whatever you might read.  If you walk from the tram stop, you should go past this impressive piece of street art, which is a definite bonus.

The museum itself is pretty small, but it has some information about the history of neon in Warsaw and then a collection of old signs.  Not all of them are lit up all the time, but we saw some great ones.  I loved the eyes on this cat, from an old shoe shop.

There were lots of restaurant signs too.

This was one of my favourites, because it’s such a fun font!  I think this one was from a hotel, and it is one of the most famous in the collection.

You don’t need a lot of time for this museum, but it’s a really nice, quiet place and we really enjoyed our visit.  Quiet besides the hum of the signs, anyway!